On Monday, Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Centre, Adelson, 73, was taken from a Miami jail and lodged at the Leon County Detention Facility under custody without bond.
It appears from online jail logs that she was booked early on Tuesday. Donna Adelson, who is charged with murder in the 2014 death of law professor Dan Markel, was checked into the Leon County Detention Facility early on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023.
Attempting to leave Miami International Airport with one-way tickets to Vietnam—a nation with which the United States lacks an extradition treaty—she and her spouse were held on November 13.
What Happened To Wendi Adelson?
Wendi Andelson testified at the trial of her brother Charlie Adelson, who was recently found guilty of killing Dan Markel.
These days, Wendi Adelson lives in Miami, Florida. She studied law at Florida State University prior to becoming an attorney.
Donna moved to Miami a few days after her ex-husband Dan Markel passed away. Her billionaire boss claims that prosecutors have concluded that she was not engaged in the murder.
Wendi’s parents’ role in her ex-husband’s demise
Less than 48 hours before Donna Adelson attempted to flee and a week after her son Charlie Adelson was convicted guilty of Markel’s murder, a Leon County grand jury indicted her on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy, and solicitation.
Thanks to Adelson’s one-way trip to Vietnam, the state is able to assert “consciousness of guilt” in Markel’s murder.
On November 6, Charlie Adelson was convicted guilty of the same three crimes. On July 18, 2014, Markel, a 41-year-old law professor at Florida State University, was shot and killed in the carport of his Trescott Drive home.
At the time of the murder, he and his ex-wife, Wendi Adelson, were involved in a bitter legal struggle over their two boys and other issues.
Wendi Adelson, Donna Adelson’s daughter and Charlie Adelson’s younger sister, was denied permission by a judge to travel to Miami with the boys.
How was Donna Adelson going to get away with her crimes?
Donna Adelson was arrested in 2023 and lodged in a Miami-Dade correctional facility. At the time of Donna Adelson’s arrest, law enforcement was aware that she was thinking about running away.
Based on the arrest logs, she talked with her son on the phone multiple times after his trial ended and was seen on camera contemplating suicide and possible escape to a country that does not extradite individuals.
In order to get suspects to talk on taped lines, the FBI sent an undercover agent to shake her outside her South Beach condo in 2016. The agent pretended to be a blackmailer.
He provided her his phone number and $5,000 in an article about Markel’s murder. Not long after the infamous “bump,” Donna Adelson gave her son a call to let him know that she had some “paperwork” and they wanted to talk in person.
Furthermore, despite never having worked at the family dentistry office, she signed multiple checks totalling $18,000 that were sent to Magbanua over a few months following the murder.
The probable cause statement states that in 2014, while at Markel’s local memorial, Donna Adelson and her retired dentist husband Harvey Adelson spoke with the Tallahassee Police Department’s lead investigator and agreed to call him back before returning to South Florida to schedule an interview.
What is the Adelson family’s financial situation?
The Adelson family had “piles” of cash and millions in the bank at the time of Dan Markel’s murder. Wendi and her children accompanied Harvey and Donna Adelson as they left Tallahassee.
Since their departure, no member of the Adelson family has contacted TPD or inquired about the status of the investigation. In July 2015, Wendi gave her kids the last name Adelson instead of Markel.
The investigation’s current state regarding Dan Markel’s case
Charlie Adelson, Markel’s ex-brother-in-law, was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy, and soliciting Markel’s death.
Adelson was the fourth person found guilty in the conspiracy to kill Markel, and he was accused of being the mastermind behind the attack.
Charlie Adelson’s trial was a turning point in the ongoing investigation since it revealed the individuals and motivations behind the murder.
Following this, his parents were also found guilty on numerous charges and are to be executed for homicide.
Despite the Adelson family’s repeated attempts to avoid receiving the punishment for their misdeeds, justice eventually made its way into their lives.
As the Adelson family awaits their sentencing for Markel’s murder, we are brutally reminded of how even those closest to us can contribute to our downfall and occasionally even our demise.
