The Trial Of Donna Adelson | The Murder Of Dan Markel

Five people are in prison. Prosecutors have named two more in open court. Dan Markel was gunned down in his own garage in 2014 — a Florida State law professor and father in the middle of a custody fight with his ex-wife Wendi Adelson. Her brother Charlie is serving life. Her mother Donna is serving life. The hitmen are locked up. The go-between is locked up. And Wendi and her father Harvey are sti...

If you've followed the Adelson family saga from the beginning, you already know the names that still aren't in a cell: Wendi and Harvey. And you're probably asking the same thing the rest of us are — are they actually going to get away with it? Dan Markel was a father of two, shot dead in his own garage in 2014. A decade later, his ex-wife's brother and mother are both serving life. The hitmen and...

The oral arguments in Charlie Adelson's appeal took place today before Florida's First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee. For 40 minutes, three judges — Lori S. Rowe, Thomas D. Winokur, and M. Kemmerly Thomas — heard competing arguments about whether Adelson's 2023 murder conviction should stand. Defense attorney Michael Ufferman argued that pretrial publicity made a fair trial in Leon Count...

Everything we covered this week on the Adelson case — Charlie's appeal heading to oral arguments, Donna's transfer to South Florida, and the question that won't go away. On February 3rd, 2026, Florida's First District Court of Appeal will hear oral arguments in Charlie Adelson's bid to overturn his life sentence. His 91-page brief makes four main arguments, but the numbers tell the story: of 130 p...

Charlie Adelson will be back in a Florida courtroom on February 3rd, 2026 — but this time, it's not a trial. It's an appeal. His attorneys have filed a 91-page brief with Florida's First District Court of Appeal arguing that his conviction for the murder of Dan Markel should be reversed. The core claims: Leon County was so saturated with pretrial publicity that an impartial jury was impossible; po...

In this 2025 Year-in-Review Hidden Killers special , we bring together the two most explosive pillars of the case against Donna Adelson: the alleged long-term orchestration of a murder-for-hire plot — and the undercover “bump” that may have exposed her entire operation in a single moment. Tony Brueski sits down with defense attorney and former prosecutor Eric Faddis , along with retired FBI Behavi...

In today’s explosive Hidden Killers breakdown, we examine the testimony that has completely reshaped the Donna Adelson trial — testimony not from police, not from experts, but from Donna’s own children , whose words now carry some of the greatest weight in the courtroom. First, we turn to Wendi Adelson , whose strategy has the courtroom buzzing. While her brother Robert delivered blunt, precise an...

The façade of the “sweet grandmother in a cardigan” shattered today. In this hard-hitting Hidden Killers breakdown, we walk through nine of the most devastating revelations from Sergeant Christopher Corbett’s testimony — evidence so precise, so digital, and so tightly woven that it left the courtroom stunned. These weren’t theories. These weren’t assumptions. These were time-stamped movements, cal...

In this 2025 Year-in-Review Hidden Killers special , we break down one of the most significant moments to emerge from the Donna Adelson trial: the testimony of Jeffrey LaCasse , Wendi Adelson’s former boyfriend, whose words added a new layer of depth — and danger — to the State’s narrative. LaCasse took the stand with a calm, steady presence, recounting conversations he had with Wendi in the month...

In this 2025 Year-in-Review Hidden Killers special , we break down two of the most devastating developments in the Donna Adelson trial — the explosive emails prosecutors say reveal her true motives, and the jaw-dropping testimony from her own children and Wendi’s ex-boyfriend that shattered the family narrative she’s tried to control for more than a decade. First, we examine the emails Donna sent...

The Trial of Donna Adelson took an even more complex turn today as Robert “Rob” Adelson, Donna’s eldest son, stepped into the witness box. Unlike the investigators and outside witnesses, Rob brought jurors a deeply personal perspective, one that intersects family loyalty with the gravity of a murder trial. Rob’s testimony centered on family communications and interactions around the time of Dan Ma...

In one of the most emotionally charged moments of the Donna Adelson trial, Wendi Adelson took the stand — and the courtroom shifted. This wasn’t just another witness testifying about timelines and documents. This was the daughter of the accused, the ex-wife of the victim, and the woman whose family turmoil prosecutors say fueled a murder-for-hire plot that stunned the nation. Wendi walked jurors t...

In this powerful Hidden Killers special, we bring together two of the most revealing conversations ever recorded about the Adelson family — the psychological roots of the crime and the stunning courtroom collapse that followed. This is the full story behind the guilty verdict, built from expert behavioral insight and razor-sharp legal analysis. Retired FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke returns to bre...

In this 2025 Year-in-Review Hidden Killers special , we examine one of the most explosive family implosions in any modern true-crime case: the unraveling alliance between Donna Adelson and her daughter Wendi , and why that break may define the future of the Dan Markel murder trial. This combined episode covers two of the biggest developments of the year. First: the seismic moment when Wendi Adelso...

The verdict dropped — and the courtroom snapped to attention. In this full, uncut Hidden Killers upload, you’ll see the exact moment Donna Adelson reacted to being found guilty , followed immediately by the judge warning her she would be removed from the courtroom if the behavior continued. No edits, no cuts, no commentary layered over the moment itself — just the raw courtroom footage exactly as...

In this 2025 Year-in-Review Hidden Killers special , Tony Brueski breaks down one of the most talked-about courtroom moments of the year: the opening statements in the high-stakes murder-for-hire trial of Donna Adelson . From the prosecution’s meticulously crafted narrative to the defense’s chaotic stumble out of the gate, this episode captures the full shockwave of a trial Florida—and the nation—...

Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman took center stage in the Donna Adelson trial and delivered one of the most consequential closing arguments of the entire case — a summation built on motive, timing, and a digital trail prosecutors say Donna cannot outrun. Cappleman told jurors the path to the truth was simple: “Follow the evidence and find her guilty.” And with that, she walked them step...

In this full-length Hidden Killers special, Tony Brueski brings together the complete story of Donna Adelson , the woman prosecutors say sat at the center of one of Florida’s most cold-blooded murder-for-hire conspiracies. With three co-conspirators already convicted—including her son Charlie—Donna is now the final alleged architect heading toward trial, and this episode lays out the entire case:...

Donna Adelson is officially back in South Florida — just not the way she planned. According to Florida Department of Corrections records, the convicted mastermind behind the Dan Markel murder-for-hire has been transferred from the Ocala reception center to Homestead Correctional Institution in Miami-Dade County. It's the exact placement her defense team requested at sentencing, when Judge Stephen...

As part of our Hidden Killers 2025 Year in Review series, we revisit the shocking moment that shattered the illusion of Adelson family unity — Wendi Adelson’s refusal to testify for her mother, Donna , in one of Florida’s most explosive murder-for-hire trials. In a stunning pretrial twist, Donna’s defense team tried to subpoena her daughter, Wendi , hoping her testimony might humanize Donna or cou...

As part of our Hidden Killers 2025 Year in Review series, this full-length special brings together all four parts of our deep investigation into the case of Donna Adelson — the grandmother, mother, and alleged mastermind at the center of one of Florida’s most shocking murder-for-hire conspiracies. This is the complete, unbroken story — from the private family dynamics that prosecutors say sparked...

As part of our Hidden Killers 2025 Year in Review series, we’re breaking down the most calculated—and sometimes downright desperate—moves by Donna Adelson , the matriarch at the center of Florida’s most infamous murder-for-hire case. In one of the year’s most revealing episodes, Tony Brueski exposes how Donna’s defense team has spent months trying to slow, stall, and spin the inevitable. From fili...

As part of our Hidden Killers 2025 Year in Review series, we’re revisiting the case that dominated headlines, divided families, and exposed the darkest corners of privilege and power — the unraveling of Donna Adelson . Just weeks before jury selection was set to begin, Donna’s long-awaited murder trial imploded into chaos. Prosecutors dropped a stunning bombshell: a massive cache of new evidence —...

As part of our Hidden Killers 2025 Year in Review series, we revisit one of the most surreal twists in the Donna Adelson murder trial — the moment when a novel became potential evidence in a real-life homicide case. In this special episode, Tony Brueski breaks down the unprecedented legal and psychological debate surrounding This Is Our Story , a book written by Donna’s daughter, Wendi Adelson , y...

As part of our Hidden Killers 2025 Year in Review series, we’re revisiting two defining moments in the unraveling of the Adelson family empire — moments that exposed not only the legal chaos behind the Dan Markel murder case, but the chilling psychology that fueled it. In this special combined episode, Tony Brueski dissects Donna Adelson’s courtroom performance of a lifetime — a bond hearing turne...