Wendi Adelson — Direct/Cross
1,321 linesJUDGE EVERETT: Is Mr. Lara, present?
MS. DUGAN: I'll go shout out in the hallway.
MR. LAURO: Your Honor, very briefly, we filed a motion to put on the record that Ms. Adelson is here pursuant to a subpoena — yeah, I'm going to get to it — that her use and derivative use immunity, but for that subpoena, she would be asserting her Fifth Amendment rights. And we believe it was necessary just to make sure the record is clear.
JUDGE EVERETT: Very well. I discussed this with the parties yesterday. I believe that... in the state or defense, you had no position concerning this. Is that correct? You have no position concerning? All right. Mr. Lara, in considering this motion, I will allow you to make your statement. I believe the state has confirmed that the testimony will occur pursuant to a grant of immunity. They cannot pull the rug out from under your client's feet. But I'm... trying to... make your statement, and in light of that, there's nothing further I need to do since I put it on the record. If you're... I will accept it. Very well, thank you, sir.
JUDGE EVERETT: Do we have anything else to address concerning Ms. Adelson before we resume the testimony?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: No, sir. I just wanted to have a recess to see if we can do anything about the feedback that's happening.
JUDGE EVERETT: That's a good idea. We'll take about a 10-minute break and resume at 3:10.
MR. RASHBAUM: Judge?
JUDGE EVERETT: Yes, sir.
MR. RASHBAUM: Can we invoke the rule at this point in time?
JUDGE EVERETT: That's fine. Thank you. The rule of sequestration is going to be invoked, I believe, except for Investigator Newland. Anyone else who will testify in this matter needs to step out of the courtroom. Do not discuss your testimony with anyone else until you're called.
JUDGE EVERETT: Everyone can be seated.
JUDGE EVERETT: State, please call your next witness.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: State calls Wendi Adelson.
JUDGE EVERETT: Please raise your right hand. Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give will be true?
WENDI ADELSON: I do.
JUDGE EVERETT: You may be seated.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Ma— 'am, please say and spell your name.
WENDI ADELSON: Wendi Adelson. W-E-N-D-I, A-D-E-L-S-O-N.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Where are you from, Ms. Adelson?
WENDI ADELSON: I'm originally from Coral Springs, Florida.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And where do you live now?
WENDI ADELSON: I currently live in Miami.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: How are you employed?
WENDI ADELSON: Now, kind of part-time.
WENDI ADELSON: I do asylum work, and I fundraise for non-profit organizations.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Are you an attorney?
WENDI ADELSON: By training, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. How long have you been a member of the Florida Bar?
WENDI ADELSON: Since I graduated and took the bar in 2006.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And are you here today pursuant to a subpoena?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes, ma'am.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And that subpoena confers use and derivative use immunity to you, so nothing you say could be used against you in the future?
WENDI ADELSON: That is correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: That doesn't mean you have full immunity from prosecution, but nothing you say here, and nothing derived from it, could be used in that prosecution. Is that your understanding?
WENDI ADELSON: That is my understanding.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you know Daniel Markel?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: How did you know him?
WENDI ADELSON: We were married.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: When did you meet Mr. Markel?
WENDI ADELSON: We met in the fall of my second year of law school, so fall of 2004.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And where did you meet?
WENDI ADELSON: We met in Washington, DC. He was working there and I was looking into a summer job in Washington.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: When did you get married?
WENDI ADELSON: In February of 2006.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And when did you live here in Tallahassee?
WENDI ADELSON: We lived in Tallahassee my third year of law school, so from August of 2005 until, I think, around maybe May or June of 2006. And then we moved to Miami for a year because Danny was interested in working at the University of Miami. He did not get the job at University of Miami, and so we moved back here in 2007 and lived here until 2014.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Where were the two of you employed during the time you lived here in Tallahassee?
WENDI ADELSON: I was employed at the FSU Center for Human Rights, and Danny was employed at FSU Law School.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Were you both professors at FSU College of Law?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And were — you living on Trescott Drive at that time?
WENDI ADELSON: When we were married, we lived — I think we rented a house before that, but at some point, maybe in 2008, we moved to Trescott Drive.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And is that the home that he was still living in at the time that he was killed?
WENDI ADELSON: That is correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay, and you were no longer living there, is that correct?
WENDI ADELSON: I was no longer living there.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. At the time he was killed, you two had children together, yes?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And how many children did you have?
WENDI ADELSON: We have two children.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And what are their ages now?
WENDI ADELSON: They are 13 and 14.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What about at the time of their dad's death?
WENDI ADELSON: At the time of their dad's death, they were four and three.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: When did you separate from Professor Markel?
WENDI ADELSON: In the fall of 2012.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Whose decision was it to separate?
WENDI ADELSON: It was my decision.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And was part of the reason for the separation the two of you having differing views on how to raise your kids as far as within the Jewish faith?
WENDI ADELSON: I mean, it was a small part, but it was part of it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. That seemed to be something that came up a lot in your communications, so that's why I asked about it. What was the difference of opinion on that?
WENDI ADELSON: I mean, when we first met and started dating, Danny wasn't as observant or as religious as he became over time. And so the difference in our perspective on raising kids was about dietary choices and attendance at synagogue, things like that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So in general, he wanted to raise the children more strictly in terms of the faith than you?
WENDI ADELSON: That is correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you move out of the marital home while Mr. Markel was away on a business trip?
WENDI ADELSON: I did, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And did he know that you were moving out when he left for the business trip?
WENDI ADELSON: No, he did not.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Where did you go when you left the marital home?
WENDI ADELSON: I rented a home in Tallahassee.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Where was that? Do you remember the address?
WENDI ADELSON: Aqua Ridge Way.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: 3303, sound right?
WENDI ADELSON: That's right.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And what was the custody arrangement once you moved out of the marital home?
WENDI ADELSON: I mean, in the beginning, until we had a formal custody arrangement, we were just finding ways to share custody. I remember that first weekend his parents came, so I made sure he had the children all weekend while his parents were visiting from Canada. But eventually we had a 50-50 shared custody arrangement.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And do you remember exactly what that looked like? Was it week on, week off, or something more complicated?
WENDI ADELSON: It was something more complicated. In the summertime, it was week on, week off. During the weeks, it was — I think what they called like a 2-2 split, with Wednesday night being an overnight, and then the weekends being every other weekend.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right, but roughly 50-50?
WENDI ADELSON: 50-50, but that was the split.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And I want to show you what's been introduced into evidence — State's Exhibit 56.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Take a look at this before — but if you'll just kind of thumb through it.
WENDI ADELSON: Sure.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you recognize the exhibit?
WENDI ADELSON: I do.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Is it a fair and accurate copy of your divorce file?
WENDI ADELSON: It looks like it, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And is it fair to say this was a contentious litigation process that you had with your ex?
WENDI ADELSON: It was.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And I want to ask you about a specific filing in there. It's on page — begins on page 43 — and it's in reference to a filing on January 14th of 2013, where you were looking to relocate with the minor children.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you recall that particular filing?
WENDI ADELSON: I recall the filing. You said 43? I'm not sure I'm —
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Oh, okay. Yes, ma'am. On the bottom, there should be page numbers for you.
WENDI ADELSON: Yes. Yes, I recognize it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay, and that's the filing in reference to your motion for relocation?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And did you file this motion with the intent to not be successful?
WENDI ADELSON: I'm sorry, I don't understand.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Suggested that you never thought that was going to be successful, did you?
WENDI ADELSON: I thought there was a small chance that it would be successful, but not very likely, no.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And weren't you thinking, well, maybe Danny would be happy working somewhere else because he's mentioned applying elsewhere, so maybe he'll allow the relocation. Were you thinking that?
WENDI ADELSON: Well, he and I talked about the relocation. So when we talked about it, he thought, well, if I can live nearby in Miami, that might work, and then I could commute to FSU. I didn't mean for him to leave FSU, but he wanted to leave FSU at some point, so that was just a matter of time.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So you thought it might be successful?
WENDI ADELSON: Sure. I mean, I thought it was possible, but not likely.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And page 46 of that document, paragraph E, references the job offer: "The wife also desires to relocate to South Florida in order to provide a better quality of life for the children by increasing their access to close family and providing more stability and consistency."
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Who is the close family in South Florida?
WENDI ADELSON: The close family would have been my mom and my dad and my brother.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And which brother is that?
WENDI ADELSON: My brother that's here today, Charlie Adelson.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: That's correct. Okay. What's your mom's name?
WENDI ADELSON: My mom's name is Donna.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Donna Adelson?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What about your dad?
WENDI ADELSON: My dad's name is Harvey.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And where did Donna and Harvey live back in the time frame between 2012 and 2016?
WENDI ADELSON: They lived at the home I grew up in, in Coral Springs.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And how far do they live away from you currently as we sit here today?
WENDI ADELSON: Currently, depends on Miami traffic, but anywhere between 15 minutes and an hour.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And what kind of a relationship do you have with your parents as we sit here today?
WENDI ADELSON: I have a good relationship with my parents.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And has that always been the case?
WENDI ADELSON: I would say so.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Can you describe the relationship that your mom has with your boys?
WENDI ADELSON: I think it's very loving. I think she's a very dedicated grandmother.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: She spends a lot of time with them, doesn't she?
WENDI ADELSON: She does, yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And when they were little and you first moved there after Danny's death, how much time was she spending with them?
WENDI ADELSON: When I moved there after Danny's death in 2014.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: How much time was your mom spending with the boys?
WENDI ADELSON: I mean, we were all living together at that point.
WENDI ADELSON: So, I mean, we were spending every day together.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: How were your parents employed? Are they retired now?
WENDI ADELSON: They're retired now.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What are they retired from?
WENDI ADELSON: My dad was a dentist, and my mom used to coordinate, kind of be like an office administrator at his practice.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did she write the checks at the practice?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes, she handled all the bookkeeping.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What was the name of the practice?
WENDI ADELSON: The name changed over the years, but probably the name when they retired was the Adelson Institute.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And were your parents wealthy at the time that your husband was murdered?
WENDI ADELSON: I mean, my parents worked their whole lives to support us, right? So I think the business did well for a period of time.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: About $2 million in profit each year between 2013 and 2016, sound right?
WENDI ADELSON: They never talked to me about money, so I have no idea how much the business made at any given point.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you discuss your marital problems with your mom at all?
WENDI ADELSON: I did, yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay, what about the resulting legal issues? Was your mom read in on those things?
WENDI ADELSON: I mean, I definitely updated her about the results of the relocation when that petition got denied, but not kind of the ins and outs of every part of our divorce.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What about your dad? Was he invested in your divorce status?
WENDI ADELSON: I mean, I think the same as my mom, just worried about me and worried about the boys.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What about your brother? Did he take an interest in the ins and outs of your divorce?
WENDI ADELSON: No, not really.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did he need to protect you from Dan Markel?
WENDI ADELSON: No, I mean, I don't think I need protection.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Were you physically in danger from Dan Markel?
WENDI ADELSON: No, I wasn't in danger.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did the litigation revolving around the divorce and the subsequent issues that arose, did that impact your family back in South Florida?
WENDI ADELSON: I mean, only to the extent that I think they felt bad for what I was going through.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But I want to show you an exhibit that I've marked as State's Exhibit 59 — sorry, 57. Your Honor, I—
WENDI ADELSON: I don't remember it, to be honest. It's from 10 years ago.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Take a moment to look through it.
WENDI ADELSON: Sure.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: When you're done, I'll let opposing counsel take a look at it. But go ahead and let us know when you're done reviewing it. You you and your mother, um—
WENDI ADELSON: I don't think I responded. I think they're just emails from my mom to me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Mostly all from your mom?
WENDI ADELSON: Yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And the email address says, I think, it's something like "Wendi Harvey." Can you tell from the content that it's your mom typing rather than your dad?
WENDI ADELSON: Yeah, the email is "Donna Harvey," my two parents' names. So they've been married over 50 years, so they have a joint email address. So it's from both of them.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. So what I want to draw your attention to is page two of that exhibit, that first paragraph there above the word "response." Did you have an opportunity to read that?
WENDI ADELSON: I read it real fast, but scanned. I can.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And what I want to draw your attention to is specifically the part that reads, "Your father has made numerous trips by plane for weekends and changing the patient schedules around so he can continue to spend significant time with the children." Judge, at this time, I'd ask to move this exhibit into evidence. It's 57. Thank you. So that paragraph — isn't that paragraph going into detail about how the issues surrounding your divorce and litigation is financially impacting, in a negative way, your parents' business?
WENDI ADELSON: That's what my mom says here, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And it also says, "Additionally, this loss of income affects my family because my older brother, also a dentist, purchased the practice from my father in mid-July 2012. He has a monthly payment to make to my father based on the sale of the practice. It isn't fair to him to have decreasing monthly income statements from the practice due to my parents spending so much time here in Tallahassee." So this is an argument that your mom is proposing, right, to help you — give you an idea of what might persuade the courts to allow the relocation. You agree with that?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes, that's what she was doing, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And she's indicating that both your parents as well as your brother have suffered financially as a result of you not being able to relocate.
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And on page you have page numbers in the bottom right corner of your exhibit?
WENDI ADELSON: I have them in the top, so I can see.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay, so five of— give me a moment, so— It'll be the second email in your packet, page one of three. Okay.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you see that?
WENDI ADELSON: I see that page.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And there's a "rest of your life" highlighted or underlined in the center and in bold. Do you see that?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Right before that it reads, "However, the rest of your life and consequently Dad's, mine, and yes, even Charlie's will be affected by how well you can perform slash act before July 31st. You need to be a good actress when you " or, "You can be a good actress when you want to. I've seen you in action. You need to put on the performance of your life. Gibbers hasn't beaten the Adelson family yet." Who's Gibbers?
WENDI ADELSON: Gibbers — she's referring to Danny.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And what is — was Gibbers a name he went by, or just something you called him behind his back?
WENDI ADELSON: Gibbers was a silly nickname that I gave him during the divorce proceedings, when he was being pretty scary and threatening, and it kind of made me feel less scared of him.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. So not something you called him to his face.
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But that was a word that was only used to describe him?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes, it was a nickname.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. So in this, again, your mom is referencing how everyone's life is being affected by this relocation, including your brother Charlie. Do you agree with that?
WENDI ADELSON: That is what she said, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. Is your mom overprotective of you?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And is it fair to say she's, you know, a little on the controlling side?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't think she's controlling, but she's definitely overprotective.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did she ever try to micromanage your life?
WENDI ADELSON: Maybe.
WENDI ADELSON: Yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did she have an interest in who you were dating and who you weren't dating and who you should be dating when you were single?
WENDI ADELSON: She was usually disappointed that I wasn't dating more.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: For example, isn't it true that she would, like, not let you drive to and from Tallahassee to South Florida?
WENDI ADELSON: Well, I used to drive before I had the boys, but they were young and she preferred to come with me and give me some extra support.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So what would that look like if you were gonna take a trip to South Florida? Would they come up here and get you, or?
WENDI ADELSON: No, sometimes I would go myself with the kids, but I was breastfeeding both of them, so it usually looked like me breastfeeding a child while I entertained the other in the Okahumpka rest stop. So it was — it was pretty — it was a lot. It was helpful to have some backup.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right, and so that time frame you'd be referencing is like the 2013 time frame, because not around the time of Danny's death — you wouldn't have still been breastfeeding, would you, if Lincoln was three?
WENDI ADELSON: No, I would have stopped maybe the year before.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay, so maybe 2012, 2013. Okay. And wasn't it true that around the time of the death, they were still doing this practice where they would prefer to drive you to and from South Florida?
WENDI ADELSON: I mean, not every time, but sometimes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And would your mom sometimes enlist your brother Charlie to convince you to do certain things in your personal life?
WENDI ADELSON: Can't really think of an example of that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Well, dating Dave was a big one on some of the materials I had.
WENDI ADELSON: Yeah, people liked Dave.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right, and your mom really liked Dave?
WENDI ADELSON: Yeah, everyone liked Dave, but we were just friends.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Did she try — so she would try to get Charlie to convince you to date a certain person?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't think she was getting Charlie to convince me to date Dave. I think everyone liked Dave.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And would she try to get Charlie to convince you to do certain things as far as your professional life, what jobs to take?
WENDI ADELSON: No, I don't think so.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Would she try to get Charlie to do certain things like advise you on investment decisions, whether or not you were gonna buy a house, for example?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't think so. I don't remember that. Danny and I made that decision together.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Once you had left Dan and you were living separately, did you look into purchasing a home here in Tallahassee?
WENDI ADELSON: I did, yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And did your brother Charlie convince you not to do that?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't remember him convincing me not to. The only reason why I didn't was because I was waiting on the money from Danny from the settlement and he didn't pay it, so I couldn't afford the house.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Your mom didn't want you to buy the house, did she?
WENDI ADELSON: That's not true. My parents were looking to buy a house in Tallahassee as well.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Did you have — strike. Generally speaking, does your mom manipulate the personal lives of her children?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Is your mom like — if she's really upset about something or worked up about something, is that something that your brother Charlie's going to hear a lot about? Who's going to hear more of it, you or Charlie?
WENDI ADELSON: Well, if my mom's upset with me, probably Charlie, and if she's upset with Charlie, probably me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. So do you get a lot of that? Do you hear a lot about — let's go back, let's go to before the murder. Did you get a lot of Donna just giving you an earful about what Charlie needs to be doing?
WENDI ADELSON: Probably, at some point.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What was Charlie doing with his personal life? What did his personal life look like?
WENDI ADELSON: At what point?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Before the murder.
WENDI ADELSON: I mean, at what period of time?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All of them. Wasn't it just a revolving door of girlfriends?
WENDI ADELSON: Right, but my mom didn't complain to me about that. She didn't mind that with him.
WENDI ADELSON: I don't understand the question.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: She didn't mind if he went from girl to girl to girl. That was acceptable.
WENDI ADELSON: She didn't really weigh in on it, no.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Who talked to her more, you or Charlie?
WENDI ADELSON: Charlie.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: A lot more, right?
WENDI ADELSON: Yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: At the time of Dan Markel's murder, were your parents extremely angry with Dan?
WENDI ADELSON: At that point, no.
WENDI ADELSON: They were in a much better place.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I want to direct your attention to an interview that was conducted on — I think this was your law enforcement interview — so July 18th, 2014, and I'm specifically, for court and counsel, looking at page 27, lines 11 and 12.
WENDI ADELSON: Do you want me to flip through, or just look at this one page?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: If you'll just look at that one page. Let me get to where you are.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So page 27 there, lines 11 and 12, and I've got it highlighted for you. It says, "Ms. Adelson, you know, my parents are, you know, very angry toward him." Is that true? Was that what you said? Your parents were very angry toward Dan?
WENDI ADELSON: Can I read the rest of the sentence?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Uh, sure.
WENDI ADELSON: So I say, "You know, my parents are very angry towards him, but even when they're — my kids, they would never say a bad word about my kids' father."
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And then on page 288, line 24 through page 289, line one, and that's gonna be you say, "You know, it's like my parents have more reason to dislike Danny than almost anyone else." Is that what you said?
WENDI ADELSON: That is what I said.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And that's because he hurt you, right?
WENDI ADELSON: And I was saying that in the context of talking to law enforcement for hours and hours and trying to help them figure out who might be responsible.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Right. And who did you tell them might be responsible?
WENDI ADELSON: Well, I told them many, many people. But are you asking about this particular moment right here?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You told them your family might be responsible.
WENDI ADELSON: Or potentially someone to do with a former student or his current girlfriend. I mentioned lots of people that I thought could be responsible.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay, and of the lots of people that could have been responsible, your family as well?
WENDI ADELSON: Yep.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Because they might have done this thinking it would help you. I mean, that's what happened, right?
WENDI ADELSON: I'm sorry, I don't understand the question.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Your family had your ex-husband killed to try to help you, didn't they?
WENDI ADELSON: No, that's completely untrue.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And back to the divorce, the petition where Danny is responding to your petition for the motion to relocate — are you familiar with that filing, or do you need to take a look at it?
WENDI ADELSON: I need to take a look at it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right, it's going to be page 79 through 101, and this is back to our Exhibit 56.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And again, that was, the filing begins on page 79. I'm specifically interested in 82.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And in this filing, doesn't Mr. Markel say, quote, "The husband affirmatively alleges that the wife helped herself to non-marital assets, including money and stocks owned prior to marriage, as well as numerous personal non-marital belongings of the husband, such as luggage, bicycle, tennis racket, and family heirlooms. The wife has refused to return these items or to allow the husband into her home to see what other personal belongings were taken without his permission or acquiescence."
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So my point is, he's accusing you of theft in this paragraph.
WENDI ADELSON: Those are the words that are here, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yeah, and he's very adamantly objecting to your relocation, right? On page 82 it says, "The sole stated reason the wife seeks to relocate is so that she can be closer to her parents."
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was being near your parents the sole reason that you wanted to relocate?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: It wasn't the sole reason stated in your petition?
WENDI ADELSON: It wasn't the sole reason stated in my petition, and it wasn't the sole reason that he and I talked about before I filed the motion to relocate.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Why was he so adamant and so confident that this was the real reason you wanted to be down there?
WENDI ADELSON: I think there's a lot of things in these pleadings that are not true. So just because it says something doesn't make it true.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Sure, but did he know that your mom was just grinding on this issue of trying to get you down there?
WENDI ADELSON: He would have had no idea.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: That wouldn't have been known to him?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't think so.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But he was accusing you in these pleadings of all kinds of stuff, right? I mean, I'm not saying it's true, but hiding financial assets, failing to disclose things, kidnapping his kids in the middle of his business trip — all those sorts of things, right?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes, you said lots of things.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And you said a lot of things, too. There's filings going both ways that are pretty venomous. Would you agree with that?
WENDI ADELSON: I would not agree with that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yours were pleasant?
WENDI ADELSON: I'm not saying divorce filings are pleasant, but mine were not venomous.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Okay.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did your mother, Donna Adelson, review the filing in which Dan Markel is accusing you of this theft and all this stuff?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't remember if she did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What about the one where Dan Markel is asking that your mother not be permitted to have unsupervised visitation with the kids?
WENDI ADELSON: My mom never saw that, because after he filed that, he then asked my parents to babysit the kids. My mom baked him banana bread, gave him a hug goodbye. So there was nothing truthful about that pleading that he filed, and my mom never saw it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Why do you think he filed that?
WENDI ADELSON: He was really angry at me for leaving him.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay, so he didn't really want to limit your mom's visitation with the kids?
WENDI ADELSON: No. And that's evidence. He asked her to babysit after he filed that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Evidence by the banana bread. And so she didn't even know about that filing?
WENDI ADELSON: She never knew about it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And when she laid all those options out in that email to you about other options that you could take to secure the relocation — as far as bribing, remember that? Converting the children to Christianity, remember that suggestion?
WENDI ADELSON: I sure do.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. What did she put in there that she viewed as your most non-negotiable and most important part of your divorce?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't know. Do you have something I can see?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: State's Exhibit 57.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Page one.
WENDI ADELSON: So...
WENDI ADELSON: You want me to read what she said here?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I want you to answer the question. What was the most important part of the divorce for your mom?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes, it says here that for her it was relocation.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And did you have two eight-hour mediations in your divorce?
WENDI ADELSON: We had two very long mediations. I don't remember exactly how long they were.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But did they result in a resolution?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was Mr. Markel seeking to depose your mom as part of the divorce?
WENDI ADELSON: I... I don't remember that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you know if it ever happened?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't think it happened. I don't remember it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was the prospect of that upsetting to your mom?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't think so. I don't remember it, so I don't remember talking with her about it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did your mom call Dan any disparaging names around this time frame?
WENDI ADELSON: Well, I just read them in the emails, but I don't remember them independently.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Did she call him an asshole?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes. Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: A narcissist?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: A bully?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Religious zealot?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Bastard?
WENDI ADELSON: That I don't remember.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Page five.
WENDI ADELSON: Okay. Is it page five from the first email?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yes. If you'll just go through by the physical pages.
WENDI ADELSON: I see.
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I'm sorry, what was your answer?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Fucker?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But in all the filings made on your behalf by the different lawyers that you had, and all of the emails that your mom sent, he was never described as abusive.
WENDI ADELSON: I mean, he was described as emotionally abusive, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Can you show me where he was described as emotionally abusive in any of those items?
WENDI ADELSON: Well, not by my mom, but in the pleadings.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay, show me that.
WENDI ADELSON: It's going to take me a while to find it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay, well, it's not in there, but you can get back to me with it.
WENDI ADELSON: Well, it is in there.
MR. RASHBAUM: The comment — she's not testifying.
JUDGE EVERETT: Hold on, please approach.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So would you have to review the whole file in order to find that, or could you give us a starting point of which filing it might be located in?
WENDI ADELSON: It might be under the petition to relocate. It might be under the initial divorce proceedings.
WENDI ADELSON: It wouldn't be in emails from my mom, but it would take a while to find it. It might be in the depositions.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Okay, did you view yourself as being stuck here in Tallahassee once the relocation was denied?
WENDI ADELSON: I didn't. I mean, I had a really nice life here.
WENDI ADELSON: I did not view myself as being stuck.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Would you please turn to page 176 in that exhibit in front of you?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I think it's highlighted for you.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you describe yourself in that filing as being stuck in Tallahassee?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't see it. You said it was highlighted, but there's nothing highlighted. Okay.
WENDI ADELSON: 176?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Mm-hmm.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: On a page.
WENDI ADELSON: I see the word "stuck." I found it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. So did you describe at least on one occasion being stuck in Tallahassee?
WENDI ADELSON: No. Can I read the sentence?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Sure.
WENDI ADELSON: So it says, "The — husband has made it difficult for the wife with her colleagues at her current position due to his statements and actions. And the husband's intent is to relocate to a larger area at some point, so the wife is merely stuck in Tallahassee until the husband decides that the time is right for him to leave."
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. Meaning — had he accepted a job anywhere else by the time that he was murdered?
WENDI ADELSON: No, he hadn't yet been offered a job, but he was always looking.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. So he was just going to move and just let you have the kids at that point?
WENDI ADELSON: He probably would have done what I did, which is have a conversation and see if it was a place that made sense for both of us to live.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And would you have moved to wherever he got a great job and started a new life there?
WENDI ADELSON: Potentially, yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Did you like Tallahassee?
WENDI ADELSON: I did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And — You said — I think you did say this, but let me clarify — was your mom aware of the order denying relocation?
WENDI ADELSON: My mom was aware of the order denying relocation.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What about your brother Charlie? Was he aware of that as well?
WENDI ADELSON: I'm sure my mom would have said something to him.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. So did your mom suggest any ways that you might coerce Dan Markel to let you move with the kids to South Florida?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes, I think we talked about that before.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: We did. And for this, I'm referring back to those emails.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And in particular, the bribe — so another bribe to get him to allow relocation. I'm on page 505 of the first email for the defense.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: "Another bribe to get him to allow relocation should be the offer of plane tickets so that he can fly back and forth." Right? So you're going to potentially offer this big monetary benefit that would allow him to fly back and forth to work — is that the idea?
WENDI ADELSON: I never said that I was going to do any of that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Was that the idea that your mom had?
WENDI ADELSON: That was the idea.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And the amount of the bribe is going to be — or was at least discussed as being — a million dollars; is that right?
WENDI ADELSON: That is what they said.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And did you agree with that? Would that have worked?
WENDI ADELSON: I have no idea if it would have worked.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But you think he might have taken a million bucks to let his kids go?
WENDI ADELSON: Well, he wasn't letting his kids go. He would have moved to South Florida and he would have commuted back and forth to his job.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So maybe? Well, then why wasn't it offered?
WENDI ADELSON: Because I didn't want to do it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. What about the idea that you could try to threaten Dan to convert the kids to Christianity so that they can fit into the Bible Belt here in Tallahassee — is that something your mom suggested in these emails?
WENDI ADELSON: My mom did suggest that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And specifically, this is on page seven of the exhibit: "Let — Gibbers know that your children will be baptized in the Catholic Church, have a picture made of them in front of the church, all that kind of thing." That's what your mom suggested at one time?
WENDI ADELSON: She did, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And did you do any of those things?
WENDI ADELSON: No, I don't even think I responded to it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you know whether the defendant, your brother Charlie, was supportive of the plan to convert them or pose as converting them to Christianity?
WENDI ADELSON: I have no idea. I don't think he was particularly involved in this round of my mom's emails.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Page 11 of the exhibit, there's an indication from your mom that Charlie at least has discussed this with her and maybe is somewhat supportive: "Charlie brought up a good point when he said that Americans were dropped behind enemy lines during World War II wearing Nazi uniforms to get what they wanted. They had a job to get done and they did what they needed to do to accomplish it. You have a job to get done in a very short time frame to accomplish it. If you dressed your kids up in Hitler Youth uniforms and brought them down here, I could care less. If it was an act of defiance that would show Gibbers that he's, all caps and bold, NOT IN CONTROL." So it just seems like your mom was pretty extreme about this situation of getting you relocated. Can you agree with that?
WENDI ADELSON: Yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And Charlie was at least consulted on it or had offered some information about it.
WENDI ADELSON: Well, that was my mom's rendition, so I don't know if that's what actually happened or if that was her perception.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Sure. Were you involved in the effort to consult a lawyer about the bribe and whether that was going to be legal?
WENDI ADELSON: I wasn't the lawyer consulted in that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: No, no. Were you involved in consulting a lawyer with your mom?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you know for sure if any financial offer was or was not made to Dan Markel?
WENDI ADELSON: I couldn't say for sure if they made it to Danny without me knowing, but I — I don't think so.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Is that something they would do — try to negotiate with him behind your back or deal with this situation behind your back?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't think so. I think I would have known. Danny probably would have told me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But you definitely didn't extend any of these offers or threats.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: When was the divorce final?
WENDI ADELSON: This summer of 2013.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right, I'm going to switch gears for a minute and talk about phone stuff. Was your cell phone collected by the police in this case after Dan was shot?
WENDI ADELSON: I gave the police my cell phone and asked them to search it if it could be useful.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And around the time of the murder, was your number 954-803-0079?
WENDI ADELSON: It was.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And can you agree that the numbers... let me show you an exhibit. I want to explain what it is. Okay, yeah. So I talked a lot about converting to Christianity but I didn't mention what religion you are. We talked about Dan being more religious than you are but we didn't talk about what religion you are. So could you explain that to the jury, please?
WENDI ADELSON: Sure. I'm Jewish, and Dan was as well.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Right. Danny is— was Jewish as well. Okay, so I had this... This exhibit 59, this is not able to do this, but States 59, I've got phone numbers attributed to your family members. Obviously, you don't know the other people.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Are those phone numbers accurate, if you know, for the time frame around the murder?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. All right. And then you are also familiar with the wiretap that was conducted in this case?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And did I provide you a disc labeled disc 107 and ask you to review some calls and see if you could authenticate the voices on those calls?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And for that spreadsheet which I've marked as 61, and were you able to initial by each call indicating that the highlighted names are the voices of the people they purport to be?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And if we can shift back to— we talked about your divorce being final. Once the divorce was final, weren't there still a lot of filings that went back and forth between both you and Dan Markel?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes and no. The divorce was final, we had a final settlement agreement. The agreement was, I take my name off the title to the house, he pays me half the value to the house. So within the first week, I went and took my name off the title to the house, and I waited until October when he was supposed to get back to me. He never paid me the money, and so I called and I asked what happened. That was the deal, and he said, "I have compelling reasons I'm not going to pay you."
WENDI ADELSON: And so I made one filing, a motion to enforce the settlement agreement, because he didn't do it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Right. So you believe that he owed you money pursuant to the settlement agreement.
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And he was in violation of the settlement agreement.
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And he was of the belief that you had withheld some financial things from your affidavit, and maybe he didn't owe you the money that you had previously agreed on because you had not been honest in the initial disclosures, right?
WENDI ADELSON: He accused my attorney of having unclean hands and committing a crime.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yeah. And and assisting you in withholding this money from the disclosures. All right, so I want to ask you about the motion to enforce marital settlement agreement and hold Dan Markel in contempt of court that was filed. You may need to refresh your memory. October 31st, 2013.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Exhibit 56. Have you take a look at this. It's going to be on 338. All right.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Could you just read the title, the caption of that filing?
WENDI ADELSON: Motion to Enforce Marital Settlement Agreement and to Show Cause Why the Former Husband Should Not Be Held in Contempt of Court.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What does it mean to be held in contempt of court?
WENDI ADELSON: It means not to be doing what the court has asked you to do.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What can happen to you if you're held in contempt of court?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't know, really.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Could you be jailed?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't know.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And when was this filed? This was you filing it, right? I mean, you're the client, right? You're asking that he be held in contempt.
WENDI ADELSON: I filed this.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And you don't know what that means?
WENDI ADELSON: I mean, at the time I filed, which was 10 years ago.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Oh, okay. We'll refresh your recollection with the document.
WENDI ADELSON: Okay.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: It goes through 340.
WENDI ADELSON: Okay, I have it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. So what was it you were asking for in this motion?
WENDI ADELSON: It was what I just mentioned. So basically, I took my name off the title to the house, he never paid, this was asking him to pay.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Cough up the money or be held in contempt?
WENDI ADELSON: Yep.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And what day was this filed?
WENDI ADELSON: This was filed on October 31st, 2013.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. So Halloween of '13. And that's the same day that you backed out of the contract of purchase the house in Tallahassee, right?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't remember that day, that was— okay.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you remember that it was your brother Charlie that specifically convinced you to back out of that particular house deal?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't, actually. I don't remember that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay, does that refresh your recollection?
WENDI ADELSON: Honestly, I mean, I can read what's here but I still don't remember.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And after you're crying too hard about the house — like, you seem genuinely upset about pulling the plug on the house but now you don't remember it.
WENDI ADELSON: Well, it's been ten years, so. So a lot of terrible things have happened since then. It's hard to remember.
WENDI ADELSON: Don't recall. I really liked the house and was excited about it, but it was more than I could afford at the time. That's what I remember is talking with the real estate agent and having her say we'd find another house, and it wasn't the right one.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Would you have any reason to dispute that that occurred on Halloween of 2013?
WENDI ADELSON: No, it probably did. I just don't remember.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Okay. And then a few months later on February 14th of 2014, there was another filing. I want to draw your attention to page 379.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I'm going to ask you what that document is.
WENDI ADELSON: Do you want me to read the title of the document?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yes, please.
WENDI ADELSON: Former Husband's Counter Motion to Enforce Marital Settlement Agreement's Financial Provisions and Incorporated Motion for Sanctions.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you remember this filing?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't remember this filing, but in anticipation of my testimony today I refreshed and reread it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And he accuses you in this filing of breaching the marital settlement agreement in various ways, right?
WENDI ADELSON: That's correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And committing a fraud upon the court by omitting the $200,000 in assets from your financial affidavit?
WENDI ADELSON: That is what he was alleging, and asked the court to sanction you.
WENDI ADELSON: Yes, that's what he said.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. So again, you're both seeking the court to sanction each other.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I mean, them fighting words and lawyer terms, right?
WENDI ADELSON: Well, I was filing a motion to enforce a settlement agreement, so I don't think that's really fighting words. That's just asking the court to complete what it was — what it already said it wanted to do.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay, and on page 379, Dan suggests that the court send a strong message about your malfeasance by awarding him the entirety of the undisclosed assets of over $200,000, right?
WENDI ADELSON: That is what he asked for.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay, and then on March 10th of 2014, on page 437, do you respond with your motion to dismiss the former husband's counter motion to enforce the marital settlement agreement that we just talked about?
WENDI ADELSON: I'm sorry, what is the page number?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: 437.
WENDI ADELSON: I'm not familiar with this, but do you want me to read through it?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Could you read the caption aloud, please?
WENDI ADELSON: Sure. Motion to dismiss the former husband's counter-motion to enforce marital settlement agreement's financial provisions, and incorporated motion for sanctions for failure to state a cause of action, and motion to strike as a sham pleading, and motion to strike as redundant, immaterial, impertinent, and scandalous pleading.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And then if you'll go to page 439, do you see a paragraph that begins, "the vast majority of the former husband's motion"?
WENDI ADELSON: I actually don't see that. On page 439?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yes, ma'am.
WENDI ADELSON: I think I have it.
WENDI ADELSON: Ah, on number 8.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yeah, "the vast majority of the former husband's motion contains allegations that are redundant and immaterial, impertinent and scandalous," yada, yada. He's making false and immaterial statements against you. His pleadings only prove that he is a disgruntled former husband who cannot move past this dissolution. So it's getting personal — would you agree with that?
WENDI ADELSON: My attorney here is responding to his pleading, which was over the top.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And this is over the top, right?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't think so.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: No? Then six days later, Dan files another motion seeking action against your mother. And that's the one we've already touched on — that's page 441, is that right?
WENDI ADELSON: Page 441? Yes, ma'am. Yes, that's what we talked about.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Former husband's counter motion for enforcement of marital settlement agreement on parenting issues, and motion for contempt and sanctions. Here he's alleging again — more violations of the marital settlement agreement, including communication between he and the boys; he wasn't happy with how much communication was happening; failing to keep him informed of where his kids are; failure to communicate about parenting decisions like the kids' schooling, diet, and extracurricular activities; and refusal to provide him access to the kids on their birthdays. He's complaining about a lot of things associated with this — not just money stuff, it's parenting stuff too, right?
WENDI ADELSON: That's right.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And isn't it in this motion that —
WENDI ADELSON: Yes, sir. Oh, I said that. That's right.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Isn't it in this motion that Dan Markel seeks to enjoin you from allowing your mother from spending time with the kids without supervision?
WENDI ADELSON: Can you please show me which page?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: That's 450.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do — you see a paragraph beginning "on three specific occasions"?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes. I do.
WENDI ADELSON: 8a. "On three specific occasions in November 2013, the children informed Mr. Markel — Abba, Dad — 'Grandma says you're stupid.' When queried as to why grandma, the maternal grandmother, would say such things, the children replied jointly that it is because she says you are trying to take her sunshines away from her. And continue, please. In December 3rd of 2013, you don't have to say the name your child" — my child — "the younger son further stated to Mr. Markel in front of the former wife, 'Abba, Grandma says she hates you.' The children were visiting with their grandparents at that time. Mr. Markel is concerned that continued exposure to such negativity forms a foundation for parental alienation."
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Could you read that, please?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Is that what he was alleging about your mom?
WENDI ADELSON: That is what he is alleging in this document, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And this was filed in court. He filed this in court on what date? It — will be at the front of the document, right?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes, ma'am. Page 441.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: This — was filed on March 26th, 2014. And this was the filing that never got ruled on, right?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't believe there was any ruling on this.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And that's because Dan Markel was killed before the hearing, right?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't know when it was scheduled for.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: It wasn't even scheduled yet. Okay. It was waiting to be scheduled when he was killed.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Is it fair to say your mom was worried about this motion?
WENDI ADELSON: No, my mom never knew about this motion.
WENDI ADELSON: And as I mentioned before, Danny asked my mom to babysit after filing this motion, so I don't really believe anything that's written here.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Well, you forwarded this motion to your mother.
WENDI ADELSON: I don't believe I did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: In fact, you forwarded this motion to 12 different people.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Your mom, Jeffrey Lacasse, Renee Griggs, Tova Walsh, Morgan Honeycutt, Gary Cohen, Owen, Miguel Edmondson, Trey Hubler, Robert Adelson, Rachel Frank, Jared Reich, and some M-E-H-U-L-N-Y-C at yahoo.com.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So if you weren't worried about this, why did you send it to all these people?
WENDI ADELSON: I couldn't really say. It's been a long time.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And then a couple days later, we — know what happened.
WENDI ADELSON: So this was in March.
WENDI ADELSON: So a couple days?
WENDI ADELSON: I filed it — I sent it to people in July when Danny was killed.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You sent it — I'm sorry, you sent it a couple days later.
WENDI ADELSON: I sent the —
MS. CAPPLEMAN: — that email to 12 different people. In March.
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: May we refresh?
JUDGE EVERETT: Before we break, the bailiff will escort you back to the jury room.
JUDGE EVERETT: Ms. — Adelson, you may step down for now.
JUDGE EVERETT: We'll — resume with the examination of the witness in five minutes.
JUDGE EVERETT: Okay, we're seated.
JUDGE EVERETT: Mr. Rashbaum, do you have a copy of the emails?
MR. RASHBAUM: I've got a copy of, I think, what they're using.
JUDGE EVERETT: All right.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Judge, the question I was asking her that Mr. Rashbaum is referencing was about her forwarding something to 12 people, which — that was not in the exhibit. But he does have a copy of the exhibit now. I did not introduce into evidence the email forwarding, so I think we're on the same page.
JUDGE EVERETT: All right. Ms. Adelson, come back in. Take the witness stand.
JUDGE EVERETT: You can be seated.
JUDGE EVERETT: You also have to let the court reporter get set. She is the woman of the hour.
JUDGE EVERETT: Please bring in the jurors.
JUDGE EVERETT: Also, whoever's phone had the frogs or crickets or whatever that was, turn it off.
JUDGE EVERETT: Definitely not while we're all here.
JUDGE EVERETT: Everyone can be seated.
JUDGE EVERETT: Ms. Cappleman, you can resume your examination.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Thank you, Your Honor. I want to talk a little bit about your brother, Charlie. Is he an older brother or a younger brother to you?
WENDI ADELSON: I'm the youngest of three, so I have two older brothers. They're both older than me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And he's the middle child, Charlie?
WENDI ADELSON: That's right.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And are you closer to Charlie or to the other brother?
WENDI ADELSON: I'm closer to Charlie.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: How much time were you spending with Charlie back in 2013 and 2014?
WENDI ADELSON: Not a lot of time.
WENDI ADELSON: Um, I was in Tallahassee. He was in South Florida.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did he work a lot?
WENDI ADELSON: He worked a lot, yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did he work at one location or travel around?
WENDI ADELSON: He would travel around. He worked at multiple locations.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was he pretty successful in his job?
WENDI ADELSON: He came up with a great business model for what he did, and he worked really hard and was very successful.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was your brother known to carry a lot of cash?
WENDI ADELSON: I — know. I mean, he had cash on him sometimes. I never saw large sums of cash.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you ever see stapled cash?
WENDI ADELSON: I never saw stapled cash.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Were you familiar with his practice of stapling cash together in stacks?
WENDI ADELSON: No, I never knew about that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was — your brother Charlie protective of you?
WENDI ADELSON: I mean, when I was a little kid.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What about as an adult?
WENDI ADELSON: As an adult, I mean, not — not particularly, regularly.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Is it fair to say that during the year or so leading up to the murder of Dan Markel that your brother did not like your ex?
WENDI ADELSON: I mean, I don't think he — yeah, he probably didn't like him, but I also think he didn't spend a lot of time thinking about him.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did he ever like him?
WENDI ADELSON: Yeah, I mean, I think they — they got along fine.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did your brother ever mention hiring a hitman to kill Dan Markel?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I'm gonna turn your attention to your law enforcement interview, and I'm referring to page 25, lines 13 through 15.
WENDI ADELSON: All right.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So, page 25. You find it?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Quote: "It was always his joke. He said, 'I looked into hiring a hitman, and it was cheaper to get you this TV.'" Is that what he said?
WENDI ADELSON: That was a joke that he made, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And hiring the hitman, that was to kill Dan Markel, right?
WENDI ADELSON: That was the — a joke. That was the joke that he made in poor taste. Yes. Not to kill someone else.
WENDI ADELSON: No. Well, he never used his name.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Well, he's buying you the TV because it's cheaper as a divorce present than a hitman. Who else would he be hitting with the hitman?
WENDI ADELSON: I never really thought about it because it was not a thing that he meant. He just made a bad joke.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Well, you repeated the joke, didn't you? Did you also repeat the joke to other people?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Like Jeff Lacasse?
WENDI ADELSON: I never said that to Jeff Lacasse.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You didn't tell Jeff Lacasse that your brother got you that TV as a divorce present because it was cheaper than hiring a hitman?
WENDI ADELSON: I may have repeated that joke in the context of the TV, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And who is Jeff Lacasse?
WENDI ADELSON: Jeff Lacasse was a person I dated in 2013.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And did you tell Jeffrey Lacasse shortly before the actual murder that your brother really had looked into hiring a hitman?
WENDI ADELSON: I did not.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did he buy you a TV as a divorce present?
WENDI ADELSON: Did my brother buy me a TV as a divorce present?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yes, sorry, I should have clarified that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And was the TV that your brother bought you as a divorce present the same TV that was being repaired on the morning of the murder?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did your mom text you that morning that the repair guy was coming to repair the TV?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't remember that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Why would your mom have been involved in your TV repair appointment?
WENDI ADELSON: Because I didn't purchase the TV. The TV was a gift that my brother paid for, but my mom went and got it and he reimbursed her, so the contract would have been under her name and her number. So when the repair guy was coming, they may have called or texted the number on the account instead of my number.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And after the murder, do you recall going to a dinner where you got sick at the table?
WENDI ADELSON: It was about a month later. And yes, I remember.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Where did that dinner occur? Was that here in Tallahassee or somewhere else?
WENDI ADELSON: No, it was in Miami.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And was it like out at a restaurant?
WENDI ADELSON: It was at a restaurant.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And when we say you got sick at the table, did you actually vomit at the table?
WENDI ADELSON: I threw up at the table.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And did you ever hear your brother refer to that particular dinner as a celebratory dinner?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you tell Jeffrey Lacasse that your brother called that a celebratory dinner?
WENDI ADELSON: I did not.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was that... one moment, was cut.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yes, sir.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was that dinner a celebration of the murder of your ex-husband?
WENDI ADELSON: Absolutely not. That dinner was the first time I left my house after over a month because I was terrified. And if it was a celebration of anything, it was a celebration that I was willing to leave the house and eat a meal.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you know Katherine Magbanua, or have you ever met her?
WENDI ADELSON: I have met her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you have an independent friendship with her, or did you only know her through your brother?
WENDI ADELSON: I only knew her through my brother.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What was her relationship to your brother?
WENDI ADELSON: They dated at some point.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was there anything unusual about her as a girlfriend from your viewpoint at the time?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So she seemed like a typical kind of girl that he would date?
WENDI ADELSON: She did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you meet all his girlfriends?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't know. I met many girlfriends.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Did you meet Whitney Kick?
WENDI ADELSON: I did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And Whitney Kick was after Katherine Magbanua, correct?
WENDI ADELSON: I believe so.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And there's a photograph, I'm sure you recall, of you on the beach with Katherine Magbanua. Do you recall when that photo was taken?
WENDI ADELSON: I do. It was Father's Day 2014, so nine years ago.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: June 15th of 2014?
WENDI ADELSON: That sounds right.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So about a month before the murder?
WENDI ADELSON: That sounds right.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Where was this photo taken?
WENDI ADELSON: It was in Miami. I went down to visit my dad for Father's Day.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Approaching and showing you what I've marked as State's 35. Is this that photograph, and I've attached the data associated with it?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Is it a fair and accurate copy of that photograph?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Judge, I'd ask to move for admission of State's 35.
JUDGE EVERETT: Okay.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. All right, is that you in the center?
WENDI ADELSON: That's me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Which one's Katherine Magbanua?
WENDI ADELSON: The one on the left, our left in the picture.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: How long had Ms. Magbanua been dating your brother at the time this photo was taken?
WENDI ADELSON: I have no idea.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: How many times had you met Ms. Magbanua at the time this was taken?
WENDI ADELSON: I think once before.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. How many times did you hang out with her total?
WENDI ADELSON: Just these two times.
WENDI ADELSON: Once at the dinner when I met her, and then once at the beach for an hour.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was the relationship between your brother and Katherine Magbanua serious, if you know?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't know. I mean, 10 years ago.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was it serious?
WENDI ADELSON: Uh, not too serious.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: It never stood out to you during that time frame as like, "Oh, this is the one"?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. So you mentioned you thought Whitney Kick was after Katherine Magbanua. What about June Umchinda? Do you know which one that is?
WENDI ADELSON: When you say "do I know which one that is," she's not in the picture.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: No, ma'am. One of your brother's girlfriends, June Umchinda. Do you know her?
WENDI ADELSON: I met someone named June.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And would you agree that was also after Katherine Magbanua?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes, that would have been after.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: When did you learn that Katherine Magbanua was blackmailing your brother for the murder of your ex-husband?
WENDI ADELSON: Today.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Oh.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So he never told you?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You testified in Katherine Magbanua's murder trial last year, didn't you?
WENDI ADELSON: I did, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And she was convicted?
WENDI ADELSON: She was convicted, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Of murder?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes, of murder.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Of murdering Dan Markel?
WENDI ADELSON: Of murdering my children's father, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: A crime for which she apparently is innocent because she was just a conduit for Sigfredo Garcia. Did you learn that today along with all of us?
WENDI ADELSON: Well, I learned that — but someone made that argument. I don't know whether it's true or not true.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. You have no knowledge of it?
WENDI ADELSON: I have no knowledge.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: In all of the years this has been pending, your brother has known who killed your child's father, and you didn't know?
WENDI ADELSON: I did not know.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you know why Katherine Magbanua was on the payroll at the Adelson Institute?
WENDI ADELSON: I believe that she worked there.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What did she do there?
WENDI ADELSON: I know my brother met her at a dental office, so I'm guessing administrative work of some kind?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you ever observe her doing administrative work there?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: How did the killers in this case know that Dan Markel was planning to leave town the day after the killing?
WENDI ADELSON: I have no idea.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You knew he was planning to leave town the next day, didn't you?
WENDI ADELSON: I did, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you convey that information to anyone?
WENDI ADELSON: Absolutely not.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: To your knowledge, did your brother have that information?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't know why he would have known that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So if the killers were told it has to be done today because he's leaving town tomorrow, we don't know how they knew that.
WENDI ADELSON: I have no idea how they knew that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But it would have to come from someone familiar with Dan Markel's schedule, wouldn't it?
WENDI ADELSON: They would have to find out somehow. I don't know how.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Prior to Dan Markel's murder, when were you last in South Florida?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was it this trip that's pictured here?
WENDI ADELSON: No, because it was my dad's 70th birthday in early July, so I would have gone down to celebrate his birthday.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. When's dad's birthday?
WENDI ADELSON: July 5th.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: How long were you down there for that July 5th trip?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't really remember offhand, but my guess is about a week.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you see Charlie Adelson on that trip?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes. We celebrated my dad's birthday — the whole family and friends, everybody.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you see Katherine Magbanua on that trip?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't remember if she was there or not.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did dad have a birthday party?
WENDI ADELSON: Dad had a birthday party.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was it a big birthday?
WENDI ADELSON: It was his 70th birthday.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And was Katherine Magbanua at the party?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't remember seeing her there.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you remember seeing June Umchinda at the party?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Or Whitney Kick at the party?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So it could have been any one of them or none of them?
WENDI ADELSON: Or none of them. I don't remember there being a girlfriend with him at the party.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right, so you said the birthday was what — July 5th?
WENDI ADELSON: It would have been July 5th.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And do you know on what day you celebrated?
WENDI ADELSON: Maybe his birthday, if it was — I felt like it was a weekend, so maybe if July 5th was a Saturday, then it was on his actual birthday.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Tell me about the event. You said there were family and friends there — about how many people?
WENDI ADELSON: Maybe like 50 people.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What was on the menu?
WENDI ADELSON: We had paella.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Were you responsible for securing the paella, or is that your brother's job, or someone else?
WENDI ADELSON: I didn't arrange it, but I speak Spanish and no one else could communicate with him, so I spent some time helping him. That's why I remember what we eat.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Did your dad get any big gifts for his 70th?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't remember.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you — so there was no big lead-up and discussion about some big gift that you were involved in, at least?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't remember. I don't remember if I gave him a present. I hope I did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you remember what anybody gave him for that birthday?
WENDI ADELSON: I really don't.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was the murder of Dan Markel your dad's big gift?
WENDI ADELSON: I mean, that's — of course not. That's a horrible thing to say.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What about the — well, what about the grandchildren getting full unfettered access to the grandchildren?
WENDI ADELSON: My parents had full unfettered access to their grandchildren always.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Not when they lived in Tallahassee.
WENDI ADELSON: Well, whenever they could come up and see them, they did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: They were 50% of the time with Dan Markel, right?
WENDI ADELSON: Sure, but whenever they were with me, they had full unfettered access.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: On the occasion that we're talking about — Dad's birthday — was that one of the times that when you came back to Tallahassee, your parents rode with you and then rented a car and drove home in the rental car?
WENDI ADELSON: It was.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And — how long a drive is that?
WENDI ADELSON: It's about seven hours.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: During that seven-hour trip, or at any time when you were in South Florida, was there any discussion of a murder at all?
WENDI ADELSON: No, absolutely not.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Any discussion of what to do about Dan?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Any — further discussion about bribing, converting to Christianity, any of those strategies?
WENDI ADELSON: No, that ship had long sailed.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Any discussion on that trip about the pending motion to preclude your mom from having contact with the kids?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What was wrong with the TV that was repaired the morning of the murder?
WENDI ADELSON: I think one of my boys might have thrown something at it. There was, like, a little crack in the TV.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: How long had the TV been broken at the time that it got repaired?
WENDI ADELSON: I honestly don't remember.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Could it have been a long time — quite a long time?
WENDI ADELSON: No, it could have been — I mean, I would be completely speculating. I don't remember how long it was broken for.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you remember who repaired the TV?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes, it was — it was called the Geek Squad.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you remember the window that the Geek Squad gave you for when they were going to be at your home to do this repair?
WENDI ADELSON: I do. I think they said it was 8 to 12, or 9 to 1, something like that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Would you agree with me if I told you it was 8 to 12?
WENDI ADELSON: That sounds right.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And do you recall what time the repairman actually arrived?
WENDI ADELSON: No, but I remember they came on the early side.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And was the repair done?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Why not?
WENDI ADELSON: Because I called my brother to find out how much a new TV would cost versus how much the repair cost, and it didn't make sense to repair it. It's cheaper to buy a new TV.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yep. The records indicate the repairman was there for about 45 minutes. Does that sound accurate to you?
WENDI ADELSON: Sure. That's my best — sure.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Why was he there for that long, just to tell you, like, this thing can't be repaired or it's cost prohibitive to repair? Do you remember?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't. My guess is he was there to try to see how he could repair the TV, and then he gave me an estimate, and then I found out what the estimate compared to the cost of a new TV would be.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Who paid the repairman?
WENDI ADELSON: I did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: The repairman — you're familiar with his statement that you seemed really upset that day. What were you upset about?
WENDI ADELSON: I have no idea.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Were you upset that day?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't remember being — oh yes, I was upset that day. I was upset — I remember Danny wanted to take the kids swimming and I wanted to pick them up earlier in the day, and so — nothing to do with the TV. I don't think so. I probably wasn't that upset about the TV.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you ever use the TV as code for the murder?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you ever hear your mom do that?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you remember on July 13th, 2014, seeing Jeffrey Lacasse at your place on Aqua Ridge?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you even remember that evening?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't remember seeing him at my place, because by that point we were kind of broken up, so I don't think I would have seen him at my place.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. Right. So on that occasion, you couldn't have told him you wanted to share something with him in confidence?
WENDI ADELSON: I think that would be very unlikely. We had kind of broken up at that point.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And you couldn't have told him at that time the statement about your brother really did look into hiring the hitman?
WENDI ADELSON: I can't imagine I would have said that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And when did you break up with Mr. Lacasse — or when did the two of you break up?
WENDI ADELSON: It would have been end of June 2014.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: 2014, so not four days before the murder?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. So end of June 2014 would have been the last time you saw him?
WENDI ADELSON: No, no, no, I saw him after that. We were talking and kind of figuring out what we wanted to do, but we had — we had gone on a trip to Gainesville the last weekend in June, at which point we had a big argument and I really didn't want to be with him after that. So at that point, for me, I was pretty much done. But there were more discussions until it, you know, formally ended.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And when was the formal end?
WENDI ADELSON: I remember seeing him that Monday night and telling him I wanted to have some space.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. So four days before the murder?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So four days before Danny was killed. All right. And that was — was that the end, end of your relationship with him? The last, when I told him I wanted some space?
WENDI ADELSON: Yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Okay.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Where did you go after the TV repair man left?
WENDI ADELSON: After he left, I stayed at the house for a while, and I was working on some pieces of writing.
WENDI ADELSON: I was talking with various friends. I had a friend in town interviewing for a job at FSU. I was making plans to go meet her.
WENDI ADELSON: The time got too close before her interview.
WENDI ADELSON: And then I had two friends that I would often meet on Fridays, just kind of last minute. And so we made plans to go have lunch.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. So what time did you leave the house to go have lunch?
WENDI ADELSON: I really didn't remember offhand, but I refreshed my memory and saw it was sometime around 12:45.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. So it makes sense that you might've left your residence at about 12:30.
WENDI ADELSON: Sure. Okay.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And did you go to the crime scene, or very near the crime scene, on your way from your residence to — I guess to lunch, or to wherever you were going next?
WENDI ADELSON: No, I did not.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So you never turned on Trescott Drive that day?
WENDI ADELSON: I went to turn on Trescott Drive, but I saw that it had been blocked off by some tape, and so I just kept driving on Centerville.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And when you had to turn around at the tape — right? — to go back?
WENDI ADELSON: I think I tried to turn right and it couldn't turn, so I would have made like a — that kind of turn, like a K-turn, and kept going.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was there a roadblock there?
WENDI ADELSON: There was tape.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yeah, and an officer was there?
WENDI ADELSON: I didn't see an officer, but I did see a car.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: A law enforcement marked vehicle?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Did you have any contact with the officer?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Did you do anything after that to try to find out what was going on down that roadway?
WENDI ADELSON: No, I just assumed it was weather, maybe a tree fell.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Had there been bad weather that day?
WENDI ADELSON: No, but it was summertime and there's electrical storms and trees fall, so that would have been pretty normal for summertime.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Where were your kids supposed to be at the time that you encountered that roadblock?
WENDI ADELSON: They would have been at school, and that's at the Creative Preschool.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: That's right. Who took them to preschool that day?
WENDI ADELSON: Danny.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And who was supposed to pick them up from preschool that day?
WENDI ADELSON: Me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. So did you know for sure that they had made it to preschool that day at the time you encountered the roadblock?
WENDI ADELSON: I just assumed. I mean, if they hadn't made it to preschool, Danny would have let me know.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But did you attempt to call Dan Markel when you encountered the roadblock?
WENDI ADELSON: No, I didn't think anything of it. I didn't think it was related to the house.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Had you talked to Dan Markel or your kids that morning?
WENDI ADELSON: My kids, no, but that would have been normal. And Danny and I tried to get in touch with each other, but we left — we were trying to figure out where Ben was going to go to kindergarten at the time, and we left voicemails for each other, but didn't get to talk.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Did he leave you a voicemail message that morning?
WENDI ADELSON: He did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. We talked — I asked you earlier about him being scheduled to leave town the day after he was killed. Do you know where he was planning to go?
WENDI ADELSON: He was going to New York to see his girlfriend.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: The message that he left you that morning, do you remember what he told you in the message?
WENDI ADELSON: I mean, I think it was about our son's school.
WENDI ADELSON: Other than that, I don't really remember.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Included in that — was it included in that message that he was heading to the gym and was going to be at the gym between 9:15 and 10:30 that morning?
WENDI ADELSON: I really don't remember, but that sounds like it could be what he would leave.
WENDI ADELSON: Sure.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So — Did he say in that voicemail that he left you what his plans were in regards to the gym that day?
WENDI ADELSON: He did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What exactly did he say about the gym?
WENDI ADELSON: About the gym, he said, "I'm going to be at the gym, probably between 9:15 and 10:30, but I'm happy to chat or meet with you. Maybe we can go for a walk at school or something like that. Let me know."
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. So that particular voicemail doesn't sound very emotionally abusive. Would you agree with that?
WENDI ADELSON: No, by this point in time we were parenting really well, and we were doing just fine.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Great. I'll — strike the comment, Your Honor.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you talk to your brother on the day of your ex-husband's murder?
WENDI ADELSON: I did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And about what time of day did you speak to him?
WENDI ADELSON: It would have been right after the repair guys were there, because that's when I called him to tell him — ask him whether I should get their TV repaired or buy a new TV. So it would have been morning.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: How long did you talk to him?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't remember.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Does 18 minutes sound incorrect?
WENDI ADELSON: That sounds reasonable.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Did you talk to him about other things other than just the TV?
WENDI ADELSON: I really don't remember what else I talked to him about, but probably — maybe I would have asked him about his work, or we would have caught up.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you happen to mention Dan Markel's plans to go to New York the next day?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't see why I would have.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you have WhatsApp on your phone at that time?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't know if in 2014 I had WhatsApp.
WENDI ADELSON: Now we use it for all the parent chats at school, so it seems everybody has it, but I don't know if everybody had it back in 2014.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What is WhatsApp?
WENDI ADELSON: WhatsApp is kind of an app you would use for texting.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you know if your brother Charlie had it at that time?
WENDI ADELSON: I have no idea if he had it at that time.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you ever communicate with Charlie through WhatsApp?
WENDI ADELSON: Maybe. I mean, I don't know if I had it at that time or if I had it later. I probably would have. Just not sure. Yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you have any contact of any kind with Katherine Magbanua on the day of Dan Markel's murder?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you ever communicate with her through WhatsApp?
WENDI ADELSON: No, I never communicated with her at all.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right, let's talk about — well, you communicated with her on —
WENDI ADELSON: I saw her in person, but I'm saying I never texted with her, called her. I never communicated via a device other than in person.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. What about when you were talking to your brother — did she ever get on the phone and speak to you?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't think so.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. I want to talk about where you went when you left your residence on the day of the murder. You tried to turn onto Trescott and then you ended up where?
WENDI ADELSON: I went — um, I was supposed to go to a party that night, a Stock the Bar party. So I went to a liquor store to pick up what they had asked for as the present for their party. So I went to the liquor store, I picked up the alcohol, I stopped, I think I got gas, and then I went to lunch to meet my friends.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And the liquor store purchase appears to have occurred at 12:49 based on the receipt. Do you have any reason to dispute that?
WENDI ADELSON: No, that sounds right.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay, and then from there to the restaurant?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And where was the restaurant located?
WENDI ADELSON: Mosaic.
WENDI ADELSON: I actually don't remember. I just remember I would go north on Thomasville Road.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And is the restaurant where law enforcement came to speak with you, and you ended up going with them to the police station?
WENDI ADELSON: That's correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do — you agree or disagree that there have been some financial benefits to you and your boys as a result of Dan's death?
WENDI ADELSON: I disagree.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: When — did you decide to change the names of your children from Markel to Adelson?
WENDI ADELSON: So after Danny's murder, there was a lot of news. It just hit the media and there were news stories everywhere.
WENDI ADELSON: And Nancy Grace on CNN put pictures of my boys with their faces unblurred — just pictures of them.
WENDI ADELSON: And I was terrified. And so when they started school, I started school with my last name, thinking that would keep them safe, that they wouldn't be associated with the murder.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Wasn't the Adelson name in the press?
WENDI ADELSON: It was not in the press. Not yet.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you agree that you legally changed the kids' names on July 6th of 2015?
WENDI ADELSON: That sounds right.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So it was actually a year after the homicide.
WENDI ADELSON: A year after.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: When — was the last time you talked to your mom?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you talk to her today? Yesterday?
WENDI ADELSON: I talked to her yesterday.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: In her emails — and we referenced one of them while you've been here on the stand — she talks about you giving performances and playing roles. Did you discuss anything about what you would do here today in court with your mother?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Were — you involved in any way in the plot to kill your ex-husband?
WENDI ADELSON: Absolutely not.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you know what was going to happen, but maybe not know the details?
WENDI ADELSON: I knew nothing.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Is that why you went to the crime scene on the day of the homicide?
WENDI ADELSON: I did not go to the crime scene on the day of the homicide.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you know who all was involved in the murder?
WENDI ADELSON: Well, I learned today, but at the time, no.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Have you ever privately confronted your brother about his role or possible role in the murder?
WENDI ADELSON: My attorney has advised me not to have conversations with anyone in my family about the case.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But you had a close relationship with your brother at the time of the murder, right?
WENDI ADELSON: I absolutely had a close relationship with my brother.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And how soon after the murder did your lawyer advise you not to talk to your family about it?
WENDI ADELSON: In 2016.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay, so what about the two years in between? Did you talk to him about it then?
WENDI ADELSON: I mean, I talked to him about the fact that a murder occurred, but I guess I don't understand the question.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But you never talked to him about the suspicions you raised in the law enforcement interview that your brother might have done it?
WENDI ADELSON: No, I did not.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You — suspected your brother could have been a part of this, right?
WENDI ADELSON: I suspected lots of people could have been a part of it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But he was one of the people, right?
WENDI ADELSON: While I was talking with law enforcement for six hours, terrified out of my mind, I offered them every possible idea I could come up with.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Right, and one of the possible ideas was that your brother could have murdered your child's father.
WENDI ADELSON: I didn't really believe that was possible.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was — part of the plot for you to be able to have plausible deniability about this?
WENDI ADELSON: Absolutely not.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Is it better for both you and your brother if you don't know the details of this?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't even understand the question that you're asking me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: When did you first become aware that you might be a suspect in this case?
WENDI ADELSON: I mean, as the ex-wife, I assumed I was a suspect from the beginning.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What was your first thought when you were asked if anyone might have murdered Dan Markel for your benefit?
WENDI ADELSON: I thought, oh my God, maybe if I hadn't divorced him, he would still be alive. Maybe — maybe this is my fault because I complained to the wrong person. Maybe Danny gave a student a bad grade and they came after him. I just was trying to think of who possibly could have wanted to hurt him.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But you didn't say any of that before. I mean, the first thing you said was Charlie, right?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't think so.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Page 25 of your interview, line 5 through 15 — do you have any reason to dispute? Page 25, not five hours into it, you say Charlie might have done it, right?
WENDI ADELSON: Can I see, please?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You may.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: This is going to be tab 1, page 25.
WENDI ADELSON: What I say here is that he would never do it. Right under the highlighted part, I say, "No, he would never." Page —
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Page 25, line 5 through 15: "I mean, my brother — the one, his name is Charlie, the one I'm really close to — he makes a lot of jokes in that taste, and it was a joke he made. He bought the TV for me this morning that got broken, and then I was talking to him about whether it made sense to pay to fix it or whether I should get a new one. And it was always like — it was always his joke that, like, he knew that Danny always treated me badly. And it was always his joke. He said, 'I looked into hiring a hitman, and it was cheaper to get you this TV, so instead I got you this TV.'"
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And you do say you don't think he would do it. But can we agree you brought up his name on page 25 of the interview?
WENDI ADELSON: I did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: When asked, "Would you ever ask someone to do something like this?" you say, "Not in a million years."
MS. CAPPLEMAN: When asked, "Okay, do you think someone would do this for your benefit without asking you?" you say, "No." And when Isom starts to ask you, "What good does it serve?" you say, "I mean, my brother, the one — his name is Charlie."
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Isn't that how it went?
WENDI ADELSON: This is the transcript, but I think there's also inaccuracies in the transcription.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. Right. Do you want the culpable parties held accountable for murdering the father of your children?
WENDI ADELSON: Absolutely. I'm grateful they're already in jail.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But not if it's your family.
WENDI ADELSON: It's not my family. I mean, somebody hired them, right?
WENDI ADELSON: Not necessarily. Somebody paid them. I learned something this morning.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yeah, me too.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You didn't want them held accountable if it was your family members. Didn't you tell law enforcement that?
WENDI ADELSON: That's not what I told law enforcement.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What did you tell law enforcement?
WENDI ADELSON: I told them that the person who did this should be held responsible, and that I had nothing to do with it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Page 122, lines 7 through 12.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: "If somebody tried to kill my ex-husband, they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."
MS. CAPPLEMAN: The investigator says, "Regardless of who it is," and your answer is, "I mean, it would be different if I thought it were my brother."
WENDI ADELSON: But I don't think it was my family is what I'm saying.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: It's different now, isn't it?
WENDI ADELSON: No, it's not different. That's exactly what I said right here.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: It's different today isn't it?
WENDI ADELSON: No, that's not right.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: No further questions.
MR. RASHBAUM: Judge, may we get a sidebar, please?
JUDGE EVERETT: Very briefly.
JUDGE EVERETT: You may examine when you're ready.
MR. RASHBAUM: Good afternoon.
WENDI ADELSON: Good afternoon.
MR. RASHBAUM: Ms. Adelson, we've met before, right?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: We've met two or three times in our life, right?
WENDI ADELSON: That's correct.
MR. RASHBAUM: We initially met in 2016 after the arrest of the killers in this case?
WENDI ADELSON: That's correct.
MR. RASHBAUM: During that meeting, we had no conversation whatsoever about the substance of this case, right?
WENDI ADELSON: That's correct.
MR. RASHBAUM: We met again in April of 2022, on the day that your brother was arrested, correct?
MR. RASHBAUM: You were at your parents' house, and we were figuring out where he was, right?
MR. RASHBAUM: Again, nothing was discussed about the case other than his arrest.
WENDI ADELSON: Correct.
MR. RASHBAUM: In fact, before right now, we have never discussed your testimony at all.
WENDI ADELSON: Okay.
MR. RASHBAUM: With that in mind, let me ask you the most important question.
MR. RASHBAUM: You're aware that the state has named you as an unindicted co-conspirator in the murder of your ex-husband, right?
WENDI ADELSON: Correct.
MR. RASHBAUM: They believe that you, along with your brother, along with your mom, along with your dad, conspired with those three killers, including Katie Magbanua.
MR. RASHBAUM: They believe you all conspired with them to kill your ex-husband. You understand that, right?
WENDI ADELSON: I understand that that is what they believe.
MR. RASHBAUM: You understand they put up a chart in their opening with pictures of all of you?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes, I saw the chart.
MR. RASHBAUM: Ms. Adelson, did you have anything to do with the murder of your brother, of your ex-husband?
WENDI ADELSON: Absolutely not.
MR. RASHBAUM: It's fair to say the state has it wrong?
WENDI ADELSON: Absolutely.
MR. RASHBAUM: Were you in a conspiracy with any members of your family to kill Professor Markel?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MR. RASHBAUM: Okay, with that starting point, let's get into your background a little bit.
MR. RASHBAUM: I'm going to try to skip through stuff that's already been done.
MR. RASHBAUM: Growing up, you were pretty close with your parents?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: Fair to say they were middle class?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: You went to a public high school?
WENDI ADELSON: I did.
MR. RASHBAUM: You did pretty well in high school, right?
WENDI ADELSON: I was valedictorian.
MR. RASHBAUM: But around a year or two before you went to college, your father was a victim of a Ponzi scheme, correct?
WENDI ADELSON: It was actually when I was in eighth grade.
MR. RASHBAUM: And he lost much of his, well...
WENDI ADELSON: He lost his whole life savings.
MR. RASHBAUM: You still went to a prestigious college up in Boston, right?
WENDI ADELSON: I got a full scholarship.
MR. RASHBAUM: And then when it came time to go to law school, did you pay for law school?
WENDI ADELSON: I got a full scholarship.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, you got asked a lot of questions about divorce law in your direct examination. Are you a divorce lawyer?
WENDI ADELSON: I am not.
MR. RASHBAUM: What type of law did you specialize in?
WENDI ADELSON: Immigration.
MR. RASHBAUM: All those filings — and we'll get to them.
MR. RASHBAUM: Did you write those filings?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MR. RASHBAUM: So the words that Ms. Cappleman was reading, they were for you. You reviewed them, correct?
WENDI ADELSON: I did.
MR. RASHBAUM: Did you draft them?
WENDI ADELSON: I didn't draft any pleadings.
MR. RASHBAUM: That motion for contempt — she asked you if he could be put in jail. You have no idea, right?
WENDI ADELSON: I didn't remember whether that's what contempt meant, but...
MR. RASHBAUM: You were just seeking the court to enforce its previous order, right?
WENDI ADELSON: That's correct.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, remember you said that during these filings — this is the same exhibit — that you thought you talked about some other things, and Ms. Cappleman said, "Nah, it's not in there"?
MR. RASHBAUM: Remember that?
WENDI ADELSON: I do.
MR. RASHBAUM: I'm gonna — can I borrow that binder?
MR. RASHBAUM: I'm going to draw your attention. This is State's Exhibit 56. I'm going to draw your attention to page 187, and I want you to read this paragraph for the jury.
WENDI ADELSON: Okay. The wife has been very unhappy in the marriage and filed her petition for dissolution of marriage in August 2012.
WENDI ADELSON: The husband continues to characterize this as an abandonment of the family. At no time has the wife abandoned the children. She is divorcing the husband due to her unhappiness with him and the marriage, and she only moved out of the home because she knew the husband would not. The husband's statement of abandonment are unfounded and not supported by fact or law. He is simply having difficulty accepting her decision. In fact, he is having so much difficulty that he has told several of her colleagues and friends that she must have mental health issues. Interviews —
MR. RASHBAUM: You can stop there.
WENDI ADELSON: Okay.
MR. RASHBAUM: Do you remember telling Ms. Cappleman that you remember filing something like that?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes, I do.
MR. RASHBAUM: You can set it aside. When did you meet Professor Markel?
WENDI ADELSON: We met in Washington, D.C.
WENDI ADELSON: In the fall of 2004 when I went up to D.C. to interview for a job.
MR. RASHBAUM: Where were you living at the time?
WENDI ADELSON: I was living in Miami.
MR. RASHBAUM: When did the relationship get serious?
WENDI ADELSON: Well, because it was long-distance, it kind of got serious pretty quickly because it's a commitment to date someone long-distance. So we started dating, and then I think over Thanksgiving he came and spent Thanksgiving with my family, and by then it felt pretty serious.
MR. RASHBAUM: Do you recall if you introduced him to Charlie?
WENDI ADELSON: I would have at that point. I don't remember introducing him before that time, but he would have met — he would have met my whole family then.
MR. RASHBAUM: What did Charlie think of Professor Markel?
WENDI ADELSON: I honestly don't remember his reaction.
MR. RASHBAUM: Were they buddies?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MR. RASHBAUM: They really had nothing in common, right?
WENDI ADELSON: No, they had nothing in common.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, you got engaged pretty quickly, is that fair to say?
WENDI ADELSON: We did, yeah.
MR. RASHBAUM: And I think you described how you ended up in Tallahassee, how you did your last year of law school in Tallahassee. Is that — is that correct?
WENDI ADELSON: That's correct.
MR. RASHBAUM: And then you had two children.
WENDI ADELSON: We did.
MR. RASHBAUM: During the marriage, did Professor Markel get along with your parents?
WENDI ADELSON: Yeah.
MR. RASHBAUM: Skipping a little bit ahead, and then we'll go back. Do you remember Ms. Cappleman asking you about your parents not liking Tallahassee and not having access to the kids in Tallahassee? Do you recall those questions?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't remember her asking whether my parents didn't like Tallahassee, but I remember her asking about access, like not having unfettered access to the kids.
MR. RASHBAUM: And do you remember talking about how your parents were looking for real estate in Tallahassee?
WENDI ADELSON: Yeah, my parents were trying to buy a house here.
MR. RASHBAUM: Do you recall that after you got divorced, they contacted a real estate agent named Tim Kelly to buy that house?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: During the course of your marriage, I think you said you were close to your brother Charlie.
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: How often did you speak to each other?
WENDI ADELSON: Maybe once a week, or a couple times here and there.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, in all the years you lived in Tallahassee, is it fair to say that Charlie only came up two or three times?
WENDI ADELSON: Yeah, he came up for the birth of both boys, so definitely twice, and then I think he had an internship or a job in Alabama for a little while, so he came by then, so maybe three times.
MR. RASHBAUM: You described that there came a time when you and Professor Markel started to have some marital issues.
WENDI ADELSON: That's right.
MR. RASHBAUM: And some of these issues had to do with religion, correct?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: And some of them had to do with just the fact that you two were growing apart. Is that fair to say?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: But you got marriage counseling, right?
WENDI ADELSON: We did.
MR. RASHBAUM: How long were you in marriage counseling for?
WENDI ADELSON: I think about six months, maybe.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, as close as you are with your mom, while in marriage counseling, did you tell her you were in marriage counseling?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't remember telling her I was in marriage counseling.
MR. RASHBAUM: And until the end, did Charlie know that you were in marriage counseling?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't know if I talked to my family about being in counseling.
MR. RASHBAUM: Do you recall a time when you and Charlie, you were down in South Florida and you told him that you were having marital problems?
WENDI ADELSON: I do.
MR. RASHBAUM: And what was Charlie's reaction to that?
WENDI ADELSON: I mean, he was supportive of me.
WENDI ADELSON: I remember him saying, you know, life is short. So if you're unhappy, then, you know, you can make a different choice.
MR. RASHBAUM: Do you recall a dinner at the Melting Pot where you told Charlie that you had decided to file for divorce?
WENDI ADELSON: I do.
MR. RASHBAUM: And when you told Charlie that you were going to file for divorce, did he have anger and hatred towards Professor Markel?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MR. RASHBAUM: Was he sad because he knew that this was going to affect his nephews?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't think he was really sad. I mean, I think, honestly, I think a lot of people wondered why I got married to Danny in the first place, and my friends were very supportive when I decided to end the marriage.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, you actually filed for divorce in September of 2012. Is that right?
WENDI ADELSON: That sounds right.
MR. RASHBAUM: And when you filed for divorce, let me say this — when you left the home, I think that was discussed in the direct, Professor Markel was out of town, right?
WENDI ADELSON: He was. I called him and let him know that I had filed.
MR. RASHBAUM: You're a non-confrontational person, right?
WENDI ADELSON: Which is not my best quality, yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: But you had been in marriage counseling for quite some time before you left the home, right?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: Before you left the home, did you have a place to live?
WENDI ADELSON: I did.
MR. RASHBAUM: So there was some planning, correct?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: Charlie had nothing to do with those arrangements, right?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MR. RASHBAUM: And that's when you moved into the Aqua Ridge house?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: I'm showing you what's marked as Defense Exhibit 1 for identification purposes only.
MR. RASHBAUM: May I approach, Your Honor?
MR. RASHBAUM: Do you recognize the email addresses on this document?
WENDI ADELSON: I do.
MR. RASHBAUM: Is that your email address in July of 2012?
WENDI ADELSON: It was my, my work email address, so... So that makes sense, that must have been my email.
MR. RASHBAUM: Does this look like an email that you could have received from your mom?
WENDI ADELSON: It does. I don't remember this email, but it does look like an email I could have received.
MR. RASHBAUM: Judge, I would move this into evidence as Defense Exhibit 1 at this time.
JUDGE EVERETT: Is there an objection?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: No objection, Your Honor.
OFF RECORD: Would you hand this back?
MR. RASHBAUM: This is an email between your mom and you in July of 2012, right?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes. Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: And just pointing to just under paragraph two: "I just need to know that I can legally take my children and move to another location." There was concern that you wanted to make sure that you weren't breaking the law, right?
WENDI ADELSON: Correct.
MR. RASHBAUM: "What can I legally remove from the house to the new location?" There was concern that you wanted to do everything within the law, right?
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, we've heard a lot about this TV already, so let's just clear this up right now.
MR. RASHBAUM: Charlie bought you the TV, right?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: More precisely, Charlie had your parents buy the TV and he paid them back, and they bought the TV from Best Buy, right?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: Have you ever bought anything from Best Buy?
WENDI ADELSON: I'm sure I have.
MR. RASHBAUM: When you buy from Best Buy, they always try to get you to get the Geek Squad warranty, right? And people like me always fall for that, right? But when you call and you need a repair on the TV, it's got to be registered to your name, right?
WENDI ADELSON: I think so.
MR. RASHBAUM: You know the Geek Squad was registered to your mom and dad.
WENDI ADELSON: I don't know offhand, but if they're the ones who bought the TV, then they probably bought the, you know, Geek Squad policy that went with it too.
MR. RASHBAUM: If I showed you the receipt, would that refresh your recollection?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't really have an independent recollection, so I don't think so.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, Charlie made that joke many times, right?
WENDI ADELSON: He did.
MR. RASHBAUM: He never told you he actually looked into hiring a hitman, right?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MR. RASHBAUM: Did you think he was serious?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MR. RASHBAUM: By the way, the state has you as a co-conspirator with Charlie Adelson, right?
WENDI ADELSON: I believe so.
MR. RASHBAUM: But they also have you, according to them, blurting out during an interview that your alleged co-conspirator did the murder. Does that make any sense?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't understand.
MR. RASHBAUM: Let me rephrase. They have you guys as co-conspirators. They think you did a murder together, right?
WENDI ADELSON: I think so. That's what they believe.
MR. RASHBAUM: If you did a murder together, why would you have blurted out a statement like that?
WENDI ADELSON: I clearly would not.
MR. RASHBAUM: Do you know if Charlie repeated that joke in March of 2014 when you went to Yardbirds with Jeff Lacasse?
WENDI ADELSON: He may have, if I was mentioning the TV was broken or something like that.
MR. RASHBAUM: Do you know who else was at that dinner?
WENDI ADELSON: Katie.
MR. RASHBAUM: During your divorce, you spoke to your mom daily probably, right?
WENDI ADELSON: I would usually call my parents on my way to drop kids at school. We'd have a short conversation, so that sounds — that sounds right.
MR. RASHBAUM: It's fair to say that your parents were involved in some of the decisions that you were making in the divorce; you were asking their advice for some of the time. Did you often speak with Charlie about what was happening in the divorce?
WENDI ADELSON: Not too much, no.
MR. RASHBAUM: But fair to say Charlie was supportive of you, right?
WENDI ADELSON: Yeah, I mean, he was always supportive of me.
MR. RASHBAUM: Is Charlie kind of self-centered?
WENDI ADELSON: I don't think so.
MR. RASHBAUM: At the time of your divorce, though, he had a lot going on in his life?
WENDI ADELSON: I mean, his life was going great. He had a great business. He always had lots of girls and friends.
MR. RASHBAUM: The divorce was settled in July of 2013?
WENDI ADELSON: Correct.
MR. RASHBAUM: How did you feel after it was settled?
WENDI ADELSON: I felt better. I felt a sense of relief that we could just move on with our lives.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now I want to talk a little bit about this relocation issue.
MR. RASHBAUM: Isn't it true that your attorney told you that there was very little chance for you to win that motion?
WENDI ADELSON: I believe so, yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: Where were you working in Tallahassee?
MR. RASHBAUM: Let's go backwards, actually.
MR. RASHBAUM: In 2007, when you were married, where were you working in Tallahassee?
WENDI ADELSON: At that time, I would have been working at the FSU Center for Human Rights.
MR. RASHBAUM: And you were lobbying for anti-human-trafficking legislation?
WENDI ADELSON: I was primarily representing victims of human trafficking, but I did a little bit of lobbying too.
MR. RASHBAUM: But the funding for your job ran out, and you lost your job, right?
WENDI ADELSON: Yeah.
MR. RASHBAUM: At the time of the divorce, you had got a job at FSU.
MR. RASHBAUM: What was that job?
WENDI ADELSON: At the time of the divorce, I was adjunct teaching a few classes at the law school, and I was probably— I had a number of different jobs at FSU, but by that point, I was probably running something called a medical-legal partnership, where I would work with the law school, the medical school, and the social work school to help the students work together to try to help solve legal problems that clients had.
MR. RASHBAUM: Did you like that job?
WENDI ADELSON: I did, yeah.
MR. RASHBAUM: So if you liked the job so much, why were you looking to relocate?
WENDI ADELSON: I mean, relocation was not a big issue for me.
WENDI ADELSON: I probably never would have thought of it. A friend suggested it to me that it might be helpful — maybe I would get more time with the kids if I could relocate.
WENDI ADELSON: But I wasn't really focused on it. I didn't think it would happen, and I was pretty happy being at my job.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, you were a non-tenured clinical professor in that job, right?
WENDI ADELSON: That's right.
MR. RASHBAUM: It meant that you could lose the job at any time. Is that fair to say?
WENDI ADELSON: Sure. Mm-hmm.
MR. RASHBAUM: And you had a lot of responsibilities, now being divorced — even more responsibilities with the kids.
WENDI ADELSON: Sure. Sure.
MR. RASHBAUM: And you were offered a job at a prestigious law firm in Miami. Is that fair to say?
WENDI ADELSON: I was, yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: And that job was going to have a pretty big salary increase.
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: And it was going to give you an opportunity for more stability. Fair enough?
WENDI ADELSON: Yeah.
MR. RASHBAUM: You were also going to have the benefit of family in South Florida who could help you with the kids, right? Right?
WENDI ADELSON: Yeah.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, even with this relocation request, was it ever your intention for Professor Markel to be absent from your boys' life?
WENDI ADELSON: Never.
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MR. RASHBAUM: When you lost the relocation motion, I think it's fair to say that your mom and dad were pretty upset.
WENDI ADELSON: That's right.
MR. RASHBAUM: It's fair to say that your mom came up with some crazy ideas.
WENDI ADELSON: Totally bonkers, yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: We saw the email about conversion of the kids, right?
WENDI ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: By the way, did you ever do any of that?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MR. RASHBAUM: So— You never dressed the kids up, you never baptized them, you never took a picture of them. Did your mom keep bugging you to do any of that stuff?
WENDI ADELSON: No, I think it was just one crazy email.
MR. RASHBAUM: By the way, in all of these emails, did your mom ever tell you to do something violent to Professor Markel?
WENDI ADELSON: No.
MR. RASHBAUM: Was there ever any discussion of threats of violence in any way?
WENDI ADELSON: No, never.
MR. RASHBAUM: You ever heard the Prof's Blog?
WENDI ADELSON: Sure.
MR. RASHBAUM: Remember those questions, uh, that Ms. Cappleman asked you about how people could know about Danny traveling on the weekend of his murder? You remember those questions?
WENDI ADELSON: I do, yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: Would it surprise— but what is the Prof's Blog?
WENDI ADELSON: It was a blog that Danny started with some friends to talk about the law and legal theories, and to kind of have conversations and space with other law professors.
MR. RASHBAUM: I'm showing you— it's marked as Defense Exhibit Two, and this will be quicker, I promise. I was going to say, I went from one to five real quick. It'll be quick.
JUDGE EVERETT: Please publish your exhibit to the witness.
MR. RASHBAUM: Does this look like a posting from the Prof's Blog?
WENDI ADELSON: It does, yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: Judge, I admit Defense Exhibit Two into evidence at this point in time.
MR. RASHBAUM: I'll ask one last question, and then we can— if you would, we can— one means mine. Do you know if Professor Markel would frequently post his travel schedule on his Prof's Blog?
WENDI ADELSON: He would post it on his Prof's Blog and on his Facebook.
MR. RASHBAUM: That's my one question, Your Honor.
JUDGE EVERETT: Members of the jury, we are going to go into recess for this evening. The examination of Ms. Adelson will continue in the morning. The instruction that you've received from the beginning of jury selection and throughout, I'm going to repeat it once again because it is important.
JUDGE EVERETT: Do not discuss this case with anyone else or each other. Do not look at any news reports. Do not seek out any information about this matter. You are to report at the same time that you were today, 8:30, and we will get started by 8:45, assuming everyone is on time. Also, when we come out of these breaks, because you have to move as a group, if you can go to the restroom as expeditiously as possible, it will not hold up movie-going. All right, have a good night.
JUDGE EVERETT: We're in recess. Be gone. Good night.