Katherine Magbanua trial in Dan Markel murder a go for next week
GAVEL-TO-GAVEL COVERAGE: The Tallahassee Democrat will livestream each day of the trial of Katherine Magbanua 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 – from opening arguments to the verdict.
Katherine Magbanua’s trial on charges she was involved in the murder of Florida State law professor Dan Markel is set to start Monday morning.
Attorneys on Friday signaled they were ready to move ahead and spent the afternoon reviewing evidentiary exhibits that will be presented to jurors throughout the next two weeks.
Jury selection will be held Monday and Tuesday.
A breakdown of Trial One: Dan Markel murder trial: Everything we learned each day in court
Magbanua faces charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation of murder in connection with Markel’s broad-daylight shooting in July 2014. She is suspected of being the conduit between the hitmen – the father of her children Sigfredo Garcia and his friend Luis Rivera – and Markel’s former in-laws who have been implicated as the masterminds behind and financiers of what investigators say was a murder for hire.
Magbanua, 37, is facing a jury for the second time. Her first case ended in a mistrial in 2019 when jurors were split 10-2 on whether she was involved in the murder.
Her Miami defense team has maintained her innocence since her arrest in 2016 and throughout the investigation even as prosecutors floated immunity to her for information on the family of Markel’s ex-wife Wendi Adelson.
But prosecutors contend she helped hire the hitmen and coordinate the payment of $100,000 for the shooting. They also point toward a series of cash deposits into Magbanua’s bank account in the months after the murder as payment for her alleged role.
Court records say the murder-for-hire plot unfolded amid a child custody fight between Markel and Adelson, in which her brother and mother are suspected of intervening.
Charlie Adelson was arrested last month in a bombshell in the investigation after a secretly recorded video of him and Magbanua was enhanced and presented to a Leon County grand jury which indicted the 45-year-old South Florida dentist.
Adelson arrest:
Charlie Adelson arrested on murder charges in Broward County
Prosecutors discuss 'big difference' new evidence made in Adelson arrest
Adelson is being held in custody in Leon County without bond.
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: Katherine Magbanua will face jury again in Take Two trial
