A wealthy mom in Florida was arrested last month for hiring a hitman to kill her son-in-law, police said.
According to PEOPLE, 73-year-old Donna Adelson was arrested at Miami International Airport as she was boarding a flight to Vietnam with her husband, Harvey Adelson.
Donna is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and solicitation to commit first-degree murder in the death of Florida State University law professor Dan Markel in 2014.
This comes just a week after her son, Charlie Adelson, was convicted on the same charges for killing the 41-year-old Markel.
Three others have also been convicted in connection with the murder of the law professor, a father of two who was killed while sitting in his car in the garage of his home in Tallahassee.
Prosecutors said that Charlie enlisted the help of his then-girlfriend, Katherine “Katie” Magbanua, to hire the father of her children, Sigfredo “Tuto” Garcia, to kill Markel.
Garcia, the alleged triggerman who traveled from Miami to Tallahassee with his longtime friend, Luis “Tato” Rivera, to carry out the assassination, was convicted in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years for conspiracy.
The probable cause affidavit describes Donna’s alleged role in Markel’s murder because she was upset that he had refused to let her daughter, Wendi Andelson, relocate to South Florida with the kids so they could be nearer to her and her family.
“Wendi indicated her parents were very angry at Markel and further suggested that someone could have arranged the murder thinking it would help her,” the affidavit claims.
According to the affidavit, the murder “was arranged through Katherine Magbanua, Charlie Adelson and Donna Adelson,” and there is probable cause to think that Garcia and Rivera killed Markel.
After Wendi filed for divorce in September 2012 and their divorce was finalized in July 2013, Markel was killed over a bitter custody battle.
It is unclear whether Donna has retained an attorney who can speak on her behalf. She is currently in jail without bail, pending a transfer to Tallahassee. Meanwhile, her son Charlie will be sentenced in December and faces a mandatory life sentence.
