The Florida dental matriarch who allegedly helped arrange her ex-son-in-law’s murder opened up about her attempt to flee the U.S. with her husband before turning themselves in.
Donna Adelson, 75, made the shocking admission as she sought her release from jail in a Leon County court on Wednesday, explaining she and husband Harvey chose Vietnam because it’s “a place of peace” — and also happens to be a non-extradition country so if they were caught, they wouldn’t be kept in a foreign jail waiting to be returned to Florida.
She is charged with arranging the 2014 murder of Florida State University law professor Daniel Markel, who was shot in the head at his Tallahassee home.
“I wasn’t afraid of being arrested,” she told the court, according to CourtTV.
“My husband and I — literally shocked and traumatized at what had happened to Charlie — and he said, ‘We need to just get some peace, we need to catch our breath, we’re gonna go away somewhere.’”
The couple’s son, Charlie Adelson, was convicted on the same first-degree murder charge his mother faces, after he was found guilty of arranging Markel’s shooting through a girlfriend, Katie Magbanua.
Magbanua’s enlisted her ex-husband, Sigfredo Garcia, and his friend Luis Rivera, both members of the Latin Kings gang, to kill Markel.
Magbanua and Garcia are serving life sentences, while Rivera got 19 years after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and testifying against the others.
Donna Adelson was arrested at Miami International Airport in November 2023 when she and Harvey were about get on a one-way-flight to Vietnam via Dubai, two countries without extradition treaties with the United States.
While she admitted how fleeing the U.S. would appear to law enforcement officials, she claims they chose Vietnam because they had previously vacationed in the country and liked it, calling it “a place of peace.”
The couple figured if they wanted to turn themselves in, they could just buy plane tickets and return to America on their own accord.
“He said, ‘If we go to a non-extradition country, then if the law enforcement decided that they wanted to arrest you or me, we won’t be sitting in a foreign prison waiting months to go back,’” Adelson said, recounting her husband’s idea.
“My understanding was we could go home and I could turn myself in if that’s what they wanted.”
She added: “I thought it was a good idea because I just couldn’t think straight.”
Markel, originally from Toronto, and his ex-wife, lawyer Wendi Adelson, were involved in a bitter custody battle, and things escalated when he got a court order barring her from moving away with their two sons.
Authorities say the Adelsons offered Markel $1 million to let his ex-wife and sons move. But when he refused, her brother Charlie and other family members began plotting his death.
Markel was found with a fatal gunshot in the head inside his garage in July 2014.
The death remained unsolved before Charlie Adelson was arrested in April 2022.
His mother was charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation.
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“I wanted to get away, he wanted to get away. That’s what we wanted to do,” Donna said of their escape to Vietnam.
She was allegedly warned they could be stopped and arrested at the airport, but she claimed she called her lawyers who told her there were no pending charges or warrants against them.
Donna explained: “I thought if you asked your attorneys and they tell you that, I’m going.”