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Donna Adelson Convicted of Murder in 2014 Killing of Law Professor Dan Markel

The verdict caps a decade-long case rooted in a custody and relocation dispute prosecutors said supplied the motive.

Donna Adelson Guilty: Jury Convicts Matriarch in Killing of Jewish Law Professor Daniel Markel
Toronto-raised Daniel Markel, a well-known law professor, author and blogger, was gunned down in his Florida home in July 2014. His ex-mother-in-law was convicted Thursday in his murder.

Overview

  • A Leon County jury found the 75-year-old guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation after a weeks-long trial and brief deliberations.
  • Judge Stephen Everett admonished Adelson to control herself after she cried out "Oh my God" as the verdict was read and briefly had the jury removed.
  • Prosecutors said Adelson helped orchestrate a murder-for-hire so her daughter could move the children to South Florida, citing wiretaps, phone and financial records, checks to an intermediary and planner notes with Markel’s car details; the defense argued there was no direct evidence tying her to the killing.
  • Adelson is the fifth person convicted in the plot, following life sentences for her son Charlie Adelson, Katherine Magbanua and Sigfredo Garcia, and a 19‑year sentence for Luis Rivera after his cooperation.
  • Sentencing will be set later and she faces life in prison, with case management scheduled for Oct. 14; she has been jailed since her 2023 arrest at Miami International Airport while attempting to board a one-way flight to Vietnam.