GUILTY FL - FSU Law Professor Dan Markel Murdered by Hitmen #18

[cottonweaver]

I’m starting to think I have a problem! I am completely obsessed by this case. I’m listening to Georgia’s closing again, it just never gets old. As far as Donna is concerned, I wonder whether there will even be a trial. It would have been great if all of them had been rounded up and grilled in separate rooms. Law enforcement could have bluffed telling them that the others were flipping. Get them singing like songbirds. I’m probably crazy but it’s fun to fantasize about.

Snap!

Yesterday I started to looking to see if I could find the Greenbergs interview with Isom in July 2014.
Trawling through endless listings on Mentour Lawyer's channel. ( He's previously said he'd got everything by Freedom of Info requests but hasn't put it all on his channel)

ETA - he has also said, that he has every wiretap - thousands - and has said that the State should ensure that they go through every one with fine tooth comb. We could do that, gratis !

 

[B4igo2it]

Perserverence of Tallahassee concerned citizens, the Justice for Dan team, some tv news sources, and current State's Attorney staff, have all been instrumental in where we are today. There must be justice and resolution in this horrific tragedy in honor of the Markel family and the law of this land. Now, we watch those culpable, fall like dominoes .... one by one.

 

[Hiller]

Awesome posts today! I’m enjoying everyone’s input!

I agree that Wendi went to the crime scene to see if the deal was done, and I have a feeling the money was washed soon after that info was relayed back to Donna.

I also agree that there were SO MANY other creative ways DA and HA could have left the country, but I have a feeling that someone like Donna Adelson always insists on flying first class!

Such dumb people.

I disagree on WA. Again and again pains were taken to insulate her as much as possible. No way she would or needed to risk a drive-by solely to confirm. Killers were seven hours plus away from payment so no hurry. I continue to believe she was planning to stop and execute her "shock performance" at Trescott.

 

[opt]

I continue to believe she was planning to stop and execute her "shock performance" at Trescott.

How would presence of the police interfered with that performance??

 

[amicuscurie]

I disagree on WA. Again and again pains were taken to insulate her as much as possible. No way she would or needed to risk a drive-by solely to confirm. Killers were seven hours plus away from payment so no hurry. I continue to believe she was planning to stop and execute her "shock performance" at Trescott.

Dbm

 

[Gypsy Road]

I disagree on WA. Again and again pains were taken to insulate her as much as possible. No way she would or needed to risk a drive-by solely to confirm. Killers were seven hours plus away from payment so no hurry. I continue to believe she was planning to stop and execute her "shock performance" at Trescott.

Maybe. I guess that’s one tid bit we will never truly know.

Wasn’t there some talk of a previous hitman the Adelson’s paid in advance that didn’t do the deed? Is my memory correct?

 

[clearskies1]

I disagree on WA. Again and again pains were taken to insulate her as much as possible. No way she would or needed to risk a drive-by solely to confirm. Killers were seven hours plus away from payment so no hurry. I continue to believe she was planning to stop and execute her "shock performance" at Trescott.

I agree with you about insulating Wendi and it just seems risky to have her do a drive-by or stop there. Plus, even if Wendi did a drive by, would she really know if he had died? They had to expect that LE would contact her that day -- his next of kin (the boys) were basically in her care. I'm leaning towards she couldn't help herself/curious. But, I agree with @Gypsy Road -- we will probably never know. JMO and speculation.

 

[amicuscurie]

Maybe. I guess that’s one tid bit we will never truly know.

Wasn’t there some talk of a previous hitman the Adelson’s paid in advance that didn’t do the deed? Is my memory correct?

There has been some talk of that, but I don’t think it’s ever been verified. Also, Rivera seemed to think Sig knew where he was going when he first went up there, like he’d been there before. So there might have been a prior attempt with Sig.

 

[amicuscurie]

I agree with you about insulating Wendi and it just seems risky to have her do a drive-by or stop there. Plus, even if Wendi did a drive by, would she really know if he had died? They had to expect that LE would contact her that day -- his next of kin (the boys) were basically in her care. I'm leaning towards she couldn't help herself/curious. JMO.

The timing is curious to me.

 

[cottonweaver]

Not able to contribute any "oh-wow-info" today. But have questions:
IE: Did HA & DA take an Uber to airport and leave keys in an envelope at home with instructions on what to do with their belongings? It would be silly to park vehicle (that no doubt had a tracker on it by now, right?)
How much cash, if any was in their possession?
Who was the first person (besides a defense atty for DA) did HA call?
Did HA set up any crypto accounts thereby exempting the need for lots of cash?
Could DA & HA have exited the plane in Dubai? ie Jump off the plane? (also a non extradition treaty country, coincidentally)
Did HA & DA mail items (I'm thinking they did) to a foreign locale in anticipation of their departure?
And of course realizing GC is working her way up the conspiracy chain...and thinking "the weakest links" (the ones who could benefit from reduced sentences) would be the first to prosecute and roll-over on their financial benefactors? IE: You never start with the CEO, (SBF?)
There are so many different ways to leave a state surrounded by 1350 miles of coastline, geez lahweez. (Remember the man who escaped a country by hiding in a piano crate?)
Anyway...this is a tragedy that still has a lot of road ahead.

Looking forward to the Prosecution revealing all this.
Great Questions, worthy of your Websleuths moniker.

Hurry up Mr Jack Campbell - trial for 2024 please

 

[amicuscurie]

The whole thing just doesn’t seem well thought out, despite how overly thought out it seemed to be.

 

[Missyrocks5]

That is the $64,000 question! I saw somewhere that there was speculation if he had not retired in November 2016 the Adelson’s would never have been arrested. Not sure where I saw that, perhaps on Justice for Dan? Someday I hope an adept journalist gets to the bottom of this story.

Agree. His remarks were so over the top, and his obstinance so great to refuse to charge them that the TPD released all that evidence years ago because they were frustrated. The defense attorneys quoted him. That tells you how over-the-top he was. He made unprecedented remarks, and it was unprecedented for the police to release that evidence in response. Always seemed sus.

 

[Florida_marlin]

The whole thing just doesn’t seem well thought out, despite how overly thought out it seemed to be.

That seems true. If one doesn’t have expertise in a particular “operation” or ‘modus operandi’, one might think that one has thought it out well and has all the bases covered. Along comes someone with experience and points out 3-4 easy to spot errors. It‘s not that murder plotters are necessarily just generally dumb. It’s that they’re generally inexperienced (and thankfully so…wish they were generally dumb, a lot more attempts would fail). I imagine that highly skilled professional assassins get that way by lots of training and experience and, by not taking clients that have a grudge against their ex. Their clients thereby being easy to identify and generally likely to talk. Professionals won’t tolerate talkers like CA.

 

[amicuscurie]

That seems true. If one doesn’t have expertise in a particular “operation” or ‘modus operandi’, one might think that one has thought it out well and has all the bases covered. Along comes someone with experience and points out 3-4 easy to spot errors. It‘s not that murder plotters are necessarily just generally dumb. It’s that they’re generally inexperienced (and thankfully so…wish they were generally dumb, a lot more attempts would fail). I imagine that highly skilled professional assassins get that way by lots of training and experience and, by not taking clients that have a grudge against their ex. Their clients thereby being easy to identify and generally likely to talk. Professionals won’t tolerate talkers like CA.

What do they call that? The Dunning-Kruger effect? You don’t know what you don’t know.

But, one of these alleged co conspirators was a lawyer!

ETA - a lot of the time people looking to hire someone to kill someone end up hiring an undercover cop, because the person they approach to see if they “know someone” goes straight to the police. (The opposite of what Katie did). There are cases where the “dead” person suddenly shows up when the person is arrested. As soon as money changes hands you’re toast. You could argue entrapment, because if the undercover cop had not participated, no crime would have been committed.

 

[LinasK]

Grand jury indicts Donna Adelson in Dan Markel murder two days after Miami airport arrest

Donna Adelson, the matriarch of the South Florida family suspected for years in the hired killing of Dan Markel, was indicted Wednesday in his murder.

www.tallahassee.com

Several good points in this article:

Shortly before he was killed, Markel had asked a judge to bar Donna Adelson from unsupervised visits with her grandchildren because of disparaging comments she'd made about him in front of the kids.

As office manager of the family's dental practice, she also wrote and signed thousands of dollars in checks to Katie Magbanua, the mother of Garcia's children, in the months following the murder. Magbanua was never actually employed at the office.

The grand jury indictment says that on July 18, 2014, Donna Adelson "did unlawfully kill a human being, Dan Markel, by shooting with a firearm, and the killing was perpetrated from or with a premeditated design or intent to effect the death of Dan Markel." As noted by prosecutors during Charlie Adelson's trial, a conspirator doesn't have to pull the trigger to be charged with first-degree murder.
The indictment also says that Donna Adelson "did agree, conspire, combine or confederate with Charles Adelson and/or Katherine Magbanua and/or other persons to commit first-degree murder" and that she solicited her son, Magbanua and/or others to carry out the crime.

 

[Zedzded]

.

The “stock the bar party” is driving me nuts. Where is the invite? Who was the host? Why didn’t Wendi have a babysitter planned? Sure, people in FL like to drink and it wouldn’t be unusual to let your kids run around in the yard while the adults schmooze…but IMO the last thing you want to do when trying to relax over a drink with friends would be supervising two small children.

Did the cocktail party happen without Wendi? Why didn’t anyone else come forward and say “yes, we specifically asked for Bulleit bourbon, here’s the invite.”

So is there suggestion that the cocktail party was fabricated and didn't exist?

 

[alexwood]

Not able to contribute any "oh-wow-info" today. But have questions:
IE: Did HA & DA take an Uber to airport and leave keys in an envelope at home with instructions on what to do with their belongings? It would be silly to park vehicle (that no doubt had a tracker on it by now, right?)
How much cash, if any was in their possession?
Who was the first person (besides a defense atty for DA) did HA call?
Did HA set up any crypto accounts thereby exempting the need for lots of cash?
Could DA & HA have exited the plane in Dubai? ie Jump off the plane? (also a non extradition treaty country, coincidentally)
Did HA & DA mail items (I'm thinking they did) to a foreign locale in anticipation of their departure?
And of course realizing GC is working her way up the conspiracy chain...and thinking "the weakest links" (the ones who could benefit from reduced sentences) would be the first to prosecute and roll-over on their financial benefactors? IE: You never start with the CEO, (SBF?)
There are so many different ways to leave a state surrounded by 1350 miles of coastline, geez lahweez. (Remember the man who escaped a country by hiding in a piano crate?)
Anyway...this is a tragedy that still has a lot of road ahead.

I'm wondering what became of HA and DA's luggage. Wouldn't it have already made into the cargo area of the plane? If not, I guess HA could have swung by the customer service counter to try to retrieve the luggage before it was loaded onto the plane. If it was already loaded onto the plane, the next stop would be Dubai, where they could off-load it and put it on a plane back to Miami.

Then, damned if the airline wouldn't send it to HA and DA's home, so as not to inconvenience the Adelsons by forcing [HA] to make another trip to the airport. (This part kills me, if it happened!)
[This is the best I have folks, it's getting late for me!]

 

[clearskies1]

So is there suggestion that the cocktail party was fabricated and didn't exist?

In all the years of these trials I don't think I've heard the State publicly question it. I assumed that's because they were satisfied during their investigation that the party was legit.

 

[alexwood]

Awesome posts today! I’m enjoying everyone’s input!

I agree that Wendi went to the crime scene to see if the deal was done, and I have a feeling the money was washed soon after that info was relayed back to Donna.

I also agree that there were SO MANY other creative ways DA and HA could have left the country, but I have a feeling that someone like Donna Adelson always insists on flying first class!

Such dumb people.

And probably complains about the meal.

 

[amicuscurie]

So is there suggestion that the cocktail party was fabricated and didn't exist?

No, it exists. There’s an invitation. It was found in her car. I am not willing to believe a whole party and a specific brand of liquor was fabricated to make an excuse to go by that liquor store. Too much.