A weeping Florida dental matriarch was reprimanded by a judge Thursday for her emotional outburst after she was found guilty of masterminding the 2014 murder for hire killing of her ex-son-in-law.
Donna Adelson shouted “Oh my god” inside a Tallahassee courtroom when Florida Second Judicial Circuit Judge Stephen Everett read the jury’s verdict in the murder of Florida State University law professor Dan Markel.
“Mrs. Adelson, control yourself,” Everett ordered as the 75-year-old sobbed uncontrollably.
The no-nonsense judge ordered the jury to be escorted out of the courtroom as Adelson continued to audibly cry while repeatedly dropping her head down, according to video from the Tallahassee Democrat.
“Mrs. Adelson, while this was not the outcome I’m sure you desired, there will not be any further outbursts in front of the jury. If you cannot control yourself, I am going to have to determine if you will be removed from the remainder of this process.”
Everett gave the murderess two minutes to “collect herself” before bringing the jury back into the room to finish the hearing.
Adelson continued to shake in her seat but remained quiet, not disrupting the proceedings.
The weekslong murder trial centered around the prosecution’s theory that Adelson orchestrated the violent killing of Markel, the son-in-law she “hated” who was previously married to her daughter Wendi.
Adelson’s attorneys claimed there was no evidence linking the elderly matriarch to the killing and attempted to pin the plot on two of her adult children.
Prosecutors painted Adelson as a controlling matriarch of her affluent South Florida family who had the means and motive to orchestrate the killing of the ex-son-in-law she “hated.”
Markel was fatally shot in the head inside his Tallahassee garage in July 2014. He was in a contentious custody battle with Wendi, who wanted to move 370 miles from Tallahassee with their two sons to South Florida, when he died.
A judge blocked the move after Markel refused to relocate.
The 41-year-old’s death remained unsolved for nearly a decade before Adelson’s son, Dr. Charlie Adelson was arrested in April 2022.
The younger 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 ruthless Latin Kings gang, stalked Markel on the morning of July 18, 2014, before following him back to his house and shooting him.
Garcia, the ex-husband of Magbanua, was found guilty of being the triggerman in the killing and is serving a lifetime 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 has denied involvement in the case and hasn’t been charged with her ex-husband’s murder.
“We have lost a treasure. My son Dan’s life was cut tragically short at 41 years old,” she said. “For 11 years we have been forced to a life filled with unimaginable pain and heartbreak,” Markel’s mother, Ruth, said in an impact statement after the verdict was read Thursday.
Donna Adelson had avoided arrest for nearly a decade after Markel’s death, but was caught at Miami International Airport before boarding a one-way flight to Vietnam in November 2023.
Adelson said she was aware the Southeast Asian country has a no-extradition policy with the US and claims she would have cooperated if authorities in the US were looking for her.
She awaits a sentencing hearing after her attorneys blocked the judge from handing down his decision Thursday, asking for the same accommodations her son received in 2023.
With Post wires
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