Dan Markel case: Katherine Magbanua to face sentencing as Charlie Adelson makes court appearance

Karl Etters, Tallahassee Democrat
·3 min read
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GAVEL TO GAVEL COVERAGE

The Tallahassee Democrat is livestreaming the sentencing of Katherine Magbanua's sentencing and Charlie Adelson's case management hearing from the courthouse in Tallahassee. Watch on Tallahassee.com and on the Tallahassee Democrat's Facebook page. For best viewing experience: Download the Tallahassee Democrat app to watch and receive text alerts on when to watch.

LIVE UPDATES: Magbanua to be sentenced in Dan Markel murder; Adelson asking for bond

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Charlie Adelson and Katherine Magbanua haven’t seen each other in person for the past six years.

They may have their closest encounter since then when they both appear in Leon County Circuit Court Friday – Magbanua to face sentencing for being convicted of the murder of Florida State Law Professor Dan Markel and Adelson for his first case management hearing since being charged in the murder-for-hire plot.

Magbanua was convicted in May of first-degree murder and related conspiracy and solicitation charges. On top of the automatic life sentence for murder, she could face 30 years for each additional charge.

Tallahassee Democrat exclusive: What got Katherine Magbanua convicted of Dan Markel’s murder? Here’s what her lawyer said

Next in Markel case: With Magbanua conviction in Markel murder, prosecutors set their sights toward Charlie Adelson

Markel’s family will appear via video conference to give a victim impact statement in the sentencing hearing.

Magbanua, 37, was convicted unanimously by a 12-person jury as the conduit between the two men who drove from Miami to kill Markel — the father of her children, Sigfredo Garcia, and his friend, Luis Rivera — and Markel’s former in-laws, who prosecutors allege hired the two men to shoot the acclaimed law professor in the fallout of his contentious divorce.

Chronicling the case:

A month before the trial, Adelson was arrested at his Broward County home on first-degree murder and related conspiracy and solicitation charges.

Adelson is the accused orchestrator and financier behind the murder and was a central part in the trial of Magbanua, who he was dating at the time of Markel's July 2014 murder at Markel's Betton Hills home.

During trial, jurors heard dozens of wiretaps and surreptitiously recorded video gathered by the FBI, which investigators allege detail a web of communications between him, his mother, Donna Adelson, Magbanua and the two hitmen.

The primary piece of evidence for prosecutors was the so-called Dolce Vita tape, secretly recorded by undercover FBI agents at a Miami restaurant of the same name, which showed Adelson and Magbanua discussing in code how to handle an FBI agent who was seeking money posing as a relative of Rivera.

Analyzing the video: Read the transcript and watch the video that prompted charges against Charlie Adelson

Known in the case as “The Bump,” the agent approached Donna Adelson on the street — giving her a newspaper article about Markel with "$5,000" written on it and a phone number to call — and the duo was trying to determine whether he was a blackmailer or a cop.

Charlie Adelson appeared Tuesday, April 26, 2022 wearing a white and orange jumpsuit, via video conference before Leon County Judge Augustus D. Aikens Jr. who ordered he be held without bond and not contact any codefendants. Adelson is facing charges in the murder of the Florida State University law professor, Dan Markel.
Charlie Adelson appeared Tuesday, April 26, 2022 wearing a white and orange jumpsuit, via video conference before Leon County Judge Augustus D. Aikens Jr. who ordered he be held without bond and not contact any codefendants. Adelson is facing charges in the murder of the Florida State University law professor, Dan Markel.

Investigators found that information passed through conversations between Magbanua and Adelson trickled to Garcia in the days after the murder.

Donna Adelson has not been charged in connection with Markel’s murder and has denied any involvement through her attorneys.

Adelson, who is being represented by Miami attorney Daniel Rashbaum, has been held in the Leon County Detention Facility since April without bond. Adelson may be seeking a hearing to determine whether bond is applicable in his case.

Contact Karl Etters at ketters@tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Dan Markel murder: Magbanua sentenced; Adelson to appear on same day