FL - FSU Law Professor Dan Markel Murdered by Hitmen *3 guilty* #15

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Is it just me, or is it quite odd that Rashbaum constantly says, “that’s fair” after a witness concludes his/her answer to a question? I suppose it might be considered equivalent to “okay”, which is neutral.

But “that’s fair” is, to me, an evaluation of the answer, which a lawyer is not entitled to do. If he said, “that’s not fair” and nothing else after most of Sanford’s responses, for example, I’m sure it would have been shut down.

It’s minor, yet I find it both grating and odd. My complaint fits in with many here who find Rashbaum performing poorly—but my beef is less substantive and this is probably just a legal tic or bad habit he’s developed.

As has been astutely observed here regularly, there is a lot of lawyer sloppiness in this trial (notably GC’s leading questions on direct) that mostly proceeds without objection.
 
Wait I haven’t been able to listen today. He’s going to testify???

I mean, might as well. Really nothing to lose from what I’ve seen so far In this trial.

Was thinking they would advise him against that since just about everyone that knows him that has taken the stand has stated he goes on and on and on when he’s talking. That might not bode well for someone on the stand…might slip up and say something he shouldnt.

Anyway, lets see who is the better liar between him and Wendi.
 
Poor jurors. Listening to him drone on in the recordings was bad enough. Wonder if GC or SD will do the cross.
I think GC will do it.

I want her match fit for tomorrow.
Somebody needs to deliver her a light meal, a massage and dolphin sounds tonight ;)

Tomorrow morning send a boxing coach to her hotel for some warm-up and sparring & a power breakfast
 
I just didn’t see that Wendy’s divorce attorney offered anything big for the defense. Am I not grasping something?

Is anyone testifying after Charlie?
 
Wendi's divorce attorney was called to refute the prosecution claim things were coming to a head w/DM in the proceedings to limit DA's visitation rights to supervised only - which is what the State says precipitated the move to kill DM at that particular time.

IMHO the evidence played today shows just how unhinged DA can get and you would have to be nuts not to believe that supervised visits would send her into orbit.

ETA: Which is why Wendi had to lie about her mom not even knowing about or seeing that particular pleading.
 
and she's here to pretend that a 'divorce' trial was not imminent ( Contradicting what Stephen Webster, Dan's lawyer testified to a couple of days ago )
Yes, from Webster’s testimony things were only going to get more and more ugly with the post-divorce litigation. Which tends to show more motive to make it all stop. It could have continued for literally years.
 
I lived in Florida for 30 years. Most of that time, I lived 50 miles from Tally, and was a frequent visitor. Both my children graduated from FSU. The last 2 years in Florida, I lived in Tallahassee. I was living there when Dan was murdered. It’s the reason I found and joined WS. I’ll be very glad to see Charlie get whats coming to him. I hope it doesn’t stop with him.
 

Nov 1, 2023

LIVE TRIAL BLOG - AM: What happened after the Dolce Vita meeting? Prosecution plays covert call recordings​

Charlie Adelson is on trial for the 2014 murder of his former brother-in-law, Dan Markel​


The state is exhibiting evidence collected secretly. Tuesday afternoon, the jury watched a covert recording of a meeting between convict Katherine Magbanua and Charlie Adelson at a restaurant called Dolce Vita, which took place in 2016 the day after an undercover agent pretended to extort Donna Adelson, Charlie’s mother.

You can watch those recordings and catch up on the rest of testimony in Adelson’s trial here: see MSM link above

1:35 p.m.: Jury returns​

On a phone call with Magbanua, Adelson talks with her about getting a birthday date for “a married man with kids.”

The witness, agent Pat Sanford, noted that Garcia’s birthday was just days after their call.

Charlie smiled a little and shook his head when Cappleman asked him about it.

The state played another call between the two about birthdays.

“It’s my daughter’s birthday, call me. It’s your goddaughter. It’s your goddaughter’s birthday at the end of the month,” she told Adelson, according to call transcripts from the state.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes,” she replied.

“I got all these people that want me to adopt them,” he said.

“No, you already know my kids - (inaudible),” she replied.

He talks jokingly about some women in his office asking him to adopt them.

“I want to be adopted,” she replied.

“I know,” he said.

“But you don’t want to adopt me. Adopt my kids,” she told him.

Next, the prosecution plays a call between Donna and Charlie. Sanford said the messages came the same day that the undercover agent texted Donna this message:

1698875958412.png

The agent said the $100,000 is important because that was the reward offered to aid in solving Markel’s murder.

These are some transcripts from that call:

1698876006111.png

1698876042663.png

Donna and Charlie Adelson talk on the phone the day of the "bump text."(WCTV)
The prosecution noted that neither Donna nor Charlie suggested telling the texter to go to the police and obtain the reward.

When Charlie heard about the texts, he told Magbanua about it. He told her he didn’t want to her to do anything in response to the message, though.

“You’re just my friend, that’s the only reason I’m going to you,” he told her.

The prosecution is really hammering home these apparently friendly interactions between Charlie and Magbanua in an obvious attempt to poke holes in the defense’s strategy.

A central point of the defense’s argument is that Magbanua was the mastermind of Markel’s murder and extorted Charlie to pay for it. They claim she came to him after Markel’s killing and confessed to her involvement, and then she threatened his family’s safety if he didn’t pay her.

10:50 a.m.: State continues breaking down calls after morning break​

The prosecution returned from break and played the call between Magbanua and Charlie after the agent reached out to the Adelson Institute.

She told him she called that number and it was “not working,” and said she was “pissed.” Adelson told his ex that the people know who she is and mentioned her by name, and they know who her family is.

Magbanua said she was scared.

“If someone is messing with you, they’re messing with me. Is someone is messing with me, they’re messing with you.”
Charlie Adelson to Katherine Magbanua
Adelson yelled on the phone to Magbanua, urging him to go to the police. She said she tried to help him, but the phone number didn’t work.

He told her he’d find out if the Adelson Institute had caller ID so he could find the number that called the office. But the caller ID wasn’t working, his mother told him.

“Whatever it is, it’s either somebody’s f*cking with your family or f*cking with my family or f*cking setting us up,” she said.

She told Charlie she already called the number and it didn’t work.

“You go ahead and you find a f*cking phone and you call,” she told him.

So, he did call. The prosecution played that recording next.

“Someone has been calling my family. I’m trying to figure out who it is,” Charlie told the undercover.

The agent told Charlie he was calling the right number.

“Alright, what’s going on?” Charlie asked.

“Well, what’s going on is my brother Tato, okay, my brother Tato has not been taken care of. His family has not been taken care of,” the agent said.

“I don’t know Tato,” Charlie told him.

The undercover told Charlie he knew Tato did a big favor for his family, and he knew that his family was “helping out” Magbanua and Tuto. He told Charlie to “do the right thing” and help “his brother.”

Charlie said he didn’t know what he was talking about.

Under Cappleman’s questioning, the agent testified that Charlie dialed *67 before ringing the agent.

After the exchange with the undercover, Adelson called Magbanua three times, but she didn’t answer, the agent told Cappleman. At some point, however, she got back to him.

During that call, Adelson told Magbanua about his conversation with the person he believed was trying to extort his family. Here are some quotes from the exchange:

“Do the right thing, do the right thing, you know it sounds like a f*cking cop that’s fishing or an investigator or someone playing games,” he told his ex. “He’s coming up with a lot of f*cking details... because I don’t know two of the people’s names they’re talking about, and you may - you may be even the wrong Katie, and then I feel even more like a dumb *advertiser censored**.”

“Supposedly I’m giving money to you and some other other dude and your family. I don’t know these people, never met them, so it’s really interesting,” Charlie said.

Magbanua called Garcia after this.

“So I have some information for you,” she told him. She fills him in on the conversation Charlie had with the undercover, but she doesn’t say Charlie’s name.

“It’s getting too detailed. It’s somebody that, you know, for sure.”
Katherine Magbanua to Sigfredo Garcia
The pair discussed that they all should go to the police because someone is “harassing” them. She tells him to call the number. The pair go back and forth trying to verify the number.

“Just text it to me, man. Text it to me. Just text it to me,” he said.

“No, I don’t want to,” Magbanua said.

Garcia and Magbanua connected later and he told her about trying to call the number. The “blackmailer” didn’t pick up, but he said the voicemail made him seem Nicaraguan.

Adelson previously told Magbanua he sounded like he had a New York accent.

Then, Magbanua called Adelson and told him about getting his voicemail.

“When you call, do you call with a call block?” he asked his ex.

She answered in the affirmative, saying “I know how to block a call.”

“He asked me who I was and I was like, ‘None of your business,’” he said. He continued to say the Adelson family is large, and that he should’ve asked which Adelson he needs money from. Then he could confront that family member, he said.

“My mom doesn’t know who any of these people are, my dad doesn’t know who any of these people are.”
Charlie Adelson to Katherine Magbanua
Garcia texted Magbanua that he called the number three times but didn’t get an answer. He said he didn’t leave a voicemail.

But after that, she called Adelson and told him she called the number three times and left a message in Spanish.

1698876249812.png

“Whatever it is, like I’m going to handle it, point blank,” Magbanua told Adelson on the call.

“Well, I feel better. I definitely feel better. I apologize for not going and getting you a Hallmark card, but I got a little something, so,” he responded.

He offered to bring it to her, but ultimately he told her to “hit him up” and he’ll give her it.

Later, he called his mother. Most of the conversation was Charlie speaking and his mother agreeing with him.

“Do you notice the one thing, the one thing missing from everything? Never once, never once was there a threat,” he told his mother.

“Without a question, I would be beyond shocked if the family doesn’t hire their own private investigators...

What are they looking to get out of this nonsense?... If it’s money, I’ll be shocked, because the the way you collect money is you go to someone and you tell them what you’re going to do to them and you give them 48 hours and you tell them where to meet somebody...

So I’m thinking for myself, these people aren’t looking for a check. They’re not. What do you think they want you to do? What’s the one thing they want?

They want everybody to start talking. They want you to hand deliver yourself — because they think you know something — but they want you to hand deliver yourself and start talking as much as you can when you walk in...

This is not someone who is dumb, this is someone who is super smart.” Charlie said.

He also mentioned “the amount of time that’s passed is insane,” but didn’t say time that’s passed since what or when.

“When I spoke to dad he said, you know, ‘We don’t, we don’t say anything because the last thing we want to do is aggravate Wendi. She’s been through enough...’

I don’t want to scare her... She was scared from day one, she’s finally done with being scared,” he told his mother.

He and his mother agreed his sister would go to the police.

“My original feeling was to go to the police, but dad said ‘We’ve got to protect Wendi, she will be devastated...’

I think that it’s somebody playing games or fishing... and the person is doing an awful awful job of hiding who they are...

I think it’s a bunch of nonsense,” Charlie said on the call.

After the recording ended, Cappleman noted to the witness that in the call “you hear the defendant finally saying the name Katie to Donna” for the first time. The prosecutor has repeatedly noted that after the bump, the two only mentioned “an ex-girlfriend” until this call.

After the lunch break, the defense will begin cross examining the agent on the stand. He has testified for more than five hours so far.

9 a.m.: Prosecution alleges Magbanua, Adelsons, Garcia spoke in code on recorded calls after “the bump”​

We are back in court and the FBI agent is back on the stand.

The state is reviewing calls recorded between Donna Adelson, Charlie Adelson, Katherine Magbanua and Sigfredo Garcia after “the bump” in April 2016.

Here’s a video of the bump and the calls the jury listened to Tuesday: see MSM link.

In a phone call between Magbanua and Garcia, the prosecution and investigator alleges the South Florida mother was speaking in code to her former common-law husband.

Here is a chart the prosecution created of the alleged code words Magbanua used in several recordings. (see MSM link).

Garcia didn’t pick up on it at first, Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman said. The investigator testified under her questioning that Magbanua asked him to pay for charges for their children’s school.

At first, Garcia seems confused. Magbanua tells him she thinks they owe the school a balance of $65.70, but she can’t remember if it’s $65.70 or $60.57.

You can see a transcript of part of that call here: see MSM link.

The investigators said the amount of money Magbanua asked about was significant because it was the same digits as the last four numbers of the phone number the undercover agent gave Donna Adelson in “the bump.”

That number came up again in another call between the pair later where they were discussing real estate.

Here’s part of that conversation: See MSM link

The agent testified that the number Magbanua said was the correct and complete number the undercover operative provided Donna Adelson: 305-712-6570.

In a phone call between Charlie and Magbanua, Cappleman alleged the pair used terms related to buying a property as code for blackmail.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea. It wouldn’t be a good investment,” Magbanua said on the call.

“You buy the property, and then it becomes a burden for life,” Adelson said. “Every single time, somebody’s gonna keep increasing the amount... It’ll become a burden. It’ll be like a leech that never leaves you.”

An undercover agent attempted to record a meeting between Harvey and Charlie Adelson at Matsuri, a sushi restaurant. While questioning the witness about the recording, Cappleman alluded to the agent being “made,” or discovered by the persons he was trying to observe.

The agent mailed a letter to the Adelsons that said: “MY PHONE IS NOT RINGING SO YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT TATO AND WHAT HE DID FOR YOU. HE KNOWS HE IS F*CKED AND SOON SO WILL YOU.”

Cappleman also played a call between Magbanua and Charlie Adelson where they talk about TV shows and music.

“Does it feel like a lot of tension or an aggressive relationship between these two on this call?” the prosecutor asked.

“No, not at all,” the witness said.

Many calls were exchanged verifying the number. At one point, Garcia told Magbanua, “I believe that was one of the ones that I tried.”

The agent conducted another “bump” by calling the Adelson Institute and asking for Donna to say he needed to hear back from her. An employee reached out to her with his number, and then Donna called Charlie. They played that call.

Charlie told his mother that someone already called him.

“Um, the odd thing is this. That’s the same number you gave me, right?” Charlie said.

She read the number back to him: 305-712-6570

“That’s the same number, and it was called, and no one picked up,” he told her.

“I’m looking into it right now... Let me do this. Let me call somebody... And, but I wouldn’t - Mom, trust me when I tell you I wouldn’t worry at all... And I’ll tell you why, especially - especially because - what do you call it - especially because you know who it is, so let me all someone and take care of it now, okay?”

The agent testified that, in fact, no one had called that number yet.

“What happens immediately after that call?” Cappleman asked.

“I believe he calls Katherine Magbanua, if I’m not mistaken,” the agent responded.

He called her several times, leaving one voicemail saying, “It’s important. Call me.”

Eventually they got in touch.

@Niner
 

LIVE TRIAL BLOG-- P.M.: State rests, Charlie Adelson says he will take the stand tomorrow​

Charlie Adelson is on trial for the 2014 murder of his former brother-in-law, Dan Markel​


Published: Nov. 1, 2023 at 6:19 AM PDT|Updated: 1 hour ago
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - Around 8 years after his former brother-in-law’s murder, Charlie Adelson was arrested.
Now, he is on trial for the homicide. The state accused the South Florida periodontist of plotting and funding the killing to help his sister Wendi Adelson elude a contentious custody battle amid her brutal divorce with victim Dan Markel.
We are halfway through the second week of testimony.

The state is exhibiting evidence collected secretly. Tuesday afternoon, the jury watched a covert recording of a meeting between convict Katherine Magbanua and Charlie Adelson at a restaurant called Dolce Vita, which took place in 2016 the day after an undercover agent pretended to extort Donna Adelson, Charlie’s mother.

You can watch those recordings and catch up on the rest of testimony in Adelson’s trial here: See MSM link

4:16 p.m.: Charlie Adelson says he will take the stand in his own defense​


Charlie Adelson stood up Wednesday afternoon and addressed the judge. He was sworn in and told Everett he will testify in his own defense.

The state asked the judge if they can either stay late tonight or start with Adelson’s testimony tomorrow to ensure they can question the defendant immediately after the defense.

After a brief meeting between the attorneys and the judge, Everett sent the jury home early and announced testimony will resume tomorrow.

3:37 p.m.: Defense calls first witness: Wendi’s divorce attorney​

The defense called its first witness, Wendi’s divorce attorney, Kristin Adamson.

Defense attorney Kate Meyers is questioning her.

She stated that Wendi was calm when the motion to relocate was denied, the witness said.

Under the defense questioning, she also brought up Markel not paying the full settlement sum. She said Markel accused Wendi and herself of fraud and wanted to have them both disbarred. She said he could breach the contract because Wendi breached the contract by not disclosing all her finances.

The attorney said Markel argued the asset was a marital account, but he said it should have been part of the estate.

She testified under Meyer’s questioning that Markel filed a memorandum of law that was very detailed, and it made her decide to

“And I realized at that point in time that I was probably going to have to be a witness in this case... and I can’t be a witness and a lawyer... so I withdrew,” she said.

“Did you seek to withdraw because you knew you did something wrong?” the defense asked.

“No, it was only because I knew I would have to testify,” she replied.

The prosecution took over. The witness testified that it is common for divorcees to not get along and for their families not getting along.

“I guess in general would you agree that divorces come with high emotions?” Cappleman asked.

“Yes,” the witness said.

“Do clients always take your advice?” she asked.

“No,” the witness said.

“Do clients always chill out wehn you tell them there’s nothing to worry about?” the prosecutor asked.

“No,” the divorce lawyer said.

3:15 p.m.: The judge denies a motion for acquittal​

After the state concluded, defense attorney Kate Meyers asked the judge to acquit her defendant.

She said there is no proof of contact between her client and the convicted shooters, and the evidence points to Magbanua being “the mastermind.”

The state made a note in response to the motion, saying that Magbanua said she didn’t know Dan Markel’s name, she just knew that her Wendi Adelson’s ex-husband was the target, and his murder did come to fruition.

Ultimately, the judge denied the motion.

He said we’re on a break and will return at 3:30 p.m.

3:10 p.m.: The state rests its case by asking about “a fake Abe Lincoln beard and floppy hat”​

The defense handed the witness back over to the state. Prosecutor Cappleman picked up right where the defense left off.

“Point being, two years after the murder, they’re still screwing around in Wendi’s love life?” she asked.

“That’s right,” Sanford replied.

In August 2014, Magbanua and Adelson broke up, the witness testified under the prosecutor’s questioning. He said they continued to stay in touch afterward.

The state closed its case with a memorable pair of questions:

“Let me ask if you’ve ever worked on or heard of a case where an extortionist commits their crimes wearing a fake Abe Lincoln beard and a floppy hat?” Cappleman asked.

“No, I’ve not,” Sanford answered.

“Did you ever observe Katherine Magbanua or Sigfredo Garcia dress like that?” she asked.

“No, I didn’t,” the witness said.

Then, the prosecution rested its case.

2:40 p.m.: After around seven hours of testimony, the defense cross-examines Agent Sanford​

Defense attorney Daniel Rashbaum is finally talking to Sanford.

He had the witness confirm that his client did not flee, even after Magbanua’s arrest in 2016 and the leak of a probable cause affidavit in his name.

Additionally, Adelson didn’t change his phone number, the witness testified under Rashbaum’s questioning.

The witness did note that Adelson used his phone in a different capacity, only for business proceedings.

Rashbaum asked Sanford if the defendant had a burner phone. The agent said he heard from witnesses that he had a burner phone, but investigators never located or were able to prove it.

“Katie lied to Charlie when she told him she would call the undercover, right?” the counsel asked.

“Correct,” the witness said.

“Sigfredo Garcia may have called the voicemail but he didn’t leave a message, right?” he asked.

“Correct,” he said.

“Another lie by Katie?” the attorney asked.

“Correct,” he replied.

The witness testified she also lied when she said the undercover line did not work, when she said she called and got an answering machine and when she said she left a threatening message, Sanford testified under the defense’s question.

“The bump was an extortion right?” Rashbaum asked.

He said no.

“But what law enforcement didn’t know is there... had already been a previous extortion?” the attorney said.

“I disagree,” the witness said.

It’s noteworthy that Sanford is relatively chipper on the stand. He smiles frequently while answering questions.

At one point, the wire taps caught an argument between Magbanua and Garcia, and she left him, the witness said. He also said that Adelson encouraged her to get back with him.

They discuss a comment the prosecution made about Donna not going to the police but telling the fake extorter to go to the police.

“She didn’t wanna go to the police? She never went to the police, right? Charlie never went to the police?” Rashbaum asked.

The witness agreed.

“You don’t know why he didn’t go to the police?” Rashbaum asked.

“I can’t read his mind, no,” he said.

The defense questioned the witness on text patterns between Magbanua and Adelson. After Markel’s murder, he asked, did the pair text less often.

The witness said he didn’t remember.

“In 2014, do you see that the relationship though, as time goes on, gets stronger?” Rashbaum asked.

The witness said he didn’t.

“After Markel was murdered, Wendi Adelson gave” the Markels “complete access” to their grandchildren, before “the email,” Rashbaum asked the witness.

He didn’t agree it was “complete access.” The email in question is when Ruth Markel attempted to arrange for the boys to be put in foster care in the case of their mother’s arrest.

It’s a debated topic.

The prosecution says the plan for the foster care request was so the kids could have somewhere safe to stay while the Markels, who live in Canada, traveled South.

Wendi Adelson says it was just the Markels’ attempt to put her kids in foster care.

“Before the email was sent, there was a different type of access?” Rashbaum asked.

“It was better access,” Sanford replied.

The defense brought up “the Dave call,” pointing out that the Adelsons were commenting on Wendi’s choice of partner years after her ex-husband’s murder.

2:15 p.m.: Donna calls the “blackmailer”​

“Now at the time you did that I didn’t understand what you were talking about, I didn’t call you back...

I am taking you seriously, and I really want you to listen to me...

I have been so stressed out. I have spoked to 10 or 12 people who are close friends of mine... because I don’t know what to do. I don’t know your friend in jail...

I’m sorry your friend’s in jail, but I don’t know what it has to do with me...

I’m asking you nicely, I don’t know who he is I’m out of the loop it is not me,” Donna told the “blackmailer.”

“We know that your family had a problem up north. We know that problem was taken care of about a year and a half two years ago...

Katie has been taken care of...

All that’s being asked for is 5K,” the undercover agent said.

He said Tato told him everything.

“He told me everything and I know everything... and i’ll get the 100k for myself,” he said.

“I know I lost my ex son-in-law. I did not have anything to do with it,” she said.

“That’s not what my brother Tato told me, he told me everything when we were in jail,” he responded.

“I have a year of aggravation, a year and a half of aggravation over this, my daughter, my grandchildren... but it’s not me...

I don’t know who caused this but it wasn’t me...

I don’t even know, I don’t know who Tato is,” she said.

“But you know who Katie is and you know the contacts Katie has... The bottom line is you know who the f*ck Katie is. I’m not around with it. You know they took care of Katie and Katie’s people...

We know who all of you are and this ain’t going away,” he said.

“You’re looking for money, get $100,000 or whatever the reward is. It isn’t me...

I have had too much stress and too much aggravation about this and I just don’t know...

If you think you know who this is then go ahead and do it because i know it isn’t me... I cant take this kind of level of stress... I know I didn’t do anything,” she said.

After the call, she called Charlie.

“Any more nonsense from the patient?” he asked her.

“Yeah, you know those things always are aggravating,” she responded.

She told him she talked to the patient for “eight.”

“You talked to the patient for eight minute?” Charlie asked.

She said yes.

“And they were nice?” he asked.

“Oh, not really, no,” she said.

“Did they give any threats or anything?” he asked.

“Um, no,” she replied.

“That’s interesting,” Charlie replied.

“I’ll tell you about the patient tomorrow,” Donna said.

The pair made plans to get together.

Then Charlie called Katie. Here’s a part of that call:

1698877386086.png
Katherine Magbanua and Charlie Adelson talk on the phone.(WCTV)

1698877431078.png
Katherine Magbanua and Charlie Adelson talk on the phone.(WCTV)

1698877476583.png
Katherine Magbanua and Charlie Adelson talk on the phone.(WCTV)

Is law enforcement commonly referred to as pigs?” Cappleman asked the witness after the call concluded playing.

“Yes,” Sanford responded.

Charlie Adelson, with his hand in front of his mouth, smirked at the comment.

@Niner
 
I had to take a work call and so I missed the lead up. But Georgia asked Sanford about an Abe Lincoln beard and floppy hat. What the hell was that about?
 
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