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, 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 home in Tallahassee.
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 U.S.
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 he was murdered and has gone unceasingly until today,” he said.
Prosecutors argued during the trial that Charlie Adelson, a Fort Lauderdale dentist, paid to have Markel killed after Wendi and he divorced and she lost a custody battle over their two children, Donna Adelson’s grandchildren. They 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.
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.”
Donna Adelson will be extradited back to Leon County for trial in the coming weeks.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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