GUILTY FL - Dan Markel, 41, FSU Law Professor, Tallahassee, 18 July 2014 *arrests* #12

[JT_Watchman]

I commend those of you who had the fortitude to stomach Wendi Adelson's entire interrogation. I just can't take much of her. But I was relistening to the Over My Dead Body podcast (which is really so good), and they play snippets of it. I was struck this time with just how rehearsed she sounds while dealing with the "news" of Dan's shooting. And when she calls her mother, narrating herself "Ok, here goes, This is the worst day of my life." It just all comes off so performative to me. I've been in that kind of moment, multiple times having to deliver terrible news involving the murder of my sister, my grandmother's death to my Dad, her son, my Dad's death to relatives. It just doesn't ring true to me having lived it (as I'm sure many of you have too). It's like she's rehearsed this and is internally going "and.....roll 'em". So focused on how she's being perceived vs. just being in the moment of this tragedy. Watching (and listening) to her skeeves me as much as Jodi Arias did.

She's an interesting case of pure self-absorbed narcissism and getting away with murder. Truly a dangerous human being. We all know it. But, like Willie Meggs used to say, "What we believe doesn't count. Evidence is what counts." (loosely quoted) I know he wasn't everyone's favorite. But to me, that's what made him an excellent State Attorney: he knew how to remove his feelings and emotions from a case and approach it objectively.

Wendi has done a great job of keeping herself insulated from any evidentiary culpability in this case. She probably didn't count on the living hell that the aftermath has turned out to be. Namely, people knowing in their heart that she is guilty and treating her accordingly and all the chatter and speculation that comes with that.

But I believe firmly in Jesus' words at Luke 12:2: "There is nothing carefully concealed that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not become known."

 

[JT_Watchman]

I just thought of another example of what I mentioned in post #609 above with the Willie Meggs quote. It has to do with the 1966 triple homicide of the Sims family in Tallahassee. Sheriff Larry Campbell always said that he knew who did it. But he didn't have the evidence to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury. Lawmen like Campbell and Meggs are wise to remove their deep feelings about a case and focus on objectivity and evidence. Otherwise they run the risk of a killer(s) being acquitted and then never being able to try them for the crime again, even if new evidence surfaces.

 

[katiecoolady]

She's an interesting case of pure self-absorbed narcissism and getting away with murder. Truly a dangerous human being. We all know it. But, like Willie Meggs used to say, "What we believe doesn't count. Evidence is what counts." (loosely quoted) I know he wasn't everyone's favorite. But to me, that's what made him an excellent State Attorney: he knew how to remove his feelings and emotions from a case and approach it objectively.

Wendi has done a great job of keeping herself insulated from any evidentiary culpability in this case. She probably didn't count on the living hell that the aftermath has turned out to be. Namely, people knowing in their heart that she is guilty and treating her accordingly and all the chatter and speculation that comes with that.

But I believe firmly in Jesus' words at Luke 12:2: "There is nothing carefully concealed that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not become known."

The more I watch (or listen) to her interview, the more I think she was pre-throwing Charlie under the bus. I think she was covering her bases wherever she could, including with Charlie. I think her admission to LaCasse about that "chilling" statement was just that, knowing he'd be interviewed and repeat that. Why do it otherwise? I think she's that conniving and manipulative and her own words about Dan saying he was the only one who knew just had bad she was (or whatever she said) was probably right on. I suspect she learned it all well and good from her mother. Jury's still out for me on Harvey and how he fits in to it all. He sure is covered in the stench of it now though.

 

[Sherubbian]

As you said "I suspect she learned it all well and good from her mother."
When recalling of Wendi Adelson’s performances while interviewed by police, and examined and cross-examined on the stand, one could not help but thinking of the Testament of Salomon.
In Donna Adelson and her daughter Wendi Adelson come the female demons Obyzouth and Enepsigos. “And they had hair like hair of women, and their teeth were like those of lions” (Revelation 9:8). Looking at their dentist cared teeth in the picture,
these Adelson mother and daughter seem to be skeevers who are lying as they breath, as self described in their email attached. “You have 5 weeks before your court date … you are a good actress when you want to”, so sayeth Donna Adelson.

 

[jbc]

...She probably didn't count on the living hell that the aftermath has turned out to be. Namely, people knowing in their heart that she is guilty and treating her accordingly and all the chatter and speculation that comes with that.

That's why it feels to me that the punishment(s) should be worse than for Arias or comparable dim-wits. Each Adelson is highly intelligent. It's the hubris.

But I believe firmly in Jesus' words at Luke 12:2: "There is nothing carefully concealed that will not be revealed, and nothing secret that will not become known."

Multiple lines of evidence indicate they weren't thinking of Jesus.

 

[katiecoolady]

As you said "I suspect she learned it all well and good from her mother."
When recalling of Wendi Adelson’s performances while interviewed by police, and examined and cross-examined on the stand, one could not help but thinking of the Testament of Salomon.
In Donna Adelson and her daughter Wendi Adelson come the female demons Obyzouth and Enepsigos. “And they had hair like hair of women, and their teeth were like those of lions” (Revelation 9:8).
These Adelson mother and daughter seem to be skeevers who are lying as they breath, as self described in their email attached. “You have 5 weeks before your court date … you are a good actress when you want to”, so sayeth Donna Adelson.

I look forward to the day when Donna Adelson gets confronted with her own words from these hideous emails.

(as an aside, I really enjoy your posts)

 

[JT_Watchman]

As you said "I suspect she learned it all well and good from her mother."
When recalling of Wendi Adelson’s performances while interviewed by police, and examined and cross-examined on the stand, one could not help but thinking of the Testament of Salomon.
In Donna Adelson and her daughter Wendi Adelson come the female demons Obyzouth and Enepsigos. “And they had hair like hair of women, and their teeth were like those of lions” (Revelation 9:8).
These Adelson mother and daughter seem to be skeevers who are lying as they breath, as self described in their email attached. “You have 5 weeks before your court date … you are a good actress when you want to”, so sayeth Donna Adelson.

I'm a huge fan of the Pseudepigrapha (and your comments on WebSleuths), but isn't Revelation 9:8 talking about locusts?

 

[clearskies1]

I don’t have answers, just questions. If WA was involved in arranging the murder, why would she point the finger at CA? As I said before on another thread — that’s pointing a finger very close to herself. JMO

 

[Sherubbian]

JT_Watchman: I'm a huge fan of the Pseudepigrapha (and your comments on WebSleuths), but isn't Revelation 9:8 talking about locusts?

You are right about Revelation 9:7 – 9:9:

“7And the locusts looked like horses prepared for battle, with something like crowns of gold on their heads, and faces like the faces of men. 8 They had hair like that of women, and teeth like those of lions. 9They also had thoraxes like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the roar of many horses and chariots rushing into battle.…”

But the Testament of Salomon are non canonical writing (pseudepigrapha) allegorically re-written Torah passages with exaggeration!

Donna and Wendi Adelson are also locust like being, carriers of calamities, I take it!

 

[katiecoolady]

I don’t have answers, just questions. If WA was involved in arranging the murder, why would she point the finger at CA? As I said before on another thread — that’s pointing a finger very close to herself. JMO

People with personality disorders think very differently than those who don't. Often very counter intuitive. I can see her knowing it was already very close to herself, so she was already deflecting--even before the murder happened.

 

[Sherubbian]

I don’t have answers, just questions. If WA was involved in arranging the murder, why would she point the finger at CA? As I said before on another thread — that’s pointing a finger very close to herself. JMO

In the affidavits for Magbanua 2016 and Charles Adelson 2016, and again in the indictment for Charles Adelson 2022, there are round trip chains of calls to the effect of Wendi to Donna to Charlie to Magbanua, see an example in the picture attached. In both trips from Miami to Tallahassee, Segfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera were very informed of Dan Markel’s schedules such as a) dropping kids to school, b) going to FSU campus, and c) going to the gym. Wendi Adelson has to know these schedules because of kids custody arrangements. There are not very many, if any, direct calls from Wendi to Magbanua. During the hit, there are several calls between Magbanua (Charles girlfriend at the time) and Sigfredo Garcia (the later convicted killer).

At the time of her interview by the police, she knew that Jeffery LaCase knew that Charles Adelson has planned a hit of Dan Markel. Hence, she tells the “joke” herself, not to send dear Charlie under the bus but to preempt the value of Jeffrey’s testimony. She even planned for Jeffrey to be the scapegoat, according to the Jeffrey deposition.

A locust or Obyzouth or Enepsigos, Wendi is really a diabolical calamity if all the allegations panned to be true, I take it!

 

[Florida_marlin]

I don’t have answers, just questions. If WA was involved in arranging the murder, why would she point the finger at CA? As I said before on another thread — that’s pointing a finger very close to herself. JMO

WA is the favored child. She’s the reason we’re all here. Maybe she was sending a message to dear brother Charles. Thanks, bro, but just remember one thing. I can always put you in your place.

 

[jbc]

WA is the favored child. She’s the reason we’re all here. Maybe she was sending a message to dear brother Charles. Thanks, bro, but just remember one thing. I can always put you in your place.

True, Chris.

 

[KidonGadol]

A ship - Tallahassee, Segfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera were very informed of Dan Markel’s schedules such as a) dropping kids to school, b) going to FSU campus, and c) going to the gym. Wendi Adelson has to know these schedules because of kids custody arrangements. There are not very many, if any, direct calls from Wendi to Magbanua.

I used to think to that WJA has provided detailed schedules too but Rivera says that they went to Markel's house on the 18th and followed him around - according to him they did not go to the area of Premier fitness and wait on the side of the road for Dan to come past.

The killers had to guess that he was going to return home that day (as opposed to going to his office at FSU) but it was out of term time so it was realistic that he would do exactly that.

It's obvious that Garcia did not know that DM would stop his car to answer a cellphone call before entering the garage. It's likely that SG worked on the basis of shadowing Dan's car on foot into the garage and killing him there so the gunshot would be muted. That means he had to know the way to re open the garage door given the house main door might be deadbolted. Only Wendi could have provided that information ahead of time.

 

[KidonGadol]

The Answer to Demand for Discovery says this (BBM):

David J. Snyder, Expert in Forensic Video/Audio Clarification, FBI

Any did who Clyde Taylor on the list might be ?? His name did not come up in trial two to my recollection.

 

[Sherubbian]

Our life experience and the academic literature have noticed that a father’s parental instinct is characteristically different from a mother’s. One oft evoked reason is that mothers are more secure in their relationship with their children.

If mothers were so secure with their children’s affection, why are so many women working hard to estrange their children from their ex-husband after divorce? Some divorced women changed the last name of their children. Other divorced women go as far as having the ex-husband killed. It is alleged that Wendi Adelson does both! But why?

Both Wendi Adelson and Ruth Markel are mothers. They have such diverging view of the relationship with their children. While we ponder with the question, we could easily comprehend the pain and suffering of Ruth Markel, when her nurtured and cherished relationship with her son Dan Markel was abruptly severed by Sigfredo Garcia!

I look forward to Ruth Markel’s coming book (up coming in September 2022 for $30 from Amazon, see two pictures attached) about mother and children’s relationship and the suffering of mothers when their child is killed.

 

[minusfour]

Our life experience and the academic literature have noticed that a father’s parental instinct is characteristically different from a mother’s. One oft evoked reason is that mothers are more secure in their relationship with their children.

If mothers were so secure with their children’s affection, why are so many women working hard to estrange their children from their ex-husband after divorce? Some divorced women changed the last name of their children. Other divorced women go as far as having the ex-husband killed. It is alleged that Wendi Adelson does both! But why?

Both Wendi Adelson and Ruth Markel are mothers. They have such diverging view of the relationship with their children. While we ponder with the question, we could easily comprehend the pain and suffering of Ruth Markel, when her nurtured and cherished relationship with her son Dan Markel was abruptly severed by Sigfredo Garcia!

I look forward to Ruth Markel’s coming book (up coming in September 2022 for $30 from Amazon, see two pictures attached) about mother and children’s relationship and the suffering of mothers when their child is killed.

I think for WA, it was always about having it her way. Not having to compromise, about anything. If DM had accepted he was not good enough for her, allowed her to move their children a million miles away, and remained single and without complaint about her sole direction in the son's lives, I think he would still be alive. He stood in her way. Being involved, with other family members, in arranging a hit man, to murder the father of her sons does sound like a incredibly shortsighted, and very stupid answer to the problem of Wendi not getting everything she wanted. Even to the dullest person, such a idea seems to be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. A person would surely have to consider that a murder, and murderer, in the family, may cause problems. Those poor boys have a lot to get their heads around, one day. Their role was academic only, one more thing Wendi wanted, that Dan was stopping.
Stopping the Markel's from seeing the boys, and the changing of the name are both cruel and stupid. Of course the Markel's may have sticky questions, and possibly opinions too, but the boys have already been deprived of a father, it's a no brainer they would benefit from seeing their paternal family.
There is no way that the sons will not ask questions at some point.

 

[TrialLurking]

I commend those of you who had the fortitude to stomach Wendi Adelson's entire interrogation. I just can't take much of her. But I was relistening to the Over My Dead Body podcast (which is really so good), and they play snippets of it. I was struck this time with just how rehearsed she sounds while dealing with the "news" of Dan's shooting. And when she calls her mother, narrating herself "Ok, here goes, This is the worst day of my life." It just all comes off so performative to me. I've been in that kind of moment, multiple times having to deliver terrible news involving the murder of my sister, my grandmother's death to my Dad, her son, my Dad's death to relatives. It just doesn't ring true to me having lived it (as I'm sure many of you have too). It's like she's rehearsed this and is internally going "and.....roll 'em". So focused on how she's being perceived vs. just being in the moment of this tragedy. Watching (and listening) to her skeeves me as much as Jodi Arias did.

I remember watching this video awhile back. I initially thought she had no knowledge of the "hit" because she started telling the investigator about her brother's joke of hiring a hit man, and how she drove by DM's house. Why even mention such a thing if you are involved? Didn't make sense at all to me at the time.

After watching her testimony in a couple of trials, I don't think that way anymore. I believe what had initially been a joke by CA once WA divorce DM became a reality for WA and DA especially since DM started taking a stand. The venomous emails between DA and WA give a lot of insight into the hate they both felt for Danny. ( I do believe that this hit was more about hate than relocation efforts, which was just a side bonus.) WA makes sure the investigator knows how mean DM was to her, and how he caused her grief.

Since WA would be suspect number one, she needed DA to keep her insulated with an alibi. She just couldn't help herself, she just had to drive by and see if it really happened this
time. I really did give WA the benefit of the doubt, but so much light has been placed on this case. I can't hep watch her on the stand and shake my head. JMO

 

[Clmzclmz]

I’ve always thought Wendi possibly knew her brother had orchestrated this or was otherwise involved.

But I am just watching Wendi’s entire police interview (I’ve watched about 5 hours) and it’s changed my mind.

1. Wendi is told Dan is still alive and pushes very hard to get a rabbi to his bedside. Why would she risk a deathbed ID of gunman or getaway car??
2. Wendi makes it clear that Dan would want all life support measures taken. She tells the police to look into whether he has advance directive. Why would you push to keep alive a man you tried to have killed?
3. She wants the kids to be taken to Dan’s bedside. She is told that is not a good idea, as Dan has been shot in the face. She clearly had no idea.
4. Wendi’s friend is the one who raises Lacasse and specifically tells the police to check out Lacasse. She describes Lacasse as jealous. It was not Wendi who raised Lacasse.

Watched in its totality, Wendi comes off as someone who is genuinely shocked and upset and doing her best to help the police. She’s not guarded at all. She defends Dan, and does not try to muddy the waters- she staunchly denies he has any vices or any real enemies.

At one point, she is scrolling through her phone with the victim’s advocate, searching for people who should be informed and she stops on her lawyer’s number and asks her victim advocate if she should tell her family lawyer. The victim advocate certainly did not discourage her from calling her lawyer but Wendi just drops it and moves on.

 

[kooshx]

I’ve always thought Wendi possibly knew her brother had orchestrated this or was otherwise involved.

But I am just watching Wendi’s entire police interview (I’ve watched about 5 hours) and it’s changed my mind.

1. Wendi is told Dan is still alive and pushes very hard to get a rabbi to his bedside. Why would she risk a deathbed ID of gunman or getaway car??
2. Wendi makes it clear that Dan would want all life support measures taken. She tells the police to look into whether he has advance directive. Why would you push to keep alive a man you tried to have killed?
3. She wants the kids to be taken to Dan’s bedside. She is told that is not a good idea, as Dan has been shot in the face. She clearly had no idea.
4. Wendi’s friend is the one who raises Lacasse and specifically tells the police to check out Lacasse. She describes Lacasse as jealous. It was not Wendi who raised Lacasse.

Watched in its totality, Wendi comes off as someone who is genuinely shocked and upset and doing her best to help the police. She’s not guarded at all. She defends Dan, and does not try to muddy the waters- she staunchly denies he has any vices or any real enemies.

At one point, she is scrolling through her phone with the victim’s advocate, searching for people who should be informed and she stops on her lawyer’s number and asks her victim advocate if she should tell her family lawyer. The victim advocate certainly did not discourage her from calling her lawyer but Wendi just drops it and moves on.

Respectfully, IMO, all of those could be the result of a person trying to make her reaction seem genuine. While judging the sincerity of someone's reaction is subjective, her hysterics seems over the top for someone who clearly hated DM. I honestly would have would have been more convinced if she seemed largely indifferent.

It's hard to believe that WA was all that broken up when just a little while later she ghoulishly jokes around in her creative writing class about her "Latex Husband" and bemoans just how disruptive DM's death has been to her. Even in her police interrogation, she uses the opportunity to depict Markel as a verbally abusive and unkind husband. The man just died, but she feels compelled to describe him this way because he wouldn't read her lousy book and pointed out her entitlement mentality. She kept this pattern up throughout her court testimony.

As for Lacasse, her friend may have it brought him up, but that's only because Wendi had poisoned his mind against DM and seduced him to such a degree that no doubt all of her friends saw JL as lighting rod of rage against DM. Recall, even while she was making it clear that she was done with him romantically, she went out of her way to confirm that he was still pursuing his original travel arrangements. Who dumps someone and then re-engages them just to make small talk about an upcoming trip? IMO She was clearly setting him up, and got lucky that her friend brought up Lacasse's contempt for DM before she was able to.