Suvechha Sarkar
Daniel Eric Markel, lovingly known as Dan, was a 41-year-old scholar and a devoted father of two. However, his loved ones’ world came crashing down in July 2014 when he was shot dead in his garage in Tallahassee, Florida. It led to a years-long investigation that was filled with revelations of betrayal by people who were once close to him. ABC’s ’20/20: First Divorced Then Dead’ and NBC’s ‘Dateline: Deadly Mischief’ take an in-depth look at the complex murder-for-hire case. Moreover, it features multiple interviews with his loved ones, related individuals, and officials who helped serve justice.
Dan Markel Passed Away Less Than 24 Hours After He Was Shot
Daniel Eric Markel was born on October 9, 1972, in Montreal, Quebec, bringing immense joy to the lives of his parents, Ruth and Phil Markel. He was affectionately known as Dan and grew up in a Jewish household alongside his sister, Shelly. He was known for his kind and cheerful nature among his loved ones. Dan earned his undergraduate degree in Politics and Philosophy from Harvard University in 1995. He was then awarded the Dorot Fellowship, which led him to study Philosophy and Religious Pluralism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Dan proceeded to earn a Master’s degree in Political Theory from Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge, and later attained a J.D. degree from Harvard University in 2001.
Dan began his career as a law clerk for a judge and later served as an associate at the law firm Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel in Washington, D.C. Ultimately, in 2005, he became a professor at Florida State University (FSU) College of Law. He was an expert in criminal law and also co-founded a legal blog, PrawfsBlawg. Dan’s expertise led to his writings being featured in The New York Times and The Atlantic. In 2009, he also co-authored a book, ‘Privilege or Punish: Criminal Justice and the Challenge of Family Ties.’ While he was in Washington, D.C., Dan met Wendi Adelson through JDate, a Jewish dating service. They soon became closer and tied the knot in South Florida in February 2006. Following that, they moved to Tallahassee, Florida, and soon gave birth to their two sons, Benjamin and Lincoln.
Sadly, Dan and Wendi’s marriage didn’t work out, leading to their separation in September 2012 and divorce in July 2013. On July 18, 2014, Dan dropped his sons off at preschool, went to the gym, and returned home around 11:00 am. His vehicle was in the garage when his neighbor heard gunshots. As the neighbor rushed to the scene, he reportedly discovered Dan slumped in the driver’s seat, unresponsive, with the car’s engine still running. He immediately called 911 to report the incident. When officials arrived, they found that the window glass beside the driver’s seat was shattered. Dan was shot twice in the forehead and the left cheek. He was also wounded in his left arm. They further noted that there were no signs of forced entry. Paramedics rushed Dan to the hospital, but unfortunately, he succumbed to his injuries on July 19.
A Trail of CCTV Footage Led Investigators to the Hitmen of Dan
After the shooting, investigators first questioned Wendi, who informed them that she and Dan had gone through a messy divorce. She admitted that she wanted to move to Miami with her sons to be closer to her family, but wasn’t allowed to do so since she shared joint custody with Dan. Police records state that she claimed that although her parents, Donna and Harvey Adelson, and brother, Charles AKA Charlie, didn’t like Dan, they would never kill him. According to police interview transcripts, Wendi told the police that Charlie had once joked about hiring a hitman to kill Dan. She alleged that her ex-boyfriend, Jeffrey Lacasse, AKA Jeff, might be involved since he admittedly didn’t like Dan. However, when Jeff was interrogated, he denied involvement and speculated to the police that Wendi’s family, especially Donna and Charlie, could’ve done it.
Officials then learned from a man who was on the call with Dan during his shooting that the latter had seen an unknown man in his driveway. According to reports, Dan’s neighbor had also spotted a Toyota Prius pulling away from his home after the shots were fired. So, investigators focused on the car and discovered from the gym’s CCTV footage that the green Prius had been following Dan since his workout. Several other cameras reportedly placed the vehicle near the crime scene around the time of the murder. Detectives noticed that the car had a SunPass toll transponder, which was not available in Tallahassee at that time. However, it wasn’t until 2016 that it finally led them to a rental lot in Miami. It was revealed that the Prius was rented by two men, Luis Rivera and Sigfredo Garcia.
Investigators checked Luis and Sigfredo’s cellphone records, which placed them in Dan’s neighborhood at the time of the murder. According to police reports, shortly after the crime, Sigfredo called a woman named Katherine Magbanua. It was reportedly Sigfredo’s child’s mother and an ex-girlfriend of Charlie. Officials began checking her bank activities, which uncovered that she had made a large cash deposit months after the murder. Furthermore, court records state that Katherine received checks from the Adelson Institute, the dental practice owned by Wendi’s father, where Charlie also worked. According to the officials, Katherine was also added to the institute’s payroll. On May 25, 2016, Sigfredo was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. In June 2016, Luis was also charged with the first-degree murder of Dan.
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Testimonies and Confessions Exposed the Chain of the Murder-for-Hire Plot
On October 4, 2016, Luis pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder in exchange for his testimony. He was then sentenced to 19 years in prison to be served concurrently with his existing 12-year sentence on an unrelated charge. According to court records, he confessed that he and Sigfredo received $5,000 before the murder from “the lady” who wanted her two kids back in South Florida. He claimed that he was in the car while Sigfredo shot Dan. Ultimately, Katherine was arrested in October 2016 and charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy, and solicitation to commit first-degree murder. Although she was offered immunity for her testimony, she declined it and denied her involvement. Katherine and Sigfredo’s joint jury trial began on September 23, 2019.
Luis testified during the trial that the money he and Sigfredo received for the murder was stapled. Court records state that Charlie’s ex-girlfriend, June Umchinda, testified that she allegedly saw him keeping dollar bills stapled. Moreover, Katherine testified that Charlie was the person responsible for Dan’s death. While the jury found Sigfredo guilty of all charges, there was a hung jury for Katherine. Sigfredo was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for murder and 30 years for conspiracy on October 15, 2019. During her retrial in May 2022, Katherine was found guilty of all charges. She was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for murder and 30 years each for solicitation and conspiracy, to be served consecutively, on July 29, 2022.
Meanwhile, official records state that investigators focused on an encrypted phone call Donna made to Charlie in 2016. It was made after an undercover FBI agent, posing as one of the hitman’s acquaintances, approached her. They reportedly discovered that during a meeting with Katherine in April 2016, Charlie had said that he would be “at the airport” if officials had evidence against him. He was finally arrested and charged with first-degree murder, solicitation, and conspiracy to commit murder in April 2022. Charlie’s jury trial began on October 23, 2023, and he was convicted of all charges on November 6. While he received a life sentence without parole for murder, he was sentenced to 30 years each to be served consecutively for solicitation and conspiracy on December 12, 2023. Donna was arrested in November 2023 and was indicted on similar charges to those of her son. On October 13, 2025, she received the same sentence as Charlie.
