Florida dentist Charles Adelson, 47, was found guilty Monday of financing the hit on his brother-in-law Dan Markel in 2014 amid his sister’s bitter child custody battle with him

Charles Adelson, 47, paid to have law professor Dan Markel, 41, who was married to his sister, Wendi Adelson, killed in July 2014

Law professor Dan Markel and Wendi Adelson were embroiled in a custody battle for their two kids, amidst their bitter divorce on July 18, 2014, when Markel was shot dead

Markel was gunned down in his garage by Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera, who prosecutors said were hired through Adelson’s girlfriend, Katherine Magbanua

Markel was shot twice in the head at point-blank range at his home

This is the fourth conviction in the case – Garcia and Magbanua are both serving life sentences, while Rivera who testified against the former two, is serving a 19-year sentence

Florida dentist Charles Adelson [photo], was convicted Monday of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and solicitation of first-degree murder, after paying for a hit on Daniel Markel – who was married to his sister, Wendi Adelson

A Florida court Monday found dentist Charles Adelson found guilty of murder in the shooting death of his former brother-in-law outside his Tallahassee home on July 18, 2014.
Prosecutors said Adelson, 47, paid to have law professor Dan Markel, 41 – who was married to his sister, Wendi Adelson – killed.
The divorced couple were going through a bitter custody battle in 2014 when Markel was shot twice in the head at point-blank range while sitting in his car in his garage. 
After a drawn out investigation, in 2016, two men, Luis Rivera and Sigfredo Garcia, both members of the Latin Kings gang were later charged with the murder along with Charles Adelson’s girlfriend, Katherine Magbanua.
Magbanua was accused of brokering the deal between her current boyfriend Daniel Adelson and Sigfredo Garcia, the father of her two children, who ultimately executed the hit.

Adelson’s sister Wendi Adelson [photo], was married to Dan Markel. The now estranged couple having gone through a bitter divorce were involved in a custody battle before the law professor was slain

On Monday, Adelson was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and solicitation of first-degree murder.
Jurors returned their unanimous verdict after just three hours of deliberations.  
Markel, who worked at Florida State University, was married Adelson´s sister Wendi – but their relationship broke down. They shared custody of their two young sons. 

Law law professor Dan Markel [right], and Wendi Adelson [left] were embroiled in a custody battle for their two kids, amidst their bitter divorce in 2014, when Markel was shot dead. Wendi’s brother Dan Adelson paid to have Markel killed, the court heard

Wendi wanted to move from Tallahassee to South Florida to be closer to her family.
However, a judge at the time ruled that Wendi Adelson couldn’t relocate without Markel´s consent and he refused, saying she couldn’t move the children to Miami. 

Dan Markel was shot ‘execution style’ in broad daylight, sitting in his car in his garage, on July 18, 2014

Prosecutors told jurors at trial that Charles Adelson paid to have the prominent professor killed and that he used his girlfriend, Katherine Magbanua, to hire the father of her two children, Sigfredo Garcia, to commit the murder. 
They said Garcia enlisted the help of his childhood friend, Luis Rivera. 
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.
Daniel Markel was killed at his Tallahassee home on July 18, 2014. The Florida State University law professor was shot as he sat in his car outside his home, after taking his kids to daycare and going to the gym. 
In court on Monday, Fort Lauderdale dentist Adelson mouthed the word ‘no’ when his murder verdict was read out.  
The victim’s parents, Ruth and Phil Markel, and his sister, Shelly Markel, attended the trial and spoke after Monday´s verdict.

Wendi Adelson, the ex-wife Florida State law professor Dan Markel who was shot and killed in 2014, chuckles as she is asked about her brother Charlie Adelson and the number of girlfriends he has had

Prosecutors said that Magbanua enlisted Garcia to take part in a $100,000 hit financed by Markel’s in-laws, which they have denied.
However, following the murder, the Adelson family had been under surveillance by investigators trying to solve Markel’s killing. Eventually prosecutors said, technicians were able to enhance the sound on a 2016 video recording made secretly of him talking to Magbanua inside a noisy South Florida restaurant, La Dolce Vita, which put him in the spotlight.
In April 2022, Charles Adelson was indicted by a grand jury on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy, and solicitation to murder.
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Wendi wanted to move – with her kids – from Tallahassee to South Florida to be closer to her family. However, a judge at the time ruled that Wendi Adelson couldn’t relocate without Markel´s consent and he refused, saying she couldn’t move the children to Miami

Charlie Adelson rubs his face as he waits for closing arguments in his trial in Tallahassee

After Adelson was found guilty on all three charges, Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman [right], speaks with Dan Markel’s parents, Phil and Ruth Markel [left]

Following the verdict the victim’s sister spoke on closure for her family, ‘This has been a really long and terrible ordeal for all of us,’ Shelly Markel said.
‘It´s taken a long toll on our lives. And there´s a real sense of relief today.’
In a nine-year-old case with many twists and turns, Adelson took the stand on Thursday as the only defense witness at his trial, saying prosecutors got the facts of the case wrong. 
He said in his testimony that he felt a sense of relief to final tell the public that he was a victim of extortion and not the mastermind who hired the hitmen who shot Markel.
He further testified that he had nothing to do with the killing and that he was stunned when Magbanua came to his home and said her friends were the killers. 
The dentist said she told him he needed to pay more than $300,000 in 48 hours or he also would be killed.

Charlie Adelson [left], listens as he is found guilty on all three charges against him for the murder of Dan Markel

Moments earlier Adelson was seen licking his lips as his defense attorney Daniel Rashbaum whispers to him before the verdict was read Monday, November 6, 2023, in Tallahassee

Prosecutors told jurors in closing arguments that there were far too many inconsistencies with Adelson´s trial testimony.
The sensational case to bring the law professor justice has seen four arrests and three trials over the nine year period.  
In 2016 Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera , who prosecutors said were hired through Charlie Adelson’s ex-girlfriend, Katherine Magbanua, both were charged with first-degree murder.
Rivera is serving a 19-year sentence after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for testifying against Garcia and Magbanua.
Garcia is serving a life sentence after being convicted of first-degree murder in 2019.
Katherine D. Magbanua, 38, was sent away for life in 2022, without the possibility of parole by a court in Tallahassee, Florida, following her conviction for first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation.