Day 2 - October 27, 2023

Day 2 opened with the conclusion of Wendi Adelson's cross-examination and redirect. Rashbaum used defense exhibits to establish that she had no foreknowledge of the murder — scheduling family visits, work meetings, and travel after July 18 — while stipulated preschool records confirmed she did not have custody of her children on July 17, directly addressing any claimed sighting near Markel's house. Wendi confirmed comprehensive cooperation with investigators on the day of the murder and rebutted the suggestion that she had benefited from Markel's death. On redirect, Cappleman countered the "future plans" argument by establishing that none of those plans came to pass — Wendi relocated to South Florida out of fear, summing up the loss as "all our plans were broken." Cappleman also clarified for the jury that Wendi is not charged in the case and that Charlie's alleged co-conspirator is Katherine Magbanua, not Wendi. The redirect closed with Wendi stating she had learned only the prior day — at trial — that the defense theory holds Charlie knew who killed Dan Markel since 2014, while she had in the interim moved her family closer to those killers in South Florida. TPD Officer Bill Brannon testified briefly about a Honda Odyssey — the model Wendi Adelson drove — that approached his roadblock at the Trescott Drive crime scene around noon to 1:00 p.m., stopped quickly, and turned around without the driver asking about the police activity. Brannon established the roadblock was not visible from the Centerville/Trescott intersection and required deliberate navigation to reach. Rashbaum's cross noted that cell phone data placed the vehicle at the perimeter after 12:30 p.m. and that Brannon could not see whether the driver was on a phone, introducing an innocent-distraction alternative. Jeffrey Lacasse, an FSU associate professor who dated Wendi Adelson from fall 2013 through July 2014, testified on direct about three matters: a March 2014 South Florida dinner at which he met Charlie Adelson once and was introduced to Katherine Magbanua as Charlie's new girlfriend; Charlie's hot-tub statement that evening claiming connections on "both sides of the tracks" including a criminal element in Cuban neighborhoods, delivered in what Lacasse described as a bragging tone; and Wendi's extreme anxiety in early June 2014, which Lacasse later understood coincided with hitmen visiting Tallahassee. His direct examination ended abruptly when he began recounting a July 13, 2014 conversation in which Wendi asked to tell him something in confidence about Dan Markel — defense counsel twice invoked a motion in limine and the jury was removed. Out of the jury's presence, Judge Everett heard argument on whether Lacasse could testify that Wendi told him on July 13, 2014 that Charlie had "looked into all possible options to take care of the Danny Markel problem, including hiring a hitman" at a cost of roughly $15,000 to $50,000. The prosecution argued the statement was admissible as impeachment following Wendi's denial; the defense argued Rashbaum had been told at morning sidebar the prosecution was not going down that path, causing him to forgo questions to Wendi he could no longer ask because she could invoke the Fifth Amendment. Judge Everett ruled on fundamental fairness grounds — not hearsay law — that defense strategy had been materially affected and that Wendi's Fifth Amendment right compounded the prejudice. The statement was excluded from the jury for the time being, with the door left open for revisitation. A full proffer followed, including Lacasse's account of Wendi's demeanor ("dead serious," "chilling," "my stomach flipped") and a second excluded item: Lacasse's account that Wendi told him Charlie referred to a post-murder dinner as a celebration dinner. Both items were deferred. Cappleman objected for the record that the same impeachment technique had been admitted in the prior trial with the same defense team present. Jury-side cross of Lacasse covered three impeachment tracks: the timing of his TPD statement (three days after the murder, after being called in as a suspect himself); a warm thank-you text he sent Charlie the day after the dinner despite the alleged criminal-connections remarks (Lacasse conceded he was "polite rather than honest"); and a prior statement in which Lacasse told law enforcement that "everyone in the legal community" expected Markel's custody motion to fail. Lacasse was a combative witness who volunteered references to suppressed testimony and told Rashbaum directly "I know you have an agenda." Dan Markel's last family law attorney, Stephen Webster, testified that the custody case was heading toward trial, not resolution. He confirmed the day before the murder, Markel had emailed him in fury about Wendi unilaterally enrolling their son in school. Webster recounted Donna Adelson allegedly calling Markel "stupid" on a Skype call and Markel's intent to seek her enjoinment from unsupervised contact with the children. He flatly denied the defense theory that a million-dollar Adelson payoff could have resolved the dispute, and denied that Markel had any relocation plans. When Rashbaum noted on cross that Webster had never appeared in court with Markel, Webster replied: "No, he got killed before I had my chance." June Umchinda, Charlie Adelson's last serious girlfriend, testified under acknowledged continuing emotional attachment to the defendant. She recounted Charlie's instruction to say "I don't know anything" if police came asking questions, his extreme behavioral changes after Magbanua's October 2016 arrest — violent, agitated, sleepless, acquiring a second phone — and a horoscope exchange in which Charlie read about past wrongs returning to haunt a person and responded "Isn't that so true? Wow, that's on point." She also confirmed Charlie told her about the murder by saying "they know who did it." On cross, Rashbaum introduced "the bump" — the FBI extortion sting targeting Donna Adelson — as an alternate explanation for Charlie's agitation, and reframed his security posture as a frightened man's response to public scrutiny. Umchinda volunteered that her sense of danger came from threats directed at Charlie and the risk of public recognition, not from fear of Charlie himself. Wendi Adelson was recalled briefly to place her flat denial of Lacasse's proffer account on the record — she denied telling Lacasse that Charlie had investigated hiring a hitman and denied any reference to a celebration dinner. A brief recross by Rashbaum established that detective Jane McPherson, not Wendi, had introduced Lacasse's name in the July 18 police interview. Lacasse was then recalled before the jury and delivered the prosecution's most significant direct testimony of the day. He testified that on July 13, 2014 — five days before the murder — Wendi asked to speak with him confidentially and told him, in a tone he described as chilling and entirely distinct from a recurring television joke, that Charlie had investigated all possible options to deal with the problem of Dan Markel, including hiring a hitman at a cost of roughly $15,000 to $50,000. He testified that only the dollar figure was uncertain; the substance of the disclosure was not. He further testified that on July 14, Wendi questioned him in unusual detail about his planned July 18 trip to Tennessee — his departure time, route, whether he was still going — and that had he followed his original plan he would have driven past Markel's neighborhood in his silver-gray Nissan Sentra at approximately the time of the murder. He described the killers' June reconnaissance trip as coinciding with his only other out-of-town drive that semester and concluded that both of his out-of-town trips aligned with murder-related activity. The examination closed with his account of Wendi telling him, roughly ten days after the murder, that Charlie had taken her to dinner he called a celebration dinner, and that she vomited spontaneously at the table. On cross, Rashbaum built a credibility attack on Lacasse's acknowledged belief that Wendi tried to frame him, his romantic attachment during early police interviews ("fairly pathetic" and "still under her spell"), and an eight-month delay in disclosing the celebration dinner. Lacasse explained the delay as fear of Charlie Adelson and produced contemporaneous notes — which he later destroyed after using them to guide recorded investigator interviews, a concession Rashbaum closed on. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Charlie's near-daily friend for roughly six years before a bitter falling-out, testified under subpoena with stated reluctance. He confirmed the Adelson family was "not fond" of Dan Markel, that Charlie routinely carried large sums in stapled hundred-dollar bundles, and that after the murder Charlie made a statement along the lines of "you get away with anything, you get away with murder, and you keep your mouth shut" — which Fitzpatrick characterized as a tasteless joke. He testified that Charlie's demeanor became markedly more nervous after Magbanua's arrest, and that despite daily contact throughout 2014 and 2015, Charlie never mentioned Magbanua extorting him before the murder. On cross, Rashbaum produced threatening texts Fitzpatrick sent Charlie during their business dispute — including an explicit threat to contact the FBI about the murder if Charlie pursued repayment — and trial-week true crime social media posts in which Fitzpatrick posted Charlie's photo and wagered on a life sentence, contradicting his reluctant-disinterested posture. The cross was deferred to Monday. The day closed with a proffer on whether Rashbaum could question Luis Rivera about his Latin Kings affiliation. Judge Everett ruled it admissible as relevant to the defense theory of the case. Rivera then testified before the jury, wearing a jail uniform under a cooperation agreement. He described two Tallahassee trips in 2014 — a June surveillance run and the July 16–18 trip ending in murder. He identified the money source as "the dentist" — his name for Charlie Adelson and Wendi Adelson — and described Garcia shooting Markel twice in his driveway from the driver's side while Markel raised his hands. Rivera testified that immediately after leaving the murder scene, Garcia called Magbanua; before Garcia could say anything, she responded "I know." Rivera received $35,000 in stapled hundreds the morning after the murder. Cross-examination of Rivera was deferred to Monday.