Donna Adelson Matriach Murder Trial (Day 6 Recap)

29th 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

Todays Witnesses:

Witness #21 – Patrick Sanford – FBI Special Agent
Witness #22 – Jonathan Grossman – Official From the Miami Dade Sheriff Office
Witness #23 – Patricia Byrd – Donna’s jailmate
Witness #24 – Drina Bernhardt – Donna’s Jailmate
Witness #25 – Kate Butler – Senior Crime Lab Analyst
Recalled – Witness #16 – Christopher Corbitt – Data Analyst

Continuation of witness #21 Patrick Sanford Testimony, the lead investigator in the case.

Direct Exam

What happened during this direct before they passed over to the defense for cross examination was that they established the communications of Donna and her family before her subsequent arrest.

The state lays the foundation of the arrests that were made to those that were complicit for the killing of Dan Markel.
- 16th May 2016, Sigfredo Garcia was arrested.
- Luis Rivera was already in prison for an unrelated incident.
- 1st October 2016, Katherine Magbanua was arrested.
- 21 April 2022, Charlie Adelson was arrested.
- 13th August 2022, Donna Adelson was then arrested.
Katherine Magbanua was given a proffer which means that law enforcement agreed to not use what she has said against her.
- Katherine says that she was in Lincoln Road at a party at South Beach meeting with Charlie Adelson where he had enquired about people that could take care of someone on 31st October 2013. There was a text message sent to confirm the meeting.
- She admitted that she went to Charlie’s house to pick up the money and spent the night.
  - The state recalls back Christopher’s Corbitt testimony showing that Donna had messaged at 8:35pm on the 19th July 2014 saying she was outside his house.
There was a call placed between Donna and Charlie Adelson whilst Charlie was in jail, Donna had thought that the call had ended but it didn’t and what she said afterwards was picked up by those that record jail calls. This call revealed communications between Harvey and Donna Adelson as well as someone called Mr. Schagrin. This call happened on the 7th November 2023 after Charlie was convicted on the 6th November 2023
- The state highlights the names of the people on the call and who they were, these were Roman was the young child of Charlie Adelson and Susan and Rick are close friends of the family. The state also highlights Donna mentioning Dan which was Charlie’s lawyer
- She mentions that its worth to take prepare for their trip and try to get to the airport.
- She says to Harvey that Charlie called her and he was asked how is Wendi holding up.
- She reads out what Wendi Adelson had messaged her saying that she knows that Donna is upset about the verdict in Charlies trial but she told the truth about what happened in Charlie’s trial and any communications with her has to go through her attorneys.
- Donna could be heard crying on the phone all at her disappointment that her daughter would do this to her and her family is cursed.

The state highlights that on the call Donna and Harvey were planning to travel to Dubai then Vietnam, they also highlighted that these were non extradition countries as she made google searches on the 7th for US extradition treaties (Dubai and Vietnam were not on the list) and on the 13th November 2023, the FBI were informed of the plan and on that evening of 13th November 2023, law enforcement went to the airport and intercepted the flight.
- Details of the arrest were given where Donna was unwilling to give over her phone for law enforcement.
The state highlighted the investigation Stanford did into the 2014 planner that belonging to Donna was shown and she had information of Dan Markel’s vehicle registration and established that the flight to Vietnam and Dubai were one way flights.

Cross exam

The defence highlights that Charlie was always reassuring Donna that no one is coming after her and everything was okay despite Garcia not figuring out who the person was and Katherine trying to figure out the blackmailer.
- This was to remove the knowledge of Donna of Katherine and only showing Charlie was the one with full knowledge. [My thoughts]
The defence highlighted that Charlie Adelson and Katherine Magbanua were the only wiretaps they collected on the case.
- It was my belief the defence asked this to show that there could have been conversations with Donna that may have been exonerating. [My thoughts]
The defence laid the foundation of what happened before the murder and after the murder, the police interviews with Wendi and Donna Adelson.
- Sanford agreed that Wendi had said Charlie had made a joke of cheaper than hiring a hit men
- Sanford says that there were numerous persons of interest before they became suspects and were focused on the Adelson’s after a year.
The defence discusses the wiretap and the live monitoring they did and expounded further on the concept of minimisation that is used to make determinations of whats relevant or whats not relevant.
- This was to highlight possible flaws of not making the right determinations [My thoughts]
The defence highlights that Jeff Lacasse was not considered a potential suspect despite being a person of interest in the case. Patrick testified that he only done a handful of the person of interest interviews.
The defence highlights Charlie and Katherine being convicted, and how she lied despite having a proffer.
The defence highlights that there was no warrant for Donna during the investigation and communications with Katherine Magbanua leading up to her arrest.
The defence discussed the purpose of the trip by Donna and Harvey and showed that the visa that Donna was issued from 13th November 2023 till 12th February 2024, and the visa was for tourism purposes in Vietnam.
- The defence highlights that she had two carry ons when at the airport.
- Patrick Sanford says that he didn’t search Harvey Adelson and he also didn’t check how much money Donna had on her.
  - This was to present the idea that if someone was planning to go to a country to avoid extradition, they would have most of their assets to live as long as necessary. [My Thoughts]
- The defense highlighted that there was no direct connection between Katherine and Sigfredo. They said that Katherine went to institute and exchanged a few words but outside of that there is no direct connection.

Redirect Exam

The state went into the substance of Charlie Adelson’s defence saying that he was saying that the Adelson’s were being extorted and he was making payments to Katherine Magbanua who he discovered was was part of the extortion and she was receiving the money to give to the extortioners and this extortion lasted for two years.
- The state showed messages between Charlie and Katherine from the day after the killing of Dan Markel on the 19th July 2014 to 30th May 2016 and highlighted that there were no mention of extortion by Katherine or by the hitmen but it was just mundane messages.
The state went onto discuss the details of the flight plan and highlight that there was a bar mitzvah she had to attend in January 2024, Patrick Sanford said that there was no flight booked to return.

Witness #22 – Jonathan Grossman – Official From the Miami Dade Sheriff Office

Direct Exam

He testifies to obtaining the search warrant on the 13th November 2023 and was executed on the 23rd November of the Adelson’s residence.
- A planner was seized where it was already opened at the time showing scribblings.

Cross Exam

Nothing much of note from this cross exam except the defence enquired about the search and certain items like money and bundles being out the open.

No redirect.

Witness #23 – Patricia Byrd – Donna’s jailmate

Direct Exam

Her conviction history was laid as a foundation and made clear nothing has been offered for her testimony. She had shared the same pod with Donna Adelson when she was in jail.
She testifies that she did do it and it was to keep her grandkids but didn’t expect it to go that far and not only that, she knew of Katherine Magbanua as they shared a pod and how they came to an agreement.

Cross Exam

She testifies that everything she told the investigators about Katherine was false and confirmed she did lie about certain facts.
The defence highlights that Donna was only writing checks and she said that she wasn’t sure
- This is just awful defense lawyering

Redirect Exam

Cleared up the details of Donna’s sleeping arrangements in the pod.

Witness is subject to recall by the defence.

Witness #24 – Drina Bernhardt – Donna’s Jailmate

Direct Exam

She says that when in jail, Donna called her jail daughter and nicknamed her sunshine. She said that Donna had also wrote to her and would do favours for her.
She says that Donna talked to her about her grandchildren saying Donna told her she was very close with her grandchildren and would consider them her children.
She says that she is more interested for justice for the Markel family and says that Donna was worried about Rob’s testimony.
She also says she knew Katherine Magbanua from being incarcerated with her before and shared the same pod and says that Donna had tried to recruit her to testify for her in her pending trial to testify in her favour.
- She says that she was given a note by Donna on what to say in court when she was supposed to testify.
- She was shown the part of the note of what she was to say about Katherine Magbanua and the extortion with Charlie.
- She says that she would receive packages and allowed her to use her phone to make calls as jail phones are expensive
- She also promised her a grand piano, new veneers and $10k. She was also promised pills and get her someone that would write her prescriptions, she revealed at this point that she is an addict.
- She says that Harvey Adelson was to pay her the money via Zelle and they were to communicate via signal to sort out the transaction.

Cross Exam

The defence highlights the possibility Drina may have been put in the jail to watch Donna as he went through her convictions and the violations she did leading up to being in the pod with Donna.
She also says that she wasn’t sure if she told her what to write.

Redirect Exam

She is hoping to receiving favour from her testimony and the state highlights that she doesn’t have any knowledge of what had happen to be telling Donna what to write in the notes.

Witness is subject to recall by the defence.

Witness #25 – Kate Butler – Senior Crime Lab Analyst

Direct Exam

She is a handwriting analysist who compare and analyses people’s calligraphy. Her work to consists of determining the author who may have written something.
She concluded that Donna was the author of the notes that were written to Drina Bernhardt based on her analysis

No cross exam

Recalled – Witness #16 – Christopher Corbitt – Data Analyst

Direct Exam

He was called to introduce the second part of the communications from Donna and Charlie Adelson’s messages and other communications from their cloud accounts and other mediums.
An handwriting note was shown of what Donna to Charlie wrote in preparation for his trial regarding the murder of Dan Markel and the note details that they were being extorted.
- This highlights that Donna was trying to keep and stick to the same story that Charlie had told in his trial.
- October 16th 2023: A week before Charlie Adelson testimony began, Donna had made a google search for the difference between extortion and blackmail.
- November 6th 2023: Four days after the trial Wendi and Donna message eachother about Charlie telling the truth and they should pray.
- 1st November 2023: Donna is messaging a host of people saying that Charlie is tellng the truth and finally the truth is it.
- 1st November 2023 at 7:22am: Donna says to Wendi that he didn’t tell her this because it may affect her and that Charlie is telling the truth and its in the hands of the jury.
The state goes back to Katherine and Charlie’s communications on the 19th June 2014, a day after the murder where Charlie initiates the message saying that he is heading to the gym and normal conversations no mention about the extortion from Katherine.
- More mundane messages were shown after this and there was no mention of extortion.
The state shows that on July 21st 2016, Katie Magbanua, Charlie Adelson and Charlie’s attorney had met with his attorney and Charlie messages Donna letting her know of the meeting. A month prior, Sigfredo Garcia was arrested for his role in killing Dan.
The state shows that Charlie was theorising Dan Markels death to Donna in a text sent on 2nd August 2016, Charlie messages Donna saying that Dan Markel had likely owed him money for drugs saying that he has stiffed people for the drugs.
The state returns to communications after Charlie’s verdict on November 6th 2023, Donna messages Wendi letting her know that Charlie had protected her and done everything for her.
After speaking with Wendi, on 7th November 2023, a day after the verdict, Donna was applying for Visa to travelling to Vietnam on whatsapp. She asked for 90 day Visa as fast as possible and sends Harvey and Donna’s picture for the application.
- She had set a reminder on her phone to stop all Amazon deliveries.
- She had also planned to sell her guns.
- She messages Annie (same day) that there is something that had happen and will fill her in that she should standby.
- She searches for countries without extradition on the same day.

Cross Exam

Defence highlights if it will be unusual to stop amazon deliveries, and Christopher says that it would not and was asked if it means that its an indicator of someone leaving for good and he says, not on its own.
Defence highlights that there is no evidence of moving assets overseas and he agreed.
Defence returns to communications between Charlie and Katherine asking if there was evidence that Donna was aware of their communications and he says there is no evidence of her knowing of their communications.

Redirect Exam

The state shows the reaction by Donna saying it was good news that Garcia had been arrested and there was no more arrests based on the article that was written that stated no more arrests were to be made.

The state rested their case!