GUILTY FL - Dan Markel, 41, FSU Law Professor, Tallahassee, 18 July 2014 *arrests* #12

[vislaw]

Had LR's and SG's phones not been powered on in the vicinity of Premiere gym the morning of the murder I don't know if this would have been solved. They couldn't make out the license plate on the Prius from the Premiere security camera. But the motive was obvious and the risk was great. JMO.

Of course, this is all speculation. However, I believe the lead of seeing a green Prius stalking Dan at Premier Gym would have led to the bus footage and identification of the license number. Just my speculation, of course.

 

[Deleted member 302228]

@vislaw they never were able to enhance that license plate despite best efforts, came up at trial #1.

The retired detective going through registration records by hand in the attic of a fleabag hotel...he wasn't going to let this one go. A mystery novel cliche brought to life. The orchestrators never expected a small-town detective to blow this wide open. CA keeps talking about FBI. But they only got those wiretaps because a real-life Detective Bosch refused to let this one go.

 

[Ferpo]

@vislaw they never were able to enhance that license plate despite best efforts, came up at trial #1.

The retired detective going through registration records by hand in the attic of a fleabag hotel...he wasn't going to let this one go. A mystery novel cliche brought to life. The orchestrators never expected a small-town detective to blow this wide open. CA keeps talking about FBI. But they only got those wiretaps because a real-life Detective Bosch refused to let this one go.

Not exactly small town, Tallahassee metro area is population 380,000 (126th in the USA) and the city itself has more people than Ft. Lauderdale proper (200K vs. 183K). But I know what you mean, it was likely perceived by the suspected masterminds to be be backwoods including LE.

 

[Deleted member 302228]

Cmon, 3 million people live down here in the Miami metro area.

 

[Ferpo]

Cmon, 3 million people live down here in the Miami metro area.

6 million actually. Still wouldn't change my definition of a small town. Tarpon Springs (25,000) is a small town, as is Bonifay (2,600) where SG is. Tallahassee isn't.

 

[Blue Shakehead]

(snip)

It amazes me that Charlie and Donna would believe they could commission a hit through such amateurs and get away with it. With a motive so obvious and a victim so prominent and clean, wouldn't almost anybody intelligent figure there is a strong likelihood of being caught? I mean, an execution???? You would think they would have tried a break-in at night in a burglary-gone-wrong scenario. Break a window and steal some stuff etc.

This is very interesting. I'm a bit hesitant to call Garcia and Rivera rank amateurs, just because I don't think there are many truly professional hitmen with the exception of the mafia families from the 70s and 80s. I think finding someone to kill a stranger on your behalf is extremely difficult, even if you lived in south side Chicago - let alone if you're a middle class person or an upper-class dentist family.

I think some of the amateur-ish components of the crime like the timing of the hit: a broad-day execution in his driveway speak more to desperation of the people who hired the killers than to the killers themselves. Garcia and Rivera had already been down on a trip to Tally on a 2 nights/3 day trip, familiarizing themselves with the city, stalking Markel and getting to know his routine and potential routes. They were supposed to kill him then.

But on the murder trip, they got in just after midnight on the 17th and murder him less than 12 hours later. Dan Markel HAD to be killed on the 17th - no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Why July 17th? Why not September 5th or some other day? Now, Im sure the Adelsons might have preferred it to go down a certain way....but that message never made it to the killers. Rivera doesnt ever mention a plan to make the hit look like something else - home invasion/car jacking/accident, etc.The priority was the murder. The details were less important. They might not have even wanted to know the details. So the timing was rushed by the Adelsons...maybe cause Charlie was already hustled out of some money and didn't think it would happen? Not sure...

Now, Garcia and Rivera did some incredibly stupid things - renting the cars in their names, using their own phones and not getting burners. On the phones question: we now know that cell phone locations can be tracked pretty easily but in 2014, when the iPhone 4s and 5s were most prominent, was this general knowledge? Maybe it was, I am not a cell phone expert or a criminal. Either way, using their phones was incredibly dumb. Also being drunk and high on cocaine and shooting the rental car by accident. But I'm just convinced that the kind of people you'd find to murder someone are going to ever be doing a clean job. They are going to be violent gangbangers, with some street smarts but they aren't former SEALS. They are going to make mistakes.

 

[jbc]

...I think finding someone to kill a stranger on your behalf is extremely difficult, even if you lived in south side Chicago - let alone if you're a middle class person or an upper-class dentist family.

This is correct and is the part I am having a very difficult time with.

The only basis for believing that Charlie is some underworld inhabitant is the statement that he lives "on both sides of the tracks." That statement comes from LaCasse who, for all his perceptive observations of Wendi, doesn't seem like he would have the life experiences to know what's on the other side of the tracks or even where the tracks are. Talk to him about university undergraduates' remedial studies and faculty senate meetings, and that's his world.

Of course, the "both sides of the tracks" statement comes from Charlie himself, who is filled with braggadocio and bravado.

Is Charlie really living in this Miami underworld when he's not installing crowns?
Is Charlie hanging out with Calderone and Lombard down there in Miami??? (tip of the hat to whoever knows those references).

I doubt it. It's laughable.
He's rich, lilly white, and I believe he is a charlatan, poser, and p..ssy.
Frankly, I think that to say "on the other side of the tracks" is a euphemism used by people who don't know what that means.
If Charlie crosses those tracks, I bet he doesn't venture far across.

So, how does Charlie find Katie who has the experience and means to organize a contract killing? Random philandering?
Way too improbable.

The more I think about this, the more I think that the story is much deeper. Katie's absolute reticence to admit anything helps reinforce my view. Occam's razor applies, but not to make a cartoon.

 

[vislaw]

Another somewhat maddening exchange from Ms. Kawass' Instagram:

joe_waczewski
@tarakawass just answer me this simple question: if Katie is so innocent as you say she is, why didn’t she go to the police immediately as soon as Charlie started plotting?

tarakawass
@joe_waczewski I’m not understanding the question. The guilty verdict doesn’t change the evidence. She did not know - notice the prosecutor herself couldn’t point to one piece of direct evidence in her rebuttal. Why wouldn’t she take the deal if she were guilty?? Answer me that.

***
I find her implication of Katie's high morality rather disingenuous. Katie had no compunction defrauding Medicaid, committing tax fraud, lying to everybody she communicated with, and apparently encouraging her convicted murderer husband to lie for her at this trial (a ploy that was thwarted only because of jailhouse phone recordings). Tara's extraordinary commitment to Katie's innocence kind of smells like fear that Katie will fess up. ... Very interesting indeed.

 

[clearskies1]

This is very interesting. I'm a bit hesitant to call Garcia and Rivera rank amateurs, just because I don't think there are many truly professional hitmen with the exception of the mafia families from the 70s and 80s. I think finding someone to kill a stranger on your behalf is extremely difficult, even if you lived in south side Chicago - let alone if you're a middle class person or an upper-class dentist family.

I think some of the amateur-ish components of the crime like the timing of the hit: a broad-day execution in his driveway speak more to desperation of the people who hired the killers than to the killers themselves. Garcia and Rivera had already been down on a trip to Tally on a 2 nights/3 day trip, familiarizing themselves with the city, stalking Markel and getting to know his routine and potential routes. They were supposed to kill him then.

But on the murder trip, they got in just after midnight on the 17th and murder him less than 12 hours later. Dan Markel HAD to be killed on the 17th - no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Why July 17th? Why not September 5th or some other day? Now, Im sure the Adelsons might have preferred it to go down a certain way....but that message never made it to the killers. Rivera doesnt ever mention a plan to make the hit look like something else - home invasion/car jacking/accident, etc.The priority was the murder. The details were less important. They might not have even wanted to know the details. So the timing was rushed by the Adelsons...maybe cause Charlie was already hustled out of some money and didn't think it would happen? Not sure...

Now, Garcia and Rivera did some incredibly stupid things - renting the cars in their names, using their own phones and not getting burners. On the phones question: we now know that cell phone locations can be tracked pretty easily but in 2014, when the iPhone 4s and 5s were most prominent, was this general knowledge? Maybe it was, I am not a cell phone expert or a criminal. Either way, using their phones was incredibly dumb. Also being drunk and high on cocaine and shooting the rental car by accident. But I'm just convinced that the kind of people you'd find to murder someone are going to ever be doing a clean job. They are going to be violent gangbangers, with some street smarts but they aren't former SEALS. They are going to make mistakes.

The shooting happened on July 18, not July 17. SG and LR were in Tally a full day before the shooting. Although I don't think that changes your analysis.

• July 16, 2014 — Police say suspects Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera travel to Tallahassee from North Miami based on cellphone records, surveillance footage and car rental information.
• July 17, 2014 — Police say suspects arrive in Tallahassee just after midnight, according to cell phone records. Records also indicated that phones are in the vicinity of Markel’s home, according to TPD. Unknown witness says he rents motel room for Garcia and Riviera on N. Monroe Street.
• July 18, 2014 – Dan Markel shot in the head in the garage of his Betton Hills home around 11 a.m. Pronounced dead at a hospital in the area later that day. Extended timeline of key dates in the Dan Markel murder case

 

[Blue Shakehead]

This is correct and is the part I am having a very difficult time with.

The only basis for believing that Charlie is some underworld inhabitant is the statement that he lives "on both sides of the tracks." That statement comes from LaCasse who, for all his perceptive observations of Wendi, doesn't seem like he would have the life experiences to know what's on the other side of the tracks or even where the tracks are. Talk to him about university undergraduates' remedial studies and faculty senate meetings, and that's his world.

Of course, the "both sides of the tracks" statement comes from Charlie himself, who is filled with braggadocio and bravado.

Is Charlie really living in this Miami underworld when he's not installing crowns?
Is Charlie hanging out with Calderone and Lombard down there in Miami??? (tip of the hat to whoever knows those references).

I doubt it. It's laughable.
He's rich, lilly white, and I believe he is a charlatan, poser, and p..ssy.
Frankly, I think that to say "on the other side of the tracks" is a euphemism used by people who don't know what that means.
If Charlie crosses those tracks, I bet he doesn't venture far across.

So, how does Charlie find Katie who has the experience and means to organize a contract killing? Random philandering?
Way too improbable.

The more I think about this, the more I think that the story is much deeper. Katie's absolute reticence to admit anything helps reinforce my view. Occam's razor applies, but not to make a cartoon.

Re: Charlie - I think you have hit the nail squarely on the head.

But overall, really great thinking and writing. This post reminds me of an old Rumsfeld quote "There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know". Unreal post.

 

[clearskies1]

I have a memory that the State alleged that Dan's motion to only allow Donna to have supervised visits with the kids (because she was allegedly bad-mouthing Dan to them) was the motive for the murder/timing of the murder. That motion may have been scheduled to be heard around July 18. JMO.

 

[vislaw]

I have a memory that the State alleged that Dan's motion to only allow Donna to have supervised visits with the kids (because she was allegedly bad-mouthing Dan to them) was the motive for the murder/timing of the murder. That motion may have been scheduled to be heard around July 18. JMO.

The Sun Sentinel reported this: A hearing was scheduled for May, but it was postponed. Markel, who had the boys under his care when he was shot, died before a new hearing date was set.

 

[BagainstCrime]

This is correct and is the part I am having a very difficult time with.

The only basis for believing that Charlie is some underworld inhabitant is the statement that he lives "on both sides of the tracks." That statement comes from LaCasse who, for all his perceptive observations of Wendi, doesn't seem like he would have the life experiences to know what's on the other side of the tracks or even where the tracks are. Talk to him about university undergraduates' remedial studies and faculty senate meetings, and that's his world.

Of course, the "both sides of the tracks" statement comes from Charlie himself, who is filled with braggadocio and bravado.

Is Charlie really living in this Miami underworld when he's not installing crowns?
Is Charlie hanging out with Calderone and Lombard down there in Miami??? (tip of the hat to whoever knows those references).

I doubt it. It's laughable.
He's rich, lilly white, and I believe he is a charlatan, poser, and p..ssy.
Frankly, I think that to say "on the other side of the tracks" is a euphemism used by people who don't know what that means.
If Charlie crosses those tracks, I bet he doesn't venture far across.

So, how does Charlie find Katie who has the experience and means to organize a contract killing? Random philandering?
Way too improbable.

The more I think about this, the more I think that the story is much deeper. Katie's absolute reticence to admit anything helps reinforce my view. Occam's razor applies, but not to make a cartoon.

Per WA's interview, LaCasse is a military veteran and a social worker. Social workers work on the other side of the tracks, quite often!

 

[Blue Shakehead]

Another somewhat maddening exchange from Ms. Kawass' Instagram:

joe_waczewski
@tarakawass just answer me this simple question: if Katie is so innocent as you say she is, why didn’t she go to the police immediately as soon as Charlie started plotting?

tarakawass
@joe_waczewski I’m not understanding the question. The guilty verdict doesn’t change the evidence. She did not know - notice the prosecutor herself couldn’t point to one piece of direct evidence in her rebuttal. Why wouldn’t she take the deal if she were guilty?? Answer me that.

***
I find her implication of Katie's high morality rather disingenuous. Katie had no compunction defrauding Medicaid, committing tax fraud, lying to everybody she communicated with, and apparently encouraging her convicted murderer husband to lie for her at this trial (a ploy that was thwarted only because of jailhouse phone recordings). Tara's extraordinary commitment to Katie's innocence kind of smells like fear that Katie will fess up. ... Very interesting indeed.

Kawass is bordering on insufferable at this point. Not only is she disingenuous about Katie's morality, she's actually disingenuous about everything including how she completely evaded the very simple question she was responding to. Even the way she asks witnesses "how they are doing?" as if she actually gives a flying how they are doing, is disingenuous.

But perhaps the worst thing about her is that she actually plays very dirty. Despite pre-trial motions barring her from garnering sympathy about Katie's mother dying, her child's autism or the fake "immunity" offer that never happened....she asked direct questions about all of these things, hoping to get them on record. She also tried to get Cappleman tossed off the case based on trumped up allegations that Georgia mislead the court in the first trial, when in fact it was two very minor technical mistakes by witnesses, one of which actually helped the defense. She's on Instagram complaining about the Judge not allowing exculpatory evidence. Just extremely childish and unprofessional behaviour.

In closing, when Kawass challenged Cappleman to explain why Katie wouldn't take a deal, I really liked Georgia's rebuttal but I really wish she would have added: "I'm not going to take up the Defense on their challenge because the Defense didn't even have the guts to live up to their own challenge. In their opening statement, they told you that they were going to prove beyond any doubt that Charlie Adelson and Sigfredo Garcia planned and carried out this murder together behind Katies back. Well, we have been here for 2 weeks. Where is it? What is this proof? I'd love to see it. And I am sure you would too. But we didn't see it because there is not even a shred of evidence of this. Its a fantasy. A made up story. And thats why Ms. Kawass is not talking about this in her closing, so she wants to distract you with anything else. Especially the evidence. She does not want you to look at the evidence."

 

[clearskies1]

BBM:

Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.181

Rule 3.181 - NOTICE TO SEEK DEATH PENALTY
In a prosecution for a capital offense, if the prosecutor intends to seek the death penalty, the prosecutor must give notice to the defendant of the state's intent to seek the death penalty. The notice must be filed with the court within 45 days of arraignment. The notice must contain a list of the aggravating factors the state intends to prove and has reason to believe it can prove beyond a reasonable doubt. The court may allow the prosecutor to amend the notice upon a showing of good cause.

FL. R. Crim. P. 3.181

Amended by 200 So.3d 758, effective 9/15/2016; adpted effective 9/15/2016.
Committee Note.

2016 Amendment. This is a new rule, in response to legislation, and intended to complement Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.202 (Expert Testimony of Mental Mitigation During Penalty Phase of Capital Trial; Notice and Examination by State Expert) and 3.780 (Sentencing Hearing for Capital Cases).

 

[GordonX]

someone should ask Kawass who is paying her and why is she keeping it secret. what's she hiding? also, ask Kawass if it's just a coincidence that DeCoste and Markus share the same office.

 

[AlferdPacker]

someone should ask Kawass who is paying her and why is she keeping it secret. what's she hiding? also, ask Kawass if it's just a coincidence that DeCoste and Markus share the same office.

@GordonX - if she makes a deal, how would you explain that?

 

[vislaw]

someone should ask Kawass who is paying her and why is she keeping it secret. what's she hiding? also, ask Kawass if it's just a coincidence that DeCoste and Markus share the same office.

A guy who apparently is an adjunct professor asked her directly who was paying for the defense:

joe_waczewski
@tarakawass So confess… who’s really paying you to defend Magbanua? Is Wendy Adelson sending you that money through an intermediary to keep her ? If she’s so “innocent” as you say she is, why didn’t she go to police to tell on Charlie as soon as Charlie started plotting ?

tarakawass
@joe_waczewski because she didn’t do it! If you or the state can’t answer that question then there’s a problem. And we already showed the judge who paid our legal fees in 2017. Why can’t you use common sense instead of buying into the drama and lies spun by the media. You answered your own question. We showed the judge back in 2017 exactly who and how we were paid. Also she was declared indigent after her last trial. I expected little more research from adjunct professor before making a comment like that.

joe_waczewski
@tarakawass no need to belittle me with those putdown comments. I didn’t do that to you. I was asking you directly about it. You are pretty arrogant and condescending.. I can tell.

tarakawass
@joe_waczewski that was a put down comment - suggesting that I am unethical and accepting payments in an underhanded way. This was decided by a judge months ago but you still make the insinuation. In what way did I belittle you besides answer your question.

tarakawass
@joe_waczewski and this is not a put down comment?? Your previous comments were. Unnecessary

tarakawass
@joe_waczewski how did you you expect me to react when you make an unfounded accusation about my ethics as an attorney? Especially when it is out there that a judge determined that No Adelson had nothing to you with our representation. Your comment was offensive.

joe_waczewski
@tarakawass I wasn’t making any suggestions. I wanted to clarify who was paying for her defense.. unless you were spending millions probono or taking something from someone else …

tarakawass
@joe_waczewski you specifically asked if we were accepting payment from Wendi through an unknown intermediary. Those were your words. And we answered years ago in a hearing with receipts. If it was good enough for the Judge why isn’t it good enough for you?

joe_waczewski
@tarakawass with all due respect, regarding Katie’s “innocence” , it’s just too “coincidental” that two gangsters related to her will all of a sudden decide out of their own volition to drive to Tallahassee to target Dan Markel without Katie’s knowledge at least …

 

[Florida_marlin]

It is interesting to imagine how things would have proceeded had Dan's neighbors not been at home to make the quick report of seeing a "Prius-like vehicle." Certainly, that helped law enforcement immensely, but in its absence wouldn't the police have pulled the CCTV footage from Premier Gym to see Markel being stalked by the Prius? And aside from that, the bitter divorce and acrimony among the Adelsons would have led the investigation down that path anyway. There literally isn't any other plausible motive. My point is that I believe the identify of Garcia and Rivera would have been learned eventually along with Katie's link to Charlie.

It amazes me that Charlie and Donna would believe they could commission a hit through such amateurs and get away with it. With a motive so obvious and a victim so prominent and clean, wouldn't almost anybody intelligent figure there is a strong likelihood of being caught? I mean, an execution???? You would think they would have tried a break-in at night in a burglary-gone-wrong scenario. Break a window and steal some stuff etc.

Hate, Haughtiness and Hubris. Combine those three H’s into a cocktail and it’s led to a lot of murders and a lot murderers getting caught. With this outfit, they had enough of all three to go around.

 

[Montrealaise]

Donna Adelson: Wendi, this isn't good news for us, is it?
Wendi Adelson: Don't worry mom. If they had any evidence we would have already gone to the airport.

I'll bet the two of them have been googling "which countries don't have an extradition treaty with the US?" (Answer: several including China, Russia, North Korea, Vietnam and the UAE).