This is Donna Adelson, a 73-year-old woman. She was fleeing to Vietnam after hiring a hitman to murder a 41-year-old man, Daniel Markel. Despite knowing what was coming, Donna showed no trace of regret for what she had done. To understand how things got here, we need to go back, back to 2014, where this story truly begins. >> He was 37 total. Then I asked him, "How much you getting?" He got like 40-something. I told him, "We should just go rob her." >> Um we were at a Halloween party in Lincoln Road. And right before we were about to go, he got in the car with me, and he asked me a question. What was the question? Do you know anybody that can harm someone? >> [music] >> And did you know anybody that can harm someone? >> Yes, ma'am, I did. >> There was a shooting at uh your home or your ex-husband's home at 2116 Trescott. Okay? Um your husband your ex-husband, excuse me, Daniel, uh has been taken to the hospital. Um he's not going to survive. >> Oh my god. >> Okay? >> [laughter and gasps] [snorts] >> Detectives have just informed Wendy Adelson that her ex-husband, Daniel Markel, has been murdered. Dan was murdered inside his car, which was parked in his garage, on the morning of July 18th, 2014, shortly after returning from the gym. Daniel was a graduate and a prominent legal scholar at Florida State University. While Wendy had graduated from Magna [ __ ] Laude >> [music] >> and held a master's degree from Cambridge. At the time of his death, Daniel was a devoted father of two young boys whom he had with his ex-wife, Wendy. Daniel and Wendy married in 2006 after meeting on a dating site in 2004. While their relationship seemed good at first, it had deteriorated by 2012. Wendy filed for divorce while Daniel was away on a business trip. By the time he returned, the kids were gone and most of the furniture and belongings in the house had been taken by Wendy. Daniel was devastated when he came back and not only had his home been emptied, but he also couldn't see his children. From there, a deep rift grew between him and Wendy's family, especially her mother, Donna Adelson. That's why when detectives spoke with Wendy, they needed to find out where she had been at the time of the shooting. >> What's happened? >> Well, before we get into everything, I have to establish where you were and who you were with and so forth. Okay? And then once we've established all that, I can give you more details. Do you understand why I wanted you to come here before I discuss this? >> Oh my god. >> [clears throat] [laughter] [laughter] [gasps] [laughter] >> I'm sorry. >> It's okay. No, you have nothing [clears throat] to be sorry about. >> I just [laughter] don't understand. How could this happen? >> [gasps] [snorts] >> It's >> [laughter] >> I >> Can you Let me Let me get over this hump, okay? Can we do that first? All right. Can you tell me what time you left your house this morning? >> Yeah, it was there um I didn't leave this morning. I didn't leave until noon. >> Okay. AND >> OH MY GOD, and I TRIED TO DRIVE UP TRUSCALO, and I saw that it was blocked. >> Uh it was blocked at some point. That I'm not sure what time it was blocked. >> I just got up over there. Maybe some trees down or something. So maybe >> Oh, you're saying as you drove down which one of the side roads? >> When I [laughter] I'm going to a friend's party tonight, and it's uh it's a it's a um Oh my god, what am I even talking about? I needed to buy it's a stock the stock the shelf engagement party, and so I went to buy bourbon. >> Okay. >> So I went to drive from my place up Truscalo to get to ABC Liquor, and it was blocked. So I just turned around. I was on the phone at the time. I wasn't paying a lot of attention. Um And then [snorts] so I just turned around and drove up the other way. I just thought, "Oh, sometimes there's when I lived in there there were electrical things >> Okay. >> that would happen." Um I left my house around 12:15 cuz I thought >> [snorts] >> I'll get the bourbon, and then I'll get some gas for the car, and and get super glue for one of the boys' toys, and I was trying to do all I can before meeting my two friends at 1:00. >> Okay, what Who was at your house this morning? [snorts] >> The only person that was at my house this morning was a guy from Best Buy cuz my TV was broken, and it's under warranty. >> I figured. >> Yeah, I figured. >> After the divorce was settled in July 2013 without a trial, Wendy and Daniel were granted joint custody. Following the split, the judge ruled that Wendy could not move the children out of Tallahassee. This ruling only deepened the strain, anger, and resentment surrounding Daniel and Wendy. But the conflict didn't end there. Shortly afterward, Wendy was offered a job in South Florida, and she quickly filed a motion arguing that her extended family, the Adelsons, could provide support for the children if they relocated. Wendy's mother, Donna, even pushed for the family to offer Daniel $1 million to let the children move to South Florida, but Wendy refused to go down that path. Donna went so far as to tell Wendy to let Gibbers know that the children would be baptized in the Catholic Church. Making matters worse, she also told Wendy something to the effect that you have a job to get done and a very short time frame to accomplish it. If you dressed your kids up in Hitler Youth uniforms and brought them down, here I could care less if it was an act of defiance and would show Gibbers that he is not in control. By all accounts, Donna was trying to steer the outcome of the divorce in her own favor. She wanted her grandchildren close to her, and her use of the nickname Gibbers for Daniel reflected just how much resentment she held toward him. Despite the pressure, Daniel stood his ground. He went on to file a motion to block Wendy from having unsupervised visits with their children, claiming she was turning them against him. That motion was still pending at the time of his murder. >> Do you know anybody that would have a beef against your ex-husband? >> The one is he's Charlie, the one I'm really close to. He makes a lot of jokes in bad taste, and it was a joke he made. He bought the TV for me this morning that got broken, and I was talking to him about whether it made sense to pay to fix it or whether I should get a new one, and it was always his joke that like he knew Danny treated me badly, and it was always his joke. He said I I you know, I looked into hiring a hitman, and it was cheaper to get you this TV, so instead I got you this TV. Um, I mean, he would never. >> [snorts] >> He's my big brother and he's taking care of me since I was little, but he would never. And I I said I told that to the repair guy this morning. >> Right. It's okay. [snorts] >> I said he asked me how much it cost and I said I didn't know cuz it was a gift because my brother said it's cheaper than a hitman. It was my divorce present. >> Okay. >> Such a horrible thing to say. >> After speaking with Wendy, detectives allowed her to call her mother and break the news of Daniel's death. But even in that moment, something stood out to investigators. Wendy mentioned that her brother had once joked about hiring a hitman, a comment that didn't go unnoticed. For the time being, detectives continued investigating Daniel's death, but one crucial detail from that day was about to give them their first [music] real lead. A neighbor who had called 911 after hearing a gunshot told investigators he'd seen a metallic green Toyota Prius pull out of Daniel's driveway right after the shooting. With just that one detail, investigators knew they had a difficult task to face. So, they began by searching through local surveillance footage, city bus cameras, and traffic cameras. From the footage they learned that on the morning of the murder, Dan Markel had dropped his children off at daycare just before 9:00 a.m. From there, he drove to Premier Health and Fitness for his usual workout. Surveillance cameras at the gym captured him walking inside that morning. And just minutes later, a light-colored Prius was spotted circling the area. After 1 hour, Daniel was seen leaving the gym and began driving home to Trescott Drive. A Tallahassee city bus camera caught his vehicle on the road with the same silver Prius trailing close behind. At 10:51 a.m., the Prius turned onto Trescott Drive heading toward Dan's house. Just 4 minutes later, the same car appeared on another bus camera, this time heading north toward Interstate 10. Inside were two men, one of them wearing what looked like a white shirt seated in the passenger seat. Cell phone data eventually led investigators to identify the two men as Luis Rivera and Sigfredo Garcia, both from Miami. Rivera had ties to the Latin Kings gang and was a close associate of Garcia. Investigators later obtained footage of the pair at a Miami ATM taken roughly 8 hours after the murder. Both Rivera and Garcia were low-level criminals who, as detectives discovered, had traveled up to North Florida to carry out the killing. Once detectives had their names, they tracked the pair down and arrested them. During questioning, Rivera began laying out the details of how the murder had been planned. >> You said before something about you knew that the total amount equaled a hundred thousand dollars or something. >> Yeah, he gave me 37 in total. Then I asked him, "How much you getting?" He got like 40 something. I told him, "We should just go rob her." >> According to Rivera, a woman had paid them a sum of money to carry out the killing. When pressed further, he identified her as Donna Adelson, Daniel's former mother-in-law. But Rivera also revealed that the murder had almost never happened. >> I'm in probation, man. If we get pulled over, I'm going to go to jail. If we get pulled over. So, the day we get pulled over, the officer grabbed my license, came back, gave me a ticket like still not wearing your seat belt, gave me a speeding ticket. I just and then my money. So, I looked at Percival and told him, "This take me to jail." >> So, you got a ticket in the Prius on the way up here? >> way up here. >> Rivera had been on probation, which made the trip to Tallahassee especially risky for him. After being pulled over along the way, he urged Garcia to abort the plan. But Garcia was determined to see it through, driven by just how badly the mastermind behind it wanted Daniel dead. Once detectives had gathered what they needed from Rivera's interview, they searched through both his and Garcia's phone records, searching for any lead that might connect the murder back to Donna. What they found was deeply disturbing. [music] Garcia had been in frequent contact with Katherine Magbanua, the mother of his children. A background check revealed that Katherine was simultaneously working for and dating Charlie Adelson, Daniel's former brother-in-law. With this discovery, detectives launched a covert operation in 2016 to determine just how deep the murder plot ran. They wiretapped the phones of Charlie, Donna, and Katherine and deployed undercover officers using covert tactics, hoping that if they could bait the Adelsons into a mistake, they'd finally get the answers they needed. Detectives called this operation tickling the bomb. The person speaking with Donna is an undercover agent and his appearance would end up flipping the case in a new direction. He told Donna that Garcia wasn't being taken care of behind bars and handed her a note demanding $5,000. Donna took the note, stayed composed, and slipped it into her pocket. The next thing she did was call Charlie and that call was the beginning of [music] everything unraveling. Once Charlie had the information, he arranged to meet Katherine at a restaurant, a meeting that FBI agents were secretly monitoring. However, that decision would ultimately be his undoing. Although Charlie never explicitly admitted to anything tied to the murder, he spoke in coded language about what his mother had encountered and whether the man demanding $5,000 might have been an undercover officer. If Charlie had truly been innocent, he would have had nothing to fear, but he sounded like someone who sensed danger closing in. Afterward, Charlie called the number on the note the undercover agent had given Donna, but what he didn't realize was that he was speaking with an undercover FBI agent. >> Hello. >> Hello, Digger. >> Hello, Digger. Who is this? Who is this? Uh someone's been calling my family and trying to figure out who this is. >> Digger. I've been In reference to what, man? >> Someone by the name of Sammy called. >> Jared's the name. >> All right, what's what's going on? >> Well, what's going on is my brother Tato Okay, my brother Tato has not been taken care of. His family's not been taken care of. I talked to Digger's father. Why are you calling me? Who Who Who are you? I gave the number to a lady. >> I don't know who Tato is. >> You don't know Tato? I don't know if you know Katie and Digger. They've been taken care of since the family problem been taken care of up north. >> I don't I don't know who Tato is. >> You don't? Well, this time you're going away, friend. Because let me tell you something. I was with Donald with D'Ato. And he told me the whole story. He told me nobody was taking care of him. Nobody was taking care of his family. The family was taking care of Katie and D'Ato. And nothing's been taken care of D'Ato. So, we know. We know what's going on. And D'Ato needs to be taken care of. Do the right thing. The lady already has the paperwork. She knows what I'm talking about. We know Katie. We know D'Ato. We know he's been taken care of. I don't need Let me look at the morning. No more [ __ ] around, man. No more [ __ ] around. This ain't going away. We need D'Ato needs You guys need to do the right thing for D'Ato. That's my brother, man. That's my brother. And he needs to be taken care of. His family needs to be taken care of, just like Katie and D'Ato have been taken care of. >> Uh I don't know. I've never met met these people. But let me call you back, okay? >> That's [ __ ] man. You you know exactly what I'm talking about. You know this lady. I don't know your relationship with lady, but we know what the [ __ ] is going on. This ain't going away. Take care Take care of D'Ato just like you take care of Katie and D'Ato, man. >> By this point, detectives were confident that Charlie, Katherine, and Donna had each played a role in Daniel's murder. But the question remained, who was the mastermind behind it all? For now, detectives knew Katherine and Charlie were connected to the murder. Both were arrested. But when detectives interviewed Katherine, she said Charlie had approached her asking whether she knew anyone who could kill someone. >> I remember him that he did mention something about I don't know if his sister was going through through it or he his sister was having a hard time with somebody. He never mentioned um that Markel didn't tell me any names or anything, but that was a specific like particular day, I guess. So, there's like a Halloween like party where they block off like the >> It's a block party kind of thing? >> Yeah, but it's like a bunch of like it's outside, you know, they always like host that event. And I remember when I in a parking lot or like it was like an outside parking lot and that was the first time he's mentioned it. And mind you, this was 2013. This was like in the beginning, so >> Yeah. >> I didn't think much of it. Like I had just like I had just literally met him like it was just one of probably an event that I can only pinpoint it because it was a specific like a particular event. I'm sorry. >> Following that interview, detectives had all the evidence they needed. Katherine was charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder. At trial, she denied any involvement, but the jury found her guilty and she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Sigfredo Garcia was also charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder. At trial, he too denied ever being at the scene despite being the one who pulled the trigger. Garcia was also sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Luis Rivera had originally faced a first-degree murder charge alongside Garcia. However, he struck a plea deal with prosecutors in 2016 agreeing to testify against Garcia and Magbanua. He was ultimately sentenced to 19 years in prison. Charlie, for his part, continued to deny any involvement in the murder. But during his trial, a major turn came. Katherine, who had initially denied any involvement herself, agreed to testify against him despite already serving a life sentence. >> You testified on your own on your own behalf. >> Yes, ma'am. >> All right. And when you testified, were you truthful with the jury? >> No, ma'am. I was not. >> Did you take the same oath that you just took today in your own trial? >> Yes, ma'am. >> What was your defense when you were tried? >> That I had nothing to do with it. >> All right. Did that we got it right in reference to Charlie Adelson and we got it right in reference to the killers, but you weren't in the middle. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Was that true? >> No, ma'am, it was not. >> Were you in the middle? >> Yes, ma'am, I was. >> And didn't you also testify in the trial in which Sigfredo Garcia was convicted of murder? >> Yes, ma'am, [clears throat] I was. >> And what was his defense? >> That he had nothing to do with it. >> That we got it right in reference to Charlie Adelson and we got it right in reference to the killers, but he had nothing to do with it, right? >> Objection, Your Honor. Leading. >> Oh, Mr. Cabana, make sure you use open-ended questions. >> And was that defense truthful? >> No, ma'am, it was not. >> So, Sigfredo Garcia was involved? >> Yes, ma'am, he was. >> So, why tell the truth now? >> I believe that the truth needed to come out now so that the family can get some type of closure. >> Why didn't the truth need to come out last year or the year before or the year before that? >> I was trying to defend myself. >> You were trying to get off. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Did you think you'd be successful in your trial with that defense? >> I thought so. >> Has anyone promised you in anything promised you anything for your testimony here today? >> No, ma'am. >> Weren't you originally offered immunity for cooperation in this case? >> Yes, ma'am, I was. >> But you didn't take us up on that. >> No, ma'am, I didn't. >> Because you thought you could get off completely. >> Yes, ma'am. >> And now you're doing a life sentence. >> Yes, ma'am, I am. >> Did Charlie Adelson threaten to harm you if you told the truth? >> No, ma'am, he didn't threaten me. >> Did anybody threaten you to keep your silence? >> No, ma'am. >> Did anybody promise you anything if you remained silent all these years? >> I wasn't promised anything, but I mean the I wasn't promised anything. >> Go ahead, finish your thought. You didn't You weren't promised anything, but what? >> I thought everything was going to be okay. >> You thought You thought you'd be acquitted. >> Yes, ma'am. >> All right, so Did you know Dan Markel? >> No, ma'am, I did not. >> Did you have any personal beef with him? >> No, ma'am, I did not. >> What was your motivation for becoming a part of this murder plot? >> Financially. >> So, not as a favor to Charlie Adelson? >> Objection, Your Honor. >> Meaning of the objection, please? >> I'll rephrase it, Your Honor. Was it a favor to Charlie Adelson? >> Yes, ma'am, it was. >> Okay, but your primary motivation was not a favor to Charlie Adelson? >> Well, yes, ma'am, it was and financially. >> All right, cuz you were going to get paid for your part. How much did you get paid? >> Um I don't know the exact amount. >> What was your relationship to Charlie Adelson? >> He was my ex-boyfriend. >> When did you meet him? >> I believe that was in 2013. >> Do you know what month? >> Um has to be around September. >> Can you point him out and describe what he's wearing? >> He's sitting over there with a blue jacket and a blue tie. >> Let the record reflect the witness has identified the defendant. >> The record will reflect >> Sure, you want to mark as state's 48. Do you recognize this exhibit? >> Yes, ma'am. I do. >> How do you recognize it? >> Um, that's when we went to Key West. >> Is that a fair and accurate photo of you and Charlie Adelson? >> Yes, ma'am. It is. >> That when the two of you were taken when the two of you were dating? >> Yes, ma'am. >> Judge, at this time I'd ask to move into evidence state's 48. >> Any objection? >> No objection, Your Honor. >> 48 is admitted. >> Do we have that for publication? >> So, was this photo taken before or after the murder? >> Before. >> Who came up with the idea to kill Dan Markel? >> Charlie. >> So, Sigfredo Garcia didn't come up with the idea? >> No, ma'am. He did not. >> Luis Rivera didn't come up with the idea? >> No, ma'am. He did not. >> When did the defendant first bring this idea up to you? >> My first recollection was around Halloween of 2013. >> Around Halloween or on the actual >> On Halloween, yes, ma'am. >> All right. What What What's your recollection of how that came up? >> Um, we were at a Halloween party in Lincoln Road. And right before we were about to go, he got in the car with me and he asked me a question. >> What was the question? >> Do you know anybody that can harm someone? >> And did you know anybody that could harm someone? >> Yes, ma'am. I did. >> Who was that? >> Sigfredo. >> And at the time, what was your relationship with Sigfredo? >> It wasn't the best. >> But he was the father of your children, right? >> He is. >> So, were you dating both men at this time or were you only dating Charlie? >> only dating Charlie. >> After the trial, Charlie still maintained his innocence, and eventually he was sentenced. >> Mr. Adelson, I'm going to give you the opportunity to make a statement if you wish. You do not have to speak. However, this is your opportunity if you choose to do so. >> I do. >> You may stand. >> I'll stand. >> [clears throat] >> I would just like to say that I maintain my innocence. >> Very well. Please rise. I'm now going to pronounce the sentence. >> [clears throat] >> With the jury having found you guilty of all three counts that you were charged with in your indictment of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and solicitation to commit first-degree murder, I'm going to adjudicate you guilty of all three at this time. And you are going to be sentenced as follows. As to count one, the first-degree murder count, pursuant to section 782.04 and 775.082 for the statutes, you are sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of release or parole. >> Even with four people arrested and sentenced, the mastermind behind it all was still free. But during a recorded jail call with her son Charlie, Donna made troubling remarks about leaving the country and running away. Detectives caught the statement, and combined with additional evidence they had dug out, they tracked her down at the airport and arrested her. >> All right, and who are you? You have an ID? You're under arrest. What is your last name? >> Adelson. >> Yeah. You're under arrest, ma'am. Where are they taking I don't have my cell phone. No, I I don't want to give it to you. >> Give it to my attorney. >> Why do I have to give it to you? >> Oh, this is evidence. >> What is this? >> You're under arrest. >> You can walk. >> I have to >> I have to >> You don't have >> Let me help you out, sir. >> Take the badge. >> Take the badge. >> Yeah. >> And you need to wait outside. >> Okay. >> My husband's almost 80 years old. He can't walk with me. >> Please, can I >> No, you can't go back there. >> Oh, don't do this, please. >> Please. >> Oh, God. >> I've got to help him get home. This is terrible. You can't do this, officer. >> Can I grab your bag for you? Is that okay with you? Please. You can keep that with you. You can keep that. You're not going anywhere. So, you see this? Here it is. You have anything in your pocket? >> No, uh no. No. >> We don't have any valuable value in you. >> No, I I don't have a >> Do you have a necklace on you? Yeah, take it off. Yeah. And the earrings, the rings, take everything. >> Um >> You give it to your husband. Because once you're brought up county jail, they're going to make you remove all that. >> Can I call my attorney? >> You can call your attorney. >> Where am I going? >> Oh. >> And which police department you think? Where am I going? >> You're going to the Dade County Jail. >> Dade County Jail. >> They're coming, right? >> No. >> No, but >> All right here, the one on the >> They're calling me right now. No problem. >> Can you get Can you get this off for me? Can you Can you take it off, please, Donna? >> I don't want to hurt you. >> No, but >> Please. >> They said 1059622. >> I'm sorry. >> Just a minute. I want to watch what he's getting. I want something. Listen to me. >> Yeah. I'll call. >> Yeah, can you come over or go home? >> I will. I will. I will. >> All right. >> Yes. >> Here I am. >> If there is anything else in her purse and she wants it >> Oh, it's coming, sweetheart. I got my It's coming. Just a second. >> Do you have her driver's license? Yeah. >> Thank you. Do you know Do you know how how long we're going to sit Oh, how long we're going to sit here? Um and >> When the other deputy comes back he's going to take you from here to the warrant bureau to have >> Okay. So, you have a warrant? Okay. >> And whatever information he took from you, I guess that's what he was missing, so >> Okay. So, the the next place is what? The warrant? What did you say? What did you say the next place was? >> Well, see, what happened is the the warrant that they have for you is from out of Leon County. >> When did they issue a warrant? >> So, what happened is we have to take We have to take you to our warrant bureau for that information to get entered. And then after that gets entered, we can take you to to the jail. To the booking jail. >> Okay, because I didn't know there was a warrant. How would I know that? >> Well, we wouldn't have been able to take you if there wasn't something in place. >> So, aren't they supposed to inform Aren't they supposed to inform me if there was a warrant for me? >> Um I don't know the details. I would >> Yeah, I don't know either. >> They had a warrant and you were Um, the gentleman that you met earlier in the on the plane floor? >> Yes. >> Right. And they were they were supposed to inform you of whatever, and then they called the they called the Tallahassee line, and that's how we became involved. >> During her trial, Katherine also took the stand and walked the court through how the entire plot had unfolded. >> Did Mr. Adelson, when he handed you the checks, give you any instructions on how they were to be deposited? >> Uh, just don't deposit it all at one time, ma'am. Space it out. >> All right. And did you always follow his directions on the deposits? >> Not always, no, ma'am. >> Okay. Sometimes you would cash one before the pay period the pay period ended, right? >> Yes, ma'am. >> When investigators examined Katherine Magbanua's bank records, a troubling pattern emerged. Before Dan Markel's murder, she had been working at a dental office in Miami. But in the weeks and months following the killing, she began receiving handwritten paychecks. Each one signed by Donna Adelson. Each for more than $400. The payments came from the Adelson family dental practice. Even though Katherine wasn't actually employed there. Even more suspicious, she sometimes received the money in advance before any work had supposedly been done. To investigators, it became clear these payments weren't compensation for legitimate work, but they were something else entirely. >> We the jury find as follows as the count one of the indictment, first-degree murder. The defendant is guilty of first-degree murder. Mrs. Adelson, control yourself. Count two. >> Donna Adelson was ultimately found guilty of first-degree murder. But what made the moment especially powerful was the statement Daniel's father gave afterward. >> We have an expression to always wish others to live to 120 years of age. For Donna, I wish her to live to 120 alone in her jail cell. My only short question to Donna, was it worth it? >> Donna Adelson was 75 years old at the time of her conviction, meaning she will spend the rest of her life in prison without the possibility of parole.