Criminal Justice
Jailhouse informants testify they were asked to lie on behalf of Donna Adelson, woman on trial in law prof’s murder
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 Aug. 19, 2025, in Tallahassee, Florida. (Photo by Alicia Devine/The Tallahassee Democrat via the Associated Press)
Updated: Donna Adelson, on trial for the murder of former Florida State University law professor Dan Markel, allegedly offered gifts in exchange for false testimony that would support an acquittal, two jailhouse informants testified Friday.
The informants said Donna Adelson offered a grand piano, a trailer and other gifts if they testified that her convicted son, Charlie Adelson, was the victim of extortion by two men who killed Markel.
Law360 and the Tallahassee Democrat covered the trial testimony.
Donna Adelson is accused of plotting Markel’s murder so her daughter Wendi Adelson, Markel’s ex-wife, could relocate from Tallahassee to South Florida with their children. Charlie Adelson was convicted in November 2023 for hiring hit men to kill Markel, despite his claims at trial that he was extorted by gang members.
The two women who testified Friday served time in prison at the same time as Donna Adelson and Katherine Magbanua, who was convicted in May 2022 for enlisting two hit men to kill Markel on behalf of Charlie Adelson.
The women said Donna Adelson wanted them to falsely testify that Katherine Magbanua told them the hit men killed Markel and then extorted Charlie Adelson because the killers knew his family had money, according to the media accounts.
Prosecutors asked one of the women, Patricia Byrd, whether Donna Adelson confessed to the crime, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. “She said she did,” Byrd testified. “She needed to keep her grandkids, and it wasn’t supposed to go that far.”
Byrd said Donna Adelson offered her a trailer and some land as well as free dental work in exchange for the testimony. Donna Adelson’s husband is a retired dentist.
The other informant, Drina Bernhardt, said Adelson wrote out a script for her and promised her money, pills, commissary items, $10,000 and a grand piano in exchange for the false testimony.
A forensics expert who examined the script said he believed it was the handwriting of Donna Adelson.
The defense began presenting its case on Tuesday, according to live updates by the Tallahassee Democrat. The first witness, Anne Elizabeth Cunningham, said she had known Donna Adelson since 2009 and spoke with her on the day Dan Markel was killed.
Cunningham said Donna Adelson seemed upset, concerned and worried about the safety of Wendi Adelson and her grandsons. “Donna was quite hysterical,” she said.
See also:
Prosecutors’ Pursuit: A timeline of the Dan Markel murder trials and convictions
Updated Sept. 4 at 9:15 a.m. to correctly state that the jailhouse informants said Donna Adelson sought testimony that her son had been extorted.
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