A Florida grandmother charged in a murder-for-hire plot to kill her ex-son-in-law and Florida State University law professor Daniel Markel spoke out during a hearing Monday about the conflicts of interest her lawyers have in the case. I gave up on the possibility.
Attorney Daniel Rushbaum is also representing Charlie Adelson, the son of Donna Adelson, a dentist who is serving a life sentence for his role in the 2014 plot to kill Markel.
She waived any potential disputes and her right to outside counsel. However, she could lose her lawyer if the lawyer is called as a witness in the case.
Hiring a hitman: Inside the conspiracy in which a Florida dentist allegedly murdered his sister's former lawyer, a prominent lawyer.
This undated family photo shows Dan “Danny” Markel and his two sons. (Photo courtesy of Ruth Markel)
Miami police arrested 73-year-old Adelson at the airport in November on suspicion of being in possession of a one-way ticket to Vietnam. Her prison phone recorded conversations with her and her son that showed her discussing fleeing to Vietnam, China and South Korea to avoid extradition.
Body camera footage from the arrest released early Monday shows resisting officers trying to wrest the cellphone from her hands and causing her husband, who is not charged with conspiracy to commit murder, to be seen in the eyes. He was handcuffed in front of me.
“I didn't know there was a warrant,” she told officers in the 12-minute video. They allowed her husband to remove and store her jewelry and other valuables before escorting her away.
'Life sentence': Florida lawyer's mother murdered in murder plot Details of family's fight for justice
WATCH: 73-year-old grandmother arrested on suspicion of murder-for-hire plot to kill ex-son-in-law
Florida prosecutors have charged Adelson with first-degree murder and abetting murder in Markel's death. He and Adelson's daughter, Wendy Adelson, were involved in a bitter battle over custody of their child at the time of the murder. The Adelsons, who are Catholic, also reportedly opposed Markel's desire to raise their children in a kosher household.
Charles Adelson (left) and Florida State University Law Professor Daniel Markel (FSU). (Broward County Sheriff's Office | FSU)
Markel was ambushed and killed by gunmen on July 18, 2014, in his driveway in Tallahassee. That morning, Markel dropped his children off at daycare and went to the gym. After returning home, he was on the phone with a charter school representative to discuss enrolling his child, when a gunman shot him in the head.
CLICK HERE FOR TRUE CRIME ON FOX NEWS DIGITAL
Neighbors who heard the gunshots rushed to the scene and called 911.
Wendy Adelson, Charlie Adelson's sister and Dan Markel's ex-wife, testified in court in Tallahassee on October 26, 2023, revealing conversations with her mother and details of their divorce. (Elena Barrera/USA Today Network)
“Send an ambulance immediately,” he told the dispatcher. “He's still alive. He's moving.”
Paramedics arrived 19 minutes later and Markel was pronounced dead at the hospital.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The three co-conspirators convicted in the case include Charlie Adelson's ex-girlfriend, Katherine Magbanua, and hired guns Luis Rivera and Sigfredo Garcia.
Adelson's next hearing is scheduled for February 12, and she has pleaded not guilty.
Fox News' Shona Holagh, Landon Mion and Stephanie Pagones contributed to this report.
