The 73-year-old mother of a Broward dentist convicted in the murder-for-hire killing of his ex-brother-in-law was arrested at Miami International Airport Monday night before she could board a one-way flight to Vietnam, officials say.
Donna Adelson was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami on an out-of-county warrant late Monday night, jail records show. She is being held without bond.
A little over a week ago, a Leon County jury found her son, Charlie Adelson, guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and solicitation of first-degree murder in the killing of Dan Markel, the former husband of his sister, and Donna Adelson’s daughter, Wendi, nine years ago.
Hitmen shot and killed Markel, a prominent Florida State University professor, while he was sitting in his car outside of his Tallahassee home.
Donna Adelson was on the jet bridge Monday, about to board her flight to Vietnam with her husband, Harvey Adelson, when federal agents arrested her, Leon County State Attorney Jack Campbell told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Tuesday.
She had bought a one-way ticket, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. Vietnam does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.
Adelson is now facing the same charges of murder, conspiracy and solicitation that her son did, Campbell said.
Detectives would have waited for more evidence before charging Adelson, but her trip “forced us to make a quicker decision,” he said.
Still, Campbell feels confident that they have enough evidence.
“Her arrest and all the investigation began the day (Markel) was murdered and has gone unceasingly until today,” he said.
Donna Adelson worked as a patient care coordinator at the Adelson Institute for Esthetics and Implant Dentistry in Tamarac, where Charlie Adelson was a periodontist and her husband was a cosmetic dentist. The family lived in Coral Springs, where Wendi Adelson grew up.
Prosecutors argued during the trial that Charlie Adelson paid to have Markel killed after he and Wendi divorced and she lost a custody battle over their two sons, Donna Adelson’s grandchildren.
Donna and Harvey Adelson were trying to move Wendi and the grandchildren to South Florida, against Markel’s wishes, according to a police report.
Prosecutors said that Charlie Adelson used his girlfriend Katherine Magbanua, who hired the father of her children, Sigfredo Garcia, to commit the murder. With the help of his childhood friend, Luis Rivera, Garcia killed Markel, prosecutors said.
Charlie Adelson argued that his girlfriend extorted him.
Magbanua and Garcia were convicted of first-degree murder, and Rivera is serving a 19-year sentence after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for testifying against them.
Markel and Donna Adelson had long feuded over the children, court records show. In a motion filed in March of 2014, Markel sought to prevent Donna Adelson from spending time with them alone, saying that she disparaged him to his sons.
He died before the motion could be heard.
It remains unclear whether other members of the Adelson family or any others will face charges in the murder case. Campbell declined to comment Tuesday, saying that his office will “continue to investigate, wherever that leads.”
Harvey Adelson was not arrested but did not continue onto the flight after his wife was detained, according to Amanda Videll, a spokesperson for the FBI’s Jacksonville office.
When a reporter tried to contact Adelson by phone Tuesday afternoon, a man picked up, asked “who is this?” and then hung up.
Donna Adelson had her first appearance in Miami-Dade County Court Tuesday morning, Videll said. She will be extradited to Leon County for trial in the coming weeks.
Information from the Sun Sentinel archive and The Associated Press was used in this report.
