Fall of the House of Adelson

Charlie Adelson appeared to have it all—a wealthy Fort Lauderdale dentist living the playboy lifestyle. He was rich, good-looking, and had a plethora of women to date. He'd developed a business model that generated nearly three million dollars annually and had a penchant for stashing over a hundred thousand dollars in stapled $100 bills in the safe at his home. 

As his on-again, off-again girlfriend and future co-conspirator, Katherine Magbanua, would later recall, Charlie believed he was untouchable. For nearly eight years, Adelson managed to evade legal consequences. However, the millionaire dentist's high-flying life came to an abrupt halt on April 21, 2022, when he was arrested and booked into Broward County Jail in Florida for arranging the murder of his brother-in-law, Dan Markel. 

During a compelling trial that exposed a mother's manipulation and control over her pampered, arrogant son, the jury listened to audio tapes of the two seemingly discussing the murder in code, callously referencing the purchase of a television set as a euphemism for the murder of Dan Markel, a college law professor. Defense attorney Daniel Rashbaum faced the daunting challenge of molding an unfavorable set of facts into a coherent narrative but failed miserably, with devastating consequences.

 Rashbaum and Adelson expected the jury to suspend their disbelief significantly by accepting the improbable notion that Adelson's then-girlfriend, Magbanua, carelessly revealed details about the wealthy dentist and his family's issues with Markel to her child's father, Sigfredo Garcia, who was also convicted in the murder. According to their account, Sigfredo then took it upon himself to ascertain Markel's identity, location, and travel plans, ultimately driving to Tallahassee to murder the professor in broad daylight. To add another layer of absurdity, they embarked on a campaign of extortion against the dentist, forcing him into a monthly allowance for the murder. 

The jury saw through this nonsense and swiftly returned a guilty verdict, taking just two hours to reach their decision. A devastated Charlie Adelson sat at the defense table, appearing stunned, and at times on the verge of tears. 

The man who had evaded justice for years in the 2014 killing of Florida State law professor Dan Markel was convicted on all counts in his murder on Monday. The 12-person jury deliberated for only about three hours before announcing their unanimous decision. This swift verdict signaled trouble for the defense, which had hoped for at least a mistrial. A case that had been slowly progressing since 2014 seemed to gain momentum. This marked the fourth conviction in the case related to Markel's death and the first involving a member of the Adelson family. The State Attorney's office now appears to have Wendi Adelson, Markel's ex-wife, who testified in her brother's trial, and her parents, Donna and Harvey Adelson, in its sights. One pillar of the Adelson family seems to be crumbling. How long can the others remain?

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