Criminal Justice
Donna Adelson was ‘matriarch mastermind’ in law prof’s murder, but others could be charged, jury foreperson speculates
Donna Adelson, who is charged in the 2014 murder-for-hire of Florida State University law professor Dan Markel, listens to potential jurors answer questions during the first day of jury selection Aug. 19, 2025, in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Alicia Devine/The Tallahassee Democrat via the Associated Press)
The foreperson of the Florida jury that last week convicted Donna Adelson, the matriarch of a wealthy Florida family, in the July 2014 murder of her former son-in-law is talking about the case in TikTok videos and responses to commenters.
The foreperson called Adelson the “matriarch mastermind” in the murder of Dan Markel, a professor at the Florida State University College of Law, and speculated about possible new charges in the case, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.
Jurors convicted Adelson, 75, after only three hours of deliberations on charges of of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation to commit murder.
Prosecutors said she helped plan the murder, so that her daughter Wendi Adelson, Markel’s ex-wife, could move from Tallahassee, Florida, to South Florida with the couple’s two children. Wendi Adelson was involved in a custody battle with Markel; she has not been charged in the case.
Adelson’s conviction followed the November 2023 conviction of her son Charlie Adelson on the same three charges for hiring hit men to carry out the murder.
The Tallahassee Democrat viewed a TikTok video and confirmed the person’s jury service through court records and visual identification. The newspaper published some viewer questions along with the foreperson’s answers.
Asked what evidence persuaded her to convict, the foreperson replied that “there was sooo much.” Among the evidence: testimony by Donna Adelson’s estranged son Robert Adelson, who testified that his mother avoided talking about the case after the arrests of the alleged hitmen, and testimony by an inmate who said Donna Adelson asked her to falsely testify that Charlie Adelson was the victim of extortion by two men who killed Markel. The inmate said Donna Adelson wrote out a script for her to follow.
The foreperson also referred to Donna Adelson’s communications. “All of her emails, texts, calls indicate how power hungry she was—she meant it when she said that Daniel Markel wasn’t going to beat the Adelson family,” the foreperson said.
The foreperson was also asked for thoughts about possible involvement by Wendi Adelson, who was a lawyer and also a professor at Florida State University.
The foreperson said in her opinion, Wendi Adelson “was part of this in some way, shape or form. She insulated herself from the co-conspirators way too well. She plays ‘dumb’ so well.”
The foreperson thought that Wendi Adelson tried to set up a boyfriend “to keep her family out of the light. I think the state is going to do everything they can to charge her with something. … I just wish we knew when!”
The foreperson also mentioned the possibility of accessory charges against Donna Adelson’s husband, Harvey Adelson.
The Tallahassee Democrat pointed out that neither Wendi Adelson nor Harvey Adelson have been implicated in Markel’s murder.
The foreperson’s mention of the boyfriend was a reference to Jeffrey Lacasse, who testified that he dated Wendi Adelson in 2013 and 2014, and she once told him that her brother had looked into hiring a hit man to kill Markel.
Lacasse testified that Wendi Adelson asked him about his travel plans for July 18, 2014, and he didn’t know why she wanted details because the relationship was on the rocks, WCTV previously reported. Prosecutor Georgia Cappleman pointed out that Markel was murdered the same day, and Lacasse’s trip to Atlanta was “consistent with how the killers fled town.”
Wendi Adelson has consistently denied involvement in the murder, Original Jurisdiction reports in a story on the foreperson’s comments. The story also noted comments by Steven Epstein, the author of a book on the murder called Extreme Punishment: The Chilling True Story of Acclaimed Law Professor Dan Markel’s Murder.
“It seems to me that the prosecutors went out of their way to unveil new nuggets of evidence during this trial deliberately intended to incriminate Wendi,” Epstein said. “Assuming they do charge Wendi, it will be by far their most difficult case yet, as there is comparatively much less evidence pointing to her involvement than Donna’s and Charlie’s—as well as a number of pieces of evidence [Wendi Adelson’s lawyer] John Lauro will point to that appear at face value to be the opposite of consciousness of guilt.”
Epstein said it does not appear that prosecutors “have the same zeal to go after Harvey,” who attended the trial and did not get “even a farewell hug from Donna as she was whisked away” following the guilty verdict.
After the verdict, reporters asked Cappleman whether anyone else will be charged, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.
“Do we need to stay tuned?” one reporter asked, which was a reference to a comment Cappleman made after Charlie Adelson’s guilty verdict.
“You can say ‘stay tuned,’” Cappleman replied.
@laceywithaj Now that trial is over, I am free to talk all about this, per Judge Everett. My mind is just absolutely blown. I was summoned and selected to serve on the jury of the #donnaadelsontrial and I was able to lead deliberations and deliver the verdict to the judge as the jury foreperson. I thought it was a great learning experience and a very wild first jury experience. #Adelson #DonnaAdelson #guiltyascharged ♬ original sound – ✨J✨
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