Donna Adelson Trial (Day 2 Recap) – Wendy Adelson Testifies!

25th August 2025!

Background of the case: Donna Adelson, 75, is on trial in Tallahassee for her alleged role in orchestrating the 2014 murder-for-hire of her former son-in-law, Dan Markel, a respected law professor at Florida State University. Markel was fatally shot in the head in his Tallahassee garage amid a bitter custody dispute with his ex-wife, Wendi Adelson. The prosecution and the defense presented their theory of the case in the trial and a few witnesses took the stand and we shall be going through key parts of their testimony.

Case Info

Courthouse: Leon County, Tallahassee Florida.

Charges:

1st Degree Murder – Guilty
Conspiracy to commit 1st degree murder – Guilty
Solicitation to commit 1st degree murder – Guilty
Verdict Rendered: 4 September 2025

Judge: Stephen Everett
Prosecutor: ADA Sarah Kathryn Dugan, ADA Georgia Cappleman
Defence Attorneys: Jackie Fulford, Josh Zelman

Today witnesses:

Witness #6 – Jason Newlin

Witness #7 – Wendi Adelson – Daughter of Donna Adelson

Witness #8 – Robert Adelson – Son of Donna Adelson

Witness #9 – Officer Brannon – Police officer on the scene

Witness #6 – Jason Newlin

Direct Exam

He testifies that he reviewed the entire divorce filing of Dan Markel and Wendi Adelson. He says that there was evidence that Donna had seen these filings. He says that there were emails and documented daily planner that reflects this knowledge.
He testifies that Wendi Adelson had filed for divorce from Dan Markel on 12th September 2012, Donna was aware as there was an email on 9th September 2012 showing she knew Wendi was getting divorced and 19th December 2012 was shown that she knew that it had been filed.
Exhibits was shown to show that Donna’s emails to Wendi on 13th December 2013 in connection with a change of counsel in the divorce
On 5th December 2012, there was a filing for dissolution of marriage from Wendi Adelson
On 17th July 2013, Wendi had forwarded emails to both Harvey and Donna regarding the filings made by Wendi regarding the divorce.
He testifies that Wendi had filed to relocate the children to South Florida.
Wendi sent an email to Donna on 10th December 2012 for edits before she filed her motion for relocation of the kids. Donna responds to the email offering edits and questions to Wendi signing love you mom.
He testifies to Wendi sending her lawyers communications to Donna.
He testifies that Wendi had better employment offers in South Florida and Donna highlighted to her this was a major bargaining chip for her.
He testifies that Dan didn’t want the kids to move to South Florida and says that Wendi wanted to move to South Florida to be closer to her family. He says that Dan had complained that Wendi had used the children as pawns and that Wendi was not allowing the kids to skype with the father.
He testifies that 21st feb 2013 that Donna had read everything that Dan wrote and we know its Donna as its signed, I love you mom.
27th February 2013 Donna had said that she was working on the petition and response to the Dan Markel filing objecting to the relocation and saying that he want to be the sole decision making.
2nd May 2013, Wendi had forwarded an email to Donna Adelson the moment Dan Markel had filed his memorandum of law to support his stance. Donna says that the most important part of this was the relocation. He calls Dan a narcissist and says that only an idiot would write wanting full control of the kids.
He testifies to the more messages that was sent by Donna insulting him and making him out to be a control freak.
He testifies that Donna was aware of the notice of deposition on may 22nd 2013 and calls Dan Markel a jackass for wanting to depose Donna.
He testifies to an email on 11th June 2013 which was sent to Wendi by Donna to show the travels of Dan where Wendi is arguing that Dan travels too much to be a present father.
He testifies to an email that Dan called the pleadings by Wendi as baseless and says it should be dismissed with prejudice.
He testifies that the order was denied for relocation with prejudice 21 june 2013. Donna acknowledges the order by messaging a friend 24th June 2013 saying that there was no physical as alleged so it is denied. He says that Donna expressed that she was angry about this order to her friend.
He testifies that on 25th June 2013 that Donna had sent an email to Wendi saying that she is not giving up and Wendi shouldn’t give up and says that they should show this F whats to happen and to give the performance of her life.
He testifies that Donna had instructed Wendi to aggravate Dan Markel and give him grief for all that he has done to Wendi and says that something is to be done to this ass hole. This is 5 months before the murder.
He testifies to Dan Markel was taking action against Wendi and the lawyer who was sending privileged information to Wendi. He said that the petitions were baseless and frivolous and she was making fraudulent testimony against him.
He testifies to the Dan Markel’s emails and filings and parenting coordinator requests were forwarded to Donna Adelson by Wendi Adelson.

Cross Exam

The defence highlights that there is no way of knowing who the email was from as one email said love Donna Harvey Adelson and another said love mom and dad. This was the email I believe regarding the Dan Markel and parenting coordinator but it wasn’t specified.
The defence highlights that in the message regarding relocation that at some point in the future if Dan decides to move then Wendi can relocate, he agrees.
The defence highlights that Wendi had messaged Donna saying she is not doing all that was requested on the 25th June 2013 email.

Redirect Exam

He testifies that after the murder, Wendi Adelson and the kids had relocated and lived a few blocks from Harvey and Wendi

John Lauro, Wendi Adelson’s lawyer had made an argument with Judge Everett regarding her immunity of self incrimination after this witness.

Witness #7 – Wendi Adelson – Daughter of Donna Adelson

Direct Exam

She testifies to being an immigration attorney. She is testifying under immunity that means her testimony could not be used against her but could still be prosecuted.
She testifies to meeting Dan online and moving to Tallahasee in 2005 to University Of Miami and came back to Tallahassee in 2007 to 2014 after briefly moving.
She testifies that she didn’t think that Dan Markel was not a zealot but would use it to control her. She says that he followed Kosher rules later in the relationship and they used to eat bacon but later they no longer ate it and that he had imposed the beliefs on the children.
She testified that Donna was not involved in drafting the documents for the divorce and she made suggestions but the lawyers were the ones to do the edits. She also says that Donna and her were in communications
She testified that she had a nice quality of life in Tallahassee but would be better to live in south Florida with her brothers. She testifies after reading email communications on being stuck in Tallahassee and she says that her attorney had wrote that.
She testified that Donna didn’t want her in Tallahassee as she didn’t see it was a good fit and agreed that she was saying that her life in Tallahassee was bad for her.
She testifies to the family business at the dental practice and says that she doesn’t know how the financials are.
She testifies that the mom would reply more frequently on their shared emails.
She testifies that she doesn’t believe that Donna Adelson is controlling
She testifies that the dad had more of a restraint role but says that both of them had equal dominance in their parenting. She was refreshed back in 2013 when she said that the mom was domineering. She says that the mom had created a match.com profile for her. Communications of this took place on 10 January 2013.
She testifies that Donna had hated Dan before he died and she was frustrated with him also. She testifies that Donna had called him an STD.
She testifies that the name Jibbers was used which means jew in boots but she doesn’t remember if that was the intent but a silly joke.
She testifies that she said in an email on April 2013 that Donna said that she hates her children’s dad.
She testifies that Donna could have called Dan Markel an emotional terrorist.
She testifies that she took Dan Markel’s tennis rackets but did return it but she didn’t take his belongings.
- This was in response to being asked whether she the petition Dan made about her taking his assets and making it her own.
She testifies that Dan had said that she had took the kids without his knowledge but says that she didn’t do that.
She testifies that once the relocation was filed, he was not happy with it. She says that he was amenable to relocation before the filing.
She testifies that her brother Charlie would have been okay with the relocation. She says that she doesn’t believe Charlie was outraged by the decision to deny the order but Donna was outraged by it and says that the mom thought her life in Tallahassee was not good.
She testifies that she doesn’t remember if she said that she would not have left Dan if not for her mom. However, she was shown her communications to refresh her memory about this and after, she said that she wouldn’t have done it alone without the support of Charlie and her mom.
She testifies to not knowing who was the mom and dad in the email and says that it possible that the mom was the scribe as both the mom and dad discuss.
She testifies that her mom had likely been joking when she said that the family was Wendi’s south florida legal team. She said that the emoji is showing this idea.
She testifies that she didn’t take any other action after the order was given to deny the relocation request by Wendi. She says that Donna had communicated with her to strong arm Dan Markel into moving for the relocation and Wendi says that getting the children to be Christians was not something she would do.
She testifies that she doesn’t know why the mom would google how an actor invokes emotion or how to act. She says that no one had made an offer to Dan Markel for a million dollars to relocate after the order was given despite communications being shown of this offer.
She testifies that she rejected the action plan regarding the kids and says that it would backfire because he would pursue legal actions. Donna suggested more things to do make sure Dan was not in control after Wendi had rejected her initial suggestions and says that she is doing this so that Dan can let her relocate.
She testifies that Donna saw the divorce as a win, and that the divorce was final on 13th July 2013.
She testifies to wanting to buy the house in South Florida.
She testifies that Dan had alleged she had perpetrated fraud on the court, she said that her attorney recused herself because she had to become a witness so she found a new attorney.
- This was around the 12th December 2012 where there was a change of counsel per the communications shown in Jason Newlin Testimony.
The state shows the parental alienation claim that Dan Markel had claimed and she testified to forwarding the emails to the 12 people because he was alleging fraud of someone that’s part of the bar. She testified that the email was in regards to Donna’s involvement in the kids life regarding Dan’s grandma motion.
She testifies that she doesn’t remember calling Dan a monster.
She testifies to not spending a lot of time with Charlie Adelson but spent time with him when she was in South Florida.
She testifies that Charlie had joked about hiring a hitman when her dad had bought a TV. She says that she told Jeff Lacasse about the joke and says that Jeff was someone she dated after Dan Markel.
She testifies that she doesn’t know why the TV repair appointment took up to an hour and says that the TV wasn’t repaired.
She testifies to knowing Katherine Magbanua and says the second time she met her was a month before the murder but had met her with Jeff Lacasse. She testifies that Charlie had multiple girlfriends including Katherine Magbanua.
She testifies to the repairman came to the house in the early hours.
She testifies that she did not use the TV as code in discussing the murder. She testifies to not having a conversation with Jeff Lacasse about Charlie hiring a hitman.
She testifies that the TV repairman probably came around 9 or 10am but isnt sure.
She testifies that she encountered a roadblock but she didn’t call Dan or the day care about the roadblock and said she wasn’t concerned about the roadblock that day but says that she had tried calling Dan that day and he didn’t pick up.
She testifies that Dan had given her details of what Dan was doing that morning where he told her that he was going to the gym and gave her the times and that she spoke to Charlie about the TV whether they should get a new TV or have it repaired at around 9.30am.
- This aids with the prosecution theory of the case as this is likely how she got the info to give to Katie and passed it on to Luis Rivera [My thoughts]
She testifies to changing the children’s name after the death of Dan from Markel to Adelson.
She testifies that she may have helped to sending an e vite to herself and says she cant remember if she did this or whether it was the mom that did it. She says that the name change started when she registered them for school.
She testifies that her and her children did not attend the funeral.
She testifies that the last time she spoke to Donna was in 2023. She says that her mom offered her advice on what to say or act in court. She said that she should support Charlie in court. She says that she did not take part in a plot or provided any information to have them killed.
She testified that her brother made a tasteless joke about getting a TV than hiring a hitman.
She testifies that she was worried of being a suspect because the ex wife is usually a suspect. She also asked or mentioned that she was a suspect 9 times. She says that she was told her husband was shot when they were in the car but didn’t know Dan was killed before hand.
She testified that she suggested to law enforcement that her parents were mad at Dan and could be suspect.
She testified that she said to law enforcement that her parents “sounded really surprised so that’s a relief” when she relayed the info given to her by law enforcement in connection with Dan’s death

Cross Exam

She testified that she could hear the shock in Donna’s voice when she spoke about Dan’s death with her and said that she never listened to the interview with the police, only read the transcripts.
The defence highlights that Donna wasn’t with Wendi when she had met Katherine Magbanua. She also said that her mom was not with her when she was with Jeff Lacasse.
The defense highlights the parents support of the children and funding the their ventures. That she was selfless and never did anything for herself. That Donna was a ray of sunshine and always took care of the children.
The defence highlights that she left Dan Markel on 9th September 2012 and how she had taken care of the children as she adjust back into life after leaving a man that would do what the mom started doing.
The defence highlights that some things mentioned in the communications were distasteful but she never suggested that Danny deserved to be harmed or even harmed in their email exchanges and says that during that time of the email exchanges, that Dan had called for help.
The defence highlights that Wendi was not familiar with family law so she didnt know what with prejudice meant.
- She testifies that the complaint in the pleadings was not a grandmother motion and it was Dan complaining about Wendi failing to meet her obligations and why the motion should be denied.
The defense highlights that the million dollar offer was to get Danny to relocate himself to moving to Miami and highlighted that there was kosher food there and was more apt with his lifestyle and would have more opportunities. That the offer was so he can travel back and forth to tallahassee from miami and it wasn’t to take his kids from him
She testifies that it was never her intention to take the children from Dan’s life that her plan as to integrate him as much as possible with Dan since they were divorcing.
- This was an attempt to put to bed the parental alienation argument [My Thoughts].
The defence highlights that Donna suggested the Christian faith messages of his kids becoming Christians and if Dan had saw it, then he may have reconsidered.
The defenCe highlighted that Donna know that the order was passed down as Wendi didn’t stipulate that this was a forever and highlighted that she continued on because she thought the case wouldn’t be final until the 28th of June hearing when it was already decided on 18th June 2014.
- This was to show Donna’s state of mind and likely wouldnt have pressed on with persuading Dan Markel had she known the stipulation. [My Thoughts]

Redirect Exam

The state highlights the comment about the show and said that Donna had continued despite there being stipulation by Wendi that it was final when she forwarded the order.
The state highlights that Donna had the kids in nazi uniform and get them baptised and doing all of that to the end that the relocation to South Florida would justify all of this.
The state highlights that Dan Markel wouldn’t agree to the relocation despite their efforts to persuade him with the money to relocate him to south Florida.

Witness #8 Robert Adelson – Son of Donna Adelson

Direct Exam

He testifies to being an ear and throat doctor.
He testifies that Donna Adelson was more on the controlling side and the dad Harvey is more passive and eb and flow type of person. He says that Donna had a certain rigid fixed ideas and if you didn’t go along, things wouldn’t be fine.
He testifies that Donna was a bit on the controlling side including the relationships and their professional side with their jobs.

When they tried to get into the testimony of Wendi Adelson and whether she was gullible or thinks of all things in all angles, it was objected to, the objection wasn’t stated but I believe the reason for this was because it would be speculative mainly even though he would testifying based on knowing her personally. This objection was sustained

He testifies that Charlie was dependant on his mom and would support the business. He says that the mom would handle the payroll and sign the cheques.
He testifies that Donna was the type of person that wouldn’t snap and do something but would ask questions.
He testifies that Donna hating Dan Markel and says that he heard Donna say that Dan was depositioning Wendi to death and Wendi is going through all these things.
He testifies that when Wendi had moved out, that Donna had ran around getting things prepared and the money ready to make the move easier.
- This testimony is laying the foundation for moving to South Florida and living close to the family [My Thoughts]
He testifies that Donna cared more about the divorce than Harvey Adelson.
He testifies that the job that Wendi was in line for a job with a guy called Gary Cohen in Miami that had fell through and that they no longer wanted her anymore. Donna was furious at this job falling through for Wendi.
Harvey Adelson birthday July 5th and his birthday was being celebrated during the time Dan was killed and Donna had wanted everyone to come see him and get him gifts. Donna would want everyone to bring their gifts, pay x amount.
He testifies to what happened when informed that Dan was shot and didn’t make it and says that Donna was not crying and says that Wendi had told her that someone said to her that the shooter asked “are you Dan Markel before being shot”.
He testifies that Donna had told him to not talk to law enforcement and says that oh you don’t know anything anyway. He says that no one had any curiosity about who killed Dan and says whenever he tried to bring up the shooting to the mom, she was not interested in talking about it.
He testifies that when she told Donna about law enforcement arresting the guy that had killed Dan, she had hung up the phone and he never spoke with her since the thanksgiving of that conversation.

Cross Exam

The defense highlights that he was not with the family from 2012 to 2014 and didn’t go to South Florida when he found out Dan had died
The defense highlights that Donna called him due to family friend Weinstein advising them not to speak with law enforcement

No redirect exam.

Witness #9 – Officer Brannon – Police officer on the scene

Direct Exam

He testifies to being a responding officer to the scene of the crime where Dan was shot.
He testifies to a vehicle approaching the roadblock and says that the driver of the vehicle just drove back the other way without enquiring from the officers.

No cross exam

Hope you are now caught up with the substance of what happened in court on Day 2.
Thanks for reading xo

Download the timeline of events PDF here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Qy-QyT-brlzrrEaDS_FuwRvj0YNkswr2/view?usp=drive_link