TALLAHASSEE, FL – A Florida jury has convicted a 75-year-old woman of orchestrating the brutal murder of her former son-in-law, a Florida State University law professor who was gunned down in his own garage over a bitter custody dispute.
Donna Adelson was found guilty Thursday on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation to commit murder in the 2014 killing of Daniel Markel. The verdict came after weeks of testimony that painted her as the mastermind behind a complex murder-for-hire scheme that cost more than $100,000.
When Judge Stephen Everett announced the guilty verdict in the packed courtroom, Adelson erupted in sobs, yelling “Oh my God!” and shaking uncontrollably in her chair. The dramatic outburst forced the judge to temporarily remove jurors from the courtroom as the convicted woman continued to cry and mouth “Oh my God” repeatedly.
“Mrs. Adelson, while this was not the outcome I’m sure that you desired, there will not be any further outbursts in front of the jury,” the judge sternly warned after order was restored.
The case stems from a family feud that turned deadly when Markel refused to let his ex-wife move their two young sons from Tallahassee to South Florida, where the wealthy Adelson family operated a lucrative dental practice. Prosecutors argued that Donna Adelson “hated” the 41-year-old professor and couldn’t stand being separated from her grandchildren by nearly 400 miles.
On July 18, 2014, hitmen tracked Markel to his Tallahassee home and shot him twice in the head at point-blank range as he sat in his car in the garage. He was rushed to a hospital but died 14 hours later, leaving behind two sons who were just toddlers at the time.
The murder-for-hire plot unraveled over several years, with investigators gradually building cases against multiple conspirators. Donna’s son, Charlie Adelson, a 47-year-old periodontist, was convicted of the same charges in 2023 and sentenced to life in prison. His former girlfriend Katherine Magbanua also received a life sentence for her role in the conspiracy.
The actual shooters – Latin Kings gang members Luis Rivera and Sigfredo Garcia – were also convicted and sentenced. Garcia, who fathered children with Magbanua, received the death penalty, while Rivera cooperated with authorities and received a lesser sentence.
Donna Adelson’s arrest came in dramatic fashion in November 2023, when authorities apprehended her and her husband Harvey just as they were about to board a one-way flight to Vietnam, a country with no extradition treaty with the United States. Despite the suspicious timing, she maintained her innocence throughout the legal proceedings.
During victim impact statements, Markel’s father Phil delivered an emotional message directly to the woman who orchestrated his son’s death. “I wish her to live to 120, alone in her jail cell,” he said. “I wish that every day of her remaining days she thinks about the harm she has caused so many.”
The conviction makes Donna Adelson the fifth person found guilty in connection with Markel’s murder. Her daughter Wendi Adelson, Markel’s ex-wife and the mother of his children, has not been charged in the case despite being a central figure in the custody battle that prosecutors say motivated the killing.
Adelson now faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The case has captivated Florida legal observers for nearly a decade, involving a prominent academic family, organized crime connections, and millions of dollars in assets that prosecutors say helped fund one of the state’s most elaborate murder conspiracies.
