Dan Markel murder: Held in solitary confinement since April, Charlie Adelson denied bond

Accused murderer Charlie Adelson will remain in jail until his trial on charges he orchestrated and paid for the plot to kill his former brother-in-law, Dan Markel.

Attorneys for Adelson, once a wealthy periodontist who has been in the Leon County jail since his arrest in April, asked Judge Robert Wheeler to afford him bond during a hearing Friday morning.

Prosecutor Georgia Cappleman said not only was Adelson a flight risk, but he also posed a danger to the community and could influence or tamper with witnesses in his pending murder trial – many of whom are members of his family also implicated as suspects in the 2014 murder of the acclaimed Florida State University law professor.

The motive for the murder, according to prosecutors, was the Adelson family’s desire to move Markel’s ex-wife Wendi Adelson and the couple’s two kids to South Florida in the fallout of their contentious divorce. Wendi Adelson and her mother Donna Adelson have been named as co-conspirators by prosecutors but have not been arrested. They have denied any involvement in the murder.

Charlie Adelson is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation of murder. Already three people are facing prison time for their roles in the crime. Adelson’s one-time girlfriend, Katherine Magabanua, and the father of her two children, Sigfredo Garcia, were convicted. Garcia’s childhood friend Luis Rivera pleaded guilty for his cooperation with prosecutors.

New evidence emerges of Charlie Adelson speaking with his Dad about the murder

Wheeler found there was probable cause for the charges and plenty of evidence to hold Adelson from surreptitiously recorded videos of discussions with Magbanua, who was convicted of Markel’s murder in May.

“Not only is there direct evidence from the Dolce Vita video and the statements therein but there is also a wealth of circumstantial evidence against the defendant," Wheeler said at the conclusion of the one-hour hearing.

The video, recorded at a Miami restaurant by the same name, was integral in Magbanua’s prosecution earlier this year but also led to the arrest of Adelson after it was enhanced enough so the conversation could clearly be heard.

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

Chronicling the case:

• What got Katherine Magbanua convicted of Dan Markel’s murder? Here’s what her lawyer said

• Katherine Magbanua tells jurors evidence against her 'looks bad,' but insists she's innocent

• Dan Markel murder: FBI wiretaps, what's left unsaid take center stage on Day 5

In it, the duo discuss how to deal with an undercover FBI agent who approached Adelson’s mother in an operation known as “The Bump” that was intended to get suspects in Markel’s murder talking.

Cappleman played a previously unheard video of Adelson and his father, Harvey Adelson, on April 21, 2016 – the day after Charlie Adelson met with Magbanua – in which they discuss the investigation and who police are more likely to go after to crack the case.

'The grief is like a life sentence': Ruth Markel, a search for justice and a fight for rights

The duo met at Matsuri in Miami and while being recorded by undercover officers, discuss who the police are likely to talk to about the murder. The full context of the video is unclear, but Harvey Adelson appears to divulge an agreement between his son and Magbanua.

“They wouldn’t want to talk to Wendi, so you’re the next to talk to,” Charlie Adelson said in the brief video.  “One or the other but the woman is usually the weaker choice? You know, the one that is going to give in, so it is what it is.”

“That’s what Katie agreed with you?” Harvey Adelson replies.

“Yeah,” Charlie Adelson replies. “That’s where you’re at. I…the thing is…I actually think it’s a…you knew at some point…Somebody they had to reach out, had to do something. So there has to be some kind of tactic to come in to…to the introduction.”

The video ends shortly after Charlie Adelson says: “I think there’s a recorder in that bag.”

Analysis: Prosecutors discuss 'big difference' new evidence made in Adelson arrest

Markel family: 'No criminal offense could be more shocking or more serious'

Cappleman detailed the web of communication between the killers, Magbanua and Charlie Adelson around the time of the murder and as $100,000 in cash was secured to divvy up. She also pointed again to a crass joke Adelson made repeatedly that he bought his sister a TV as a divorce present because it was cheaper than hiring a hitman. “TV” became a code word for members of the Adelson family to discuss the murder, Cappleman alleged.

She also noted a comment Adelson made that if the police had evidence against him, he would have already been at the airport.

Dan Markel murder 'middleman'? Conflicting portraits of Katherine Magbanua emerge in trial opener

She read a statement from Markel’s family asking the judge to hold Adelson for trial.

“No criminal offense could be more shocking or more serious,” Cappleman read. “In our view additional evidence to be presented at Mr. Adelson’s trial leaves no doubt that Charlie Adelson commissioned Dan’s murder. The overwhelming weight of the evidence against him, the lengthy prison sentence he faces and the very real risk he would flee, the risk he would influence trial testimony and the risk he would conspire with or be influenced by members of his family strongly support the denial of Mr. Adelson’s motion for pretrial release.”

The sentence: Dan Markel murder: Road to justice continues for family with Magbanua life sentence

Cappleman admitted there was a mountain of circumstantial evidence but prompted Wheeler to pay attention to Adelson’s own words, some of which she has alleged are code intended to mislead investigators.

“There is a lot of circumstantial evidence and the devil is in the details,” she said. “Those wire calls are very, very compelling.”

Adelson has been held in solitary confinement since April

Adelson’s attorney Daniel Rashbaum, however, disagreed.

He argued nothing has changed since 2016 when the draft probable cause affidavits for Adelson’s arrest were released to the media.

He pointed to repeated statements in the Dolce Vita tape in which Adelson said he had nothing to do with the murder. At her trial, in which she testified on her own behalf, Magbanua said she felt Adelson was involved with the murder. Rashbaum said she was offered immunity for testimony against his client and never offered a shred of evidence to investigators.

Adelson has been held in solitary confinement since his arrest as a security measure because of the high-profile publicity surrounding Markel’s murder.

“Sure, there have been convictions, but none have offered direct evidence against Mr. Adelson,” Rashbaum told Wheeler. “All those years the state felt Mr. Adelson was not a flight risk. The state felt he was not a danger to the community. Nothing has changed. Not one single witness establishes Mr. Adelson’s involvement.”

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

Never miss a story:  Subscribe to the Tallahassee Democrat using the link at the top of the page.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Dan Markel murder: No bond, release for suspect Charlie Adelson