GUILTY FL - Dan Markel, 41, FSU law professor, Tallahassee, 18 July 2014 - #1 *Arrests*

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Thanks Plumeria. I've been following this story & came here to post & found you had opened the thread only a few minutes before. Then, I was distracted & just came back to see it was to be a topic on HLN tonight. Was there any news?

The Markel/Adelson divorce was finalized in 2013, but legal fights over child custody and finances continued into this year. http://cvweb.clerk.leon.fl.us/search_courts/process.asp?report=full_view&caseid=1038015&jiscaseid=

"The initial investigation has provided no indication that this case is connected to a burglary or robbery and investigators are assuring residents there is no evidence this was a random act. Neighbourhood residents should continue to be vigilant but it appears at this time that Mr. Markel was the intended victim in this incident." Tallahassee Police Department

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2014/07/details-begin-to-emerge-.html

http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/BREAKING-Police-Investigate-Shooting-on-Trescott-Dr-267684731.html

http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/22/us/dan-markels-death-reverberates-among-legal-scholars.html?_r=0
 
Thanks Plumeria. I've been following this story & came here to post & found you had opened the thread only a few minutes before. Then, I was distracted & just came back to see it was to be a topic on HLN tonight. Was there any news?

The Markel/Adelson divorce was finalized in 2013, but legal fights over child custody and finances continued into this year. http://cvweb.clerk.leon.fl.us/search_courts/process.asp?report=full_view&caseid=1038015&jiscaseid=

"The initial investigation has provided no indication that this case is connected to a burglary or robbery and investigators are assuring residents there is no evidence this was a random act. Neighbourhood residents should continue to be vigilant but it appears at this time that Mr. Markel was the intended victim in this incident." Tallahassee Police Department

http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2014/07/details-begin-to-emerge-.html

http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/BREAKING-Police-Investigate-Shooting-on-Trescott-Dr-267684731.html

http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/22/us/dan-markels-death-reverberates-among-legal-scholars.html?_r=0

On JVM I learned that this was apparently not a random act. It happened around 11am Friday and he died on Saturday. One report is he opened the door to someone. The other said he was on the phone at the time of the shooting. His divorce was finalized a year ago but apparently Mark and his ex were still battling over money issues and also the children regarding custody and it was pretty messy. He spent a lot of time in NY and they were suggesting he was having an affair but that seems strange wording if he was divorced. Very well liked at FSU and attended Harvard.

A few thoughts...was he involved with a married woman in NY?
Was this in some way tied to his divorce?

His ex is also a professor at FSU.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC8eJX55P9Y

" Published on Jul 22, 2014

Cops are searching for clues in the mysterious murder of Dan Markel, a well-liked law professor from Florida State University who was found shot to death in his home last week.Reggie Garcia, Dan's friend and neighbor, joins Jane for an exclusive interview. For more information please visit http://www.hlntv.com/"
 
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/201...n_markel_gunned_down_at_his_florida_home.html

Snipped:

New York University law professor Rick Hills, Jr., last saw Markel when the Florida resident stayed with him in New York just two weeks ago.

Markel had not told many of his friends yet, but he told Hills that he was happy in a new relationship with a woman after going through a divorce with the mother of his children in the past two years, Hills said.

“He was rebuilding his life after a really, really difficult period,” Hills said. “I was watching him as he was in my apartment Skyping his kids and saying goodnight on his cellphone … he was so happy.”
 
I have written on WS for years but this is the first time I knew a victim as I went to school with Dan. He was a great guy, very very smart, dedicated family man and just a great law scholar. I was shocked when i saw this come across on facebook this weekend.

Such a shame this happened to him, and to his young children, age 3 and 5.this is an extremely rare crime, as who goes shoot someone in broad daylight? The neighbor heard the shot, 911 was called at 11am shortly after the shot, so where did the perp go? Did they just miss being seen by the neighbor? I wonder if there are houses in the back of the house that the perp ran to bc I cannot see how they could have just walked to their car

I cannot help but think of the dartmouth college case a few years ago where two teenage kids just killed the profs (husband and wife) for kicks.they pretended to do a science project, were let into the home and then stabbed the couple. At that time everyone thought it was a domestic situation but it just turned out to be that the professors were randomly picked out for this horrible crime.

Nonetheless it looks like it was targeted. I just cannot believe that anyone would do this to such a person, especially considering he had 2 young children. He was very into his religion (Jewish) too. He also was very big into bringing people together. If you look at the legal blogs, so many people are writing about how he was the one that started happy hours at law conferences, introduced junior scholars to senior ones, etc. just an overall nice guy. Such a tragedy.
 
According to docket divorce was filed in 9/2012 ad granted 7/2013. There were still lots of motions and hearings in this case recently. The last hearing was July 2014 where the judge changed to a new judge. Newspaper reports say ex wife was at the memorial on Sunday and is devestated and worried about her children. I don't know how you even explain something like that to such a young kid.
 
Condolences Yellow. By all accounts he was a brilliant scholar, affable, dynamic guy, good father & respected writer.

The shooter could have fled in any direction & "disappeared" rather quickly into the neighborhood. I hope TPD announces an arrest soon. My suspicions are going in all directions.
 
Is it at all possible he shot himself? I'm thrown off by the investigation being labelled as a homicide but I thought sometime back that all deaths by gunshot are to be first investigated as homicide just to be thorough. In this case, there's the belief that he'd never have done this to himself since he's so esteemed and has accomplished so much. Not certain what to think here when considering the rumor mill. Where in his house was he shot? Was he near the front door? It was around 11:00 am Friday when police were called after a neighbor heard a loud noise. Did Markel teach any summer courses? If so, what time and days did he hold class? If not, maybe he had more time on his hands to miss his children. Divorce was final July 2013 but the case over money & custody/visitation was still ongoing. Is it possible a disgruntled student did this? Wondering when grades from Finals were in. Could a student have failed his class recently? Markel's ex wife wanted to move their kids 6 hours away but he was fighting her on it. <modsnip> Both are incredibly esteemed in their respective fields of law. It's such a shame for something like this to happen. Praying for the best.
 
There is a fund set up to benefit his children but curious if he had a life insurance policy on himself. If so, then why the donation fund? Does it take alot of time for life insurance to pay? If there is a policy, would unintentional vs intentional make a diffence?
 
Both he and his exwife have such brilliant minds. His ex penned a book that FSU is using for required reading material. Amazing woman making a positive difference. Both have accomplished more than most people twice their ages. Absolutely brilliant people thoroughly educated in various venues of law. Love Markel's opinion pieces on his blog!
 
Resignation of parenting coordinator, withdrawing of counsel, reassignment of judge, enforcement of msa & sanctions being sought...looks like an ugly battle but then again what divorce & custody case isn't? Could he have been depressed over all of this? Or conversely, could someone have held a grudge?
 
Dan and I have many mutual friends, so rememberances of and tributes to him are all over my facebook. It seems like he was a great guy and he was certainly a brillant legal mind. My understanding is that they have ruled out a suicide (my guess would be no gun at the scene) and are definitively looking for a suspect -- the rumors got started b/c of the sketchy details and passive voice used in the early articles.
 
Dan and I have many mutual friends, so rememberances of and tributes to him are all over my facebook. It seems like he was a great guy and he was certainly a brillant legal mind. My understanding is that they have ruled out a suicide (my guess would be no gun at the scene) and are definitively looking for a suspect -- the rumors got started b/c of the sketchy details and passive voice used in the early articles.

Very sorry for such a great loss. :hug:

Thank you so much for this. Ok, wondering where he was positioned in his home. Was it near the front door? Could the culprit be a delivery person of some sort, or would that have been noticed in the neighborhood? Was he working on any shady crimes? With all of his opinion pieces, many which are utilized in various schools, it seems he is hands on in his investigations...or maybe it just appears that way on paper. Either way, is it possible he was investigating something serious that maybe ruffled some feathers? Oh, & have ballistics been released? Wondering what make of gun was used.
 
Hmmm... What do you make of this?

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2014/07/22/dan-markel-died-gunshot-head/13020049/

Markel's neighbor called police at 11:02 a.m. Friday reporting that a "loud bang" came from Markel's two-story home in the 2100 block of Trescott Drive in Betton Hills, according to a mostly redacted TPD incident report obtained by the Tallahassee Democrat. Police were dispatched at 11:07 a.m. and arrived at 11:15 a.m.

Once there, police found a wounded Markel, who was rushed to the hospital where he died early Saturday morning.

The entire incident occurred from 10:45 a.m. to 11:02 a.m., the report said. Police looked at a vehicle but redacted other information.

"There are probably only two people that we know of that would know that question," he said. "One is Mr. Markel and one is the suspect or suspects in this case."

Information about where Markel's body was found &#8212; in the house, the garage or outside &#8212; hasn't been released.

Monday morning, representatives from TPD met with the Florida State College of Law to discuss safety policies related to Markel's death, said Jeanette Dediemar, FSU spokeswoman. Northway said the meeting focused on "information that was probably part of the case."
 
There is a fund set up to benefit his children but curious if he had a life insurance policy on himself. If so, then why the donation fund? Does it take alot of time for life insurance to pay? If there is a policy, would unintentional vs intentional make a diffence?

I think the gofund me fund is more a matter of his many friends simply wanting to do something rather than his children actually being in desparate need of money right now. It was started by his law school classmate and friend. Alot of his friends and colleagues want to do something to honor him so they started that fund, I think to perhaps benefit the kids college education. I actually received an email about it today as I guess they emailed the whole class out to tell them about the fund and to let everyone know about Dan. I believe it is to be used for the kids future use rather than their use right now. They have listed 3 other charities too on there.

I imagine his law school provided life insurance, it takes a few months to pay, but sometimes they do not pay out right away when a murder is involved. The insurance probably will not pay out till there is more evidence of what went down, probably at least 6 months. Insurance does not pay if there is a suicide and they would not pay if the murderer was the beneficiary, for instance. I imagine though that neither of those exclusions are applicable here but the insurance usually has to wait to rule those out.

I would be utterly shocked if this was a suicide. I seriously doubt he would do that to his young sons that he loved so much and he was generally a very happy guy, which, from all accounts, everything looking bright in his life, with a good career, 2 healthy kids and a new relationship. From the divorce docket, it looks like it was mostly finished, with some outstanding custody issues, one of them being the wife wanting to move back to Miami and I guess him protesting that. I also gather - and maybe I am reading too much into this- but it seems like LE know it was a murder from the angle of the gunshot. Maybe it is in a weird spot and maybe the gun is missing because if the gun is missing, it cannot be a suicide right? Police also say that only the perp and Dan would know the position and number of shots so it must be something unique.

In any event, LE seem pretty intent that this is definitely a murder. They would not be so quick to start up its own tip line, etc and give the case national publicity if there was any doubt that this is a homicide.
 
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