Before I write anything I have to be honest that I haven't read anything on this thread for the last couple days. And I'm glad I haven't because I got to listen to those writers podcasts episodes with Wendi Adelson without any preconceived notions. So I don't know what anybody else on here has said about them. I will check after I post this.
I should also say, as a professional who has books for sale on Amazon.com, I am familiar with these kinds of writers classes and the critiques that go along with being a part of them.
This is what caught my ears. And there is SO MUCH to say.
First and foremost, Wendi sounds like a woman who truly had no idea who murdered her ex-husband at the time those episodes were made. And it actually kind of bothers me. Why? Well, I should say that I love my parents who are both still alive. I would do anything for them. And I know they'd do anything for me. However, I'll be honest: If I had someone in my life who was keeping me from getting what I wanted, and then that person ended up dead, I can assure you that at least for a half-second I'd consider whether my parents had something to do with it. NOT because my parents are evil--they aren't. But because I don't believe in coincidences and I'd know how much my parents would want to get me whatever I wanted.
So, going back to Wendi sounding so clueless about who could've killed Dan, is she really THAT clueless? Sure, maybe she also had a half-second thought that possibly someone in her family had something to do with it. But, that's not what I hear in those recordings. In fact, as a writer, I can tell you this: If I were in her shoes, and my ex-wife (I don't have one, I've never been married) died by being shot, and I was a part of some writing group like this, I can assure all of you I would mention half-suspecting my parents even if I didn't believe it. In fact, me saying it in public would be proof that I didn't actually believe it.
That Wendi DOESN'T mention suspecting not even one person she knows for the death of Dan tells me something. It's kind of like the non-mentioning of it proves that it is actually on her mind. I know this is TOTAL armchair psychiatry on my part but I really believe objectively this is not how most people would act if they truly thought their family didn't have anything to do with it.
But that alone isn't what makes me suspicious. She refers to viewing Dan, before they were married, as a good future father for HER children. Not THEIR children. HER children. I wonder if this is a Freudian slip.
She mentions that Dan used to say that she could fool people because everybody thought Wendi was so nice. But Dan knew the truth. I wondered: Is what we hear in those recordings Wendi's fake niceness?
Wendi mentions that Dan was probably shot by a professional killer. But offers NO reason that this would ever be the case. I mean, SHE knows Dan better than anyone. She also has to realize that professional killers just don't go around shooting people for no reason--they only do it if they get paid. But Wendi offers no reasons as to why her ex-husband would be on a pro killer's hit list. If Dan was mixed up with the mob, then no explanation would be necessary. But, he was a law professor. What professional hit man wants to kill one of those? Once again, no explanation from Wendi. To put it another way, she doesn't offer not even one possibility--road rage, people on the Internet, a burglary gone bad. NOTHING, which flies in the face of every true crime show I've ever watched. Every family member ALWAYS has an idea of a why a loved one disappeared or was murdered. Wendi Adelson? Nothing, like it hasn't even crossed her mind.
The TRUTH about this whole thing is that Wendi knew explicitly who might've wanted Dan dead. In fact, there was a court hearing coming up that put it front and center. But still, her writing would give you the idea that she had no idea at that time in July 2014 of who would ever want to kill her ex-husband. I'm sorry but it's just not believable. Once again, not saying she had anything to do with it, at least beforehand.
As for her mother, once again armchairing this from afar, she certainly sounds like a mother in law who would've butted in on her daughter's marriage. And you have to suspect this: The mother KNEW Wendi married Dan without loving him. In fact, it is probably what made the family think Dan was expendable. Since their daughter had no emotional attachment to him--married or not, then there was no reason for them to think of Dan as anything more than a sperm donor. He did his job, now it was time for Wendi's family to do theirs. I can see the family thinking: How dare this guy who our daughter didn't even love keep us from seeing our grandchildren.
In fact, I'd go as far as to say that had Wendi actually loved Dan when they got married, but the divorce still happened, that this murder probably doesn't happen. But since Wendi was SO FAR emotionally away from Dan, the family believed the murder was just like shooting any guy on the street who was getting in the way of their happiness.
I also wonder if the father's cancer had something to do with all this. Could the mother have thought: I might lose my husband. So, I need to keep my grandchildren at any price. Could the decision to get rid of Dan come at a time in the Adelson's family history where they weren't all thinking in their right minds due to stresses of health? I am open to that. We all know that husbands are shooting their ailing wives all the time to relieve them of their un-ending pain. Could Dan's shooting been a version of that--extreme measures taken under extreme circumstances?
One more thing before I go, and I can say this since I've written many novels, you never get angry when someone doesn't want to read a book you wrote. That Wendi did--saying Dan refused out of logic, not of love--shows her to be a bit immature. And even more immature to criticize her dead husband who isn't there to defend himself.
My firm belief is that she suspected her family did this, if she didn't herself. Hey, she had to know that her brother was dating a woman who had children with a guy who had a long criminal record. Wendi HAD to know. That alone should've been enough for her to offer a possible theory of the crime to the police.
But she didn't. You can judge why she didn't for yourself.
