Day 1 - October 26, 2023

Day 1 opened with pre-session housekeeping: Judge Everett set media ground rules, received DNA and surveillance stipulations from the prosecution, and — at defense request — delivered the right-to-remain-silent preliminary instruction before the jury entered. Standard preliminary instructions followed, formally naming the three charges against Charles Adelson (first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation to commit murder) and covering juror-conduct prohibitions on communication and independent research. ASA Sarah Kathryn Dugan opened for the prosecution, arguing Charlie Adelson recruited Katherine Magbanua to hire hitmen who killed his former brother-in-law Dan Markel on July 18, 2014, so the Adelson family could resolve a custody dispute barring Wendi Adelson from relocating to South Florida with the children. Dugan previewed the centerpiece of the state's case: a 2016 undercover recording made at Dolce Vita restaurant in which Adelson and Magbanua discussed the murder investigation, with Adelson offering to have an extortionist killed and asking whether Magbanua had taken money the day after the murder. She also previewed cooperating witness Luis Rivera's account of a June 2014 scouting trip, a $100,000 murder contract, and an unusual cash-packaging detail — $100 bills in $1,000 stacks stapled together — that the prosecution argued tied Adelson directly to the murder proceeds. Defense attorney Dan Rashbaum offered an extortion counter-theory: Magbanua arrived at Adelson's home late on the evening of July 18, disclosed in a frantic state that a friend had shot Markel, and demanded ongoing payment under threat of death. Rashbaum previewed prosecution witnesses who would testify that shooter Sigfredo Garcia hated Charlie Adelson, attempted to run him off the road in March 2014, and accidentally called Harvey Adelson with death threats on July 1 — just 17 days before the murder — an irreconcilable contradiction, he argued, in any co-conspirator theory. Using a recurring "puzzle pieces" metaphor, Rashbaum contended the state's theory contains internal contradictions that cannot be forced to fit and that Magbanua, whom the prosecution itself labeled the mastermind, orchestrated the murder independently. Crime scene testimony opened with neighbor Jim Geiger — a 45-year resident of Trescott Drive — who heard a loud bang, saw a silver or white Prius back rapidly out of Markel's driveway and speed toward Benton Road, and on a second approach found Markel inside his car with a shattered driver's window, head bloody, unresponsive to calls of "Danny, what happened?" His 911 call (State's Exhibit 82) was played for the jury. Retired TPD Sergeant David Sims described arriving to find the car locked and running, Markel unresponsive and breathing in gasps, and used a pen from his uniform to open the door without direct hand contact. He observed a cell phone in Markel's left hand, a business card in his right, and broken eyeglasses split between his lap and the garage floor. After EMS removed Markel, a sweep of the house found no forced entry, no signs of struggle, and no other persons. Defense declined to cross-examine either witness. Forensic specialist Joanne Maltese documented the scene and, at the hospital around 12:30 PM while Markel was still alive, photographed stippling on his forearm consistent with close-range discharge. She also recovered an ABC Fine Wine and Spirits receipt timestamped 12:49 PM from Wendi Adelson's van. On cross, Rashbaum suggested the whiskey found in the van had been purchased for a party Wendi was invited to attend; Maltese stated she was unaware and noted her role was crime-scene photography, not investigation. Outside the jury's presence at the lunch recess, Rashbaum objected to the medical examiner's autopsy photographs (State's Exhibits 25–34) as cumulative and prejudicial, and placed on the record that the defense was not contesting the murder. Judge Everett overruled the objection. Dr. Anthony Clark, accepted as a forensic pathology expert without challenge, testified he performed Markel's autopsy on July 19, 2014. He identified two gunshot wounds from a revolver — one to the outside left cheek (the first shot, fired through the car window with glass as intermediate target) and one just inside the left eyebrow (the fatal shot, fired at close range, traversing the right side of the brain and rendering Markel unconscious almost immediately). A crescent soot deposit on Markel's left forearm, attributed to cylinder-gap discharge from the revolver, indicated his arm was near the weapon when one shot was fired — consistent with a defensive gesture. The cause of death was gunshot wounds of the face and head; the manner of death was homicide. Defense declined cross. FBI Special Agent Patrick Sanford — 24 years with the Bureau, lead investigator — served as the prosecution's narrative anchor for the afternoon. Through the 576-page divorce file and Wendi-Donna Adelson emails, he established the relocation dispute, a documented $1 million proposed bribe (naming Charlie as a one-third contributor), and Donna Adelson's documented hostility toward Markel conveyed through the children. He walked the jury through Premier Gym surveillance showing the Prius circling while Markel worked out and departing immediately as he left at approximately 10:38 AM, then city bus footage capturing the Prius at 10:51 AM turning toward Markel's residence and at 10:55 AM heading north away from it — collapsing the murder window to approximately four minutes. SunPass Alligator Alley toll data narrowed thousands of green Priuses to a single vehicle, tracing to a rental contract at Save Gas in North Miami showing Louis Rivera as renter; a phone number listed as "brother" was linked through a Facebook page and pawn receipt fingerprint to Sigfredo Garcia. Sanford also testified that Magbanua's Adelson Institute employee file, produced in response to a subpoena, contained only a check list — no application, W-2, time sheets, or job description — covering roughly 16 months, with no surveillance evidence she performed any duties there. On cross, Rashbaum drew the day's most strategically pointed concession: Sanford confirmed the Adelson-Markel emails contained no mention of murder or violence, that Charlie appeared primarily as a passive CC recipient rather than the originator of relocation and bribe strategies, and that in his prior murder-for-hire cases hitmen were never paid over time — but acknowledged that extortion payments can continue as long as the extortion does. Cappleman's brief redirect confirmed the children ended up in school in South Florida "right across the street from where grandma lived" and tied the failure of every Wendi Tallahassee plan to the murder. Before the final witness, counsel for Wendi Adelson, John Lauro, placed on the record that she testifies pursuant to subpoena and use and derivative use immunity, and would invoke the Fifth Amendment absent that grant. Defense invoked the rule of sequestration; Judge Everett granted it. Cappleman then conducted an extended direct of Wendi Adelson, tracing the marriage, the divorce litigation, the failed relocation motion, Donna's documented escalation, and Charlie's recurring joke that he had looked into hiring a hitman but bought a TV instead because it was cheaper — which Wendi confirmed and acknowledged repeating to ex-boyfriend Jeffrey Lacasse. Wendi described an 18-minute call with Charlie on the morning of the murder following a TV repair visit, noted that Dan Markel had left her a voicemail that morning disclosing his gym schedule, and admitted she drove toward Trescott Drive that afternoon, encountered police tape, and turned around without investigating. On cross, Rashbaum drew unequivocal denials of any family involvement and pressed a logical paradox: if Wendi and Charlie were co-conspirators, she would not have spontaneously named her brother to law enforcement. Wendi agreed she clearly would not have. The examination was adjourned at day's end for continuation the following morning.