Donna Adelson was found guilty in early September and sentenced to life in prison on Monday for plotting the murder-for-hire of her late former son-in-law Daniel Markel, a prominent law professor at Florida State University. File image courtesy of Florida Department of Corrections
A 75-year-old Florida woman will spend the rest of her life behind bars after masterminding the 2014 death of her former son-in-law.
Donna Adelson was found guilty in early September and sentenced to life in prison on Monday for plotting the murder-for-hire of her late former son-in-law Daniel Markel, a prominent law professor at Florida State University.
Adelson was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation. Circuit Judge Stephen Everett gave Adelson a life sentence without the possibility of parole in addition to a consecutive 30-year sentence for conspiracy and solicitation.
According to prosecutors, Adelson orchestrated Markel’s 2014 death in order to keep her daughter and grandchildren closer.
The prosecution described Adelson as the “driving force” behind the murder plot.
Adelson, meanwhile, has proclaimed innocence.
Markel, 41, was a native of Toronto and a Harvard Law School graduate in a battle for shared custody of his two children with his ex-wife, Wendi Adelson. He was found gunned down inside his Tallahassee home in July 2014. Police said he was a victim of two hired hitmen.
Markel was a legal expert on retribution and punishment in the justice system and co-founder of PrawfsBlawg, a blog for academic lawyers.
Donna Adelson, the matriarch of a wealthy south Florida family, was the fifth person sentenced in connection to Markel’s murder.
On Monday, she called the trial a “miscarriage of justice” and claimed her conviction arrived “without evidence.”
Everett reportedly interrupted her multiple times, citing Adelson’s “utter lack of remorse” during court proceedings.
“The level of planning and coordination to bring the murder of Professor Markel to fruition was definitely significant,” the judge told Adelson in court.
Markel’s death went unsolved for nearly 10 years before police caught up with his ex-brother-in-law, Dr. Charles “Charlie” Adelson.
“These were not crimes of chance or opportunity, and these crimes also required you to conspire with your son and others,” Everett added.
Charlie Adelson, the son of Donna, is serving a life sentence following his 2023 conviction.
But Wendi Adelson has not been charged and has denied involvement.
