The Legal Beat

Trial Begins In Murder-For-Hire Plot That Killed Law School Professor
Posted on Monday September 23, 2019

(Photo by Fred Prouser-Pool/Getty Images)

It’s been five years since FSU Law’s Dan Markel was gunned down in his driveway after sending off his children for the final time. The trial of two of the alleged perpetrators, Sigfredo Garcia, one of the alleged gunmen, and Katherine Magbanua, the alleged go-between who set up the murder, began this morning.

The third man formally accused in the plot — Luis Rivera — says he joined Garcia on the hit and agreed to split $100K with the other two. Rivera already took a plea and will be the star witness. Along with Rivera’s testimony, police have a bevy of phone and ATM records tying the trio to the killing.

Unfortunately, Rivera is no 6ix9ine and while he can testify to the involvement of the others on trial, he can’t give police the one thing they don’t have: a case against the people who offered up the $100K payment he says the crew were promised. Police believe it’s the family of Markel’s ex-wife, Wendi Adelson, who now has custody of the couple’s children and has kept them cut off from their paternal grandparents. Adelson divorced Markel by moving out of the house and leaving divorce papers on the bed while Markel was on a business trip according to an affidavit in the case. After Markel was killed, Adelson told police that her brother joked about hiring a hit man to kill him and she tearfully admitted that she suspected this was done on her behalf. Since that interview though, the family has gone into full lockdown and flatly denied police speculation that the evidence state and federal law enforcement have collected adds up to motive. Prosecutors have declined to charge anyone in the family based on that evidence indicating in the past that they feel it’s just not enough to build a case.

Did we mention that Magbanua is the ex-girlfriend of Adelson’s brother? That’s the tidbit that leads prosecutors to now bill Charlie Adelson as an unindicted co-conspirator.

As the list of people interested in spending money to execute law professors is mercifully short, the spotlight remains on the Adelsons as the trial commences. Perhaps more accurately, the spotlight remains on Magbanua who authorities key as the person with full knowledge of who put up the money. She’s already lost her bid to get a separate trial and an effort to suppress an FBI recording of her meeting with Charlie Adelson in 2016 that the FBI claims demonstrates the “information flow” within a conspiracy. At a certain point, she’s going to have to face the very real prospect of going away for a long time unless she joins Rivera on the state’s evidence bandwagon. Just how many blows will she take in court before her attorneys prevail upon her to consider a deal the best of a bunch of bad options?

Jury selection is already underway and will likely take a long time to find people without prior knowledge of the facts given the high-profile nature of the case.

On the other hand, it’s Florida and there’s no place I’d rather look to find people with no knowledge.

5 Years After Fla. Law Professor’s Murder Amid Bitter Divorce, Accused Killers Go on Trial [People]

Earlier: The Dan Markel Case: Trial Approaches
What Should Happen When Your Mom and Brother Murder Your Ex? [Medium]
Let Dan Markel’s Parents See their Grandkids [iPetitions]
Friend starts petition for Dan Markel’s parents to visit his children [WTXL]
Trial nears for Dan Markel murder case [WTXL]
Markel case still on track for trial later this month [WCTV]
Friend starts petition for Dan Markel’s parents to visit his children [WTXL]
A Professor’s Murder in Tallahassee Was a Contract Hit, Prosecutors Say [Miami New Times]

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