Jury selection begins in trial of matriarch charged with arranging her ex-son-in-law’s death

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Jury selection began Tuesday in the trial of the matriarch of a South Florida family on charges of orchestrating the hit man murder of her ex-son-in-law.

Donna Adelson is accused of arranging the 2014 killing of Florida State University law professor Daniel Markel, who was shot in the head inside his Tallahassee garage.

Adelson faces charges of first-degree murder, as well as conspiracy and solicitation to commit first-degree murder, in a trial that could extend into the week of Sept. 8.

Adelson is the latest to go on trial for what prosecutors say was a murder-for-hire plot to kill Markel, her former son-in-law, who had been involved in a bitter custody battle with his ex-wife, lawyer Wendi Adelson. Markel had gotten a court order barring her from moving from Tallahassee back to South Florida with their two young sons to be closer to her family, who made their fortune practicing dentistry.

Authorities say Donna Adelson helped orchestrate the plot to murder Markel, conspiring with her son Charles Adelson and his then-girlfriend Katherine Magbanua, who prosecutors say served as the go-between with two men hired to carry out the killing, Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera.

Charles Adelson, Magbanua and her ex-boyfriend, Garcia, were all sentenced to life in prison after being convicted earlier of first-degree murder. Garcia’s friend, Rivera, is serving a 19-year sentence after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and testifying against the others.

The case has riveted Florida’s capital for more than a decade, as sordid details emerged about a messy divorce, tensions with in-laws and child custody battles that culminated in the murder of a prominent local professor.

Donna Adelson was arrested in 2023 as she and her husband were about to use one-way tickets to board a flight to Vietnam, a country that does not have an extradition treaty with the United States. The arrest came one week after her oral surgeon son was found guilty.

Authorities say the Adelsons considered offering Markel $1 million to let his ex-wife and sons move to South Florida, but then members of the family began plotting his death.

Wendi Adelson and her father, Harvey Adelson, have denied involvement and have not been charged.

___ 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.