Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hi there and happy holidays. Or as I like to say, holidays. It's Craig and Savannah from The Today Show inviting you to spend the holiday season with us. We're spreading holiday cheer with special live performances from Gwen Stefani, Lady A, and Brad Paisley. Plus, some of Hollywood's biggest stars stop by for our annual toy drive.
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From our family to yours, happy holidays.
Tonight on Dateline.
They claimed that I, this grandma, was the mastermind behind the murder. Never in a million years would I have wanted Danny to be harmed or killed.
A stunning new turn in a twisted family saga of murder and betrayal. The 70-something-year-old woman who bakes banana bread and takes care of her grandchildren.
It's hard to embrace that she could commit such a heinous act.
Her son, Charlie, knew how to get it done. He was Donna's right hand. The daughter, Wendy, is at the center of this entire story.
I was not involved in any plot to kill Danny.
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Chapter 2: What led to the murder of Dan Markell?
I'm Lester Holt, and this is State Live.
Here's Dennis Murphy with Deadly Mischief.
For 50 years, contestants have been spinning that wheel and trying to solve that puzzle. It's a bit like trying to solve a crime. Each clue revealed brings a bigger picture into focus. And that brings us to a certain contestant in 1989.
We now meet Donna Adelson. Coral Springs, Florida. I want to hear all about you, Donna. Let's go.
Well, I'm a domestic coordinator.
A domestic coordinator.
Back then, Donna did just great on Wheel of Fortune. She solved the puzzle. On Wheel, the idea of the game is to fill in the blank. Do you remember what hers was? I remember it well. Donna.
F. Yes. Mischief maker.
Mischief maker. Yeah, that's it, Donna. And oh, what fatal mischief Donna Adelson would make. Here she is 34 years later, writhing in a police van under arrest.
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Chapter 3: Who are the key family members involved in the case?
And just how did she find herself in a jumpsuit facing trial for murder? Please come up to the witness stand, Ms. Edison.
Donna, in my mind, is the architect.
I didn't do this. Tonight, we bring you the latest chapter in this hair-raising tale. This is not justice. It is vengeance. Mrs. Adelson, control yourself. With brand new evidence. She actually called me her jail daughter. All the explosive testimony, including the prosecution's newest star witness.
How do you know the defendant in this case, Donna Adelson?
She's my mother.
But first, we have to roll back the years to the summer of 2014 in sunny Tallahassee, Florida. The opening scene of what I've come to think of as a Shakespearean-like drama. A tale of bitter divorce, dueling grandparents, twisted family ties, and the custody of two little boys that all started with one tragic and mysterious murder. It's right next door to my house. 11 a.m.
on July 18th, a man heard gunshots from a neighboring garage and quickly called 911. He's inside, the car is running, and he's got blood all over his head. He was Dan Markell, a beloved and accomplished law professor at Florida State University. Markell had just arrived home from the gym when he was shot twice in the head.
His car window smashed, his eyeglasses broken, his assailants apparently pulling away. The car was backing up. It was light colored, white or silver. I want to say it was a Prius. When Dan's friends, Jared and Heather Ross, first heard about a shooting in town, they couldn't believe it.
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Chapter 4: How did the investigation unfold following Dan's murder?
Then Jared got word who the victim was. I went into the bedroom and I kind of woke Heather up. I said, it was Danny. And she kind of looked at me like, what, what? And I said, the shooting on Trescott, it was Danny. Tallahassee authorities reached Dan's parents, Ruth and Phil Markell, that afternoon. Shot. That doesn't make sense. No. Who would ever want to shoot Dan Markell?
For me, it was an out-of-body experience. Like, I can't, you know, even, don't even want to think about it in terms of that the moments were so horrific.
They quickly made their way to Tallahassee, but never did get to say goodbye. Dan Markell died overnight in the hospital. It's tough to talk about until now. Dan's friend Josh Berman got the call at home in New York. I put the phone down. I sat there on the bed with my head in my hands. I was like, you know, speechless. Dan Markell was just 41. A loving friend and father was now gone.
not to mention a brilliant legal mind.
Our second speaker is Dan Markell.
A native Canadian and Harvard graduate, he was a sought-after speaker at legal conferences across the country, including this appearance for the Federalist Society.
I guess I've been working in the realm of punishment theory for the last dozen years or so.
Incredibly gregarious guy. Mark Spotswood was a colleague of Dan's at FSU Law School.
What was his passion? What drove him in the law? His research focus and his passion was figuring out why we ought to punish people, really digging into the philosophical justifications for punishment, to think about how could we make better choices about sentencing.
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Chapter 5: What role did Wendy Adelson play in the events leading to the murder?
I asked him to just no contact for a week just so I could kind of figure out whether I wanted to be with him or not.
Chapter 6: What evidence linked the Adelson family to the murder plot?
When did you ask him that?
Monday night after yoga.
Just a few days before Dan Markell was gunned down in his garage, Wendy said she wanted to cool things off because Jeff had become increasingly jealous. Is Jeff a violent person?
No.
Not at all?
No.
Jeff own a gun?
I don't think so. I mean, he certainly could have a gun and I wouldn't know about it.
So the Tallahassee police tracked down Jeff Lacoste, who had a lot to say about Wendy. Have you met Wendy?
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Chapter 7: How did the trial against Donna Adelson progress?
In light of the circumstances, it wouldn't be any big deal if he was alive and well with us.
It was all very interesting, this smoke gathering around Wendy Adelson and her family of dentists. Then word came from the Leon County Jail. One of the state's suspects wanted to talk.
Because I asked him, why are you going to do a kidney check?
The two hitmen accused of killing Dan Markell sat in jail for months, while Tallahassee investigators kept trying to figure out who had hired them for the job. Then, one of them decided to confess. Luis Rivera pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for a reduced sentence. He told investigators that Garcia said he had a contract to kill Dan and needed the gangbanger's help.
I'm going to kill this guy. You're going to get paid this much, $35,000. We're driving. He showed me a picture of Markel.
The night before the murder, Rivera said, they checked into a motel not far from Dan Markel's home.
Friday morning. I mean, it's as cold-blooded a killing as you can get to drive all the way to Tallahassee and pull up into someone's driveway that you don't know and just shoot them in cold blood.
And Rivera offered an answer to the cop's biggest question. What was the motive for Dan Markell's murder? The lady who wanted full custody of the kids? It sounded like he was talking about Wendy Adelson. Rivera went on to tell police that after his partner, Sigfredo Garcia, killed Dan Markell, they quickly hit the road back to Miami, and Garcia made a phone call.
He called her, and he said, everything is done. Make sure you have my money. I'm on my way.
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Chapter 8: What was the verdict in Donna Adelson's trial?
Not even for that augmentation surgery. Charlie didn't pay for that.
How did you pay for your breast implants?
Well, from my cash tips. All along, the state had hoped Katie would turn and reveal other figures as the real masterminds of the murder. But she didn't. Still, Katie couldn't deny that she was intimately connected to Charlie and the Adelson family. Charlie's own sister came to court and provided evidence for that.
My name is Wendy Adelson.
Wendy was given some immunity to testify. Her statements on the stand couldn't be used against her. She told the jury she had never met the alleged hitman, Sigfredo Garcia, but she had met Katie. The state showed the jury this photo of the two of them on the beach together in June 2014, just a month before Dan's murder.
Do you know where the photo was taken? I think that's South Beach.
Yes. She was dating my brother.
But the idea that Katie was part of a conspiracy that involved her family? Wendy pleaded ignorance.
Were you involved in any way in a plot to kill Dan Markell? No. Do you have any knowledge of anyone being involved in a plot to kill your husband? No.
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