Days after her son’s conviction, police arrested Donna Adelson at the Miami International Airport on Monday night, November 13. She now faces murder charges stemming from the murder-for-hire case of her former son-in-law Dan Markel. According to ABC 15 News, a rand jury indicted her on Wednesday on several charges including murder. These are first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and solicitation to commit first-degree murder.
Last week, on November 6, a jury convicted Donna’s son Charlie Adelson on similar charges in Markel’s 2014 shooting death. He is yet to be sentenced but faces the possibility of life in prison. The victim, a 41-year-old FSU law professor, died at a hospital after being fatally shot on July 18, 2014, in his Tallahassee home. The case has previously seen three other convictions, including the two hired hitmen.
Where is Donnal Adelson now?
According to the Tallahassee Democrat, investigators claimed that Donna Adelson was complicit and a flight risk. They cited several jailhouse calls she made to her convict son Charlie Adelson, saying that she was putting her financial affairs in order. The 73-year-old also told her son about her plans to leave, likely by fleeing the country. The calls also revealed that “she is getting things in order, creating trusts, and making sure her grandchildren are taken care of.”
The U.S. Sun reported that authorities claim Donna solicited her son and the hitmen into murdering her former son-in-law, Dan Markel. The victim was reportedly in the middle of a custody battle with her daughter Wendi Adelson. The outlet stated that the mother-son duo, the two hitmen – Luis Rivera and Sigfredo Garcia – as well as Charlie’s ex-girlfriend Katherine Magbanua orchestrated the plot.
Per the same report, Donna Adelson is currently in custody at the Miami-Dade Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. In the coming weeks, she will be transferred to the Leon County Detention Facility, Charlie is currently awaiting his sentence at the same facility.
Reportedly, Rivera pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2016, receiving a 19-year sentence. He also testified against his accomplices, Garcia, Charlie, and Magbanua. Charlie’s sentencing will happen later this year on December 12, 2023.
