Judge denies request for new trial for Florida matriarch convicted in killing of ex-son-in-law
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A judge has denied a request for a new trial for the South Florida matriarch who was convicted in the hired killing of her former son-in-law. Donna Adelson is facing a life sentence for her role in the 2014 murder-for-hire of Florida State University law professor Daniel Markel.
Earlier this month, jurors returned guilty verdicts in Adelson’s weekslong trial on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation.
In a Sept. 25 order, Circuit Judge Stephen Everett rejected Adelson’s attorneys’ arguments that the verdicts weren’t legally justified and that prosecutors relied on speculation and inference to build their case.
Defense attorneys Joshua Zelman and Jackie Fulford had also taken issue with two jurors sharing their stories publicly after the trial, including one who posted a video on TikTok about her jury service and another who appeared on a true crime podcast.
“The Court concludes the greater amount of credible evidence supports the convictions,” Everett wrote in his order.
“Stated succinctly, there is evidence in the record demonstrating overt actions by the defendant in furtherance of the murder-for-hire scheme,” the judge added.
The case had riveted Florida’s capital city for more than a decade amid sordid details of a messy divorce, tensions with wealthy in-laws and custody fights leading to the killing. Markel had been locked in a bitter custody battle with his ex-wife and Adelson’s daughter, Wendi Adelson, with whom he had two children. He was fatally shot at his home in Tallahassee.
Prosecutors argued at trial that Donna Adelson helped orchestrate Markel’s killing after he stood in the way of letting her daughter and two young grandsons make the move from Tallahassee to South Florida to be closer to the rest of the family.
Adelson is scheduled to go back before the judge on Oct. 14 for a meeting about the case. Her sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.
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Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
