TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Court TV) – Donna Adelson appeared in court today for a final pretrial hearing ahead of her murder trial, which begins next week. Adelson is accused of conspiring with her son, Charlie Adelson, in the murder-for-hire plot that killed her ex-son-in-law, Dan Markel.
Donna Adelson appears in court for a final pretrial hearing ahead of her murder trial. (Court TV)
Prior to addressing a series of pretrial motions, Judge Stephen Everett asked the prosecution whether they had extended a final plea offer. Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman announced that the State is ready for trial and that they would not be offering Donna a plea agreement.
After defense attorney Dan Rashbaum told the judge that he would not be making a counter-offer to the State, Donna stood and verbally stated, under oath, that she did not wish to make a counter-offer.
Judge Everett then turned his attention to a list of outstanding motions such as the admissibility of evidence including text messages between Donna and Charlie about media coverage of the murder, e-mails between Donna and her life coach, and texts between Donna and her daughter, Wendi Adelson, in the hours following Charlie’s conviction. Wendi had been married to the victim prior to an acrimonious split.
Tallahassee Police Sergeant Chris Corbett also testified about cell phone location data, and the judge also made a final ruling regarding a summary that’s expected to be presented to the jury not as evidence, but as a demonstrative aid.
Donna is the fifth person to face charges in Markel’s murder: Hitman Luis Rivera took a plea deal in 2016, and is serving a 19 year sentence. The other hitman, Sigfredo Garcia, was convicted in 2019. Garcia fired the gun, shooting Markel in the head twice. Katherine Magbanua, who was the link between the Adelsons and the hitmen, was convicted in 2022. And finally, Donna’s periodontist son, Charlie Adelson, was convicted last year. Magbanua was Charlie’s ex-girlfriend.
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Magbanua and Rivera, who are both cooperating witnesses in the case against Donna, were transferred to the Leon County Jail yesterday in anticipation of their testimony. Charlie, who is listed as a witness for the prosecution, is expected to be transferred to the jail in the coming days.
Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday, Sept. 17.
