The Trial Of Donna Adelson | The Murder Of Dan Markel

As part of our Hidden Killers 2025 Year in Review series, we revisit one of the most chilling and dysfunctional family dramas ever to play out in a courtroom — the Adelson saga , where murder, money, and manipulation collided in one of Florida’s most unforgettable true crime stories. In this combined special, Tony Brueski sits down with Defense Attorney Bob Motta ( Defense Diaries ) to dissect the...

As part of our Hidden Killers 2025 Year in Review series, we’re revisiting one of the most jaw-dropping courtroom sagas of the year — the unraveling of Donna Adelson , the 75-year-old grandmother accused of orchestrating the murder-for-hire plot that took the life of Florida State law professor Dan Markel . In two of the year’s most explosive episodes, Tony Brueski sat down with both Defense Attor...

This Thanksgiving, three of the most talked-about defendants in America are experiencing the holiday in a way most people never imagine: behind the walls of three very different prison systems. Bryan Kohberger. Sean “Diddy” Combs. Donna Adelson. Three names dominating headlines — now sharing the same institutional reality when the rest of the world gathers around family tables. In this episode, we...

How does a grandmother, a former schoolteacher, a woman who spent decades projecting the image of a devoted matriarch, end up at the center of one of the most disturbing family-driven crimes in recent memory? Tonight, we go deep into the psychology behind the Donna Adelson case — not to excuse her actions, but to finally understand the mental scaffolding that allowed her to justify something most...

How does a grandmother, a former schoolteacher, a woman who spent decades projecting the image of a devoted matriarch, end up at the center of one of the most disturbing family-driven crimes in recent memory? Tonight, we go deep into the psychology behind the Donna Adelson case — not to excuse her actions, but to finally understand the mental scaffolding that allowed her to justify something most...

In this extended episode of Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski , we go deep into the quietest chapter yet in the saga of the Adelson family: the appeals. On November 4, 2025 , Donna Adelson filed her notice of appeal with Florida’s First District Court of Appeal — one day before her son Charlie filed his reply brief in his own appeal. It marks the moment both mother and son officially stepped into t...

In this extended episode of Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski , we go deep into the quietest chapter yet in the saga of the Adelson family: the appeals. On November 4, 2025 , Donna Adelson filed her notice of appeal with Florida’s First District Court of Appeal — one day before her son Charlie filed his reply brief in his own appeal. It marks the moment both mother and son officially stepped into t...

In one of the most chilling post-verdict revelations yet, we’re hearing directly from the woman Donna Adelson once called her “jailhouse daughter.” Her name is Dina Burnernhard , and according to her testimony and a new interview with Surviving the Survivor , she spent five months locked up alongside Donna in the Leon County Jail . What she witnessed behind those walls is nothing like the frail, w...

In the shocking aftermath of Donna Adelson’s life sentence and Charlie Adelson’s conviction, one name still hangs in the air: Wendi Adelson . Dan Markel was murdered in 2014, shot in his Tallahassee driveway amid a vicious custody battle. The plot has been proven. The masterminds have been convicted. The money trail is mapped. And yet, the woman at the center of the motive — Wendi Adelson, Markel’...

When a murder destroys a family, the world often focuses on the killers, the trials, and the endless courtroom drama. But in the case of Dan Markel and the Adelson family , the most important victims aren’t in prison or on TV — they’re two children quietly living in the wreckage. In this episode, Tony Brueski takes a deep dive into the psychological trauma faced by the children of Wendi Adelson an...

Dan Markel wasn’t just a brilliant legal scholar — he was a father fighting to protect his sons from a world he saw as dangerous, manipulative, and morally bankrupt. Before his murder in 2014, Markel was locked in an emotional and legal battle with his ex-wife Wendi Adelson’s family — a fight over where their children would live and, more importantly, what kind of people they would become. In this...

In the murder-for-hire case of Florida State law professor Dan Markel , one name still divides the public — Wendi Adelson . She was his ex-wife. The mother of his children. The woman whose family — Donna and Charlie Adelson — now sit behind bars for orchestrating his killing. And yet, Wendi remains free. In this episode, Tony Brueski breaks down the exact words Wendi spoke under oath and what her...

In the shocking aftermath of Donna Adelson’s life sentence and Charlie Adelson’s conviction, one name still hangs in the air: Wendi Adelson . Dan Markel was murdered in 2014, shot in his Tallahassee driveway amid a vicious custody battle. The plot has been proven. The masterminds have been convicted. The money trail is mapped. And yet, the woman at the center of the motive — Wendi Adelson, Markel’...

Before Donna Adelson was a headline — before the mugshots, the trials, the whispers about murder-for-hire — she was a woman built for control. In this episode of Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski , we trace how Donna Adelson became Donna Adelson — from her 1950s New York upbringing to the mindset that would one day define her downfall. What happens when an entire generation is raised to believe obe...

In this full episode of Hidden Killers Live , Tony Brueski, Stacy Cole, and Todd Michaels take you inside the minds of two of America’s most notorious convicted murderers — Donna Adelson and Chad Daybell — through the words they wrote themselves. Segment 1: Donna Adelson’s Prison Letter From a Florida jail cell, Donna Adelson wrote a 2024 letter to her husband Harvey describing how her heart “brea...

Before Charlie’s smirk, before Donna’s letters, before the Adelson name became synonymous with murder — there were the first flips. In this haunting episode of Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski , we go back to where it all began: the deals, the confessions, and the whispers that cracked open the Daniel Markel murder-for-hire case. This is the untold story of how Luis Rivera — a gang member with not...

Before Donna Adelson was a headline — before the mugshots, the trials, the whispers about murder-for-hire — she was a woman built for control. In this episode of Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski , we trace how Donna Adelson became Donna Adelson — from her 1950s New York upbringing to the mindset that would one day define her downfall. What happens when an entire generation is raised to believe obe...

In this episode of Hidden Killers Live , Tony Brueski, Stacy Cole, and Todd Michaels take listeners inside a letter that shocked everyone who followed the Dan Markel murder case — a 2024 note written by convicted killer Donna Adelson from her jail cell. It begins with a mother’s lament — the pain of missing her grandsons’ first day of school — but quickly morphs into something darker. “If I don’t...

In this full episode of Hidden Killers Live , Tony Brueski, Stacy Cole, and Todd Michaels take you inside the minds of two of America’s most notorious convicted murderers — Donna Adelson and Chad Daybell — through the words they wrote themselves. Segment 1: Donna Adelson’s Prison Letter  From a Florida jail cell, Donna Adelson wrote a 2024 letter to her husband Harvey describing how her heart “bre...

When a man who orchestrated a murder-for-hire scheme starts claiming he didn’t get a fair trial, you know the irony writes itself. Charlie Adelson — the Miami dentist convicted for the 2014 murder of Florida State law professor Dan Markel — is now hanging his hopes on an appeal that looks more like a delay tactic than a legal triumph. He says Tallahassee was too biased, too saturated with media, t...

When the Florida Department of Corrections locked the door on Donna Adelson, it didn’t just end a chapter in the Dan Markel murder case — it ended a dynasty built on money, manipulation, and control. For years, the Adelsons operated like a family above the law — insulated by privilege, convinced they could script reality itself. But that illusion shattered when a Tallahassee jury saw through the a...

When the gavel came down and the jury pronounced Donna Adelson guilty of first-degree murder, it should’ve been the end of the story. But for Donna—the matriarch at the center of Florida’s most infamous murder-for-hire plot—it was only the beginning of a new obsession: the appeal. In this episode of Hidden Killers , Tony Brueski breaks down the cold, technical road Donna faces as she fights for a...

When the Florida Department of Corrections locked the door on Donna Adelson, it didn’t just end a chapter in the Dan Markel murder case — it ended a dynasty built on money, manipulation, and control. For years, the Adelsons operated like a family above the law — insulated by privilege, convinced they could script reality itself. But that illusion shattered when a Tallahassee jury saw through the a...

When the gavel came down and the jury pronounced Donna Adelson guilty of first-degree murder, it should’ve been the end of the story. But for Donna—the matriarch at the center of Florida’s most infamous murder-for-hire plot—it was only the beginning of a new obsession: the appeal. In this episode of Hidden Killers , Tony Brueski breaks down the cold, technical road Donna faces as she fights for a...

There’s a reason the public response to Donna Adelson has felt so personal — because for millions, it is. In this unflinching episode, we break down why her courtroom statements, jailhouse calls, and carefully crafted victimhood aren’t just offensive — they’re textbook narcissistic manipulation. Donna doesn’t just represent a woman implicated in a murder-for-hire plot. She represents something far...