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

[nancydrew71]

Honestly....100% no. He was a very calm man. Very calculated. And not very confrontational. Even during the Socratic method, he'd confront you and tell you he thought you were wrong. But it still never came off confrontational. If he did upset someone road rage-wise, my inclination would be that it was totally mistaken, absent minded if you will. Perhaps while on the phone. But he was not the type to drive aggressively, or flip people off. Not to sound stereotypical, but he was a 5'6" Canadian well educated Jewish guy. One of the least confrontational, aggressive people I've met.

Thank you for the extra info. Did you know his wife who also worked there? I wonder why she left him the way she did.

 

[learnedhand]

As far as romantic interests, I really don't know. And in my second semester of law school, around January 2012 his wife brought in his two children. I've never seen such a loving father. Professor Markel was a happy guy, but he absolutely lit up when those kids came in. That's what hurts so much about this case. He was such a loving father and his kids were so young. I can't imagine how hard it must be on his boys.

 

[nancydrew71]

As far as romantic interests, I really don't know. And in my second semester of law school, around January 2012 his wife brought in his two children. I've never seen such a loving father. Professor Markel was a happy guy, but he absolutely lit up when those kids came in. That's what hurts so much about this case. He was such a loving father and his kids were so young. I can't imagine how hard it must be on his boys.

That is really sad. His wife said she was terrified when he was killed so even though she divorced him, it is still a mystery who killed him! I can't understand why this isn't solved.

 

[fasteddy8170]

learnedhand, I have some questions for you. Do you think the Tallahassee Police Department is capable of solving this crime? Do you think they have the trust of the citizens to get it done? Because their reputation, along with the reputation of the FSU police, has been dragged through the mud the last couple years. The things they've covered up for football players and others has been appalling to people outside of the area, I think.

In fact, I'll be honest: Although I'm the guy who came up with the Myron May possibility on here, I'm kind of open to the idea that an FSU athlete or ex-athlete might have killed Dan due to something Dan might've said regarding all the illegalities FSU had gotten itself into in recent years. I mean, Dan was a man of the law. That was his life. And it had to disgust him all the trouble his university was getting into.

What do you think about all that?

 

[learnedhand]

TPD and Leon County don't have the greatest reputation. College football is money so they have to "be careful" what they do. That said, I don't think anything related to athletics or Law Enforcement is involved. Professor Markel's study is much more concerned with the rear end of the criminal justice system. Adequate representation at trial and sentencing theories. Markel was more critical of attorneys and judges then cops and criminals. Not to make him sound condescending to the latter two, but Markel put much more pressure on lawyers and judges to ensure justice is done; not on cops to do the right thing and criminals to behave. I hope that makes sense. That's not to say Markel isn't the kind of guy to state his opinions with conviction. It's just I never heard him comment on any of that, and I was in his classes when the allegations were being raised.

I don't want to get too specific but I deal with TPD and their investigations on a daily basis. My limited involvement with them doesn't lead me to think they are incompetent or unethical. The fact that it has been so long with out an update does concern me.

 

[Jersey*Girl]

TPD and Leon County don't have the greatest reputation. College football is money so they have to "be careful" what they do. That said, I don't think anything related to athletics or Law Enforcement is involved. Professor Markel's study is much more concerned with the rear end of the criminal justice system. Adequate representation at trial and sentencing theories. Markel was more critical of attorneys and judges then cops and criminals. Not to make him sound condescending to the latter two, but Markel put much more pressure on lawyers and judges to ensure justice is done; not on cops to do the right thing and criminals to behave. I hope that makes sense. That's not to say Markel isn't the kind of guy to state his opinions with conviction. It's just I never heard him comment on any of that, and I was in his classes when the allegations were being raised.

I don't want to get too specific but I deal with TPD and their investigations on a daily basis. My limited involvement with them doesn't lead me to think they are incompetent or unethical. The fact that it has been so long with out an update does concern me.

Hello learnedhand and welcome to websleuths! In the beginning of this case, I came across something (not sure but think it was on prawfsblawg) that made me wonder about a professional/insider hit. Is there any truth to Dan secretly investigating and gathering data on crooked judges and lawyers...bribes, unfair & illegal padded evidence used to tilt cases, cops that go along with it, etc? Was he in the middle of investigating some cases in which he believed the evidence submitted was falsified, including records, just to secure a guilty verdict and that some incarcerated persons were maybe innocent? Was he investigating the political aspect of this as well?

 

[nancydrew71]

Hello learnedhand and welcome to websleuths! In the beginning of this case, I came across something (not sure but think it was on prawfsblawg) that made me wonder about a professional/insider hit. Is there any truth to Dan secretly investigating and gathering data on crooked judges and lawyers...bribes, unfair & illegal padded evidence used to tilt cases, cops that go along with it, etc? Was he in the middle of investigating some cases in which he believed the evidence submitted was falsified, including records, just to secure a guilty verdict and that some incarcerated persons were maybe innocent? Was he investigating the political aspect of this as well?

This is troubling. There are so many angles. Wonder if TPD looked into this. Wonder why the FBI has not been called in.

 

[learnedhand]

Hello learnedhand and welcome to websleuths! In the beginning of this case, I came across something (not sure but think it was on prawfsblawg) that made me wonder about a professional/insider hit. Is there any truth to Dan secretly investigating and gathering data on crooked judges and lawyers...bribes, unfair & illegal padded evidence used to tilt cases, cops that go along with it, etc? Was he in the middle of investigating some cases in which he believed the evidence submitted was falsified, including records, just to secure a guilty verdict and that some incarcerated persons were maybe innocent? Was he investigating the political aspect of this as well?

I think the key word in there was secretly. If he was doing that if definitely wasn't something he mentioned in class. Much of what I remember professor Markel talking about was sentencing theories. For the time I was at FSU I only remember professor Markel teaching intro Criminal Law and Crim Procedure Adjudication. Intro Crim Law is Lots of stuff on the theories of criminal justice. Criminal intent, criminal action, defenses, etc. Crim Procedure Adj was your bail to jail class. After the criminal's interaction with law enforcement. Right to bail, speedy trial, right to counsel, Strickland cases, some sentencing theories.

As far as analysis of actual cases and corruption. I never heard him mention such things. That's not to say he wasn't doing such things. The legal community is pretty tight knit, if you were going to do such research, you would keep it under your hat. This is just my two cents, but that sort of research isn't what I most associate with professor Markel. However, the man was brilliant, so even if it wasn't his field of expertise, I'm sure sure we would do a better job then most out there would.

 

[learnedhand]

I'm still having a really hard time forming my theory of what I think is most likely. He really was a great guy, so I find a really hard time attaching a personal motive to this. But as I've said, based on what parts of the criminal justice system he was passionate about, I have a hard time attaching a professional motive. TPD doesn't think there was a robbery motive. The fact that it happened in broad daylight in one of the nicest parts in town makes me thing it's something not totally random, but a motive that maybe isn't entirely obvious.

 

[dotr]

Bumping with a previously posted link and wondering if it is simply coincidence, that months prior to his murder, Dan received odd messages?
Could one person be responsible for creating them all, as opposed to several " Nigerian prince" scams?
Wondering how long DM lived at the house where he was shot, and if he recently had renovations done, or was planning to?
Concerning the comment about " arrogance " imo, no one seems to have said that DM was arrogant, in fact one might get the opposite impression of him.
Could that mean the person who wrote the comment, did not know Dan?
speculation, imo.


"Some colleagues had speculated that a posting
Markel wrote on his now defunct blog PrawfsBlawg.could have somehow been the key to him being targeted.

Markel was the subject of an anonymous threatening post.

'Bullies like this need to be made radioactive,' a person wrote about Markel's comments.

'Their arrogance and imperiousness speaks for itself. All means necessary must be employed.'

Police have not said if the person who made the post has been traced.

Markel, who was also educated at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, was also on the receiving end of a series of strange messages.

Several months before his death he began receiving unsolicited Facebook friend requests.

Markel wrote: 'Is anyone else getting pestered just in the last week or so by obviously ridiculous or malevolent friend requests on fb from people with sham profiles all over the world w no possible connection to you?

'It feels like an onslaught of the Facebook equivalent of Cialis and Nigerian prince scams.'

One friend jokingly replied, 'It might just be all your friends creating alter egos on Ambien.?'

Other friends soon put his mind at rest when they too said they had received the requests. One female friend wrote that she had received four such requests"

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-gunman-finally-speaks-out.html#ixzz3ZTh9tueT
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

rbbm.

 

[fasteddy8170]

Another month and it will be a year since Dan was murdered. I knew back in September when a reward was offered that this wasn't a case that was going to be solved quickly. For the last few months I've kept an eye out for similar shootings: regular guy, shot in broad daylight, no burglary or robbery, etc. Those kinds of crimes are very, very rare.

I know some of you early on this thread thought the shooting was very personal. I'm going to say the longer this case goes unsolved, the more the probability is that it wasn't personal. Unfortunately, after reading what Dan's dad said to that British newspaper about it, I got the feeling he thinks the murder was very personal, too. I think he's wrong, as well.

Lots of weird things have gone on in the Tallahassee area in the last couple years, including Dan's murder. The Tallahassee PD using Stingers extensively to track people's cellphone use, to the point where in court cops are declining to reveal their methods--allowing criminals to go free instead. All the crimes committed by FSU athletes. The new report showing how FL college athletes get off the hook a lot easier than the rest of the college population. The Myron May shooting. All separate stories? Or, related? I wonder.

 

[colette]

A very good hit man or a close family member of someone who wanted Dan dead could keep a secret. Sad that it hasn't been solved yet.

 

[Kip]

I don't think it's random.

There had been burglaries in the neighborhood. If the killer had been in the garage or come out of the house, I'd suspsect a burglar. But no burglar is going to see someone pull into their driveway and then walk up and shoot them.

I don't think it's road rage. Most road rage incidents happen near where the encounter occurred. They sometimes continue from there, with one party following the other, and sometimes to their home. But usually the hot-headed person giving chase makes it obvious that he is there. As far as we know, Merkel didn't mention anyone following him to the person he was on the phone with. And, he didn't say something like "Someone's coming up my driveway who I don't know. I wonder if that's the *advertiser censored* who was honking at me." If Merkel thought someone was following him home, I think he either would not have driven home, or would have pulled into his garage and immediately shut the garage door.

Yes, the killer left Merkel alive. There just aren't that many professional hitmen out there. In most murder-for-hire cases, the hitman is not a professional. The hiree usually asks their gardener, their handyman, or a seedy-looking guy in a bar if they know someone. Most people would think a single shot to the head would do the job.

I think Merkel was the target, whether by a mentally unstable person, someone with a grudge, or hired by someone who would profit from his death.

I knew a couple where the woman hired someone to kill her husband. (She and her boyfriend found the killer on the street in a bad area in another town.) It took the police more than a year to put together a case and make the arrests. Everyone thought the case was cold and was shocked at the arrests. So I'm hopeful that LE does have evidence that they're working with.

 

[dotr]

Probably all unrelated incidences, but Canadian lawyers seem to be in the news lately, noting here, just in case. imo

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montr...ne-shooting-victims-die-in-hospital-1.3138666

"Benoît Côté and Marie-Josée Sills, Terrebonne shooting victims, die in hospital
Lawyer and notary die following Thursday afternoon shooting

CBC News Posted: Jul 04, 2015"

Also, bomb explodes at Winnipeg law firm July 3.
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...omb-explodes-at-Winnipeg-law-firm-July-3-2015

 

[nancydrew71]

I'm still having a really hard time forming my theory of what I think is most likely. He really was a great guy, so I find a really hard time attaching a personal motive to this. But as I've said, based on what parts of the criminal justice system he was passionate about, I have a hard time attaching a professional motive. TPD doesn't think there was a robbery motive. The fact that it happened in broad daylight in one of the nicest parts in town makes me thing it's something not totally random, but a motive that maybe isn't entirely obvious.

Since he was a great guy like you said, and heard he was a loving father too, makes me wonder why his wife moved out on him while he was gone somewhere (forget where he went). I know they said she wanted to move back to south Florida but I think he did not. Was she mad because of this and just called her marriage quits? I guess so.

 

[fasteddy8170]

I'll throw this out there. A couple of prominent daylight, out-of-nowhere shootings recently.

http://www.wtae.com/news/active-shooter-search-underway-in-rostraver-township/32929588

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/07/09/murder-near-sunset-blvd-shatters-hollywood-dream-baffles-cops/

Despite them being all in different states, it's like the MO is all the same. Was Dan's murder part of a national serial killer's spree?

 

[dotr]

I'll throw this out there. A couple of prominent daylight, out-of-nowhere shootings recently.

http://www.wtae.com/news/active-shooter-search-underway-in-rostraver-township/32929588

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/07/09/murder-near-sunset-blvd-shatters-hollywood-dream-baffles-cops/

Despite them being all in different states, it's like the MO is all the same. Was Dan's murder part of a national serial killer's spree?

Wondered the same thing, here is the thread for the female production assistant who was shot..

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...oyfriend-in-Hollywood&p=11909221#post11909221

 

[Daun1234]

news on markel case:
http://www.tallahassee.com/story/ne...eased-reward-increased--markel-case/30286727/

prius has a EZ-pass sticker--usually sen in Miami, Orlando, may-b Destin.

 

[Kip]

news on markel case:
http://www.tallahassee.com/story/ne...eased-reward-increased--markel-case/30286727/

prius has a EZ-pass sticker--usually sen in Miami, Orlando, may-b Destin.

Welcome, Daun! Thanks for that link.

LE must have had this information for some time. I would like to think they were withholding it as they checked out Priuses with EZ-passes, and checking out repair shops for Priuses with missing tow bolts and black driver-side mirrors.

I've always heard the Prius described as green. It looks silver in the photo, and it's now identified as "silver pine mica" which appears "metallic to light green." Maybe this clarification will bring forth some more leads.

 

[colette]

From that same article:

Meanwhile, the reward for information in the case has been increased to $25,000. Information can be submitted to TPD by emailing david.northway@talgov.com or by calling a dedicated tip line, 891-4462.

(Hope someone turns that car in. Here is another article with video of the car. There is still a $100,00 reward, plus the $25,000.)

Crimestoppers is offering a $25,000 reward and an unidentified donor is now offering a separate reward of $100,000 for information that directly leads to an arrest and conviction of the person or persons.

http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/T...in-Year-Old-Markel-Murder-Case-316129541.html