GUILTY FL - FSU Law Professor Dan Markel Murdered by Hitmen #17

[amicuscurie]

Out of all 4 co-defendants convicted for Dan's murder, KM received the harshest punishment because she was convicted on all three counts (murder, conspiracy, and solicitation to commit 1st degree murder).

KM received LWOP plus two additional 30 year sentences. If the state wants to drop counts 2 and 3, I'm fine with that but I don't think they should touch the murder charge and LWOP penalty. JMO

Charlie was also convicted on all 3 counts. Wonder what his sentence will be?

 

[tmar]

The one possibility that could change this is if CA flips and sells out his family. He's got no cards left to play and will die in jail assuming no relief on appeal (which is vanishingly unlikely--the trial was immaculately conducted). But it could be that he flips to get a better situation within the prison system or because he's a bitter angry dick who doesn't want to be the only one of the family to bear the cost of their crime.

I'm more bullish on CA selling out than others, but even I think it's less than 50% likely.

I wonder if CA's family visited him after his arrest.
The Adelsons did not attend the trial: could this annoy him to snitch.

 

[amicuscurie]

I wonder if CA's family visited him after his arrest.
The Adelsons did not attend the trial: could this annoy him to snitch.

He knew they weren’t going to attend.

 

[Seattle1]

Why didn’t Sig confess, take a deal that was less than life, and say Katie had nothing to do with it? He loves her so much, he didn’t want to ever incriminate her. Why didn’t he just do this? And why didnt he tell her to rat out whoever paid for it?

ETA- also, this story is inconsistent with the text from WA asking if Dan will be in town on a certain day. According to her, Charlie never knew when these trips would take place. Sig would just come to her randomly and ask for money to take a trip. And then she would ask Charlie for money. Really?

It's very seldom that the triggerman is offered a plea deal for a lesser charge or 2nd degree murder --especially when the state already has an eye witness to SG pulling the trigger. Also take note that both LR and SG, career criminals, were subject to the death penalty. The jury spared SG death and sentenced him to LWOP.

 

[amicuscurie]

It's very seldom that the triggerman is offered a plea deal for a lesser charge or 2nd degree murder --especially when the state already has an eye witness to SG pulling the trigger. Also take note that both LR and SG, career criminals, were subject to the death penalty. The jury spared SG death and sentenced him to LWOP.

He still should’ve confessed to keep Katie out of it

 

[Seattle1]

He still should’ve confessed to keep Katie out of it

How would confessing keep KM out of it? Florida also has felony murder law -- hand of one is the hand of all. She didn't have to pull the trigger to be charged with murder.

Katie had a chance to save herself and passed on it. SHE WAS OFFERED IMMUNITY!

 

[amicuscurie]

How would confessing keep KM out of it? Florida also has felony murder law -- hand of one is the hand of all. She didn't have to pull the trigger to be charged with murder.

That’s what I was asking. Even if she thought it was for something else?

It doesnt even matter. She’s lying in the proffer. She doesn’t discuss the why she waa there when they got the rental car, how the killers knew it was “to get the kids back,” all the phone calls. Is she really saying they didn’t plan the dates of the trips in advance? Rivera is telling the truth, he says she’s behind it all.

 

[stamplewie]

Agreed. It just doesn’t seem very wise as a strategy. Better, in the first place, not to say the stuff to other people that you need to preemptively mitigate. And it seems unreasonable not to have known that the strategy would draw suspicion on the brother, preemptive or not. And LaCasse might not have been interviewed right away, although I suppose he would have eventually. Magbanua was never interviewed or even approached, despite the fact that the police were given Charlie as a lead. They didn’t even ask to interview Charlie, or investigate his life, which is unbelievable to me given all Wendi and LaCasse were saying. It took them a while, and lots of tower dumps, to find Magbanua, when interviewing even one friend of Charlie’s could’ve gotten her. She might have talked, this was way before the bump. Who knows?


If you have no knowledge, and you talk, it might not hurt you. If refuse to talk, it looks bad. But not as bad as if you have knowledge and you talk in an effort to seem like you don’t know anything. In that case, however bad it looks to say nothing and demand counsel, it is still the better thing to do. It’s hard to speak as though you don’t know what you know.

Totally agree with you that it is better not to say stuff that you need to preemptively mitigate (my brother said a tv is cheaper than a hit man), but surprisingly the strategy initially worked. no one drew suspicion regarding her brother for a very long time. he long wait to arrest and prosecute didn't blow the conviction in this case, but in many cases this kind of late prosecution becomes stale.

 

[Seattle1]

That’s what I was asking. Even if she thought it was for something else?

It doesnt even matter. She’s lying in the proffer. She doesn’t discuss the why she waa there when they got the rental car, how the killers knew it was “to get the kids back,” all the phone calls. Is she really saying they didn’t plan the dates of the trips in advance? Rivera is telling the truth, he says she’s behind it all.

The bottom line is KM had a chance to save herself from day one, and opted to pass. SHE WAS OFFERRED IMMUNITY!

Personally, anymore, and by the way I've heard KM talk, I think KM didn't and still doesn't want her family to know that she put money above all else including her children. JMO

 

[GordonX]

Charlie was also convicted on all 3 counts. Wonder what his sentence will be?

Life WOP + 30 + 30.

 

[amicuscurie]

The bottom line is KM had a chance to save herself from day one, and opted to pass. SHE WAS OFFERRED IMMUNITY!

Personally, anymore, and by the way I've heard KM talk, I think KM didn't and still doesn't want her family to know that she put money above all else including her children. JMO

she sounds like a totally different person on the wiretaps than in the proffer. It’s eerie. These people all are telling fragments of the truth.

 

[PrairieWind]

The bottom line is KM had a chance to save herself from day one, and opted to pass. SHE WAS OFFERRED IMMUNITY!

Personally, anymore, and by the way I've heard KM talk, I think KM didn't and still doesn't want her family to know that she put money above all else including her children. JMO

I can't understand what KM's reasoning was. It makes absolutely no sense to me. Someone was filling her head with a lot of lies I think.

 

[MTW2011]

Woah. Catching up, still, sorry.

What’s with this Motion? Interesting sequence of events and claims of it coming from an alternate, here’s a tweet

https://twitter.com/x/status/1721989342527181149

 

[amicuscurie]

Woah. Catching up, still, sorry.

What’s with this Motion? Interesting sequence of events and claims of it coming from an alternate, here’s a tweet

https://twitter.com/x/status/1721989342527181149

That was pretty fast, when you think about it.

 

[flay012995]

Why didn’t Sig confess, take a deal that was less than life, and say Katie had nothing to do with it? He loves her so much, he didn’t want to ever incriminate her. Why didn’t he just do this? And why didnt he tell her to rat out whoever paid for it?

He does not want to be a snitch, like Rivera. Also, I believe he will have a rough time in prison once he turns to state witness.

 

[flay012995]

Something we haven't spent much time talking about, given the potential it had. We spent years and years waiting on the Magbanua proffer. And I can't imagine a scenario where that proffer could be worse than what it was. What an absolute disgrace.

She suffered memory loss. Even Rivera's proffer had more story than what she said. Disappointing. If ever Charlie will do proffer, I'm sure it will have more story than what Katie did on the 2 proffers.

 

[justice1960]

There’s no chance Wendi will be indicted. For all the reasons @FreddyG so aptly stated in their last post. Arguable inference of involvement is not enough. Knowledge of what was about to happen is not enough. If we’re split about the extent of Wendi’s involvement, jurors will be split too. That’s reasonable doubt. JMO

It seems like the A's did a good job of keeping Wendi insulated, but she made a few missteps, which could very well lead to an eventual indictment.

As we know, she just couldn't help herself and had to go out of her way to see the crime scene. When she realized the police were present, she made her exit quite conspicuous in comparison to other motorists. Sure, she can claim it was just a coincidence, but in addition to her erratic behavior, she bought Bulleit brand whiskey for the party in the evening. Once again, she'd likely claim it was an unfortunate choice, but she just so happened to have a number of bad coincidences on the day of the murder.

In addition, according Lacasse, she made everyone use a busted TV to watch a movie - even though there was another perfectly good television available and the kids were complaining the whole time. This is pretty bizarre behavior, which I imagine was a byproduct of Wendi struggling to process what took place (or reveling in the crime).

I imagine all of this leads the state to believe that Wendi was well aware of what happened. Accordingly, if she did have foreknowledge, it means her whole police interrogation was a well executed farce. Wendi (and her brother) have leaned heavily on her willingness to submit herself to such an interrogation as evidence of her un-involvement. If the prosecution can demonstrate that she was aware of what was going to take place, Wendi's credibility would be considerably undermined. (She effectively spent hours with the police putting on a stage production.)

Of course, mere foreknowledge usually isn't enough to constitute a crime. Wendi's biggest blunder was her final date/conversation with Lacasse. I would imagine that the whole purpose of the final date was just to use it as an excuse to confirm his travel plans. It seems like she was so distracted by the plot and/or irritated by Jeff that she forgot to follow through with the purpose of the outing. After they had effectively broken up, she all of a sudden turns back on the charm in order confirm that he was leaving the next day.

They state will need more, but this blunder makes it clear she was particularly interested in Jeff's departure time. This information would have been helpful in deflecting blame away from the A's (had he left at the right time). This is more than simple foreknowledge but instead an indication that she could have a role in the actual conspiracy.

Had Wendi not visited the scene and more casually brought up Lacasse's travel plans, she may have completely insulated herself from any indication of (legal) wrongdoing.

She forced her kids to watch a broken TV for weeks. She and her mom had Best Buy come assess the feasibility of fixing an obviously unfixable TV the morning of the murder. Her mom confirms the appointment and she texts her back "This is SWEET" and deletes it. After getting advice from a professional TV repairman, she STILL needs to confirm with her brother - who has now been found guilty of being the mastermind of the murder - whether it makes sense to fix it or replace it. This conversation is 18 minutes and 17 seconds.

This is the same TV her mastermind brother says he bought cause it was cheaper than hiring a hitmen, which is not true because the hitmen he actually did hire to kill Dan Markel during the exact window of time her broken TV is being assessed - was $100,000. She went to the furthest possible liquor store away from her house so she could drive past the crime scene using a short cut that is not a short cut. She admits in her police interview to driving on Trescott (which she now denies) and seeing the police tape.

She confirmed whether Dan Markel would be in town during the week of his murder and she made this confirmation at the same time she was having breakfast with her family members who almost certainly are guilty of planning and executing the murder. She is the only person connected to the conspiracy who would have any way of knowing that Dan Markel was flying out to NYC the next day and the murder had to happen on the 18th of July.

She is acting erratically and strange (and sick!) during both murder trips. She sends her boyfriend a "no contact" email a couple hours after demanding precise details about the time of his departure of his upcoming trip out of town. Its only the 2nd trip out of town he's taken in months, and the other trip was the first murder trip. The murderers rented silver cars for both trips - the first car was almost identical to his car at the time.

Then, there's all the circumstances after the murder. She tells the podcast that Dan Markel was likely killed by professional killers in 2015 before anyone in the public knew anything other than a Prius being involved. She was packing her childhood bedroom up weeks before the murder and then moved into it 2 days after the murder. She never spoke to police after July 20, 2014 but through her lawyers communicated how she and her family was fully cooperating with the investigation. She changed the kids names in any practical sense - 2 weeks after the murder and then officially 1 year later. There's so much more. She tried to get the Go Fund Me money and inquired through her lawyers about getting control of the Trust/Insurance policies. Despite not recieving 100% of the estate, she is still a major beneficiary of Dan Markels murder. She's actually the biggest winner. Financially, she doesnt have to pay lawyers, ker kids are set for life and she never has to save for their cars, houses, weddings or college. She recieves almost $5k/month in survivor benefits instead of the $800 per month in child support...AND she gets to move to Miami, which is the entire motive of this murder. There is no shortage of motive for Wendi in a Wendi trial. When Sigfredo is arrested - in her last conversations with Ruth Markel before severing the relationship between Ruth and her grandkids, she is fishing for information about what Ruth knows and who is getting arrested. She is frantic, but never bothers to phone the police to get information from them to solve the murder of her kids dad.

I think if this case went to a jury in 1993, its almost certainly a guilty verdict. I think there is still a case for conspiracy. But what are we missing? Almost all of the exculpatory evidence is from the bump (although its not ALL exculpatory). She's never on wires. She's not meeting anyone in secret. Which brings up an interesting counterfactual - what would have happened if SHE was the target in the bump? What would we know if her phones were wiretapped? We will never now. But I digress....there certainly is evidence on the wires that she might have been kept in the dark.

One thing about Wendi....as told by her friend Tamara Demko - is that she keeps everything close to the vest. Highly secretive. She's a planner but tells nobody her plans. Tamara was a good friend and she had no idea she was writing a book until it was released. She was planning the divorce for months with her lawyers and the legality of taking certain items and emptying out her share of bank accounts, without Dan or their friends having a clue.

On the other hand, she has all this built-in "plausible deniability". Why would I mention the hitman joke if I was apart of it? Why would I hand you my family? I didnt even bring up Jeff Lacasse, my friend did. etc etc etc. For all of those factors, I think it would be hard to win a case right now against her. But we only have the evidence that is public and the prosecution has used it very sparingly (like her text to DM about July 13-18). We have all Donna's incoming emails but none of Wendi's outgoing. We have seen maybe 2 or 3 of her texts during this time. Im guessing there is a lot more we don't know but obviously not quite enough for Cappleman to bring charges

She forced her kids to watch a broken TV for weeks. She and her mom had Best Buy come assess the feasibility of fixing an obviously unfixable TV the morning of the murder. Her mom confirms the appointment and she texts her back "This is SWEET" and deletes it. After getting advice from a professional TV repairman, she STILL needs to confirm with her brother - who has now been found guilty of being the mastermind of the murder - whether it makes sense to fix it or replace it. This conversation is 18 minutes and 17 seconds.

This is the same TV her mastermind brother says he bought cause it was cheaper than hiring a hitmen, which is not true because the hitmen he actually did hire to kill Dan Markel during the exact window of time her broken TV is being assessed - was $100,000. She went to the furthest possible liquor store away from her house so she could drive past the crime scene using a short cut that is not a short cut. She admits in her police interview to driving on Trescott (which she now denies) and seeing the police tape.

She confirmed whether Dan Markel would be in town during the week of his murder and she made this confirmation at the same time she was having breakfast with her family members who almost certainly are guilty of planning and executing the murder. She is the only person connected to the conspiracy who would have any way of knowing that Dan Markel was flying out to NYC the next day and the murder had to happen on the 18th of July.

She is acting erratically and strange (and sick!) during both murder trips. She sends her boyfriend a "no contact" email a couple hours after demanding precise details about the time of his departure of his upcoming trip out of town. Its only the 2nd trip out of town he's taken in months, and the other trip was the first murder trip. The murderers rented silver cars for both trips - the first car was almost identical to his car at the time.

Then, there's all the circumstances after the murder. She tells the podcast that Dan Markel was likely killed by professional killers in 2015 before anyone in the public knew anything other than a Prius being involved. She was packing her childhood bedroom up weeks before the murder and then moved into it 2 days after the murder. She never spoke to police after July 20, 2014 but through her lawyers communicated how she and her family was fully cooperating with the investigation. She changed the kids names in any practical sense - 2 weeks after the murder and then officially 1 year later. There's so much more. She tried to get the Go Fund Me money and inquired through her lawyers about getting control of the Trust/Insurance policies. Despite not recieving 100% of the estate, she is still a major beneficiary of Dan Markels murder. She's actually the biggest winner. Financially, she doesnt have to pay lawyers, ker kids are set for life and she never has to save for their cars, houses, weddings or college. She recieves almost $5k/month in survivor benefits instead of the $800 per month in child support...AND she gets to move to Miami, which is the entire motive of this murder. There is no shortage of motive for Wendi in a Wendi trial. When Sigfredo is arrested - in her last conversations with Ruth Markel before severing the relationship between Ruth and her grandkids, she is fishing for information about what Ruth knows and who is getting arrested. She is frantic, but never bothers to phone the police to get information from them to solve the murder of her kids dad.

I think if this case went to a jury in 1993, its almost certainly a guilty verdict. I think there is still a case for conspiracy. But what are we missing? Almost all of the exculpatory evidence is from the bump (although its not ALL exculpatory). She's never on wires. She's not meeting anyone in secret. Which brings up an interesting counterfactual - what would have happened if SHE was the target in the bump? What would we know if her phones were wiretapped? We will never now. But I digress....there certainly is evidence on the wires that she might have been kept in the dark.

One thing about Wendi....as told by her friend Tamara Demko - is that she keeps everything close to the vest. Highly secretive. She's a planner but tells nobody her plans. Tamara was a good friend and she had no idea she was writing a book until it was released. She was planning the divorce for months with her lawyers and the legality of taking certain items and emptying out her share of bank accounts, without Dan or their friends having a clue.

On the other hand, she has all this built-in "plausible deniability". Why would I mention the hitman joke if I was apart of it? Why would I hand you my family? I didnt even bring up Jeff Lacasse, my friend did. etc etc etc. For all of those factors, I think it would be hard to win a case right now against her. But we only have the evidence that is public and the prosecution has used it very sparingly (like her text to DM about July 13-18). We have all Donna's incoming emails but none of Wendi's outgoing. We have seen maybe 2 or 3 of her texts during this time. Im guessing there is a lot more we don't know but obviously not quit

She forced her kids to watch a broken TV for weeks. She and her mom had Best Buy come assess the feasibility of fixing an obviously unfixable TV the morning of the murder. Her mom confirms the appointment and she texts her back "This is SWEET" and deletes it. After getting advice from a professional TV repairman, she STILL needs to confirm with her brother - who has now been found guilty of being the mastermind of the murder - whether it makes sense to fix it or replace it. This conversation is 18 minutes and 17 seconds.

This is the same TV her mastermind brother says he bought cause it was cheaper than hiring a hitmen, which is not true because the hitmen he actually did hire to kill Dan Markel during the exact window of time her broken TV is being assessed - was $100,000. She went to the furthest possible liquor store away from her house so she could drive past the crime scene using a short cut that is not a short cut. She admits in her police interview to driving on Trescott (which she now denies) and seeing the police tape.

She confirmed whether Dan Markel would be in town during the week of his murder and she made this confirmation at the same time she was having breakfast with her family members who almost certainly are guilty of planning and executing the murder. She is the only person connected to the conspiracy who would have any way of knowing that Dan Markel was flying out to NYC the next day and the murder had to happen on the 18th of July.

She is acting erratically and strange (and sick!) during both murder trips. She sends her boyfriend a "no contact" email a couple hours after demanding precise details about the time of his departure of his upcoming trip out of town. Its only the 2nd trip out of town he's taken in months, and the other trip was the first murder trip. The murderers rented silver cars for both trips - the first car was almost identical to his car at the time.

Then, there's all the circumstances after the murder. She tells the podcast that Dan Markel was likely killed by professional killers in 2015 before anyone in the public knew anything other than a Prius being involved. She was packing her childhood bedroom up weeks before the murder and then moved into it 2 days after the murder. She never spoke to police after July 20, 2014 but through her lawyers communicated how she and her family was fully cooperating with the investigation. She changed the kids names in any practical sense - 2 weeks after the murder and then officially 1 year later. There's so much more. She tried to get the Go Fund Me money and inquired through her lawyers about getting control of the Trust/Insurance policies. Despite not recieving 100% of the estate, she is still a major beneficiary of Dan Markels murder. She's actually the biggest winner. Financially, she doesnt have to pay lawyers, ker kids are set for life and she never has to save for their cars, houses, weddings or college. She recieves almost $5k/month in survivor benefits instead of the $800 per month in child support...AND she gets to move to Miami, which is the entire motive of this murder. There is no shortage of motive for Wendi in a Wendi trial. When Sigfredo is arrested - in her last conversations with Ruth Markel before severing the relationship between Ruth and her grandkids, she is fishing for information about what Ruth knows and who is getting arrested. She is frantic, but never bothers to phone the police to get information from them to solve the murder of her kids dad.

I think if this case went to a jury in 1993, its almost certainly a guilty verdict. I think there is still a case for conspiracy. But what are we missing? Almost all of the exculpatory evidence is from the bump (although its not ALL exculpatory). She's never on wires. She's not meeting anyone in secret. Which brings up an interesting counterfactual - what would have happened if SHE was the target in the bump? What would we know if her phones were wiretapped? We will never now. But I digress....there certainly is evidence on the wires that she might have been kept in the dark.

One thing about Wendi....as told by her friend Tamara Demko - is that she keeps everything close to the vest. Highly secretive. She's a planner but tells nobody her plans. Tamara was a good friend and she had no idea she was writing a book until it was released. She was planning the divorce for months with her lawyers and the legality of taking certain items and emptying out her share of bank accounts, without Dan or their friends having a clue.

On the other hand, she has all this built-in "plausible deniability". Why would I mention the hitman joke if I was apart of it? Why would I hand you my family? I didnt even bring up Jeff Lacasse, my friend did. etc etc etc. For all of those factors, I think it would be hard to win a case right now against her. But we only have the evidence that is public and the prosecution has used it very sparingly (like her text to DM about July 13-18). We have all Donna's incoming emails but none of Wendi's outgoing. We have seen maybe 2 or 3 of her texts during this time. Im guessing there is a lot more we don't know but obviously not quite enough for Cappleman to bring charges

if this was you or Me

Out of all 4 co-defendants convicted for Dan's murder, KM received the harshest punishment because she was convicted on all three counts (murder, conspiracy, and solicitation to commit 1st degree murder).

KM received LWOP plus two additional 30 year sentences. If the state wants to drop counts 2 and 3, I'm fine with that but I don't think they should touch the murder charge and LWOP penalty. JMO

You're right and MHOP too...If we listen to the wire taps closely between KM and CA. We hear the real "point blank" Katie and Charlie in action. That's exactly what happened to DM and what would of happened if SG and the "Bump Man" would have connected if it was a true scenario. KM and CA knew what they were charged with and what the penalties would be if found guilty by a Jury of their peers and they both chose and continued to lie and try to fool them and get away with it. Now they have to face the music. LWOP.

 

[vislaw]

I also agree that STS has become a bit of an echo chamber ff

Totally agree with you that it is better not to say stuff that you need to preemptively mitigate (my brother said a tv is cheaper than a hit man), but surprisingly the strategy initially worked. no one drew suspicion regarding her brother for a very long time. he long wait to arrest and prosecute didn't blow the conviction in this case, but in many cases this kind of late prosecution becomes stale.

Actually, suspicion was cast on Charlie and the Adelsons almost immediately. If you haven’t listened to the first season of the Over My Dead Body podcast I strongly recommend it. Matt Shearer details how the former prosecutor Willie Meggs resisted pursuing the Adelsons. See also HERE.

 

[Seattle1]

Woah. Catching up, still, sorry.

What’s with this Motion? Interesting sequence of events and claims of it coming from an alternate, here’s a tweet

https://twitter.com/x/status/1721989342527181149

I think @katiecoolady may have some insight on the alternate juror. I hope this is a big nothingburger and somebody pouting because he had the bad luck of selected last, and not making it past an alternate.

 

[Florida_marlin]

I also agree that STS has become a bit of an echo chamber ff

Actually, suspicion was cast on Charlie and the Adelsons almost immediately. If you haven’t listened to the first season of the Over My Dead Body podcast I strongly recommend it. Matt Shearer details how the former prosecutor Willie Meggs resisted pursuing the Adelsons. See also HERE.

Willie Meggs was an area Icon. He was very colorful and in the news a lot. He was an enigma. Did a lot of good in the prosecutor‘s office, but he left people scratching their heads in disbelief more than once. I often thought he liked the limelight a little too much. But, it IS a political office, so, one has to do what’s necessary to get re-elected.