The Florida grandmother who masterminded the hit on her former son-in-law has been sentenced to spend the rest of her life in prison — slammed for showing an “utter lack of remorse” as she continued to claim her innocence.
Donna Adelson, 75, was found guilty last month of orchestrating the 2014 shooting death of Daniel Markel — a prominent Florida State University law professor who was in a bitter custody battle with his ex-wife, Adelson’s daughter, Wendi Adelson.
She was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder plus another 30 years for conspiracy and solicitation. Her son, Charlie Adelson, was found guilty of the same charges in 2023.
Adelson maintained her innocence in a statement she read aloud in the Tallahassee courtroom before the judge delivered the sentence.
“What happened to Danny is unforgivable. But I am an innocent woman convicted of this terrible crime without evidence,” Adelson said through quiet tears, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.
“If I had become aware of this plan before Danny was murdered, I would have stopped it,” she added.
Judge Stephen Everett interrupted Adelson several times and reminded her that he can take into account her “utter lack of remorse” when he sentences her.
“The level of planning and coordination to bring the murder of Professor Markel to fruition was definitely significant,” Everett said. “These were not crimes of chance or opportunity, and these crimes also required you to conspire with your son and others.”
Adelson remained calm and silent Everett told her she would spend her remaining days in prison — a stark contrast from when she shouted “out my God!” and sobbed when she was convicted on Sept. 4.
Markel was fatally shot in the head in his home in July 2014 amid a contentious custody battle with Wendi Adelson.
Prosecutors alleged that Donna Adelson, the head of a prominent and wealthy South Florida family, had the means and motive to orchestrate the killing of Markel, whom she “hated.”
The 41-year-old’s death went unsolved for nearly a decade before Adelson’s son, Dr. Charlie Adelson, was arrested in April 2022.
Charlie Adelson and his then-girlfriend, Katherine Magbanua, hired two men — Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera — to carry out the hit on Markel.
Rivera and Garcia, members of the notorious Latin Kings gang, stalked Markel on the morning of July 18, 2014, before following him back to his house and shooting him.
Garcia, Magbanua’s ex-husband, was found guilty of being the triggerman in the killing and is serving a life sentence behind bars. Rivera accepted a plea deal and is serving a 19-year sentence.
Magbanua and Charles Adelson were both convicted of the murder-for-hire plot and were sentenced to life in prison.
Wendi Adelson, meanwhile, has denied involvement in the case and hasn’t been charged with her ex-husband’s murder.
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