Grandmother accused of masterminding family murder-for-hire plot in dentist’s killing of professor

Nearly 11 years after Florida State University law professor Dan Markel was gunned down in his driveway, his former mother-in-law, Donna Sue Adelson, is set to face murder charges on whether she masterminded the killing.

The 75-year-old grandmother is accused of first-degree murder, conspiracy, and solicitation of murder in what prosecutors call a cold-blooded family plot to free her daughter, Wendi Adelson, from a bitter custody battle. She has pleaded not guilty.

Former Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg, who was also a friend of Markel, told Fox News Digital the long wait for trial was deliberate.

“The day of reckoning for Donna is here and justice has come slowly, but it is going to arrive,” he said. “Prosecutors had to go step by step, starting with the hitmen, then Katherine Magbanua [Adelson’s former girlfriend], then Charlie Adelson [Markel’s former brother-in-law]. Only then did they have enough to take down Donna.”

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Since the 2014 murder, Charlie Adelson has been convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Two men hired in the scheme, Luis Rivera and Sigfredo Garcia, as well as their go-between Katherine [Katie] Magbanua, are also serving lengthy sentences, according to the Associated Press.

Prosecutors argue Donna was the matriarch who orchestrated the killing behind the scenes.

Aronberg said the strategy of stacking convictions was key: “I don’t think you get to Donna without getting to Katie Magbanua and then Charlie Adelson first. It’s been a very successful strategy — and it’s not done yet.”

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Markel, a rising legal scholar, was embroiled in a contentious divorce and custody dispute with Donna’s daughter, Wendi Adelson, when he was ambushed and shot in July 2014. 

Prosecutors say Donna and her son, Charlie Adelson, worked with hired hitmen to eliminate Markel, so Wendi could relocate with her children to South Florida.

Donna, prosecutors argue, was the matriarch who orchestrated the killing behind the scenes.

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Jury selection began Tuesday in Tallahassee, Florida. Aronberg said the trial will likely move quicker than Charlie’s trial because prosecutors and judges now know the case inside and out. 

“Donna will take the stand, they will cross-examine her — it will be must-see TV,” he said. “And I think justice will be done.”

‘Consciousness of guilt’

One of the prosecution’s sharpest tools, Aronberg said, is Donna’s “consciousness of guilt,” primarily from her 2023 attempt to flee the U.S. to Vietnam. Notably, Vietnam has no extradition treaty with the U.S.

“The best evidence for the jury will be consciousness of guilt,” Aronberg explained. “She tried to flee the country on a one-way ticket to Vietnam. That’s not how an innocent person acts.”

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The ‘bump’ sting

In 2016, the FBI conducted an undercover operation known as “the bump” against Donna. An agent approached Donna in Miami posing as an extortionist tied to the killers.

“If you had nothing to do with this crime, you’d throw the paper away or call police,” Aronberg said. “She didn’t either. She called her son, who’s now in prison for life, and spoke in code about the ‘TV,’ which was their code for the murder. That’s not how an innocent person acts.”

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Aronberg also noted contradictions in Donna’s story: the Adelsons were outraged at being asked for a fake $5,000 payoff during the sting, yet later were willing to pay $300,000 when Magbanua said the killers wanted it, according to testimony at Charlie Adelson’s trial.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” he said.

Defense’s strategy

Aronberg suggested that the defense may lean into Donna’s 75-year-old status as a grandmother and loving mother.

“She’s going to say she was just being a good mother to her son — that’s why her money got into the killers’ hands. But that didn’t work for Charlie, and it won’t work for her,” he said. “Her better defense would be accessory after the fact, but she wants exoneration entirely. She thinks she can put one over on the jury. That didn’t work for Charlie, and it won’t work for her.”

“She may hope jurors will see a frail grandmother, but she’s not sympathetic,” he said. “She took the stand pre-trial, and it did not go well. She doesn’t come across sympathetically.”

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At the time of his murder, Markel was a rising legal scholar and embroiled in a contentious divorce and custody dispute with his wife, Wendi Adelson. Prosecutors allege that Donna and her son, Charlie, arranged the murder so Wendi could gain full custody of their children and start a new life in South Florida.

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Wendi has not been charged but has been repeatedly named in court filings. She has fought a subpoena to testify at her mother’s trial, arguing it could jeopardize her Fifth Amendment rights. Aronberg expects she will still take the stand, under immunity if called by the prosecution.

“As for Donna, she’ll testify too,” Aronberg said. “She really believes her story. But just like Charlie, she’ll learn the jury isn’t buying it.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Donna Adelson’s defense team, Jackie Fulford and Joshua Zelman, for comment.