A grandmother has been convicted for orchestrating the murder of her daughter’s ex-husband by hiring a hitman.
Donna Adelson, 75, was found guilty of murder in connection with the shooting of her daughter’s former spouse, which occurred over ten years ago.
In November 2023, Adelson was apprehended at Miami International Airport as she and her husband, Harvey, were attempting to board a flight to Vietnam.
The court found her guilty on Thursday (September 4) of first-degree murder and conspiracy charges in the death of Daniel Markel, 41, who was fatally shot in his Tallahassee garage in July 2014.
Markel’s murder took place amidst a contentious divorce and custody dispute with Adelson’s daughter, Wendi.
Previously, Adelson’s son Charles Adelson and his ex-girlfriend Katherine Magbanua received life sentences. Hitman Luis Rivera, who had a prior 12-year federal prison sentence, is serving an additional seven years concurrently as part of a plea agreement.
Sigfredo Garcia, the other hitman involved and Magbanua’s ex-husband, is also serving a life sentence.
Upon hearing the guilty verdict, Adelson was visibly emotional, crying and weeping in the courtroom.
“I wish her to live to 120, alone in her jail cell,” remarked Markel’s father, Phil Markel.
“I wish that every day of her remaining days she thinks about the harm she has caused so many.”
Ruth Markel, the victim’s mother, expressed: “For 11 years we have been forced to a life filled with unimaginable pain and heartbreak.
“I am most proud of the devoted father Danny was to his two sons, Benjamin and Lincoln… Dan was the boys’ hero and they have been forced to grow up without a father.
“She plotted, planned and paid for his murder.
“At its core, this was a murder of convenience so that one grandmother could live closer to her grandchildren. She killed their father and ripped the children from the other grandparents’ lives.”
Prosecutors maintained that Adelson masterminded the murder when Wendi intended to relocate 300 miles away with her children to be nearer to her family, following the divorce.
Prosecutor Georgia Cappleman informed jurors that there was ‘no smoking gun’ evidence in the case, ‘because she was too smart for that’.
“Don’t let the way she thought she’d get away with this be the way she gets away with this,” Cappleman urged the jury.
Adelson’s husband, Harvey, and daughter, Wendi, have denied any involvement in the crime and have not been charged.
Adelson is now facing a life imprisonment sentence, with the formal sentencing anticipated in the coming months.