A jury has convicted a Florida dentist of murder in the death of his former brother-in-law, a professor killed in 2014 after a bitter custody battle with the dentist's sister.
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – After an hour-long workshop on grandparents’ rights, the message from Florida lawmakers to grandparents in jail being denied access to their grandchildren is “we sympathize”. For Ruth Markel, Dan’s mother, one tragedy sparked another. Florida law says grandparents have a right to see their grandchildren only if both parents are dead or if one parent is dead and the other has been convicted of a felony. Neither is the case for Phil and Ruth Markel. Because I think it will be struck down as an equal protection violation,” said Abigail Beebe with the Florida BAR Family Law Section.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A jury has found a Florida man guilty of first-degree murder but has deadlocked on a second defendant in the slaying of a Florida State University law professor. Prosecutors are welcoming the murder conviction handed down Friday against Sigfredo Garcia. But it remains unclear if prosecutors will retry their case against Katherine Magbanua, who prosecutors say helped carry out the slaying of professor Dan Markel five years ago. Prosecutors asserted that Garcia was hired to kill Markel, but the jury declined to convict him on a solicitation charge. Magbanua broke down in tears as the jury handed down its verdict for Garcia, the father of her two children.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The fates of two people accused of killing an FSU professor are now in the hands of twelve jurors. She goes straight to Charlie Adelson, who goes straight to Katherine Magbanua, who goes straight to Sigfredo Garcia. We are all trusting you to render a wise and legal verdict in this case, Cappleman said. To force her to cooperate, so they could get what they have been going after for years now, the Adelson family, said Attorney Chris DeCoste. The Adelsons have not been charged with any crime, and they deny any involvement in the Markel murder.
No mam, Magbanua replied. "Did you get the father of your two children, Mr. Garcia, to commit a murder on behalf of Mr. Charlie Adelson? Kwass continued. No mam, Magbanua answered. Did Mr. Adelson ever do illicit drugs in front of you? asked Magbanuas second attorney, Chris DeCoste. Isnt it true youve been offered some kind of big payoff if you refuse to cooperate against Charlie Adelson? Cappleman asked.
The case had gone cold until an undercover agent slipped one of the suspects a note back in 2016. "I think a few minutes after arriving to her condo she calls Charlie Adelson," said FBI agent Paul Standford. Charlie Adelson called Katherine Magbanua, the woman charged as being the point person between the hitmen and whoever called for Markel to be murdered. "You keep telling me you're going to make a phone call," Magbana is heard saying in the recording. They didn't even pick up," Charlie Adelson is heard saying in a wire tap.
TALLAHASSEE - An undercover FBI agent took the stand Friday afternoon in the trial of two people accused of murdering an Florida State University law professor. In an effort to find a smoking gun in this case, an undercover FBI agent approached Donna Adelson. In April 2016, more than a month before the first arrest in he Markel murder, an undercover FBI agent approached Donna Adelson. On Friday, the FBI agent took the stand. No one in the Adelson family has been charged in this case and the family through its attorney denies any involvement.
TALLAHASSEE - Stacks of cash in a safe and paychecks for a job a woman accused of coordinating the murder of an FSU professor didnt have were topics of important testimony Thursday. Convicted murderer turned informant Luis Rivera testified he, Sigfredfo Garcia and Katie Magbanua were paid a $100,000 in cash for killing law professor Dan Markel. Realtor June Umchinda dated Charlie Adelson, the brother of Markels ex-wife, for over a year. Velazquez-Mascara also testified she was asked to keep Magbanuas kids the night before Dan Markel was murdered, but never told their father, Sigfredo Garcia. No member of the Adelson Family has been charged with a crime and the family denies any involvement in the murder of Dan Markel.
TALLAHASSEE - Defense attorneys for two people charged in the murder of FSU law professor Dan Markel spent Wednesday in court trying to destroy the credibility of the states star witness. They continue to point out the accomplice, Luis Rivera, will spend less than seven years in prison for the murder. Rivera and Sigfredo Garcia, the accused shooter, have been friends for 30 years. Youre wrong, man.This got nothing to do with no Latin Kings. No Latin Kings, Rivera said.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Tuesday brought explosive testimony in the murder trial of Katherine Magbanua and Sigfredo Garcia, who are accused in the 2013 killing of Florida State University law professor Dan Markel. Taking the stand Tuesday, Lacasse said five days before the law professor was killed, Adelson told him something that made his stomach turn. "She said that Charlie had explored all options to take care of the problem, and that he had looked into having professor Markel killed. "These are her words -- she said, 'Charlie and I went to what he described as a celebration dinner,'" Lacasse said. Katherine Magbanua and Sigfredo Garcia are facing trial on a charge of first-degree murder.
TALLAHASSEE - Phil and Ruth Markel, along with other family members, have been in the court room for two days, sitting just feet away from the two people on trial for their son's murder. The autopsy testimony was so gruesome that Ruth Markel left the courtroom. On Tuesday the Markel's son's ex-wife, Wendi Adleson, took the witness stand. The questions quickly turned to conversations Wendi Adleson had with her brother Charlie. Wendi Adleson received immunity for anything that she said on the stand.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Prosecutors built their case Thursday against a man and woman who they say helped carry out a murder-for-hire plot that killed a Florida law professor embroiled in a messy divorce and custody battle. He is expected to testify against Magbanua and Garcia, even as defense attorneys say Rivera's facts can't be trusted. Lawyers for Magbanua and Garcia say their clients are pawns in the government's inability to bring charges against the relatives of Markel's ex-wife, Wendi Adelson. Prosecutors say they pieced together their evidence using cellphone records, bank deposits and other surveillance tools. According to prosecutors, surveillance cameras, including footage collected from city buses, showed Markel being tailed by a light-colored Prius.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Jury selection started Monday in a murder-for-hire case that transfixed Florida's capital city when a Florida State University law professor was gunned down five years ago in his garage. Police said a bitter divorce, custody battle and other family squabbles were behind the slaying of Professor Dan Markel. The Tallahassee Democrat reported that opening arguments could begin later this week for two of Markel's accused killers, Katherine Magbanua and Sigfredo Garcia. If found guilty, Garcia could face the death penalty for the 2014 killing. Katherine Magbanua and Sigfredo Garcia are facing trial on a charge of first-degree murder.
