GUILTY FL - FSU Law Professor Dan Markel Murdered by Hitmen #19

[clearskies1]

A few reasons:

• It's hard to sit on a story for 9+ years. Someday the complete book(s) will come out but now we have to wait another 1+ years for DA trial, and maybe another year or two after that for a final one. 2026 maybe?
• The book may provide background which is useful and won't change, like it does when Epstein mentions that DM was close to getting a University of Miami position but that WA would not be considered for the same. For those that have read the SE book, I'd be interested if it provided background about the earlier years of DA and HA in upstate New York and offer any early clues or stories about DA/HA nefarious behavior. Even the Coral Springs years would be interesting, like how hard did DA/HA drive WA to become Taravella HS valedictorian?

As an aside -- Per Lacasse (via Wendi) Dan had a job at U of M but lost it because of his abrasive personality. At 29:42 below.

 

[Zedzded]

As for the prosecution’s appetite for such a deal, the biggest unknown (to us) right now is the quality and breadth of undisclosed evidence that they have against WA. For example, we know nothing about whether they have potential testimony from her lunch friends, the TV repairman, someone at the boys’ school who could have taken a phone call from her to confirm the boys’ location, or others as yet unidentified. They also may have evidence in WA’s electronic communications that there was no reason to disclose in previous trials. I think they have a stronger case against WA than is generally assumed by us watchers. Stronger, yes. Strong enough not to deal, who knows?

I agree with you. I think they have a lot more evidence and they didn't need it for CA's trial. e.g when asked about whether she had cheated on Jeff and whether she was still on OK Cupid when dating him, she denied it. GC reminded her they had the contents of her phone and left it at that. So the inference is that WA was still on the app, was cheating and this most likely be explored in greater depth if she goes to trial.

And if they do go to trail, GC will have a field day. She caught WA out lying over 10 times, so what happens if WA goes to trial and takes the stand? Does she stand by her original lies and get ripped to shreds or does she recant her lies? Either way her credibility is ruined. Like KM - "I lied before, but now I'm telling the truth....."

 

[Blue Shakehead]

Dr. G with some interesting observations from Wendi's interview. Once he covers the whole 6 hours, the SAO should be going to the grand jury for Wendi:

 

[Blue Shakehead]

As an aside -- Per Lacasse (via Wendi) Dan had a job at U of M but lost it because of his abrasive personality. At 29:42 below.

That's coming third-hand from Wendi to Jeff, so of course its laced with Danny being a jerk. Of course, it could also still be true.

My understanding is that the faculty vote on Dan's tenure track job at U of M was split and he lost by only one vote. So it wasn't like a 7-0 "DM is unemployable jerk" vote by any stretch.

 

[Knitpicker]

As an aside -- Per Lacasse (via Wendi) Dan had a job at U of M but lost it because of his abrasive personality. At 29:42 below.

That’s what she says..

 

[Knitpicker]

He has a child/5 yr old son with a woman he 'dated' after Katie.

I think there was one in between KM and Bree. same name as a famous singer who passed..“the Bodyguard” (wasn't sure if I can say the name here.)

 

[Weki]

That's coming third-hand from Wendi to Jeff, so of course its laced with Danny being a jerk. Of course, it could also still be true.

My understanding is that the faculty vote on Dan's tenure track job at U of M was split and he lost by only one vote. So it wasn't like a 7-0 "DM is unemployable jerk" vote by any stretch.

Not trying to argue over this just thinking out loud.

I too thought that Lacasse’s assumptions about Dan’s personality are tainted by Wendi. But he does say in his interviews that he also had independent opinion about Dan’s personality. Lacasse went to FSU and has roots in that community.

I’m just wondering why UofM would turn down Danny. By all accounts he’s brilliant and Harvard educated. It seems like UofM should be fawning over him! Why was he stuck at FSU!? He worked in DC for a while. Why not Georgetown Law? JMO

 

[clearskies1]

That's coming third-hand from Wendi to Jeff, so of course its laced with Danny being a jerk. Of course, it could also still be true.

My understanding is that the faculty vote on Dan's tenure track job at U of M was split and he lost by only one vote. So it wasn't like a 7-0 "DM is unemployable jerk" vote by any stretch.

Yes, my post said: per Jeff via Wendi he had a job at U of M (not that he was looking for a job there) and lost it because he was abrasive.

 

[Knitpicker]

Yup. Not sure about Android, but with Iphones, you deleted the messages/photos etc it doesn't delete them, just moves them elsewhere. When you copy your data to a new Iphone it copies all the deleted messages. So if I was to do a data recovery on my latest Iphone it would pick up deleted messages from 4 Iphones ago. Pretty sure she would have to be using secure, encrypted apps like Whatsapp in order to prevent them finding anything incriminating. And I'll bet my house on it she didn't always use Whatsapp.

She texted Charlie “It’s sweet” an hour before the murder. (No WhatsApp) I wonder if they have more

 

[Knitpicker]

Not trying to argue over this just thinking out loud.

I too thought that Lacasse’s assumptions about Dan’s personality are tainted by Wendi. But he does say in his interviews that he also had independent opinion about Dan’s personality. Lacasse went to FSU and has roots in that community.

I’m just wondering why UofM would turn down Danny. By all accounts he’s brilliant and Harvard educated. It seems like UofM should be fawning over him! Why was he stuck at FSU!? He worked in DC for a while. Why not Georgetown Law? JMO

Could be bc he knew Wendi wanted UM. So he was counting on getting in there. So Florida was where he would end up. And UM was where she wanted to be. I’m sure her parents wanted to retire on S Beach. It was all a plan.

 

[clearskies1]

Not trying to argue over this just thinking out loud.

I too thought that Lacasse’s assumptions about Dan’s personality are tainted by Wendi. But he does say in his interviews that he also had independent opinion about Dan’s personality. Lacasse went to FSU and has roots in that community.

I’m just wondering why UofM would turn down Danny. By all accounts he’s brilliant and Harvard educated. It seems like UofM should be fawning over him! Why was he stuck at FSU!? He worked in DC for a while. Why not Georgetown Law? JMO

Yes, Lacasse was upfront about hearing things from Wendi's perspective, not Dan's. I wasn't vouching for what Lacasse said -- my main point was really that he wasn't looking for a job at U of M. He had one and basically lost it, and per Lacasse (via Wendi), it was because of his personality. There is a little more about it a couple of minutes earlier in that video. I think Jeff was discussing it in terms of Wendi's resentment about the move to Tally after the U of M job ended.

 

[Weki]

Yes, Lacasse was upfront about hearing things from Wendi's perspective, not Dan's. I wasn't vouching for what Lacasse said -- my main point was really that he wasn't looking for a job at U of M. He had one and basically lost it, and per Lacasse (via Wendi), it was because of his personality. There is a little more about it a couple of minutes earlier in that video. I think Jeff was discussing it in terms of Wendi's resentment about the move to Tally after the U of M job ended.

Oh so they lived in Miami first? He lost the job then they moved to Tally??? Ohhhhhh…..

 

[Blue Shakehead]

Not trying to argue over this just thinking out loud.

I too thought that Lacasse’s assumptions about Dan’s personality are tainted by Wendi. But he does say in his interviews that he also had independent opinion about Dan’s personality. Lacasse went to FSU and has roots in that community.

I’m just wondering why UofM would turn down Danny. By all accounts he’s brilliant and Harvard educated. It seems like UofM should be fawning over him! Why was he stuck at FSU!? He worked in DC for a while. Why not Georgetown Law? JMO

There is an interesting transition in Jeff Lacasse's thinking towards Dan Markel. In his first two interviews within a week or two of the murder, he clearly describes Markel as the worlds biggest who was emotionally abusing Wendi. He was surprised at all the eulogies at DM's funeral because he was under the impression that nobody liked him.

In his March 2015 interview, when he's come out of Wendi's spell and there's like a kindred spirit thing going on. Band of Brothers. He now understands DM (and particularly his characterization of Wendi) in a way that very few people do. He understands that DM was well loved and a loving father and the stuff he was saying about Wendi being a sociopath, pathological liar and mentally unstable were all true.

As for Dan's career prospects, ironically - my information is coming from Epstein (who is a dunce on his conclusion on WA's guilt, but imagine his biography on DM is accurate given that he spoke to many of his friends.) Epstein said DM had offers from universities in St. Louis, Houston and Washington and also great prospects at Berkley - these offers were well after he was already entrenched in Tallahassee. DM and WA considered them but by then Wendi was pregnant and DM had put roots down in Tallahassee. Apparently, at his first job fair, DM struck out and got zero offers and he really had to do some soul searching and figure out why he wasn't getting scooped up. It was after that, he got his bearings and started getting offers.

I have no reason to doubt that DM could come off as abrasive, rude, elitist or arrogant. I think a lot of people have described him that way. But he also cast a massive social net and connected with a huge number of people - with very intense, lasting and loyal friendships.

 

[amicuscurie]

Just listening to an interview with Steven Epstein who authored the Extreme Punishment book on the murder of Dan Markel. Interview is with Asian American Legal Focus (Judy)'s YouTube channel.

He thinks Wendi had absolutely nothing to do with the murder and that Charlie and Donna did this behind Wendi's back. What a dunce.

He still thinks that? Even after that text asking if Dan would be home?

 

[clearskies1]

Oh so they lived in Miami first? He lost the job then they moved to Tally??? Ohhhhhh…..

I believe they were dating (maybe engaged?) when he was working at U of M. She was enrolled at U of M Law School -- somehow I think she finished U of M Law School when they moved to Tally. Wendi Adelson and Dan Markel (Published 2006)

 

[Blue Shakehead]

He still thinks that? Even after that text asking if Dan would be home?

Who knows, I don't think he's done any press since Charlie's trial.

Like Jane Macpherson and Tova Walsh or anyone else left on the sinking "Team Wendi" ship - its very difficult for people who have firmly entrenched views to do a 180 and change their opinions, even when presented with new facts. Its one of the many weaknesses of our species. Of course, I like to think I'm an exception to this rule, but I seriously doubt it. I've just always thought she's guilty - so even if I was presented with absolute proof that she was innocent, I would still think she's guilty as hell. lol.

 

[amicuscurie]

A few reasons:

• It's hard to sit on a story for 9+ years. Someday the complete book(s) will come out but now we have to wait another 1+ years for DA trial, and maybe another year or two after that for a final one. 2026 maybe?
• The book may provide background which is useful and won't change, like it does when Epstein mentions that DM was close to getting a University of Miami position but that WA would not be considered for the same. For those that have read the SE book, I'd be interested if it provided background about the earlier years of DA and HA in upstate New York and offer any early clues or stories about DA/HA nefarious behavior. Even the Coral Springs years would be interesting, like how hard did DA/HA drive WA to become Taravella HS valedictorian?

It didn’t have much in D and H before they met, or on their lives in Coral Springs, really. Just that Wendi was very successful/golden child.

 

[amicuscurie]

Even if WA was not offered a position in UofM that would not have stopped her from moving there if Dan had a job offer. She hates Tally and was offered a job by family friend Gary Cohen at his law firm in Miami. I can’t imagine her saying, ‘oh UofM won’t offer me a job too? Well we’re not moving then.’ Lacasse says the UofM job fell through due to Dan himself.

JMO

Per Epstein: They didn’t give Dan a job because, in part, they didn’t want to have to give Wendi a job. He was hired in a trial basis for a semester, and he got her a job as a “spousal hire” at a legal clinic there (like he did at FSU) for a year. They didnt vote to keep him, and one of the reasons (there were others) had to do with them not wanting her. He left after one semester, but they agreed that shw would stay until the end of the year because she wanted to be in So Fla.

 

[clearskies1]

In terms of Wendi, I wonder what evidence they have about the first Tally trip made by SG and LR. Are there suspicious calls among Wendi/Donna/Charlie during that trip? Was Wendi looped in on the second Tally trip but not the first one?
JMO.

 

[clearskies1]

Per Epstein: They didn’t give Dan a job because, in part, they didn’t want to have to give Wendi a job. He was hired in a trial basis for a semester, and he got her a job as a “spousal hire” at a legal clinic there (like he did at FSU) for a year. They didnt vote to keep him, and one of the reasons (there were others) had to do with them not wanting her. He left after one semester, but they agreed that shw would stay until the end of the year because she wanted to be in So Fla.

They were not married yet and she had not graduated from U of M law school when he was working at U of M -- so it would be unusual if U of M hired her to work at a legal clinic as a spousal hire when he was working there. Wendi Adelson and Dan Markel (Published 2006)

ETA: Sorry, just realized that my post is incorrect. They were married when he was working at U of M. See later posts in this thread.