GUILTY FL - Dan Markel, 41, FSU law professor, Tallahassee, 18 July 2014 - #3 *Arrests*

[dotr]

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_...wendi-adelson-in-dan-markels-murder.html#more
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
]Hit Man Implicates Wendi Adelson In Dan Markel's Murder

By Paul Caron

the Tallahassee Democrat has published an explosive 99-minute video of the prosecutors' interview of hit man Luis Rivera. Rivera states (beginning at 11:06:17 of the video) that he and hit man Sigfredo Garcia saw Wendi Adelson walking the children in front of Dan Markel's home the day before the murder and that Wendi was making sure that the hit men were there to kill Dan before he left on a flight the following day:

He calls Katie. Hey what's going on? I seen this lady up here? ... She's making sure everything's fine ... He's leaving tomorrow on the flight or wherever the f* he was going. ... So we gotta do this tomorrow because he's leaving and she came up to see the kids. ... She's just making sure everything's all right with the kids. She wants to make sure we was up here. She wants to make sure she wasn't paying him for nothing.

 

[colette]

Wondering how SG knew that it was WA walking by with the kids and looking at him, the day before the murder, as per LR's statement in the interview.

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/ne...e-were-coming-up-here-kill-somebody/91847004/


http://www.wtxl.com/news/suspect-in...cle_4405b58c-8f25-11e6-80a3-636e4a3baa45.html

What is confusing it almost sounds like they saw Wendi on both trips. In the first part of the confession it sounds like he is talking about seeing her the first trip, even the wtxl link says this. But later he says they were in the Prius, so it has to be the second trip, the day before the murder. Or was it both trips???

 

[dotr]

http://abovethelaw.com/2016/10/the-dan-markel-case-luis-rivera-points-the-finger-at-wendi-adelson/
The Dan Markel Case: Luis Rivera Points The Finger At Wendi Adelson

Rivera said he did not know the names of the people who hired Garcia.” That’s key — and why Rivera is not in a position to implicate the Adelsons, some of whom the police suspect as the real parties behind the hit. Throughout the interview, Rivera generally does not refer to the Adelsons by their names. For example, he refers to Wendi Adelson, the ex-wife of Dan Markel who wanted to relocate with their two kids to south Florida, as “the lady,” and he refers to Wendi’s brother Charlie as “the dentist.”

Actually, based on my viewing of the video, I believe that this sighting of Wendi with the two kids took place on the second visit to Tallahassee, on the day before Markel’s murder. (Listen for yourself; the relevant discussion begins around 11:05 a.m.)
Rivera said that he and Garcia, while driving around to survey the area near Markel’s house, passed Wendi walking down the street with her two children. Rivera felt that Wendi noticed them, and he didn’t like it; he asked Garcia, “What’s up with that lady?” Garcia responded, “That’s the lady — that’s Wendi.” Note that earlier in the interview, Rivera said he was told the motive for the murder was that “the lady wants her two kids back.”

So does this mean, contrary to my previously expressed belief, that Wendi Adelson knew about the murder in advance or even played a role in planning it? It’s possible — but it’s also still possible that Wendi didn’t have advance knowledge. Rivera’s testimony on this rather important topic is muddled and confused — not surprising, given that these events took place more than two years ago — and one can see how Rivera might have jumped to some conclusions or made some incorrect assumptions

Rivera — again, perfectly logically — probably assumed that these two “ladies” were one and the same, when it’s possible that they were two different ladies: Wendi would be the first lady, and her mother Donna Adelson would be the second lady

Of one thing I am certain: whoever ordered this cold-blooded killing is no lady.

 

[Jerri_Blank]

Ugh David Lat. Who's more likely to be walking the kids outside Dan's house, Wendi or Donna? Cell phone records should be able to clear up Donna's whereabouts the day before the hit.

 

[Marvin Berry]

http://abovethelaw.com/2016/10/the-dan-markel-case-luis-rivera-points-the-finger-at-wendi-adelson/The Dan Markel Case: Luis Rivera Points The Finger At Wendi Adelson

I generally agree with Lat's sentiments.I also found the following from Rivera interesting:

[Garcia] called [Magbanua] and he said 'everything, it's done--make sure you have my money. I'm on my way'...I can hear [Magbanua] say 'OK I know alright.' I'm like 'How the ****** she know?! How would she know that this sh** was done?'

If his recollection is correct, and he's telling the truth, I think we all know how KM knew it was done.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

I too am confused about something. How did it come about that Wendi was out walking the kids while they were visiting at Dan's house? I find it hard to believe, due to all the animosity between DM & WA, that she could just show up at Dan's place and say that she wanted to take the kids out for a walk. Also, the time of the walk would have had to be coordinated with Garcia in advance....you can only walk the kids back and forth for so long.

 

[Marvin Berry]

Ugh David Lat. Who's more likely to be walking the kids outside Dan's house, Wendi or Donna? Cell phone records should be able to clear up Donna's whereabouts the day before the hit.

I don't think Lat was saying Donna was outside with the kids. He was saying that the "Lady" who was paying for the hit might not be the same "Lady" that was outside with kids. Rivera didn't have enough information to know there might be a distinction.

 

[dotr]

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2016/10/11/no-bond-magbanua-markel-killing/91888982/

No bond for Magbanua in Markel killing


The 31-year-old mother of two sat upright but appeared nervous during a nearly 4-minute first appearance this morning in Leon County court. Magbanua, appearing via live video feed from the Leon County Jail, wore a striped orange and white jail jumpsuit. A few times during the proceeding, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
County Judge J. Layne Smith told Magbanua he'd stick to the no bond warrant signed by Second Judicial Circuit Judge James Hankinson, who is overseeing the case. But Magbanua's Miami attorney Tara Kawass, speaking over the phone, argued Magbanua's no bond status was in violation of criminal procedure because prosecutors haven't filed a motion for pretrial detention.

Katherine Magbanua, the suspected conduit between a pair of hitmen and the Adelson family, appeared in Leon County court Tuesday morning for her first appearance.

 

[Jerri_Blank]

I don't think Lat was saying Donna was outside with the kids. He was saying that the "Lady" who was paying for the hit might not be the same "Lady" that was outside with kids. Rivera didn't have enough information to know there might be a distinction.

Yes, Lat is implying that Rivera may be confusing the Adelson women. Didn't SG and KM confirm to Rivera that it was Wendi? Also, I got the impression he saw her with the kids both trips.

 

[GordonX]

KM looks scared to death. and she should be.

 

[Marvin Berry]

Yes, Lat is implying that Rivera may be confusing the Adelson women. Didn't SG and KM confirm to Rivera that it was Wendi? Also, I got the impression he saw her with the kids both trips.

Rivera knows it was Wendi that was outside with the kids because Garcia told him. He also apparently believes that Wendi is the "Lady" that paid for the hit. David Lat's point is that Rivera doesn't know who the "Lady" is that paid for the hit, and he doesn't know that Donna exists.

We know it was much more likely that Donna paid for the hit than Wendi. She signed the checks to Magbanua and has significantly more money than Wendi. That doesn't mean Wendi didn't know about it.

 

[miamiheat]

http://abovethelaw.com/2016/10/the-dan-markel-case-luis-rivera-points-the-finger-at-wendi-adelson/
The Dan Markel Case: Luis Rivera Points The Finger At Wendi Adelson

Above the Law allows for the possibility that WA knew, but is also still spinning for WA as much as they can credibly spin given what LR told the police. It's possible that LR thought/knew that "the lady" who was paying for the hit was DA while also believing/knowing based on what SG told him that WA was helping to coordinate the plan and checking on them. So even if "the lady" making the payment was DA and LR knew that, WA could still have been involved in the plot. I wonder if police nailed down LR on what he knew about WA's and the other As' involvement in another interview that hasn't yet been released. I was surprised that there weren't too many follow up questions when LR was talking about WA.


What time did SG call KM to let her know that the hit was done? LR says in his statement that KM already knew when they called her, because when they called KM and said it was done, she said something like "yeah alright, I know." IIRC he said it a couple of times because the investigators tried to clarify that he had heard KM say it and it wasn't just a matter of SG relaying what KM had said. Wasn't it around noon on that Friday that LR and SG turned their cell phones on and called KM?


What time did WA go down to the station and receive notification of the murder, and call DA to tell her about it? If this call to DA happened after SG called KM to tell her about the murder, how could KM have already known? Assuming what LR says is true about KM already knowing, and unless there was someone else involved, it seems like the only way would have been for WA to have tipped the A's off after her drive by the house on the way to the liquor store when she saw the police tape.

Just speculation, IMO.

 

[GordonX]

part of me finds it very hard to believe that the family would do such a drastic, horrendous, irreversible act without first asking princess - killing the father of her two boys. you could say that maybe they were worried about making sure she had plausible deniability if they got caught hence they didn't tell her, but i believe people like this don't think they will ever get caught. it goes back to the sociopathic narcissist personality - they believe they are entitled, above the law, and smarter than everyone else. it was beyond their wildest dreams that they would ever get caught. disclaimer - IF they are guilty.

 

[GordonX]

Above the Law allows for the possibility that WA knew, but is also still spinning for WA as much as they can credibly spin given what LR told the police. .

i think David Lat is doing the best he can to keep an open mind to all possibilities of guilt and innocence without a rush to judgment. we all get to speculate anonymously - he has to sign his real name on it.

 

[loco]

She will not get a short prison term. Rivera's s given enough evidence to give her the needle. She will talk to get a 20 years sentence. She might not realize yet the situation she is in, but in the next week siting in the Leon county jail it will sink in that she will not see the outside again for many years.

 

[TTF14]

LE has to get Manbanau to flip first. She just arrived in TLH yesterday. LE will not arrest any A's until she talks. Rivera's testimony will not tie the murder to the A's. His testimony never revealed any connection to the A's except hearsay from Garcia.

LE is doing a great job working this case from the outside in.

 

[TTF14]

Are the Adelsons just going about their lives, going to their jobs, getting groceries, playing with the kids, etc.? What does their life look like now??

 

[loco]

If the A's watched the Rivera confessions, I doubt they are eating much. I would imagine they are all huddled together at Pappa A's house waiting for the shoes to drop on all of them.

 

[dotr]

She will not get a short prison term. Rivera's s given enough evidence to give her the needle. She will talk to get a 20 years sentence. She might not realize yet the situation she is in, but in the next week siting in the Leon county jail it will sink in that she will not see the outside again for many years.

By " the needle" does that mean DP? gulp.imo.
This is complete and total speculation, but have wondered if KM might have (strategically) become pregnant, if so, would that affect sentencing if she was found guilty?
imo, all speculation.

 

[DexterMorgan]

Above the Law allows for the possibility that WA knew, but is also still spinning for WA as much as they can credibly spin given what LR told the police. It's possible that LR thought/knew that "the lady" who was paying for the hit was DA while also believing/knowing based on what SG told him that WA was helping to coordinate the plan and checking on them. So even if "the lady" making the payment was DA and LR knew that, WA could still have been involved in the plot. I wonder if police nailed down LR on what he knew about WA's and the other As' involvement in another interview that hasn't yet been released. I was surprised that there weren't too many follow up questions when LR was talking about WA.


What time did SG call KM to let her know that the hit was done? LR says in his statement that KM already knew when they called her, because when they called KM and said it was done, she said something like "yeah alright, I know." IIRC he said it a couple of times because the investigators tried to clarify that he had heard KM say it and it wasn't just a matter of SG relaying what KM had said. Wasn't it around noon on that Friday that LR and SG turned their cell phones on and called KM?


What time did WA go down to the station and receive notification of the murder, and call DA to tell her about it? If this call to DA happened after SG called KM to tell her about the murder, how could KM have already known? Assuming what LR says is true about KM already knowing, and unless there was someone else involved, it seems like the only way would have been for WA to have tipped the A's off after her drive by the house on the way to the liquor store when she saw the police tape.

Just speculation, IMO.

When KM says Okay I Know;

She could have simply been telling Garcia

Okay I already Know/known that you want the money upon arrival and it will be ready. Jmo.

But LR was probably paranoid. Like when he was paranoid about why the lady (wendi) was looking at them. Idk