FL - FSU Law Professor Dan Markel Murdered by Hitmen-Donna Adelson Upcoming Trial - *5 Guilty* #28

[Wishbone]

“So what you are saying”. I don’t think I said that.

Did you see how many times I said to not come against me bc I knew I would be attacked.
Did you read Ruths quote?

I knew what was coming. Perhaps because you are not a mother?
Of course they all deserved to be arrested. I think by now you know my position.

Charlies arrest was when the oldest boy was 13.
How would the boys have had a “normal life” if the whole family was arrested when they were 5 and 7?

Did you read Ruths book?

They certainly didn't and aren't receiving a normal life being raised by those unconscionable filthy mentally entitled people. JMOO

 

[Tapeartree]

This is all based on having a mother who is not a complete psychopath. I think people could make a pretty good argument that the boys would have been far better off living without WA. It seems to escape people's memories that she killed their father.

Rob managed to flee the family home at 18 and ended up pretty stable. WA and CA were/are still under the control of equally dysfunctional parents as adults and look how they turned out. The less interaction the boys have with the Adelsons (including their mother) the better.


Note I'm not a mother, but I'm a father

This is absolutely what I think, too.

Out of all the selfishness and cruelty, it's DMs' boys that will suffer the greatest from his death. From all the evidence presented, I realize that DM would have had his boys reach their highest potential. WA is too selfish, much like her mother, to see them as anything other than possessions you would hang on a wall. Keeping them close by, isolating them, and forcing them to follow what you want them to do.

 

[DustysMom]

I don't know the answer to this question but when you think about that day it sure seems like it might have been better to organize this hit when WA and children were done away for a few days. This whole deal with her driving down Trescott, buying the liquor, getting TV fixed and the kids at school etc. seems pointless. She could have just been gone.

DM was going to NYC the next day. Had the hit been done there, on the street, by connections of LR, it would have looked like a case of wrong place, wrong time.

 

[J-Kat]

I wonder where the boys will end up if/when WA is arrested? Hopefully with DM’s side of the family, perhaps his parents. I guess all of the Adelson gang is in prison or on the way to same.

 

[ch_13]

Many of us have known or been ourselves in the middle of a nasty breakup or divorce and complained bitterly to those closest to us. I’m not sure why Wendi doing such a thing would be extraordinary such that it instigated Donna and Charlie to got out and hire hitmen. People love to build Wendi up into some “mastermind” working behind the scenes to manipulate everyone. Jeff Lacasse interview completely dispels such projections.

"Will no one rid me of this turbulent ex-husband?"

Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest? - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[iamshadow21]

This is absolutely what I think, too.

Out of all the selfishness and cruelty, it's DMs' boys that will suffer the greatest from his death. From all the evidence presented, I realize that DM would have had his boys reach their highest potential. WA is too selfish, much like her mother, to see them as anything other than possessions you would hang on a wall. Keeping them close by, isolating them, and forcing them to follow what you want them to do.

This case just reminds me so much of the killing of Howard Pilmar. And anyone who has heard about that case knows that Howard's son never accepted the verdict and never reconciled with his father's side of the family. Whatever Dan's family wishes, whatever the courts bring, Dan's sons may follow the same path as Howard's. Justice and reconciliation are sometimes, sadly, incompatible.

MOO

 

[Baba O'Riley]

I also was of the mind that there might not be enough evidence to indict WA. But then I watched Jeff LaCasse's unredacted interview with the police. https://youtu.be/WVpGpA-Qbno?si=tULJ9ZxSUxzEesZW When I saw that it was about 2.5 hours long, I thought there was no way I was going to spend that much time watching it. But I did because it was fascinating. The whole episode about the TV was especially enlightening. She invited him to watch her damaged TV, when they had rarely watched TV before. Who wants to watch a TV with a damaged screen? Wendy, apparently, probably because she needed JL to be fully aware that the TV was actually damaged and repair folks would have to come. (If they make the movie or TV series about this, this would be the part that offers some comic relief.) And then the weird stuff about her inviting him to yoga but hardly talking to him, and it seems she is breaking up with him. Then, as he walks away to his car, she wants to know exactly what time he is leaving on Friday, and I think she also asks about the route he will take? (As an aside to all this, I did question why did JL stay with this selfish, cheating, unhinged woman as long as he did, but I guess the "benefits" were good.)

 

[ch_13]

Speaking of Wendi's guilt or innocence, I really want to hear from the people who were around her at the time of the murder.

I think Jane McPherson has a story to tell. She was the person who accompanied Wendi into the police interview room and she's the one who suggested Jeff LaCasse could be the killer. Did she do that of her own volition, or did Wendi feed her a bunch of tales about JL being jealous and controlling in the days beforehand?

And, I want to hear from the friends at the lunch. How did Wendi act prior to Isom picking her up? Was she discombobulated or was she the same old Wendi? If it's true she just couldn't help herself and drove by Trescott to see the aftermath, then I think her nervousness would have been apparent to the others.

As far as I know, none of those folks have ever spoken publicly about Dan's murder and Wendi's involvement. But, I think their testimony alone could make or break Wendi's prosecution.

 

[PoisonPill]

It seems to escape people's memories that she killed their father.

Neither you nor I - nor any of us - can state that as fact at this moment. If law enforcement had conclusive proof of Wendi's orchestration of the plot, she would have been prosecuted a very long time ago as she's always been the government's ultimate prize in all this.

 

[Weki]

The government's ultimate prize in this murder has always been Donna. This has been clear since the first trial. As I've said, this turning of the actual evidence on its head to make Wendi the mastermind is a hallucination that's been propped up by endless content from YouTube grifters. JMO

 

[rescuemom]

Agreed that there is too much click bait in general in media and social media...but I have gone from not enough (your camp) to there is enough over the course of this trial. More has come out and Wendi has continued to lie her way around the facts including the day of the shooting. Certainly from what we have seen it is not the slam dunk that Donna and Charlie's cases were, but (1) I think there is more to be revealed, (2) I think her behavior and decision making in the years since her family started getting arrested has been telling. And I don't believe that a jury will buy the line that her attorney told her not to discuss the case with her family as reason for why she has always shut out the Markels and walked a tight rope with her family that reeks IMO of consciousness of guilt. She supports the murderers as much as possible except where it crosses any line into possibly getting herself in trouble. The only boundaries she has are self preservation. She loves her mother so much but cuts her out of taped communications...still willing to help at trial as long as it does not implicate herself. None of it adds up unless she was complicit and coldly self preserving.

I try to imagine how someone actually innocent would have been acting and what they would be saying. Or in her case, not saying. To me, her police "interrogation" as she likes to put it (and no one else would who has seen it) did not ring true. I found her emotional reactions staged. She served up anyone but kept repeatedly being focused on herself as a suspect. She zoomed past denial and bargaining in grief - no questions about what could be done for her ex. Just over the top crying and covering her face. Which is it - are you that horrified and care so much? The words don't back up the show of emotion.

But also she has been so coldly and strictly strategic in how she has handled relations with her family. It is clear her mother and brother are guilty - but other than refusing to discuss the case with them or get caught on taped conversations, she still aligns with them. She does not align with her brother who found the lack of concern from the family shocking and disturbing, as anyone innocent would.

My goodness, she has only reached out to the Markels after years of coldly denying them all contact in order to help her family's defense (which would include her own, don't doubt it) - not because she feels at all badly ( as any INNOCENT person would) that it has become clear her family was behind this. I don't see that she is horrified for what has been done to them.

She erased that man from her life to the point of changing her son's middle name! Yet there is zero evidence of abuse. No real reason for the level of animosity following the murder. The hatred should have dissipated. Instead, she writes in her creative writing class about what a burden her ex's murder has been on her ability to thrive with commencement speech opportunities and such in the immediate years following, and she ends her piece noting she can't complain about it because she is the one still alive. I found the lack of empathy throughout both writings shockingly tone deaf.

It is a million little things - but they all line up with guilt and not innocence to me. Right down to overreacting for years and years to Markel's email regarding foster care. She continues to purposely misconstrue the clear and understandable true intentions behind that email to fit her desire to cut them out of her sons' lives. That alone spoke volumes to me.

It is all more complex to prove, but given Donna's trial was a slam dunk, I have faith in the prosecution that they have enough for this one. Not one jury lately has seemed to think poor Wendi was the innocent. As I said before, I think Donna and Charlie were busy playing a loud game of checkers while Wendi allowed her family to think she was helpless and hapless so they would do all the dirty work. Her game was silent and a master game of chess. But she can't nail the right emotional reactions because she lacks empathy and actual innocence - so she can lose this game just as they did.

She has other things in common with the convicted murderers in her family. She feels the need to never concede one point...right down to the name Jibbers - which clearly was neither silly nor something she needed not to feel "scared" of her ex. It was mean and she won't cop to it. She lacks credibility and is tone deaf because she can't fake it. I hope she opts to testify in her own defense. She will have the best people - so that remains to be seen.

Wendi, as Katie's attorney pointed out during one of her trials, has never cared nor wanted to help find the killer. Never felt an ounce of empathy for her ex inlaws who truly did nothing to deserve her ire. Not one week later when she refused any additional interviews with LE nor years later when it became clear her own family was involved. Rob is the only good and decent human being in the bunch. His innocence is unequivocal for a reason. And it is easy to believe.

You may claim all of this only makes Wendi out to be a selfish person but not a murderer...but I think when combined with evidence - such as driving up to the crime scene tape and later repeatedly lying about that (though that testimony likely cannot be used against her), the calls with her mother and brother the morning of, the unnerving interest in her ex boyfriend's travel plans, and on and on - it adds up to just one thing. At some point she has known and could have stopped it. At the very least, she helped cover it up. But I think she knew from the beginning and set Donna in motion purposefully. Isn't it amazing that Wendi ended up set for life with assets she didn't earn, got her parents to raise her sons while she worked and traveled until she no longer needed them, loves the family that murdered her sons' father, but yet has somehow conveniently made sure to never be recorded discussing anything with any of them? In court, we saw the pain testifying caused Rob. Notice how we don't see the pain for Wendi. Wendi just keeps head tilting and parting her lips in an O to play the role she was born to play and win.

At some point she has known and could have stopped it. At the very least, she helped cover it up.

EXACTLY!!!. She needs to have her world wrinkled and be held accountable for that! Even a sentence of 5 yrs for example would change her life dramatically and bring her down to earth. Who knows the h*ll those boys have endured. They can be saved and given a path to mature and become happy men with families of their own. You don't grow up in that environment without scars. All JMO.

 

[opt]

The government's ultimate prize in this murder has always been Donna. This has been clear since the first trial. As I've said, this turning of the actual evidence on its head to make Wendi the mastermind is a hallucination that's been propped up by endless content from YouTube grifters. JMO

I don't see how anyone can believe that Wendi developed the detailed plan. She was not the mastermind. Masterminds do not cruise by the murder scene to check on their work.

I do believe that she motivated others to develop the plan. She appears to have provided crucial information to the planners.

It's time for a jury to weigh the facts and decide.

 

[Weki]

I don't see how anyone can believe that Wendi developed the detailed plan. She was not the mastermind. Masterminds do not cruise by the murder scene to check on their work.

I do believe that she motivated others to develop the plan. She appears to have provided crucial information to the planners.

It's time for a jury to weigh the facts and decide.

BBM

I agree with the bolded part as to her role. I don't believe she was the motivator for this murder. Donna's black heart drove this murder.

JMO

 

[clearskies1]

Neither you nor I - nor any of us - can state that as fact at this moment. If law enforcement had conclusive proof of Wendi's orchestration of the plot, she would have been prosecuted a very long time ago as she's always been the government's ultimate prize in all this.

I agree with your post. I believe that the State thinks that the core reason that Dan was murdered was Wendi. The state has been dropping breadcrumbs about this and her potential involvement -- her dislike of Tallahassee, her over reliance on her parents, contacting Dan re his schedule a few weeks before murder, her Trescott long cut, etc. The state may not think she was the "mastermind", but I do think they think she is the cause. JMO.

 

[rescuemom]

Speaking of Wendi's guilt or innocence, I really want to hear from the people who were around her at the time of the murder.

I think Jane McPherson has a story to tell. She was the person who accompanied Wendi into the police interview room and she's the one who suggested Jeff LaCasse could be the killer. Did she do that of her own volition, or did Wendi feed her a bunch of tales about JL being jealous and controlling in the days beforehand?

And, I want to hear from the friends at the lunch. How did Wendi act prior to Isom picking her up? Was she discombobulated or was she the same old Wendi? If it's true she just couldn't help herself and drove by Trescott to see the aftermath, then I think her nervousness would have been apparent to the others.

As far as I know, none of those folks have ever spoken publicly about Dan's murder and Wendi's involvement. But, I think their testimony alone could make or break Wendi's prosecution.

Several friends of both DM and WA have spoken out. One very close friend of WA severed her friendship with WA. One very close to DM thought from the very beginning that WA and the As did it. JMcP moved from the area and a couple, friends of DM definitely heard the other side of the legal proceedings prior to the event.

JL had a lot of info but was so smitten with WA that his perspective is IMO is that of a jilted lover who when witnessing certain things still hung around still waiting to continue the relationship. I saw the interview but he was all over the place. She used him. He did fill in the gaps possibly but he inserted way to much about how she treated him and couldn't stay on point. He had some nasty things to say about WA but evidently those things didn't bother him as along as he stayed her boyfriend. All JMO.

 

[Weki]

Obvioulsy Dan would not have been murdered if he wasn't Wendi's ex and the father of her 2 boys. So in that sense "the core reason that Dan was murdered was Wendi" and "[Wendi] is the cause" of his murder. Donna wanted to live vicariously through Wendi and controlling Wendi's life and her children was a big part of that. To fulfill this desire in Donna, Wendi was rendered helpless by her parents. Jeff Lacasse in his interview gives us some good insights into Wendi's helplessness and emotional immaturity. It is unsurprising that Wendi was a wreck in her marriage and emotionally immature in handling the divorce/custody issues. Wendi in the aftermath of the defeats in court did try to chart a new course on her own but Donna wouldn't let her. Wendi expressed personal preferences of wanting to move forward in peace, about what kind of job she wanted, and was considering buying a house in Tally.

Wendi's independence was vehemently discouraged by Donna and Charlie was roped in to bring her back under Donna's control.

Against this backdrop, the argument that Wendi was the "cause" or instigator of Dan's murder by influencing Donna/Charlie to act is simply unsupported by the evidence.

JMO

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

Interview with juror #6.

 

[Going Rogue]

I don't see how anyone can believe that Wendi developed the detailed plan. She was not the mastermind. Masterminds do not cruise by the murder scene to check on their work.

I do believe that she motivated others to develop the plan. She appears to have provided crucial information to the planners.

It's time for a jury to weigh the facts and decide.

Masterminds also don’t paint a giant bullseye on one of the MAIN coconspirators that they have coordinated a murder with. It amazes me how people can either overlook this fact or justify it by saying it was all part of her ‘master’ plan as a diversion tactic or a reverse psychology tactic. I have always said if she were directly involved, its unfathomable to me she would have suggested Charlie as a suspect AND that she would have told Jeff Lacasse days prior to the murder that Charlie had looked into hiring a hitman the previous summer.

If the two below points are true – then I’d agree she was the Mastermind, but I don’t agree with either of the below

1) Wendi named Charlie in her police interview as a reverse psychology tactic

2) Wendi told Jeff (the alleged fall guy) the hitman story days before the murder knowing Jeff would bring this up to law enforcement and it would make her look innocent – another use of reverse psychology.​

I fully believe that Wendi lied about MANY things post murder and I believe that may have started as early as in the police interview. It isn’t a stretch to believe she suspected Charlie was behind this and that thought became more of a reality as early as mid interview w/ Isom – meaning she suspected something was brewing PRIOR to and reality set in as the interview unfolded and she was recalling certain recent events – perhaps a clue was dropped in the 18-minute phone call she had earlier that morning with Charlie?

 

[iamshadow21]

I agree with your post. I believe that the State thinks that the core reason that Dan was murdered was Wendi. The state has been dropping breadcrumbs about this and her potential involvement -- her dislike of Tallahassee, her over reliance on her parents, contacting Dan re his schedule a few weeks before murder, her Trescott long cut, etc. The state may not think she was the "mastermind", but I do think they think she is the cause. JMO.

I think it's really important that without Wendi giving it to them, how would any of the others know Dan's movements or routine. They wouldn't. Because they didn't have that kind of relationship with him. But Wendi had to because they were negotiating parenting. And she could arrange her schedule and her conversation so that she knew exactly where he'd be at the moment he was meant to be killed.

Even if she did nothing else, just supplying that information makes her part of the conspiracy.

MOO

 

[Weki]

Yeah, Wendi definitely provided Dan's schedule and likely the tag number in Donna's planner was provided by Wendi. She called Rob to tell him about Jeff so she could plant that seed with LE through him. She asked Jeff about his travel plans for a reason. She knew her alibi was to be the TV repair. And she drove by Trescott that morning because she knew what was about to happen. She later went on a celebratory dinner with Charlie and threw up.

She's not on the wiretaps with Donna and Charlie after the bump. That is key. She also never signed any checks to Katie. Wendi's defense at trial would be that Donna and Charlie planned and executed this murder and that's a strong defense. Unlike everyone else who has said it was all the others except me, for Wendi that defense is actually viable.

JMO