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LIVE BLOG: ‘He’d been planting this seed in my head,’ Magbanua accuses Adelson
Prior to last week, the South Florida periodontist always claimed he had no connection to the 2014 homicide. But during opening statements, his defense changed course, saying he was was extorted to pay for the crime, threatened to pay or risk his family could be next.
www.wctv.tv
LIVE BLOG: ‘He’d been planting this seed in my head,’ Magbanua accuses Adelson
Prior to last week, the South Florida periodontist always claimed he had no connection to the 2014 homicide. But during opening statements, his defense changed course, saying he was was extorted to pay for the crime, threatened to pay or risk his family could be next.
MONDAY - LIVE BLOG - DAY 3 (PM)
5:56 p.m.: Court is in recess, Corbitt will return tomorrow
10/30/23
If you missed Monday’s livestream, you can watch it back here:
3:45 p.m.: Tallahassee Police communication analysis expert testifies for more than two hours on call, text, location records
Tallahassee Police Sgt. Chris Corbitt is now testifying as a communication analysis expert. He supervises TPD’s technical operations unit.The prosecution is going over phone records with him. He also went through iCloud information, business records and other cell records.
Corbitt will rely a summary of these records, which he said make up thousands of pages of documents, for his testimony, he told Dugan.
He is going over call detail records now, which could include voice texts, data, text messages and the date and time they occur. These records can also include relative (not exact) locations of calls and their length of time.
Garcia’s phone placed a 37-second call to Harvey Adelson’s phone and it went to his voicemail, investigators found in an analysis of a “tower dump.” The call location indicated Garcia was near Markel’s gym at the same time as the Tallahassee father, Corbitt testified.
Rivera was also in the capital city at the time, according to Corbitt’s analysis of phone records, the investigator said.
The day after the alleged phone call, Magbanua and Charlie Adelson discussed someone “leaving a message,” text records showed, according to Corbitt.
Adelson calls an unnamed person cowardly and "childish" for "leaving messages" in a text to Magbanua.(WCTV)
One of Garcia’s top contacts in phone records was Magbanua, the witness said. One of her top contacts was Charlie Adelson.
Investigators examine when suspects call one another back-to-back or within short periods of time because that can be significant, Corbitt said. He went over a series of back-to-back calls over an hour time with the accompanying graphic seen here:
A graphic shows a series of calls Magbanua, the Adelsons and Garcia placed.(WCTV)
A portion of phone records the prosecution reviewed with Corbitt showed it was very rare for Charlie to call his parents’ landline, but that the majority of times he did call that line, it was after the murder.
The TPD sergeant testified that some people perceive landline calls as less frequently wire tapped or safer from wire taps.
Charlie shook his head and frowned as Dugan and the investigator discussed those records.
The prosecution went over a detailed day-by-day phone records between Wendi, Magbanua, Donna, Harvey, Garcia, Rivera and Charlie in June before during the first trip to attempt taking Markel’s life and again in July leading up to and after the FSU professor’s murder.
Between 2013 and 2016, Charlie called his parents Donna and Harvey’s landline phone a total of 28 times. Under the prosecution’s questioning, Corbitt shared that he found three of those calls were placed the July 15th, three days before the murder.
Adelson smirked with his chin on his hands and shook his head, rolling his eyes, as Dugan and the witness talked about the calls to his parents’ home phone.
Phone records show his phone was not in service, which Corbitt said would be consistent with his phone being turned off, after he left Markel’s gym. It came back into service after the murder, a few hours south of Tallahassee. The first call he placed was to Magbanua, the investigator testified.
The night of the murder, Magbanua talked via phone to Garcia and Charlie Adelson. Donna Adelson texted her son Charlie that she was at his home, and he said he was almost home. Earlier that night, he and Magbanua texted about him going to her home, Corbitt testified.
Her records show she was near Rivera’s residence, then her phone stops receiving or sending calls or locations, and then the next morning it apparently turns back on and travels in a path near away from Charlie Adelson’s residence toward hers.
The morning after the murder, Charlie’s phone stopped receiving or sending out messages. Corbitt testified it was consistent with Adelson “dumping” the phone.
Magbanua repeatedly tried to reach Rivera the morning after the murder. After a flurry of calls, Garcia’s records show him traveling near Garcia’ girlfriend’s residence. Corbitt testified it was consistent with not being able to reach Rivera, so Garcia went to go get him.
“In all of the messages from the records between the defendant and Katherine Magbanua from 2014 to 2016 are there any messages where they discuss Charlie Adelson being blackmailed or extorted or violent people wanting to hurt his family?” Dugan asked.
“None that I found,” Corbitt answered.
He testified that they spoke regularly, sometimes more than once a day, in a friendly manner.
The prosecution projected many texts between the pair where they express love and friendship.
Charlie Adelson tells Katherine Magbanua via text that he feels "very lucky" to have her in his life.(WCTV)
The prosecution discussed with texts between Charlie and Donna Adelson about dissuading Wendi from buying a house.
The pair said they would’ve used it against her as “leverage.” Some jurors wrote down notes as the witness read the messages.
Donna and Charlie Adelson text about Wendi no longer buying a house.(WCTV)
The prosecution showed more texts between Donna and Charlie discussed a birthday present for Harvey.
“I can’t talk now. BUT, ill text u befofe we stop in Gainesville where I can g to the bathroom and have a moment of privacy. Then I’ll call. Pleache pick up because I will have very limited “alone” time today. Erase this text after u read it,” Donna texted her son.
“Great,” Charlie responded.
“We’ll stop in about 5 minutes and I can speak to u privately about dad’s birthday gift when I’m out of the car. I have some good ideas (winky face emoji,” Donna wrote.
“Great,” Charlie responded.
3:28 p.m.: Tallahassee Police investigator testifies on the dinner Lacasse alleges was “celebratory”
Tallahassee Police Sgt. Corey Hale is up next. He said he interviewed Jeffrey Lacasse, Wendi Adelson’s ex-boyfriend.“I met with him pretty early on in the investigation,” Hale said.
Prosecutor Cappleman questioned him about the alleged “celebration dinner” Lacasse discussed.
Wendi and Lacasse both say the dinner happened, but they conflict on the nature of the meal. It was a few weeks after Markel’s murder.
They agree that Wendi went to dinner with her brother Charlie, and that at some point Wendi vomited.
But Wendi says it was the first time she left the house after her ex-husband’s death, and she was very unhappy at the time. Lacasse testified that Wendi said her brother called it a “celebratory” dinner.
During Wendi’s ex’s testimony last week, the defense asserted that if Lacasse was worried the dinner could have been a celebration of Markel’s death, why did he wait so long to report it to police?
Lacasse had said he waited months to go to the police with his suspicions that Wendi attempted to frame him for Markel’s murder because he was afraid of Adelson.
Hale testified under Cappleman’s questioning that police questioned Lacasse shortly after Markel’s murder, when the investigation was in its infancy. Lacasse told police about the dinner at the time, Hale said.
2:50 p.m.: Defense questions financial investigator
The defense tells Hull Charlie Adelson had “no problem at all” creating a paper trail by paying for her charges on his credit card.“You couldn’t find any payment from Katherine Magbanua at all for that car?” Rashbaum asked.
The investigator said no.
Earlier today, the defense pointed out, Magbanua testified that she paid for the car.
The checks were taxed
“Couldn’t that be not a real pile?” Rashbaum asked.
The defense suggested the pile referenced in texts from the Adelsons was a note Harvey and Donna made to give to their son Charlie after their deaths.
Under Rashbaum’s questioning, Hull testified that it seemed like Magbanua received $3,000 from the Adelsons a month. The defense is accusing Magbanua of extorting their client for monthly payments.
Then Dugan stood back up to question Hull.
The prosecutor asked if Magbanua was receiving a large monthly sum of cash, would it make more sense for her to drop it once in her bank account or in small amounts throughout the month.
“I think she was trying to hide the fact that she was putting in cash and flying under the radar,” Hull replied.
Rashbaum and Adelson nodded at the investigator’s opinion.
The investigator also told the prosecutor her assessment of Magbanua and Adelson’s communications. Under Dugan’s questioning, she said it seemed Adelson often offered to help or provide to Magbanua, and that she did not threaten him.
“They seemed to have a good relationship,” the witness said.
1:53 p.m.: Investigator examines Adelson’s, Magbanua’s finances
Mary Hull, a former financial investigator for the Florida Department of Financial Services, is testifying. Her specialty is forensic accounting, she said.The investigator reviewed financial records for the Markel murder case, including the Adelsons’ and Adelson Institute’s bank accounts, she testified. She also reviewed records including bank accounts and employment records for Rivera, Garcia and Magbanua.
Additionally, the investigator looked over records related to Magbanua’s breast augmentation, checks to her from the Adelson Institute, her car title and her tax records.
After Markel’s murder, Rivera’s bank patterns changed, Hull testified. Prior to the crime, he frequently overdrafted his account. But for months after the murder, from about July to October, he no longer was overdrafting his account, according to Hull’s investigation.
But then after that time period, he began receiving overdraft fees again.
Next up was Magbanua. The investigator said she owned a car prior to Markel’s murder, and then displayed texts when Adelson apparently paid for repairs to her car in November 2014.
Charlie Adelson told Katherine Magbanua "I got u" when having a conversation about paying for car repairs she needed in 2014. She responded, "Stop paying for my shyt on your card."(WCTV)
Magbanua got a new car in December 2015, which was previously owned by Harvey Adelson, Hull said records showed. The prosecution displayed texts between Magbanua and Charlie Adelson about paying for car insurance.
They also showed that 96% of Magbanua’s breast augmentation was paid for with cash.
Jerome Obed and Charlie Adelson were roommates, according to messages Hull reviewed in Adelson’s iCloud account. Magbanua’s primary source of income was SoFi Dental, where she worked, in the year of Markel’s murder. Next were The Adelson Institute, where she claimed during her trials she worked, and Obed, who was a dermatologist.
Records show Magbanua was not employed for weeks after Markel’s murder, according to Hull and prosecution projections.
Magbanua received two checks a month until May 2016 from the Adelson Institute, Hull testified. Those checks were all signed by Donna Adelson, the investigator said.
Some of those checks were advanced pay, so she was paid before the work period was complete, Hull testified.
The checks were all sequential, meaning each check was written right after the other in a check book, according to Hull.
The payments did not pause when Magbanua got her breast augmentation surgery or when she went out of town, the investigator said.
The only employment records the Adelson Institute had for Magbanua was her payment records. Under a court subpoena, they could not produce any tax forms, evaluations, applications or other documentation.
Cash deposits were the highest in Magbanua’s accounts in summer of 2014, according to Hull.
The state exhibits graphs showing Magbanua's cash deposits from 2013 to 2016 and put them on a timeline with her employment records and important case dates.(WCTV)
The prosecution went over messages between Adelson family members discussing keeping “piles” of cash and offering cash discounts.
The prosecutor displayed texts been Adelson family members discussing moving large sums of cash.
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