1.Charlie Adelson — Direct/Cross/Redirect
1,541 linesPROCEEDINGS
JUDGE EVERETT: All right. Just as a reminder again today, when the testimony is taking place, please do not make any motions or gesture in any way that would either relay that you're agreeing or disagreeing with what's being said. Also do not distract the jurors from their task at hand. Please silence your devices.
The parties have anything to raise this morning?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: No, Your Honor.
MR. RASHBAUM: No, Your Honor.
JUDGE EVERETT: Let's bring in the jurors.
MR. RASHBAUM: Judge, would you like Mr. Adelson on the bench?
JUDGE EVERETT: Yes. You can just come up and take the stand again.
Mr. Adelson, it goes without saying, but you remain under oath, sir.
Yes, sir.
(The jury entered the courtroom.)
JUDGE EVERETT: Everyone may be seated.
Good morning, members of the jury.
JUROR: Good morning.
JUDGE EVERETT: We are going to continue with the direct examination of Mr. Adelson.
Mr. Rashbaum, when you're ready, you may continue.
MR. RASHBAUM: Thank you, Your Honor.
whereupon, CHARLES ADELSON called as a witness, having been previous duly sworn, was further examined and testified further as follows: CONTINUED DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. RASHBAUM:
MR. RASHBAUM: On call number UU, which is on May 4, 2016, around 11 minutes into the call, it's a call with you and your mom. You ask your mom if everything is okay, and she says she doesn't want to talk on the phone, and you ask her whether you should come down, and you agree to meet the next day.
Do you remember that call?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah, I do.
MR. RASHBAUM: What did you think when that call happened? Did you think that there was another activity?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah, yeah. Sure.
MR. RASHBAUM: And, in fact -- excuse me -- on that morning -- your mom had received a text in the early morning which said, "So you don't take me serious. You think I'm playing. You have some puta calling me to see if I'm for real. If you think what Katie baby daddy did for you can't come back, you're fucking crazy. I want the number now, or I'm going after the hundred kK."
The hundred K that they're threatening to go after is what? Do you know what the hundred K is?
CHARLIE ADELSON: The reward for the solving the murder of Dan Markel.
MR. RASHBAUM: And you see that text -- do you go meet with your parents the next day on May 5th?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. I went down in the afternoon the next day.
MR. RASHBAUM: And when you saw that text, did you take it as more threatening or less threatening than the prior activity by law enforcement?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Much more threatening.
MR. RASHBAUM: And how were your parents when you saw them?
CHARLIE ADELSON: My mom was upset. I mean, she gets a message, a call, or a text at 2:00 o'clock in the morning from some nut who may be a Latin King gang member. And maybe -- maybe we're wrong. And if it's not the police, then it is a Latin King gang member.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, at this point in time, though, what was your firm belief?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I was -- I was fairly certain that it was the police.
MR. RASHBAUM: So you have this discussion with your parents, and I think it was outside by the pool; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah.
MR. RASHBAUM: The community pool?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Mm-hmm.
MR. RASHBAUM: And what do you and your parents decide?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I said, it's -- you know, it's more than likely the police, but it still could be some -- some crazy guy who's not afraid -- I mean, I'm very afraid of Sigfredo Garcia. So this person is obviously not afraid of him. So it could be a nut, or it could be the police.
I said, let me hear -- I want to hear him one more time to confirm that it is the police. So when I spoke to them, I said, you know what, can you please call this guy up and record the conversation so we can -- I can hear him again.
MR. RASHBAUM: Okay. Now, you leave your parents’ house, and you go to a friend's business. Do you recall that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. I went to my friend Adam's office.
MR. RASHBAUM: Okay. And at some point in time while at the business, there is a call, and I believe this is YY -- well, before YY, there's a call where you're talking with Katherine Magbanua; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: And you tell her that you're gonna call her from a landline; correct?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, first of all, why do you tell her you're gonna call from a landline?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Because I was just pulling into his parking garage, and I was about to lose reception getting into the elevator, and I get bad reception in his office.
MR. RASHBAUM: When you called her from the landline --
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah.
MR. RASHBAUM: -- did you call her cell phone, or did you call another landline?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I called her cell phone, and I told her I was calling her from a landline ‘cause she wouldn't have -- if she didn't recognize the number, she may not pick up. So I was telling her, I'm gonna call you back in a minute, but I'm gonna call you from the office.
MR. RASHBAUM: Did you tell her, I want to call you from a landline to another number?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I wasn't trying to hide anything. I just wanted to have good cell service.
MR. RASHBAUM: Did you do star 67?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I just didn't want her to see the number and not pick up because she won't recognize it.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, on May 6th, after some calls back and forth, your mom reaches the undercover; correct?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes, she does.
MR. RASHBAUM: And we've heard that call with your mom, but what did she tell the undercover to do?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She says to him, Go to the police and get your reward. Call the police. If you know what happened, go tell them what happened and collect your reward.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, you and your mom had known what had happened to some degree for 20-some-odd months.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I found out a lot in 2016 before I went into the restaurant. But, yeah, we knew a lot more than the police knew.
MR. RASHBAUM: Why didn't you go to the police and collect your reward?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I would have been killed. I didn't want to tell anybody. They would have come after my family.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, after your mom speaks to the undercover, she speaks with you; right? And that's State's Exhibit ccc?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: And she says that she used a handpiece. Do you remember that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah.
MR. RASHBAUM: What is the handpiece that she's referring to?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'm assuming it was her cell phone, but I didn't know if it was her cell phone or if she recorded it with an old-fashioned tape recorder or how she did it.
MR. RASHBAUM: And she says that there's a new app she loaded. what did you understand that to mean?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I guess she loaded an app on your telephone that allows you to record a conversation.
MR. RASHBAUM: And she said -- you asked her how long was the call, something to that effect, and she says that it was -- that it was eight minutes.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Mm-hmm.
MR. RASHBAUM: And that was significant to you. Why was it significant to you that the call was eight minutes?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Because it meant the guy who was threatening wanted to talk for a while. And, I mean, when someone's extorting you, they want something, they're straight to the point. They tell you what they want and what they're gonna do to you if you don't pay. And an eight-minute call, again, wasn't the way it was done to me.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, during this call, there's words like "patient" used by your mom, “models, dental models." why is she talking the way she's talking?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'd lectured my mom on being really careful about what you say and I don't want to talk about anything involving the extortion or anything that happened. So she went overboard with some things. I mean, she could have been more blunt, but, I mean, this was just her overall just being super careful.
MR. RASHBAUM: Your mom scared?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Extremely scared.
MR. RASHBAUM: The next day, May 7th, do you meet with your parents?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes. They came to my house.
MR. RASHBAUM: And what did you do with your parents when you met with them?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I went outside, and my mom played the recording of the -- of the Latin -- supposed Latin King gang member that was trying to extort my family for money.
MR. RASHBAUM: And after you heard the recording, what did you think and how do you feel?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I felt so much better. I mean, I wasn't happy that the police thought that we did a murder, but I was very happy to know that it wasn't the Latin Kings that were extorting my family again and that nobody was gonna get hurt, nobody was gonna get killed. So I felt very relieved.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, DDD, which is the call on May 7th in the evening, is a call where you're talking about a cD and dropping a mike, and there's a lot of background noise in the back.
First of all, where are you when this call is happening.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Okay. It was a Saturday. It was the Fort Lauderdale Air and Sea Show, and I was on a small boat of my friends. And they were blasting the radio, and I was drinking, and I -- and that's when I made the call or picked up the call.
MR. RASHBAUM: And why are you talking the way you're talking on the boat? How many people are on that boat?
CHARLIE ADELSON: There was, like, six or seven people standing around me, and I wasn't about to let anybody know what was going on in my life.
MR. RASHBAUM: And, again, why are you relieved?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'm relieved that it's the police. Nobody's gonna get killed. My mom, you know, for two weeks was afraid that someone was gonna get -- hurt her and then someone else in the family was gonna pay. My dad wasn't going to work. He thought he was gonna get killed in the parking lot. And then after hearing that call, that's not a worry of mine anymore.
MR. RASHBAUM: Do you remember when you found out that Sigfredo Garcia was arrested?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes, I do.
MR. RASHBAUM: How did you find that out?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I got a text message. I believe -- was it a text? It was a text message I got.
MR. RASHBAUM: And did you think that you were about to get arrested as well?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Did I fear I was gonna get arrested?
MR. RASHBAUM: Yes.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I didn't think I should get arrested, but I know that this was definitely the police that were doing this investigation. I know why they were doing it is they thought that we were a part of this murder.
MR. RASHBAUM: Did you ever reach out to Katherine Magbanua after the arrest?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No, I did not.
MR. RASHBAUM: why not?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Because my friend who's a close friend of mine and attorney called me up on the phone, and he said you cannot -- he said, Do not call Katie and do not talk to anybody about this case or what's going on. And Katie never called me either.
MR. RASHBAUM: With regards to Katherine Magbanua, when the arrest occurred of Katherine Magbanua, did you still think that she was not guilty?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: When did that opinion change, and when did you realize that she was actually the person behind the extortion?
CHARLIE ADELSON: It wasn't till 2019 when she went to trial and she said that she -- she never knew who Dan Markel was. She didn't say anything about what really happened. I found out then that she was cheating on me with Sigfredo Garcia, and she was sleeping with him at the same time she was with me. She was lying about that.
And then I saw her bank account, and I was, like, this girl is not broke. Like, I was getting played. And I saw all the money that was piling into her bank account.
MR. RASHBAUM: And did all the pieces then start to come together for you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah, yeah. I realized what happened.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, we've heard some testimony that after the bump and after the arrest, your personality changed. Is that testimony true?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes, it is.
MR. RASHBAUM: Why did your personality change?
CHARLIE ADELSON: The police thought that I was part of a murder. They're releasing a probable cause affidavit saying that they want to arrest me for murder.
I didn't have anything to do with the murder. I knew that there wouldn't be any evidence to show I had anything to do with the murder. But, you know, it's scary as hell to think that you're one signature away from losing your life.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, you've also heard some testimony that throughout the years you would get upset when you would see or hear the news about this case.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes. Very.
MR. RASHBAUM: why would you get upset?
CHARLIE ADELSON: "Cause they don't have any idea what really went on, and I couldn't say anything to anybody.
MR. RASHBAUM: Charlie, I'm gonna ask you again. Did you have anything to do with the murder of Professor Dan Markel?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Absolutely not.
MR. RASHBAUM: Were you a principal in his first-degree murder?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Absolutely not.
MR. RASHBAUM: Did you conspire in any way to murder him?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Absolutely not.
MR. RASHBAUM: Did you solicit anyone to murder him?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Never.
MR. RASHBAUM: One moment, Your Honor.
JUDGE EVERETT: Take your time.
MR. RASHBAUM: No further questions, Your Honor.
JUDGE EVERETT: Cross-examination?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yes, Your Honor.
we probably should do a quick audio test since Mr. Rashbaum was hooked up, Your Honor, before we get going here.
JUDGE EVERETT: That's an excellent idea.
MR. RASHBAUM: Do you need me to do something?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: No. Definitely not.
MR. RASHBAUM: Fair enough. Fair enough.
(Pause)
MS. CAPPLEMAN: May I proceed, Your Honor?
JUDGE EVERETT: You may.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MS. CAPPELMAN:
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Mr. Adelson -- is it Doctor?
CHARLIE ADELSON: It is, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right, Doctor.
Have you ever heard the saying that the simplest explanation is always the most likely? Have you heard that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I've heard that theory before, yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was your explanation to the jury over the last little over a day the simplest explanation?
CHARLIE ADELSON: It was the truth.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you -- I mean, you have a thorough explanation. Would you agree with that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I told you what happened.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you agree that the only problem with having an explanation for everything is that there's just so many explanations?
CHARLIE ADELSON: There's no explanation. I explained what happened.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I want to go through some of that.
You claim that you were extorted on July 18th, 2014, by Katherine Magbanua and also, in the background, some Latin Kings, probably Garcia and Rivera; right? Is that accurate?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I wasn't extorted by Katherine Magbanua.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You weren't?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Not --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Who --
CHARLIE ADELSON: That's not what I believed in 2014.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. I'm sorry. I understood you to say you believe that today.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Today I do, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. So who extorted you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I believed that it was Katherine Magbanua's friend that she ran her mouth to.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay.
CHARLIE ADELSON: And that's in 2014.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Right.
But as you sit here today, you think it's Magbanua, Garcia, and Rivera. Is that accurate?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. That's not accurate.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Who extorted you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: As I sit here today, I believe that it was Katherine Magbanua and I believe Sigfredo Garcia, but I don't know for sure. I was never there when she was ever talking to him, so I don't know if he was in on it with her or not.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. At the time, though, you did not think she was guilty. We got that; right? The time of the extortion --
CHARLIE ADELSON: In 2014?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yes.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And then so exactly when you found out would be, I think you said, her trial?
CHARLIE ADELSON: That I suspected that she was not telling me the truth and she was a part of it was in 2019.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: At her trial?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And so she was arrested in 2016; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. So for three years, she was in the Leon County Jail awaiting trial. Yes?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She was there.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And you believed she was innocent?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And you had this whole explanation to assist with exonerating her; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I have the truth of what happened, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But you didn't offer the truth of what happened, did you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Nobody came -- came to me. I thought the truth would come out.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Does someone have to come to you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I was told not to talk to Katie and not to talk to anybody about this case by counsel.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. So you -- strike that.
On Day One, which is July 18, 2014, she is the only one that physically contacted you to conduct this extortion. Am I correct in that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes, you are.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So you never actually had any contact with any Latin King?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: No phone call?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No phone call.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: No text?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: No letters?
CHARLIE ADELSON: well, tin 2016 from -- you're talking about in '14; right?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I'm talking about the first layer of the extortion.
Did you have any contact with the thugs that were getting your money for two years?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did anybody put a gun to your head?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I was told that I would be killed in 48 hours if I didn't pay up.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I heard you say that, but my question is did anyone put a gun to your head?
CHARLIE ADELSON: If -- you're asking did anyone pull a gun on me?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: That's what I asked you.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Is that your question? No. Nobody pulled a firearm on me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. So when Katherine Magbanua came to you on July 18th and said, Open the safe and give me all your money, she was not armed?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She was not carrying a gun that day. No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And were you armed at that time? Did you have a weapon in your home?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I have weapons in my safe. Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Were the -- were you led to believe or told that the bad guys are outside, right outside your apartment -- or your residence?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. But I was led to believe what they did to Dan they were gonna do to me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I heard you say that, but my question is did she say, like, the car is running. I'm gonna take the money out there to them right now.
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. She never told me that they were waiting for me outside my house.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: In fact, she stayed the night with you, didn't she?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes, she did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And didn't exit your house with your $138,000 until the next day; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And the money -- the $138,000, was that stapled into thousand-dollar increments?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Each packet was $1,000, and there were -- had a staple in it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And stapling money is a little unusual. would you agree with that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: For me it wasn't unusual. That's what I did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Right.
But nobody else does it. That's why I'm suggesting it's unusual.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I've never questioned people into how they keep their money, whether they keep it -- is it a staple or a paper clip or an envelope. I just know what I did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: would you agree, Doctor, that it's a compelling piece of evidence that the killers were paid in stapled money? We came up with that information in this case.
CHARLIE ADELSON: It's not compelling. The people who extorted me and got my money got it from my house, and it was stapled at my house.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: They had to have gotten it from you -- right? -- because it was stapled?
CHARLIE ADELSON: If they got it from Katie, they got it from me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So it had to be some kind of, I paid but I did it under duress, based on that piece of evidence; right? That had to be built into your defense?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I was extorted, and I paid the money.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. So Katie comes in, and she -- she's in a panic, and she tells you what's happened, and I need -- I need all the money in your safe right now.
Do you suspect that maybe she's working with the police at that point? Maybe she's trying to set you up?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. She didn't say I need all the money in your safe. That's not what she said.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did she take all the money in your safe?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I -- I cleaned out all the money in my safe and handed it to her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Right.
why did you do that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Because I was being extorted for a third of a million dollars.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But why didn't you -- the bump was only $5,000, and you immediately became suspicious and questioning and had all of these conversations and deliberations about what to do about it for days.
But when Katie comes to you, you just open the safe and give her the money; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I -- that's what I did, and there's a big difference between the two.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. well, the way that it was done to you, is that the way it's done?
CHARLIE ADELSON: You have to be more specific, please.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: well, on the wire you say repeatedly, That's not the way it's done. You knew that the undercover agent was law enforcement, or at least strongly suspected, because that's not the way it's done.
And my question to you, since you're an expert on extortion because you've been extorted before and that's how you knew that's not the way it's done, is this the way it's done? Do extortionists send a girlfriend of their victim to collect their extortion money? Is that the way it's done, Doctor?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'm telling you what happened to me. And I was told that if I didn't pay in 48 hours I would be killed. The person that came and extorted my mom was not the same approach as what happened to me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Is that the only way? That's the only way it's done, they send a girlfriend?
CHARLIE ADELSON: That's the only time I've ever been extorted like that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And did you hear any of the negotiation -- so they come in and they say -- strike.
They come in and they say, We need a third of a million dollars?
CHARLIE ADELSON: You need to pay a third of a million dollars.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You need to pay a third of a million dollars. Why not a million dollars?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Because what I had told Katie that -- the million-dollar offer for Dan Markel, I said I was gonna pay a third of a million. And I -- when she asked me, Do you have that much money? And I said, yeah, I could pay it in cash.
So she took it as I had cash, and she knew I had a ton of cash in my safe, so she thought I had the cash. I didn't have all that cash. So that's where I'm assuming they got the third of a million dollars from, the idea.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But the offer that she bragged about was a million-dollar offer -- isn't that right? -- that she ran her mouth about?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I was never there when she spoke to her friends.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was it a million-dollar offer?
CHARLIE ADELSON: The offer was that a million dollars was gonna be paid, and I was gonna pay a third of a million.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And weren't you gonna cover Wendi'’s third as well?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No, not at all. I was gonna cover my third.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Didn't your lawyer say in opening statement that you were gonna cover the whole thing or Wendi's third?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I was sitting here. I heard what he said. Charlie was gonna pay a third of a million dollars.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And so the offer was a million-dollar offer, and that's what you told Katie along with the fact that you were gonna cover the third?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I was telling her that I was gonna pay a third of a million dollars, yeah. And then one day, if my sister was able to, she was gonna pay me back.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And then you didn't have the amount of money that was being demanded at the time; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I only had what I had.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And at that point, the blackmailer, Katherine Magbanua, negotiates some type of layaway plan for you to complete the extortion with the Latin Kings?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Okay. Katie wasn't the blackmailer, and Katie wasn't the one who was extorting me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Didn't you just tell this jury that Katie was the blackmailer? You realized it in 2019.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I had thought that, when you were just talking, you were talking about 2014. We were talking about that night --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Doctor --
CHARLIE ADELSON: -- so that's how it happened in 2014.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. We all know now -- ‘cause you have revealed the puzzle piece -- she's a blackmailer. Can we agree on that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I believe sitting here in 2023 --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yes.
CHARLIE ADELSON: -- that she was in on the extortion, for sure.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yes. So is it okay if I refer to her as a blackmailer?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I think there's a difference between blackmail and extortion, but --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay.
CHARLIE ADELSON: -- yeah. Sitting here today, we can. Sure,
MS. CAPPLEMAN: we'll refer to her as an extortionist.
So this -- this woman, this extortionist, is going to do you a solid by negotiating with the Latin Kings for you to get on a payment plan for the extortion. Isn't that what happened?
CHARLIE ADELSON: What you're doing is you're taking what we know in 2003 [sic] and trying to say this is what I knew in 2014.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did she put you on a payment plan?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes. She said -- ‘cause I didn't have the money, she said -- asked me if I could pay $3,000 a month in 2014, and I said, yes, I can.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you hear any of the conversation where she was making these negotiations on your behalf?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. When she said I'm gonna go check with my friend and if that's okay with him, she took her purse, took her keys, took her cell phone. She walked out of my front door, closed the door behind her. And I sat in my living room, and she came back about five minutes later.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You didn't want to talk to the guy yourself?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I didn't even think of that, I mean, but she went outside to call him.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And then the two of you took a Xanax and went to sleep?
CHARLIE ADELSON: well, I took a Xanax. TI don't know if she took one out of the bottle, but I -- I definitely did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And the next morning she left with your money; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She left about 8:30 the next morning.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: That's July 19th, 2014?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Let's talk about what you did that day.
You did not report this to the police because you were in fear; correct?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Absolutely.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And you didn't report this to Wendi, even though, according to you, her life was in danger too; correct?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Potentially. But I planned on paying the extortion every month.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And -- but you did go to the gym that morning; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Can we show that text, please.
BY MS. CAPPLEMAN
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you -- were you able to go to the gym the next morning?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I absolutely didn't leave the house. I worked out at Nova Southeastern gym. You can check the gym records. I was never there.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Did you say you were going to the gym?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I said I was, yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But you didn't actually go?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I didn't leave the house.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. So would you agree, Doctor -- and we'll refresh your memory with them if we can -- that the text messages that were exchanged between yourself and Katherine Magbanua on the morning after this exchange of money were inconsistent with your extortion theory?
CHARLIE ADELSON: They were inconsistent with how I was feeling.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: They don't appear to look like you just gave her $138,000 under duress, do they?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She told me -- the last thing she said to me before she left the house is, Could we just pretend like this never even happened? So when I sent her that message, I was trying to show her, like, I'm trying to block -- forget -- trying to forget all about it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yeah. You were just demonstrating to her that you would agree to pretend nothing happened; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Absolutely. That's what she asked me to do, and that's what I tried to do.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So the text messages aren't what they appear to be. It's a beautiful day. I'm going to the pool. I'm going to the beach. I'm going to the gym. None of that is what it appears to be. It's something else.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I absolutely did not go to the gym. I was trying to show her that I was, you know, pretending like nothing ever happened and looking past it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And there's --
CHARLIE ADELSON: And I wasn't --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- nothing on the wire. All those hours of you talking, there's nothing on the wire about the extortion, this layer one of extortion, because she told you not to talk about it; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She told me to never talk about anything to anyone or her. She never wanted to hear about it again.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And yesterday in your testimony between you and your attorney, you mentioned the word "extortion" 123 times. Would you take my word for that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'm sure it came up a lot.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. But nowhere, even in the midst of this whole second extortion -- it's happening again; it's an extension of the same thing -- do you mention anything about this layer one of the extortion, do you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes. Actually, I did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay.
CHARLIE ADELSON: If you pull up the video from Matsuri when I was sitting with my dad and I said, "And the funny thing is" -- that's what I whispered in his ear.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Right. But we can't hear that.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Right. ‘Cause -- that's my point. I never wanted anybody to hear what had happened. I never wanted the police to come talk to me.
But if you put up that video, you'll actually see me saying that into my dad's ear, and that's why I went in and sat in -- and that's what we were talking about at the time. So that's --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: At Matsuri the only time you mention the extortion it's in a whisper that is not picked up by the microphones; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Intentionally, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yes. And that was intentional at the time, but it sucks for your defense -- right? -- because that would be a huge piece of evidence for you to show this jury, wouldn't it?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I think you'd come up with a reason why that I said it anyway.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And there's nobody to corroborate this testimony?
CHARLIE ADELSON: There is.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And the Matsuri -- I mean, you talked about it again out in the parking lot; right? Wasn't that your testimony?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes. We spoke in the parking lot.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. So you did talk about the extortion.
CHARLIE ADELSON: That's --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Just didn't do it in a way that it was captured on any of the recordings in this case?
CHARLIE ADELSON: well, we spoke when we had privacy.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: well, you had privacy on the phone; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: When?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: At least you thought you had privacy on the phone every time when you were talking on the phone for --
CHARLIE ADELSON: No --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- hundreds of hours on this wire --
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. There's -- there's always a chance that I was being listened to.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. well, there was a chance you were being listened to when you whispered in Dad's ear -- right? -- but you said it? I mean, you were talking about it.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I whispered real quietly into his ear, so I thought I had privacy. At that point I thought I had privacy.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And Katherine Magbanua and you discussed this first layer of extortion in the car outside of Dolce Vita too; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: That's -- that's when I found out everything that was going on, and she -- she opened up when I confronted her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But if this jury could hear that conversation recording, we would all be hearing this -- what you're telling us, that there was an extortion effort that predated the undercover operation --
CHARLIE ADELSON: Right.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- wouldn't we?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Because I was trying to see if Sigfredo was behind the extortion of my mom because I knew he was behind -- I had -- I always had a feeling he was behind what happened to me. And she was having this explosive fight with him, and it was going on the same exact time that my mom started getting extorted, so I thought that he was going after my mom.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Don't you wish that that conversation in the car had been recorded?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I don't know.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Wouldn't it prove your theory --
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. I mean, if I think about it --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- that you're talking about, the prior extortion --
CHARLIE ADELSON: Then you'd know exactly what happened back then.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But, unfortunately, it wasn't recorded. And, then, everything that was recorded inside the restaurant, you don't mention it; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'm speaking very carefully. And I was still -- even when I was in the car with Katie, she was doing most of the talking. That was the first time she really opened up, and I think I caught her offguard. I was still -- even when I spoke to her in the car, I was real careful. I said, was T -- was T behind what happened to me? Like, I wouldn't even say the words to her when I was in the car.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Was T behind what happened to me? Do you say anything anywhere on the wire about -- referencing what happened to me, meaning what happened to me before?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No, because that was the only time I ever confronted her. But I did actually when I -- when I would be on the wire with my mom, and I would say this is -- it's not the same person. Like, that was in reference to what happened to me, and she knew that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What call do you say it’s not the same person?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Okay. You want to know what call?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yeah.
CHARLIE ADELSON: It was Tuesday the 26th, and I said -- it's at the end of the call. It was a two-minute-and-something call.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: April 26?
CHARLIE ADELSON: April 26, 2016. It was a two-minute-and-something call. It was towards the very end. And I go, I know it's not done like this. It's 48 hours. Just enough time. It's not the same person.
So you can look it up.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. I'm with you. I'm with you.
It's not the same person you were referencing as the person that blackmailed me years ago and has been blackmailing me for years?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: That's what you meant?
CHARLIE ADELSON: It's not the same person that's extorting me; correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. So I want to go back to Wendi.
Wendi is in the process of relocating from Tallahassee to South Florida basically the day that this is going on, the day after the money drop; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: They're -- they're packing up the car, and they're coming back. Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So she's gonna be moving significantly closer to the killers that had threatened her life.
CHARLIE ADELSON: This -- this was -- I don't -- she wasn't planning on -- it wasn't a permanent move or anything that was planned. I think she took a suitcase with her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But she's your family member --
CHARLIE ADELSON: Mm-hmm.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- yes?
She's much closer to the one they've already killed than you; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She's -- say that again.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: She's much closer. She's got much deeper connections to the person they've already killed -- that's Dan Markel -- than you do?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Right.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I mean, there's a reason to fear for her safety because these killers have come. They've just killed Dan, and now they're saying they're gonna kill another one. It could be wendi; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She -- she has no idea what's going on.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Exactly.
But you let her move from Tallahassee to Miami where you knew the killers were located. That's my point. Do you agree with that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: The killers were able to find Dan Markel in Tallahassee. They have a car.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: They were. But would you rather live in Tallahassee or in Miami if the killers are in Miami?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I think if these people want to find you, they'll find you. I mean, I don't think -- I mean, looking at Luis Rivera, I don't think a -- I don't think a distance would stop him.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Where did wendi and the boys live when she first moved to South Florida?
CHARLIE ADELSON: When she first moved to South Florida, she moved in with my parents into a small apartment. They actually had to get another apartment because that one was too small.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: with your parents?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She moved in with them, yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And I want to talk about the cameras. You bought cameras for the Adelson Institute and your home at Whale Harbor; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: The camera system. Yeah.
All right. And what about Wendi's -- I guess she didn't have a place. So, like, wherever she was staying with your parents, were cameras installed there as well at that same timeframe that you installed these panels?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I never told them what happened, but they lived in a very secure building.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Isn't it true, Doctor, that you'd been planning to install those cameras for some time before the murder?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I actually already had cameras at my house that I had installed in 2008. The technology from 2008 to 2014 had changed a lot when it came to cameras.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yeah. I think --
CHARLIE ADELSON: My --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- you mentioned that.
I'm sorry to interrupt up, but I think you mentioned all that on direct.
I'm referring to this particular update that was done post-homicide. You were in communication with this camera guy -- and I think your lawyer mentioned this. You had 84 text messages with him dating back to January 20th of 2014 in regards to the update that occurred post-murder. Do you agree with that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I know -- I know there was always talk that we were gonna get cameras in the office, and we just never got around to it. When this happened, that week within probably three days, I called the camera guy up, and I said, How soon -- I want to get cameras in my house and my -- new cameras for my house, and I want to get cameras in my office. How soon can you come out and do it.
And then he came out, I'd say, four or five days after that, bought the equipment, and installed it that week.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you hire a private investigator to help you with this whole problem you were having?
CHARLIE ADELSON: with the extortion?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yes.
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I didn't tell anybody.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you get a bodyguard?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I carried a gun on me. TI slept with -- I sleep with a gun next to me in bed, and I carried a gun on my person and had a gun in my car at all times.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you recall a statement you made on the Dolce vita recording that said you were gonna start carrying a gun?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. Because I -- for a long time, like, after this happened, I was carrying a gun. And it's uncomfortable, and I don't always like carrying a gun. So I hadn't carried a gun in a while, and I was gonna start carrying one again.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But you did say in 2016, I'm gonna start carrying one?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. I carried probably for about four to six months after this happened, and -- and I wear scrubs. So the gun that I had can kind of stick out, and it's uncomfortable. I prefer not to carry a gun.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So you quit carrying it, but -- during the time you were still paying the extortion money?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And the extortion money that you were paying, $3,000 a month, that wasn't going towards the principal of whatever was left on the 333,000; right? Didn't you testify to that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. So you never came up with the remaining bulk of the money that you owed?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Never.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And nobody ever came after you for that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. They said you can pay it all off and it will be done, or just pay -- you pay 3,000 a month. So I thought about paying the full amount.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. Then a couple of weeks later after the initial extortion, you and Katherine Magbanua broke up, according to your direct. Do TI have that right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: That's not correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: When did you break up?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Within a week. I met her. We went out to dinner. We went out to eat. And then we -- I just said, This has gotta end.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. So you broke up with her?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Weren't you scared that if you broke up with her that she would sick the Latin Kings on you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. Because I had every intention of paying every month when -- when -- I broke up with her, and I said, Listen. I don"t wanna surround myself with this. I'm scared.
She said that she was gonna come every month and pick up the money and protect me. And she -- she understood. I mean, she -- our relationship was on the rocks.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you --
CHARLIE ADELSON: July --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- you testified that all the gifts and stuff that you gave her were to keep her happy; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. When I realized that she's the one who's protecting me and she wasn't a part of this extortion, I had no problem keeping her happy, and I looked for things to do, nice things to do for her because she was broke.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But not worried about pissing her off by breaking up with her?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Well, she -- our relationship was definitely on the rocks. After July 1st when Sigfredo cut me off and threatened me and called my dad, and then she knew I didn’t even invite her to my dad's birthday party, which was a family gathering with family friends on July 5th, she knew we were pretty much -- we were gonna be done.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: After you broke up with Katherine Magbanua a week after the murder, did you continue to talk to her?
CHARLIE ADELSON: We still communicated for sure.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Talk on the phone?
CHARLIE ADELSON: And texted, yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And meet up?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. The only time I would see her was -- I saw her again the end of August. She came and picked up the money, and that's when she asked me if I could put her on the books because none of this money was going to her and she needed to get health insurance for her kids. So I said, yeah, I'll do it and help you out.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And did you continue to hook up with her after the breakup? And by that I mean did you have sex with her?
CHARLIE ADELSON: There was one occasion. There was one time that we hooked up --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay --
CHARLIE ADELSON: -- and that was --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- when was that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I want to say it was probably about five months after we'd broken up.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Well, there was one other occasion before that in October of 2014. Do you recall that? October 9th of 2014?
CHARLIE ADELSON: That's probably the occasion I'm talking about because July -- let me count the months: July, August, September, October. So okay. So four months. I mean, it's been ten years.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And there was another one on October 15th. Do you remember that one?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I think I just -- I think we did hook up about one time.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Well, one time on October 9th and one time on October 15?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I thought it was one time. If it was two times, it's been ten years.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: could it have been two times?
CHARLIE ADELSON: But no more.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And on August 25th, ‘14, that would have been after the breakup; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You text her, and then she replies, "I don't need help. I'm good. Don't need favors nor will I trust anyone again. Erase my number, please. Go on with your life like you did already and have been doing. Sorry we spoke today. I don't want to stress your life more. Don't do anything for me.”
Do you remember receiving that text from Katherine Magbanua?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. Sounds familiar.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: That's a pretty weird text to get from an extortionist. You're meeting her to give her money. why is she saying "erase my number"?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She's not the extortionist.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And why --
(Simultaneous speaking)
CHARLIE ADELSON: That would have been 2000- -- see. You're -- in 2014 I didn't think she was the extortionist.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Right. But it's been revealed that she was.
CHARLIE ADELSON: In 2019. So you're taking what was known in 2019, and you're trying to say I knew what I knew in ‘19 --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I'm not trying to say you knew. I'm trying to say she knew. She knew she was the extortionist. Why is she telling you to erase her number and leave her alone?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Because I broke up with her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Exactly.
On 9/14 -- or 9/11 of '14, she sends you #bestieforlife. Do you remember that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: That sounds familiar.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So did you all have some kind of reconciliation after the breakup?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I was probably doing a favor and making her happy with something.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: On 10/6 --
(Simultaneous speaking)
CHARLIE ADELSON: -- some money.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- of 2014, "I love you. It makes me feel good that you care about me. I'm lucky to have you as part of my life.”
Do you remember sending that to her?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: On 10/9 of ‘14, I mentioned the sex talk. I won't go into the details of it.
Again, 10/15, more sex talk.
10/23 of ‘14, "Thank you again for everything you're doing for my mommy." She sends you that.
What were you doing for her mother?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I don't know. I think I was gonna -- I did a consult for her, but I didn't do anything for her mom.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: 2/24 of '15, you agree that she always knows how to make you smile, and you say, I love you, to her. Do you remember that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. I cared a lot about Katie, and I didn't think that she was a part of it. So I was always trying to keep her happy and make her happy, and I felt like she got caught -- dragged into something that she shouldn't have been dragged into.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Maybe. But she dragged you into it as well.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I -- I didn't see it like that at all. And our relationship actually got stronger. You know, initially, when I got extorted, I had limited contact with her, and I was cold to her. And then over time I realized that she's the one who's protecting me and she's not involved with these people because the extortion never went up and Katie was always broke. So...
MS. CAPPLEMAN: She was involved with them because she was -- had a child with the guy; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I didn't know for sure it was him.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But you suspected always that it was him?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I always suspected that Sigfredo was behind this.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So wouldn't you want to distance yourself from this woman who -- I mean, were you ever really that serious about her to begin with?
CHARLIE ADELSON: We spent seven or eight months together.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But you were never considering marrying her?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No, I wasn't considering.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I mean, you were a playboy; right? You had a zillion girlfriends?
CHARLIE ADELSON: That's -- that is actually not even true.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Did you have a lot of girlfriends?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I had two girlfriends in the two to three years after her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Mm-hmm.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I've dated -- I've dated whitney Kiik for nine months.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. But how many women were you talking to and engaging with sexually? A lot more than whitney Kiik; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: There -- there could have been one or two.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Or more?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. The point being you were not going to marry Katherine Magbanua.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I wasn't having marriage plans, no.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And you have now broken up with her after this incident?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: She's the person that's taking your money from you physically?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She's the one -- I looked at it as she's the one who's protecting me. If she wasn't, I was gonna get a visit from somebody --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Is she the one that was physically taking the money?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Is she the one that was connected to the person you suspected to have killed your brother-in-law?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I thought she was tied to that person, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And she's the one that got you into this -- right? -- because she ran her mouth; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: And I looked at -- that I ran my mouth too. And if I never said anything to her, this would never have happened. So I felt responsible for saying something to her in the first place.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But you didn't feel responsible enough to try to do anything about her sitting in jail, an innocent woman, for three years, did you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She never contacted me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You didn't offer to testify in her trial. You let her get convicted and get life in prison, didn't you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I -- I thought the truth was gonna come out.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But not through you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I was never contacted. I thought it was gonna come out through her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was there any contact between your lawyers and her lawyers?
CHARLIE ADELSON: You would have to ask them.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You said you didn't have any contact with her --
CHARLIE ADELSON: I had -- I had --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- did you have any contact --
CHARLIE ADELSON: I had zero contact with her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So your lawyers didn't tell you anything on behalf of her lawyers?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Absolutely not.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And her lawyers didn't hear anything from your lawyers?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I don't know what the lawyers talked about, but I can tell you that I never talked to Katie, and I never told my lawyers.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You never relayed a message through your lawyers that the Adelson family would not be talking in this case?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Absolutely not.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And she had nothing to worry about as far as that end was concerned?
CHARLIE ADELSON: That's not true at all.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you or your agent contact her brother to offer to assist with her attorneys’ fees in her case?
CHARLIE ADELSON: That's a complete lie.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: On 10/27 of ‘15, you said you can't wait to get lunch with her. She's the best, and you were lucky to have her as a friend for life.
Did you say that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: 10/27/15, you can't wait to get lunch with her.
10/30/15, you tell her you miss her.
12/9 of '15, again you tell her she's the best.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. I said all those things.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you agree that this picture does not look like a relationship between an extortionist and her victim?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I agree because Katie wasn't the extortionist.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: She was the extortionist.
CHARLIE ADELSON: In 2014 --
CHARLIE ADELSON: -- and 2015 I didn't believe that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I know you didn't believe it, but we're looking back now. Okay.
CHARLIE ADELSON: You know, it's like, if you're gonna quote me, date me. Like, what I knew in 2014 and what I knew in 2015 is not what I know now in 2023.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Yes. I hear you.
You didn't know then, and that's why you were nice to her.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. I thought she was protecting me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Got it.
And none of those factors that I pointed out weighed into that consideration -- that she ran her mouth, that she brought the Latin Kings on you. She was taking the money from you.
None of that counterbalanced it. You were still gonna be friends with her and keep her happy?
CHARLIE ADELSON: You're wrong. I didn't know about the Latin Kings in 2014 or 2015.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. All right.
The love texts, which is what I'm referring to all these texts where you're still nice to this person after you break up with her and you're still doing favors for this person after you break up with her -- and that's, like, a major problem for your defense, isn't it?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. Our relationship got stronger. I agree our relationship got stronger, but it was much different.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Isn't that why she has to be an innocent conduit between you and the bad guy? Because if those texts didn't exist, she would be the extortionist and the bad actor in this whole thing; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'm not following your theory.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You have to explain away those texts, don't you, Doctor?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I have to sit here and tell you the truth, and now you're finding it out.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Most people don't send kissy faces to people that are extorting money out of them. I mean, she was taking your money.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Again, Ms. Cappleman, she was not extorting me at the time.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: That's not how it's done, is it?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'm telling you how it was done.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So then over these next two years, you would meet her monthly and hand over a bundle of checks and $3,000 in cash; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. You're wrong.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Tell me how I'm wrong.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I would hand over $2,000 in cash and a bundle of checks.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: $2,000 in cash and a bundle of checks.
And so over the course of two years -- I'm terrible at math, but that's roughly how much money?
If I did -- I think I did $3,000. So it's $48,000 in cash in addition to the 138 you provided the night of. You agree with that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Your math is correct. I'm just telling you what I paid her each month.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And the checks, which is another $17,000; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: You -- you're doing the math.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. It was a lot of momey. Was it a lot of money to you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: It was a lot of money to me, yeah. I work hard.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did the extortionist, whoever they were, ever try to increase the payments or come for more money?
CHARLIE ADELSON: The extortion never went up, and Katie was always broke, and that's what led me to think that she was not a part of this because she could have easily jacked up the -- the payments.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: well, she's sharing three grand a month with a bunch of other people; right? At least one other person.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I didn't think she was sharing it. Why is she coming to me for $300 for her kid's birthday?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Because she's broke.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Because she wasn't getting any of the money.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Half of three grand doesn't do much when you're living in Miami with two kids to feed; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I didn't think she was sharing anything.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: well, even if she was sharing -- that's your point. She must not have been taking the money “cause she was broke.
And my point is she could have been taking half the money and been broke --
CHARLIE ADELSON: That's not how I saw it --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: It's not a lot of money.
CHARLIE ADELSON: That's not how I saw it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Tell me about Dan Markel a little bit. What -- you've sort of said --
What I heard -- correct me if I'm wrong -- was he was, you know, a nice-enough guy, typical Wendi boyfriend, but not really your kind of guy.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. I think that's an accurate description.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. Do you agree that he was this brilliant legal mind?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I think he was a little nerdy, nice guy. Just kind of like the average guy that my sister dated.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Not the kind of guy you'd want to have a beer with, though?
CHARLIE ADELSON: we never had a beer together. I mean, not that I wouldn't have had a beer if he wanted to have one. We just didn't have that much in common, but he was -- he was nice to me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you appreciate the fact that his death was a terrible loss to his sons?
CHARLIE ADELSON: It was horrible.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you think they were better off without him?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Absolutely not.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you host a celebration dinner after his murder?
CHARLIE ADELSON: That's a complete lie.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: On the wire would you agree that the Markel boys were in the background pretty much at every call you had with your mom, and you hear them a lot; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: My sister was working, so my parents would help my sister out. Yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yeah.
And it was summertime, so they were out of school I would assume.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I don't know if it was every call, but they definitely helped my sister out for sure.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And those calls captured Donna pushing them on the swings, that call that tortured all of us of a couple times. Do you remember that one?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. There was a call where she was pushing them on the swings.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Taking them to tennis lessons?
CHARLIE ADELSON: That was -- that was the same day. I mean, that was the same call that got broken up and she called me back. But yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Doing their bedtime routine?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Helping my sister out for sure.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Reading stories, brushing teeth, getting haircuts, going to piano, story time and bedtime, all of that kind of stuff?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. All the stuff that parents and grandparents do. You're right.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. She even said to you on one of the calls regarding the bedtime routine that, quote, "we have a whole routine going."
Do you remember that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I think it -- I have a whole routine with my son. I mean, I think it's normal with the kids you have a routine to put them to bed.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Right. All of the kind of things --
CHARLIE ADELSON: You've gotta brush your teeth. You can't forget to brush your teeth.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All the -- yeah. A little dental humor couldn't hurt; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: What's that?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All the kind of -- all the things that -- that, you know, your mom wouldn't have been able to do as readily if the kids were living in Tallahassee. You agree with that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: When they'd come up to visit them, they'd be doing the same thing.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Sure, when they came up to visit, but now they're doing it every day; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Not every day, but when my sister needed them, she helped out.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And these are all things, these little routine things, that Dan Markel will never be able to do with his sons. Do you agree with that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Absolutely.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Does your mom have a favorite child?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She says she doesn't have favorites, but I don't think she likes my older brother.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. But is Wendi the favorite?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'd like to think it's a tie between me and her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Does your mom worry more about Wendi than you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Hmm ...
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Let's --
CHARLIE ADELSON: I --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- before this case.
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I don't -- I mean, I don't -- I think maybe in different parts of my life she's probably more concerned about me. Different parts of my sister's life she may be more concerned about her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Is it true that your mom has a tendency to worry herself sick if there's something going on with one of you kids?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I think she's -- she's a concerned mom, but -- I mean, she's a normal mom.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was she pretty worried about Wendi's marital problems?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: She wasn't?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I think -- no. I think she'd get upset when my sister would tell her things that Danny was doing and going to work badmouthing her, but I think any parent would get upset.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But also she would meticulously go through all the filings and send long emails detailing her thoughts about every filing in this divorce.
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I don't -- I don't think that's the case at all.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Did she hate Dan Markel?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I think she liked him in the beginning for sure. I think when he was being a -- a jerk to my sister, I think that -- I don't think anyone particularly liked him when he was being a jerk.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What about the time -- around the time that he was killed? Did your mother hate Dan Markel?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I think it -- it kind of, like, tapered off I think. "Cause it was only -- she only disliked him when he was being mean to my sister. Other than that, nobody had a problem with him.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And he was being mean to your sister during these divorce proceedings and subsequent litigation; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I think it was on and off. I think it was sporadic.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And when your mom's worried about Wendi, does she come to you for solution or talk things out?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I don't think it was -- I don't think "worried" is the right word to describe it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Does she ever make Wendi's problems your problems?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Like, convincing you to pull -- get Wendi to pull the plug on the house on Halloween 2013? Didn't she convince you to sort of take up that cause?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. That was actually me. I felt -- I shared my thoughts on home ownership for my sister. That was all me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Didn't you say that if she had bought that house that would have been the second worst decision of wendi's life?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I thought it was gonna be a stupid decision to buy that house.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And what would -- what was the first worst decision of wendi's life?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Oh, I thought when she -- I mean, looking -- hindsight is 20/20. I think when she -- she'd agreed it's when she married Dan.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you convince her to take a particular job as well? Do you remember that call?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. She -- she got an offer from a law firm, and she was debating whether or not she should take it. She didn't know if it was exactly what she wanted to do. And I was like, hey, you don't -- you don't know what you don't like doing until you've done it. Seems like a great opportunity. Like, why not do it, learn a new job skill if it's a skill you don't.
And she's like, Well, I don't have that skill.
And I'm, like, Well, that's a good opportunity to learn it, and you may like it. And if you don't like it, then try something else.
But I was trying to encourage her to take what sounded like a great opportunity.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And Mom shared your thoughts -- I'm referring to Donna Adelson -- shared your thoughts about this opportunity being a good one for Wendi; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I probably heard about the job from my mom, but I definitely heard about it from my sister and then talking to my sister about it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yeah. I mean, the job was not what she was -- had any experience in; right? It was a whole ‘nother field of law?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Then that -- that was my point. It was like, well, why not take it if they're offering it to you, and you can learn something new. It sounds like a great opportunity.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you and Donna know what's best for Wendi better than she knows herself?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. But -- not at all.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Were you a spy when it came to Wendi? Did you get information from Donna -- I mean from Wendi and relay it to Donna?
CHARLIE ADELSON: At times. Because I was -- I was dating Brie, and Brie worked for Dave. So I would -- I would hear stuff about Dave from Brie, so I kind of had an inside -- I got inside information.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: In what capacity did Brie work for Dave?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Dave was his -- after she graduated from college, she was working as a nanny for Dave.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And how old was Brie during the time you were dating her? Was she significantly younger than you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She was 24 and I was 39.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Is that the -- is Brie the mother of your child?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She is the mother of my child, yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. So back to Wendi. Wendi and Donna.
So Wendi -- was she tight-lipped with Donna about her private life?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I don't think she shared everything.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But she would tell things to you that she wouldn't tell to Donna?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'm -- I can't say that for sure.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Can you play Clip 1, please?
Publishing Call EEE.
MR. RASHBAUM: I'm sorry. What number?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: EEE.
(Pause)
MS. CAPPLEMAN: If you can go to 2:09.
(Audio recording published in open court. This transcript should not be considered a verbatim record of these proceedings due to inaudibles and inability to distinguish between speakers. It should be noted that the best evidence of the actual content of the digital recording is the digital recording itself.)
(Audio begins:)
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'm this way ‘cause I just stopped off at Daren's house, you know.
I knew it. So I -- I just spoke to Dave Aitel.
DONNA ADELSON: Oh, did you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: So that's probably a little far -- Cindiscernible)
DONNA ADELSON: Mm-hmm.
CHARLIE ADELSON: But -- so I actually Cindiscernible) her birthday. It turns out Wendi's making her own little party at Fleetwood.
DONNA ADELSON: Oh, really?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. wWendi's always, like, very tight-lipped.
DONNA ADELSON: You're not kidding.
CHARLIE ADELSON: So what you need to do is --
DONNA ADELSON: Okay --
CHARLIE ADELSON: -- you know -- you know, she's obviously tight-lipped for a reason. It's ‘cause she doesn't want you to know anything.
DONNA ADELSON: Anything. Anything.
CHARLIE ADELSON: So -- but my point is if she doesn't want you to know anything, then don't ask anything Csimultaneous speaking) happy, and then I -- and then I can find everything out and just tell you.
DONNA ADELSON: I know. It's great.
CHARLIE ADELSON: So I -- I was, like, so what are you doing for your birthday? He's, like, well, wendi's thinking maybe like a little birthday dinner, a little get-together party.
I'm, like, that's awesome.
He's, like, Yeah. She's doing -- he's, like, I don't know anything. All I know is Wendi's putting it together for me, and she's doing it at Fleetwood.
CHARLIE ADELSON: So I go, Oh, that sounds awesome.
DONNA ADELSON: All I knew is that she was going straight from work to a hotel where everybody was meeting for these -- this Miami fellow thing that she's on and that she Cindiscernible) to stay there tonight because it starts early, first thing tomorrow morning.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Right.
DONNA ADELSON: TI guess in between she managed to do something else. Which makes me happy. I'm really glad.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Oh, yeah.
DONNA ADELSON: That's great. I couldn't imagine.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. So ...
DONNA ADELSON: (Cindiscernible) we good?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah.
(Audio playback concluded.)
BY MS. CAPPELMAN:
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you remember yesterday you were telling a story about Katie coming in from having had a -- some kind of altercation with Garcia, and she had reported that the necklace had been pulled off her neck? Do you remember that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes, I do.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And when you were relaying that story to the jury, you used a specific term describing what Garcia had done to her. Do you remember what that term was?
CHARLIE ADELSON: It was only yesterday, but you'll have to refresh my memory how I described it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You said he "roughed her up."
CHARLIE ADELSON: That's accurate.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And that put my antenna up because that "rough up," "rough them up," is the exact same phrase that Katherine Magbanua said in her proffer that you used on Halloween 2013 when you first approached her about does she know anyone who can rough someone up.
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I think rough -- the getting roughed up is an adjective. But you're -- what you're doing is the same thing you did with your TV theory is, like, you heard TV mentioned multiple times, so you put the whole case together with the Tv.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. we'll get into the Tv --
(Simultaneous speaking)
CHARLIE ADELSON: Now you're putting the whole case together with the word “roughed up." Like, I think --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yeah. I mean, I'm not putting the whole case together --
MR. RASHBAUM: Judge, I'd just --
JUDGE EVERETT: One moment. Don't speak over each other.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: It's --
JUDGE EVERETT: Please wait for him to answer. Then you can ask your next question. Go ahead.
BY MS. CAPPELMAN:
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But that's an unusual -- I mean, you know, it's a specific term. I'm not making a whole case out of it, but did you say “roughed up" in both places?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Katie was roughed up by Sigfredo when he tore the necklace off of her neck. Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And isn't that the same term you used when you first approached Katherine Magbanua about couldn't -- did she know someone who could “rough up" someone else?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Never in my life have I ever asked her that question. Never in my life. That conversation never took place.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you ever hear Donna Adelson refer to Dan Markel as stupid?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Were you laughing when Wendi was on the stand and I read all the names that Donna referred to Dan Markel as?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I laughed when you said the word "fucker" in court.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. What did she mean when she said Dan Markel was trying to take her sunshines away? Do you know?
CHARLIE ADELSON: My mom never said that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Oh. So you never heard her --
CHARLIE ADELSON: That was -- that was made up, and he put it in a court filing. And then now it becomes something that my mom said because someone made it up and put it in a court filing. My mom never said that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did your mom refer to the children as her sunshines?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. The kids were three and four. A three- and four-year-old can't repeat a conversation and remember words six hours later and repeat it accurately. I have a five-year-old son. Never seen a three- and four-year-old do that.
So it was made up, and now you're repeating it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Have you been a good brother to Wendi?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I always try to be a good brother.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: It sounds like maybe you're not agreeing that this was a really nasty divorce, or are you agreeing it was a nasty divorce?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I mean, I don't think any divorces can be pleasant, but I think they definitely had their fights, and they were fighting over bicycles and all kinds of crap.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But -- but in addition to that, Dan Markel accused your sister of fraud; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: He made an accusation, yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Threatened her with federal kidnapping charges?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Oh, that's a new one. I -- you just told me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: That one's in the emails that are in evidence. Did you review those?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I didn't review the federal kidnapping charges in this case.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was seeking contempt proceedings. You heard about that here in court. Yes?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I heard about that, yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Even went after her lawyer personally; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: He -- he made serious threats against her lawyer.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And her bar card could have been in jeopardy with any of those or some of them?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I heard the other day she was saying that I guess her lawyer -- he was threatening her lawyer's bar card.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Her lawyer's bar card as well as -- and wendi's?
CHARLIE ADELSON: He was -- he was making lots of threats and writing lots of stuff I guess.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And he messed with your mom too, didn't he, in that grandma motion? You know which one I'm talking about?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I don't think he was messing with my mom. I mean, nobody took that seriously. I don't think anyone even knew about it till years later.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Isn‘'t your mom notorious for always getting worked up about everything?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She gets upset. I mean, she's a concerned mom, I mean, but ...
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But is she notorious for getting really worked up about everything?
CHARLIE ADELSON: To a certain extent.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Well, aren't those your own words from call S that's in evidence in this case?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes. Those are my words, but you can't -- on a -- not to an extreme, but she does worry, especially when, like, Latin King gang members are extorting her for money.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did your mom take the grandma motion seriously?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I don't think she even knew about it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: She didn't talk to you about it?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I didn't find out about it till years later.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Wasn't this divorce a big deal in your family?
CHARLIE ADELSON: It didn't affect my life. I can tell you that. So I don't think that's true. I think it was a big deal in my sister's life.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: why did wendi testify that she was getting along well with Dan Markel just prior to his death? Can you -- can we agree that's not true?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I think there were -- there were ups and downs in how they got along, but you gotta ask her. She was on the stand. I mean, I wasn't living her life.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Is it part of your defense to minimize how nasty and contentious this divorce was?
CHARLIE ADELSON: My defense is to tell the truth.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you have any input on the decision to change the boys" names from Markel to Adelson?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Absolutely not.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you and Donna have to protect Wendi?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Does Wendi appreciate everything you and Donna do for her?
CHARLIE ADELSON: You gotta ask her. I mean, she's my sister. I love her. I try to give her my best advice I can. I care about her, and I give her my advice. Whether she takes it or not is -- is up to her. She's a -- she's a grown woman.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Let me ask it another way.
Do you feel -- or isn't it true that you don't feel that Wendi appreciates everything you and Donna do for her?
CHARLIE ADELSON: My sister had no idea what I've been through in the last God knows how many years and what I've -- I wake up worrying am I gonna get killed. Am I gonna get arrested? And she knows none of it. She's just going on with her life.
And I had a -- somewhat of an innate anger towards her, you know. Probably unjust because she didn't know what happened. But, yeah, I -- I was upset.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And weren't you saying on the wire that you -- that she doesn't appreciate what you and Donna have done for her?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I don't know if I said that she doesn't appreciate what I've done for her because I never did anything for her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. So --
(Simultaneous speaking)
CHARLIE ADELSON: Other than -- other than give her advice --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: That was my next question. What have you done for her? Nothing?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Other than give her advice and care about her, be a big brother that loves her, like ...
MS. CAPPLEMAN: would you say Wendi is a little bit spoiled?
CHARLIE ADELSON: In some regards. I mean, she gets a lot of help for sure.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Is she a little less savvy about how the world works than you are?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I don't know. I mean, you gotta ask her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Could you trust Wendi with a secret that could ruin your life?
CHARLIE ADELSON: It's not a -- it's not a secret. It's something that would get me killed, so I didn't want to tell her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Can we agree that she obviously knew something about this crime?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She found out when she came to court. I -- I never told her anything.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I'm talking about the murder of Dan Markel. She knew something; right? I mean, it's not a coincidence she went to the crime scene, is it?
CHARLIE ADELSON: You're talking about the route that she took that day?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I'm talking about her pulling up to the crime scene tape.
CHARLIE ADELSON: She never -- she never went to the crime scene. She was going to buy a bottle of liquor that coincidentally the person sent her a stock-the-bar party for a -- buy a bottle of Bulleit Bourbon that she was going to pick up. She wasn't driving to the crime scene, and I think she made that clear too. Nobody knew a murder was taking place.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: She pulled up to the crime scene tape, Dr. Adelson.
CHARLIE ADELSON: She didn't pull up to the crime scene tape. She was driving down the street and then had to make a U-turn. It was blocked off. But she wasn't going to --
(Simultaneous speaking)
MS. CAPPLEMAN: She couldn't help herself.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Nobody knew a murder was gonna take place.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: She exposed you all to some degree by those actions, didn't she?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No, not at all.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And then she threw you under the bus in her interview, didn't she?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Nobody knew a murder was going to take place.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: She knew her husband had just been shot, and they were asking her who would want him dead, and she said your name. Are you mad about that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. She said a lot of people's name.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: well, she said yours in the first 25 pages of a five-hour interview; isn't that true?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I wasn't there for the interview.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But you've reviewed it in preparation for your trial, haven't you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I actually don't know if I've seen her interview.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: There was a lot of questions of you about, you know, didn't you do this murder with Wendi? Doesn't the State think you did this murder with wendi?
Have you -- are you familiar with your charges in this case?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes, I'm very familiar with my charges.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And who are you alleged to have done this murder with?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'm alleged to have done this murder with my sister, my mom, and my dad.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: would it refresh your recollection to review a copy of the indictment in this case?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'm a slow reader, but I can read if you want.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: May I approach, Your Honor?
JUDGE EVERETT: You may.
BY MS. CAPPELMAN:
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And this is the official charging document in your case, Dr. Adelson. What does it say in reference to who you are alleged to have committed the murder with?
CHARLIE ADELSON: This is -- what date is this? 2022.
Oh, they think I did a murder with Katie.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Katherine Magbanua?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes,
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Anybody else?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Give me a minute. I'll read.
Oh, they got Luis Rivera in here. They got Sigfredo Garcia.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: As being alleged to have committed the murder with you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Did I read it too quick?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Take your time.
It should just be at the very top of each charge. On or about July 18, 2014, did unlawfully ...
CHARLIE ADELSON: Okay. Yeah. Katie. Katherine.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Are you mad that Wendi hasn't been charged and you have?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I'm mad that I got charged for a crime that I didn't commit.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you have any innate anger with Wendi over that fact?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No, not at all.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Are you pissed that she told all that stuff to Jeff Lacasse?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I don't think she said that to Jeff, but I wasn't there.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: How did Lacasse know about the celebration dinner?
CHARLIE ADELSON: That we went out to dinner? She got sick, so she may have told someone that she threw up.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And then, what, he just added the part about you referring to it as a celebration?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I never referred to it as a celebration dinner. I picked my sister up. I said, Where do you want to go to eat? She said she wanted a pizza or sushi. I said, I know a great sushi place.
We went there. We didn't have reservations. We ended up sitting at the bar for an hour waiting for our table, and she had two drinks and got sick.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: She vomited on the dinner table or at the dinner table?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. She -- we got her to the bathroom, but, yeah. She doesn't drink alcohol, so those two drinks, I think, on an empty stomach, I think she got really sick.
But there was -- there was no celebration dinner. It was the first time that she actually really left the house since she got back -- got back from Tallahassee. She was devastated.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you say something to her about the murder of Dan Markel right before she vomited?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Absolutely not.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you remember what you said right before she vomited?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She was -- probably -- I think she said, I don't feel well, and I say, Oh, no, and then she threw up.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Before that.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I think I said, oh, no, and then she threw up.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Before she announced that she was gonna be ill --
CHARLIE ADELSON: Right.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- do you remember what the conversation was?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Just the -- how's the food. How's your -- I mean, we -- probably about halfway through dinner, we -- if you look at the timetable, we weren't there long.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: why did you brag to Jeffrey Lacasse about your connection to the Cuban criminal element?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I never said that to Jeff Lacasse.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So he's -- he's making that up?
CHARLIE ADELSON: If he said it. I mean, I never said it to him.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: well, you were in here when he said it, weren't you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I heard him say it, yeah, but I never said that to him.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: On one of these calls -- and it's in the context of talking about Dave and wWendi's relationship with Dave -- you tell your mom that you've already gone above and beyond for Wendi.
Was that a reference to having her ex murdered?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. That's me getting tired of this Dave stuff. I mean, Dave's a great guy. I mean, everyone that meets him likes him. He's not only super successful, but he's very low-key, like T-shirts and jeans kind of guy.
And he loved my sister's kids. I mean, if you -- if you listen to the wire, the point I was making is not how successful he is. The point I was making is that, like, my nephews farted on him, and he thought it was funny, and it didn't bother him. And he also has three young kids the same ages as my sister's two young kids. They actually met in line when my sister was registering the kids for school, and it was very -- they've been friends for years. So I thought it was a great opportunity for my sister to have a great guy in her life.
And I was getting sick and tired of Dave calls. Then the wire started in April. My sister's birthday is in April. Dave's birthday is in April. So you got a ton of Dave chatter on this case. But believe me, I -- I'd go crazy if I was talking about Dave like this all year long. One month is enough.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So that's a no. You did not reference having her ex murdered --
CHARLIE ADELSON: Absolutely not. No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- when you said you've already gone above and beyond?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. That was me getting sick of dealing with Dave stuff. As great of a guy as he is, I was still getting sick of it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: When the $1 million offer was conceived, do you recall whose idea that was?
CHARLIE ADELSON: My parents.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: why was the relocation worth a million bucks?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Well, it was -- it was actually -- I was gonna pay a third, so I only looked at it that way. why was it worth it?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Mm-hmm. That's the question.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Because it was gonna help my sister out, and it was gonna be -- it was gonna give her a good opportunity for a good job down here, and she was gonna be around family, and family is important. So that's why.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Isn't it true that financially you came out ahead on this deal as opposed to if you had coughed up the third of the million-dollar offer?
CHARLIE ADELSON: How in the world did I come up ahead? This is the craziest thing.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Financially. You paid 138,000, and you paid 2,000 a month plus the $1,000 payroll amount. You're still over $100,000 ahead financially than if you had coughed up the 333 pay.
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I would have been better off paying -- first of all, I never paid for a murder, so this iS a crazy question. But paying $3,000 a month for life is not a -- is not anything anybody wants to do.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I didn't say anything about paying for a murder. I said you paid $138,000, which you did.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I got extorted for 330,000.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And then you paid -- but you didn't pay the 330,000.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Right. ‘Cause I -- I didn't have it. I cleared out my safe, and that was what was in my safe that night.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. Can we agree that Wendi was stressed out about the issues surrounding her divorce?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I think the divorce caused stress in her life, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And you were hearing about it from your mother, weren't you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah, I would agree.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Wendi's totally stressed out. Yesterday was a rough one. That sort of thing?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes. I said it before -- is that my sister would tell my mom a story. I would be sitting in the car driving. My mom would be talking to me and telling me the latest story of the day, and that's how the information -- that's how I found out a lot.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And then on 2/19 of ‘14, Donna texts you again to tread lightly with Wendi and refers to Dan Markel as an asshole and a fucker; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Sorry. You made me laugh.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: That's what I'm here for.
Is that what happened, that text?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Did my mom use a -- a foul word to describe him?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yes, sir. “Asshole and fucker," to be specific.
CHARLIE ADELSON: She used a curse word. Correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Is that pretty strong language for your mom, or is that how she speaks?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I mean, it is -- it is pretty strong language, but I think in -- I mean, I've been called a lot worse. But I -- I mean, it's some- -- if my mom used a curse word, she used a curse word. You just used curse words too, so...
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was Wendi less stressed -- oh, I -- yeah.
Was Wendi less stressed out once all this litigation was over?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. She was a million times more stressed out.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: was she better off financially?
CHARLIE ADELSON: There may have been some but not much. I don't think so.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was she able to stop paying her $800-an-hour divorce lawyers?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did she get $2.7 million in benefits for her children plus $4,800 a month for the boys‘ benefit?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. As far as I know, that money was in trust for -- and it's controlled by Dan Markel's sister. So none of that money -- you keep saying it like the money went to her. The money's in trust --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yeah.
CHARLIE ADELSON: -- for the kids, and it's -- and that money never went to her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Some of it went to her, and some of it was in trust for the kids; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I -- I don't know the breakdown, but I know the 90-something percent of what you're talking about is in trust, and it's in trust for the children. It's not for her benefit.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Right. It's for the benefit of the boys, but it has to come through her because they're children; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: well, it has to --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: She gets disbursements; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: It has to go through the executor of the trust ‘cause -- and my sister is not the executor of the trust.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: No, sir. I'm not saying she is.
When the executor of the trust disburses money for the benefit of the boys, it gets disbursed to wendi; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: See, I -- you know more than I know.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you have trouble sleeping after the murder?
CHARLIE ADELSON: After I was extorted, for sure.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did Katie text you on 12/19 of ‘15, "Sorry we have problems sleeping and shit. We do have a lot of weight on our shoulders"?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Did she text me that?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did she text you that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I mean, I -- she may have, but it sounds about right.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you want to look at the text?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I can look at it. Yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: May I approach, Your Honor?
JUDGE EVERETT: You may. A which one?
BY MS. CAPPELMAN:
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You can look around for context if you want, but I'm looking at Page 2 of this exhibit, and it's got a little box around it.
If that refreshes your recollection, the question is did she send it?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I want to go over a little bit some of the payments or gifts that you gave to Katherine Magbanua. We've heard a lot about her being put on the payroll at the Adelson Institute, and she made this demand to you when you met her to give her the first extortion payment on the payment plan; is that correct?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She didn't make a demand. When -- when I gave her the $3,000 for her friend, she asked me if I could do her a favor and put her on payroll for a thousand a month so that she could get insurance for her kids. She was gonna cash the check, and the money would still go to her friend. So that money wasn't going to her. She was getting insurance for her kids to --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And did you believe her that she would give the money from the paychecks to the friend?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I believed what she was saying to me, yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Isn't it true that Katherine Magbanua actually asked you to place her on the payroll back in June prior to this extortion effort?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I don't know if I put her on payroll. She asked me if I could put her on some -- when I was dating her, put her in something on the office so she could get insurance.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And that was --
CHARLIE ADELSON: But I never -- I never did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And that was in June.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I remember she had asked me about it before, but I never -- I never did anything.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: In June, June 24th of 2014, she says, "Baby, I'm going to need help on the employment info. I have to send to DCF for my kid's insurance. Also if I have to end up moving later on, I need to show I'm working for you or else I won't be able to get an apartment.”
To which you respond, "No problem."
Do you remember that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. But I wasn't thinking she was asking about payroll. I think she was asking just to say that she worked there, that we'd sign a letter saying that she was employed. But that doesn't say anything about writing checks.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And that request was made in between the two trips that the killers made; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: That request -- well, she asked me if I could do that for her while I was dating her, and I never even did it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And did she ask if you could do that in between the two trips that the killers made?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I didn't know when they went up, but I found out later that they went up in -- in June.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. So that email would have been sent -- or, I'm sorry, the text. That text would have been sent prior to what you're calling as the first layer of the extortion?
CHARLIE ADELSON: That text was sent to me while I was dating her, but I never ...
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Prior to the first layer of extortion?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Text was sent in June.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Prior to the first layer of extortion?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Before I was extorted, yeah. Before I broke up with her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And you say several times on the wire that she was cleaning at the office. Was she really cleaning?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. She never worked for us.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: She was doing some type of cleanup for you, wasn't she?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What's the purpose of keeping Katie happy? Was she gonna sick the Latin Kings on you if you made her unhappy?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She was -- she was protecting me. I didn't know what would happen, and she was keep -- in my mind, like, when that -- when the extortion never went up, and I just -- I thought that she wasn't part of it and she was protecting me. Usually extortion goes up. It always -- always gets ratcheted up, from what I've heard.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What's the fear of not keeping her happy is what I'm trying to understand?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Well, I could get killed, or the people who are extorting me could come rob me. And I didn't get killed. I didn't get robbed. The extortion never went up. I thought she was really protecting me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: If that's the case, why not just -- I mean, you're complying with everything they've asked you to do; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'm doing everything I was asked to do and that I... Yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So why reach out and say, Hey, can I get you a trip to Key west to go with that extortion money?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I never said can I give you a trip to Key West.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You didn't say you were trying to get them the owner's cottage? Maybe it's not in Key West. Trying to get them the owner's cottage because it's the nicest, $380 a night, the Postcard Inn.
Do you recall all those conversations?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Oh, yeah. For sure. And that was -- she'd actually asked me weeks before the bump because I had this connection at a place called The Moorings that I could get, like, a really great price at -- a really affordable price for how nice the place is. And I said I was gonna make some calls and help her out and get it, and then I ended up giving her $300 for the -- when she picked up that bag at my house, I put $300 in it, and I got her a hotel room.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was that a yes, you remember that conversation?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah, I do.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And she didn't want the trip. In the text messages, she's saying, like, no thanks, and you're kind of forcing it down her throat. Do you agree with that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. Because actually -- it's funny. At that time in the wire, I was trying to see if Katie and him were together or they weren't together, so that's why I kept asking how -- you know, how are things? Are you guys okay? You know. Because if they were fighting, it was making me think more and more that the reason she was avoiding me was because she found out that he was the one who was doing the second extortion again. So I was trying to figure out if it was him and if she was lying to me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And she -- in this case she says, "I don't want to do anything.”
And you say, "You know what. F that. You're going there. You're going to have a good time."
CHARLIE ADELSON: For sure. I was trying to do nice things for her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And then did you pay for a trip or offer -- I guess offer to pay for a trip to Santa Domingo for Katherine Magbanua and Sigfredo Garcia to visit his parents?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I -- I didn't know who she was going with, but I paid for -- you're talking about airline tickets?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yes.
CHARLIE ADELSON: She -- yeah. She called me up. She had an emergency. Something happened. She booked tickets for the wrong date. I didn't -- I had no idea who in the family she was going with. And she had no money.
And I -- I remember I was in Chicago. I was at a friend's wedding. And I took out my credit card, and I gave her the credit card number and let her book tickets. I thought she was going with her kids.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So is that a yes, you paid for --
CHARLIE ADELSON: Oh, yeah, yeah. I remember it well.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: This will go quicker if you can just --
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'm sorry.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- answer the question.
MR. RASHBAUM: Judge, objection.
JUDGE EVERETT: What's the objection?
MR. RASHBAUM: Argumentative.
JUDGE EVERETT: Overruled.
BY MS. CAPPELMAN:
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you offer to buy Katherine Magbanua and her mom a cruise?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes. Kate -- Katie had mentioned to me that she always wanted to be able to take her mom on a cruise, so I -- I offered, but she never took me up on it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you call in prescriptions for Katherine Magbanua?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She was a patient of record with my office.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you pay for a meal service for Katherine Magbanua?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah, I did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you pay for car repairs for her?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. She -- all this stuff is making me think she was broke. So, yes, you're right.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you offer that she could use your Range Rover at any time?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I said she could borrow the car. Sure.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did she talk about getting a boat, and you offered to help her get a boat?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I never offered to help her get a boat. I helped -- offered to help her look for a boat.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you pay for the breast augmentation?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: No part of the breast augmentation?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Not at all.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So when she's saying at the same time she's -- the day of the breast augmentation, Can I just put it on a credit card, is she referring to something else, some other expense?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I have no idea what she's referring to, but I did not pay for her boob job.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What about this birthday gift for Sigfredo Garcia? What was the Bonsai tree and the bag? what was that all about?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Oh, she had asked me -- and it's on a wire. It's actually -- it's on 4/20 where she says, Can you get me some bud from Bud?
My next-door neighbor is Bud, and she asked me if I could get some marijuana from my next-door neighbor for her. So that's what -- when I said I have a Bonsai tree for you, I was -- she asked me, and I got her a little bit of marijuana from my next-door neighbor for her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And you said, I don't know what a married man with kids would want for his birthday, but you did your best --
CHARLIE ADELSON: I was --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: "I did my best."
CHARLIE ADELSON: I was being completely -- by the way, I was being completely sarcastic. I never would get Sigfredo Garcia a present in my life.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And you thought you hit it out of the park with the weed and the gift card. Did you say that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: well, give me a little more context.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: The context is you don't know what a married man with kids would want for his birthday, but you did your best, and you think you hit it out of the park.
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I was being completely sarcastic because she had asked me for that marijuana two weeks earlier, and I gave it to her, and then I was joking around when I gave it to her. I didn't want to -- I didn't want him to think that I was hooking up with her, so I started to joke around about it. And then I was, like, you know, maybe you can just tell him it was from me because I didn't want him to think that I'm hooking up with Katie, and that's why I gave it to her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Can we agree in general that it's important to maintain positive feelings between co-conspirators? If you're a co-conspirator with someone in a crime, you want to keep positive relationship with that person? would you agree with me?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'm not a co-conspirator with her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. I'm saying, in general, can you agree in general that co-conspirators in a crime want to stay friendly with each other?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'm not a co-conspirator with her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. You can't agree to that.
If a co-conspirator develops a motive behind another one, that could be bad; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Co-conspirator -- say it again.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Say, you know, a husband and wife do a murder together, and then ten years later -- you know, they've gotten away with it, but ten years later they fall out. That could be a problem. Somebody might start talking; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I was never part of a murder.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Were these gifts, these -- that you provided to Katherine Magbanua and her mother and Sigfredo Garcia payment for the murder?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Okay. I never got Sigfredo a gift in my life. The guy absolutely hates me. He wants to kill me. He stalked me. He extorted me. Like, that was being completely sarcastic.
And sometimes I made some bad jokes, but that's -- even when I wrote he wanted to take me deep sea fishing, I knew he wanted to kill me. Like, you have that text too. I didn't think we were going deep sea fishing.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: On April 6th of 2015, did you receive a text from Katherine -- Katherine Magbanua that reads: "Next time don’t be such a dick to someone who has done something for you."
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. She's protecting me, and she's mad -- she's mad at me over something.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Are these gifts what it took to secure her silence for so long?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No, absolutely not. I was never trying to get her silence. I was hoping she'd tell the truth.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was your dad's birthday in between the two trips that the killers took?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. My dad's birthday is July 5th.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And what birthday was that for him?
CHARLIE ADELSON: It was his 70th birthday party.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. So there's been a lot of talk about the texting between you and your mom about the birthday, and she texts you on March 4th of 2014 and says she can't talk now but she'll call when she goes to the bathroom in Gainesville and has privacy. She tells you to erase that text after you read it. why did she tell you erase that text?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Okay. If you look at the records, I never erased the text.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But why did she ask you, if you know? You may not know.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Maybe she's afraid my dad's looking at her phone and would find out about the present. It made no sense to me. That's why I was, like -- I didn't erase anything.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: How is your erasing the text going to prevent her -- your dad from seeing it on your mom's phone?
CHARLIE ADELSON: well, if my dad looked at my mom's phone, then he could see the text and maybe know what she's planning for his birthday.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You weren't with Dad; she was with Dad. Just to clarify.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah, she was with my dad.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And the text that she asked you to erase, that particular text didn't say anything about a birthday or paella. Can we agree on that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. But I knew what it was about.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: 20 minutes later she texts again and asks something about Dad's birthday. Do you remember that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes. I know we were trying to plana surprise cruise. That was the original idea.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And the paella is mentioned elsewhere, not in this particular thread that we're talking about.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. we ended up --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was paella the big birthday gift?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. I paid for the catering for the whole party.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Then three months later on June 8th just after midnight, you text her, "Still working on Dad's birthday present."
Was that in reference to the paella guy?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Possibly or possibly what I was also getting him as a present. I mean, it's been ten years, so I don't know exactly what I got him ten years ago on his birthday.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And then --
CHARLIE ADELSON: Or what I was thinking about --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Sorry. You're not done?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No.
-- or what I was thinking about getting him.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And then at 1:00 a.m. Mom texts you back, "I know you'll" -- and I think she was in Israel so that might account for the time, but she texts you, quote, "I know you'll come through for me."
Is that what she said?
CHARLIE ADELSON: That's what the text said, yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Can we agree the timing of these texts is consistent with being sent the day after the killers got home from their failed June murder trip?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. It's consistent with a few weeks before my dad's birthday and trying to figure out what we were gonna get him.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Why didn't you go to Dan's funeral?
CHARLIE ADELSON: In Canada?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I think there was some in Tallahassee and Canada as well --
CHARLIE ADELSON: I know there was a memorial --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- but did you go to either?
CHARLIE ADELSON: There was a memorial service here. I didn't --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you go to that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No, I didn't attend. I knew what had happened to him, and there's no way I could have shown up. I would have been too upset.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Mr. Dubin, your lawyer that was here -- it seems like a long time ago at jury selection -- said, you know, people have different ways of grieving and that sort of thing.
Were you -- were you grieving for the death of Dan Markel?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I felt horrible about what happened, and I knew what happened, and I --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: When did you --
CHARLIE ADELSON: I wasn't --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I'm sorry.
CHARLIE ADELSON: -- I wasn't close -- I wasn't close to him. But either way, I mean, I felt horrible about what happened.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: When did you find out exactly how he was killed, meaning, like, shot twice in the head?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I found out -- it would have been the next morning is how I found out he got shot in the head.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you agree this was a first-degree murder?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Do I agree? Oh --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Planned, premeditated?
CHARLIE ADELSON: The people who killed him planned on killing him, yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you think everyone involved should be convicted?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I think everyone involved should be convicted.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Even the person that hired the hit?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I think anybody who played a role in it, but I wasn't a part of it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you regret that Dan Markel suffered for 14 hours before he died?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I feel horrible.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: He was supposed to die quickly, instantly; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Are you asking me if --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I am.
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. He wasn't supposed to die at all. This was horrible what happened.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did it surprise you that the cops were able to identify the Prius?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Did it surprise me?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yes.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'm not a cop. I don't -- I don't know what -- how cops investigate.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did it surprise you to learn that it's -- it's not a requirement of law to put the person at the scene of a crime to be guilty of a crime?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'm -- listen. I'm not a police detective.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was the police work in this case thorough?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'm sure the -- I'm sure the police did the best they could.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you think that you had done everything properly such that you could never be detected or caught for this?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I wasn't part of this murder at all. You have it wrong.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Katherine Magbanua said that you think you're untouchable. Is that true, Doctor?
CHARLIE ADELSON: That's not true at all.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did your parents drop off money to you on the night of the murder?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I never saw my parents there. You can look at our cell phones, and you'll find that out that we never saw each other.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I did look at the cell phones, and what is on there is your mother texts you, quote, "Outside your house."
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. I mean, look -- look at the tower information.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I think you testified that that meant she was just passing by on the roadway?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She was approaching the area, yeah, to see if I was home.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And do you know what your response was to her text?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. Like, 20 or 30 minutes later, I said “ten minutes."
MS. CAPPLEMAN: "T'm ten minutes out" is what you said.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I think I said “ten minutes," but, yeah, I'm not home.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Doesn't that indicate you're gonna meet them at your house in ten minutes?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I told her to let me know when you're gonna be in the area.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: was the money that Katherine Magbanua got damp?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I never gave her any money that was damp. The money I gave her came out of my safe.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: was it damp?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I took it out of my safe. I put it on the dresser. She put it in her purse.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: why did Garcia and Rivera -- or whoever did it, I guess I should say -- why did whoever did it need to kill someone to extort you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: You gotta -- you gotta ask them.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Well, why couldn't they just come put a gun to your head and say, give me all the money in your safe?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Thank God they didn't.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Thank God they didn't?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Thank God they didn't. I would have gotten killed.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: If Garcia hated you, why would he drive to Tallahassee twice to kill someone you hated?
CHARLIE ADELSON: He was -- it sounds like he was part of the extortion or Katie put him up to it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Doesn't blackmail or extortion usually involve the extortionist having some kind of dirt on the victim?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I know how this was done to me. I know what -- I'm just telling you what happened to me. I don't -- I'm not an expert in it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: If they had come in and threatened to kill you, would you have given them the money in your safe?
CHARLIE ADELSON: If someone came and put a gun to my head, yeah, I would have opened up my safe, and I would have given them the money.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I still don't get how killing Dan Markel advances the fall for them to extort money out of you. Do you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah, I have a theory. They could extort me for life, and I don't think they knew exactly how much I had in the safe. I mean, she knew I had a lot of money in the safe, but this way I could get extorted for life. And that's what happened, and I was paying -- start paying $3,000 a month.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But you could have gotten extorted for life just by the threat of death by a Latin King, couldn't you, Doctor?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I mean, this was -- this was as real of a threat as you get. I mean, these guys aren't messing around.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. You didn't report this after Garcia was arrested, did you? Did not report this after Garcia's arrest?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No, not at all.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. You did keep paying Katherine Magbanua after Garcia's arrest?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I never saw her again.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did not report this after Magbanua's arrest; correct?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did not testify in either of their trials; correct?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I was never contacted to, but, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You were okay with the possibility of them getting away with killing Dan Markel?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I thought the truth was gonna come out in 2019.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: How if the witness who knows something doesn't come forward?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Katie knows what happened and knows I was extorted, and her trial was in ‘19, and I was expecting the truth to come out then.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And that --
CHARLIE ADELSON: Instead, I found out she was having this affair with him on me, and she lied and all this money was going to her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So if her defense had been, I was an innocent conduit to an extortion, you would have backed her up on that --
CHARLIE ADELSON: If she would have come in --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- you would have testified?
CHARLIE ADELSON: -- and told the truth and if -- yeah, for sure. You would have heard the same story.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Where is your family located now? You don't have to be specific. But is your mom and dad, are they still in South Florida?
CHARLIE ADELSON: They -- yeah. They still live in South Florida.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And what about Wendi and the boys?
CHARLIE ADELSON: My parents live about 30, 35 minutes from my sister, and I used to live about 45 minutes from them.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And are they okay, as far as you know, physically today as we sit here?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And are you concerned that because you've told now on the Latin Kings that they're gonna come kill your whole family?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I mean, I just told you that I knew that -- I was told then that Luis Rivera, the head of the Latin Kings, killed Dan Markel. So, I mean, I do have some concern when I get out --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Right. But even after --
CHARLIE ADELSON: -- they're gonna come after me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Sorry. Go ahead.
CHARLIE ADELSON: That's okay.
I said I do have some concern of Latin Kings now that I've spoken -- told what I know.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Oh, what about -- I mean, Rivera was already in custody at one point as well as Garcia and Magbanua. And my understanding is your continued fear was due to other Latin Kings potentially. Is that accurate?
CHARLIE ADELSON: These are highly connected people. Luis Rivera, the head of the Latin Kings, in custody means absolutely nothing. If you think he can't send somebody from the outside, you're wrong.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Right.
SO my question to you is did that happen because you told last -- you told yesterday?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Was I killed yesterday when I was in jail? No.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And nobody in your family has been killed so far?
CHARLIE ADELSON: You're talking about in the last 24 hours?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Right.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Not that I know.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. But you're worried about that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I think now that I've spoken I do have a concern, yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. But not too concerned to remain silent when it's your own butt on the line; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'm here to tell the truth. And yes. Do I have a concern now that I told you what happened? Absolutely.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Your mom tells you on that first wire call that the bump involves "the two of us," referring to yourself and your mom; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes, that's what she said.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And would you agree, prior to your explanation, that that looks pretty incriminating?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I think, if you don't know what happened, you can assume the worst.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Isn't it true that you had to add the bit about confiding your extortion in your mom in order to put that toothpaste back in the tube?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. That's what happened when I got the checks.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Otherwise why would you bring your mom into this?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I didn't want to. when I first told her on the phone and asked her to write the checks, I told her -- I said just -- it's a long story. I brush it off, and she didn't press anything, but I think she was out somewhere. It wasn't until when I picked up the checks that she started pressuring me and saying, This makes no sense. Why are you doing this? You're not dating Katie. And that's when she found out.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But your mom is the most high-strung out of the whole group; right? And she is old and she worries; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I don't think she's super high-strung, but she does worry about her kids.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You don't?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. You've never met her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: well, you said she was, quote, "notorious for making a big deal out of everything."
CHARLIE ADELSON: I mean, she - she overreacts ‘cause she's a mom. I think a lot of moms overreact.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. You could have told her, you know, Katie's down on her luck and I'm just gonna be putting her on the payroll. I mean, you were making enough money. You could tell her to just write checks, couldn't you? Why did you have to tell her it was an extortion from Latin King gang members?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Well -- okay. At that time I didn't know anything about the Latin Kings. But when I -- when I told her what happened, I was thinking that, you know what, it actually would be good if someone knows what happened. In case I get killed, they'd at least know what direction to start looking in.
So until that point, nobody even knew. So I just -- when she started questioning me and questioning me and questioning me, I just said, You know what, I'm gonna tell you, but don't say a thing to Dad. Don't say a thing to Wendi. You gotta promise me -- I didn't want her to ever talk about this again. And that's -- that was the day that she found out is when I got the checks.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What she didn't say on the wire is, it's happening again. I was approached by another extortionist today. Did she say that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. She's talking very carefully.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And you say “carefully," but isn't carefully the same thing as code?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. They're two -- two totally separate things. Do you know the difference?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You weren't really giving her money for a TV, were you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Giving her money for a TV?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: "This TV is probably gonna be about five."
CHARLIE ADELSON: Okay.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: "I need you to bring cash tonight"
CHARLIE ADELSON: I wish she picked another object on Planet Earth other than TV, but TV is code for absolutely nothing. There is no code in this case involving TV. And you keep circling and circling and circling TV. You're wrong.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Is it a coincidence that the repair of the TV that you bought Wendi as a divorce gift, because it was cheaper than hiring a hitman, is your sister's alibi for the murder, and then your mom brings up TV first call on the wire?
CHARLIE ADELSON: It's not an alibi for a murder. She had a broken TV. You gotta ask Lincoln that threw the remote at the TV --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was it a coincidence -- is the TV thing a coincidence? That's what I hear you saying.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Oh, that the repairman was there that day?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yes, sir.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. It's -- that is a coincidence for sure. There's a couple of --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And all --
CHARLIE ADELSON: -- coincidences in this case.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I'm sorry.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I said there's a couple of coincidences in this case. I mean, she had people send her an email to go buy a bottle of the Bulleit Bourbon for their stock-the-bar party, and she was driving to a liquor store to buy a bottle of Bulleit Bourbon on that day at that time. And her friend sent the email, and you have the email in evidence. Like, is that a coincidence? Yeah. Coincidences happen.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: In the "you might not be the right Katie talk,” that doesn't seem to really fit with your theory of the case, does it?
What was your explanation for that, why you kept saying, You might not be the right Katie? I mean, she's definitely the right Katie; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Oh, absolutely. She knew it was. I was implying it was her. I was just trying to say I'm not setting you up, but I need your help.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: On Call B, your mom -- you call your mom back, and you say -- probe her a little bit, and ultimately you say, "You think someone's trying to blackmail you? That's crazy."
why does it sound like this is something that's new and unfathomable to you at that moment?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Well, because I wasn't even following what my mom was talking about on the first call. And on the second call, she shocked me when she said that. And I'd been extorted before, and her saying to bring cash was just -- everything just didn't sound right.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Can we play Clip 4, please. This is from Dolce.
MR. RASHBAUM: I'm sorry. Which one?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Clip 4 from Dolce.
MR. RASHBAUM: Okay.
(Audio recording published in open court. This transcript should not be considered a verbatim record of these proceedings due to inaudibles and inability to distinguish between speakers. It should be noted that the best evidence of the actual content of the digital recording is the digital recording itself.)
(Audio begins:)
CHARLIE ADELSON: If they had any evidence, we would've already gone to the airport. The problem is, even if they bug this, even if they bug your home phone, nobody's going to Cinaudible). But even if they Cinaudible).
KATHERINE MAGBANUA: (Inaudible).
CHARLIE ADELSON: But even if they bug your phone, Cinaudible). Even if they bug your phone, you're still not talking about anything.
(Audio playback concluded.)
BY MS. CAPPELMAN:
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Even if they had any evidence -- the first words out of your mouth on this clip -- even if they had any evidence -- no. Strike.
The quote is "if." You say, "If" --
CHARLIE ADELSON: Right
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- "they had any evidence, we'd have already gone to the airport."
And I know you already testified about this, but does an innocent person say if they had any evidence?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Right. Katie is saying it's police, and I'm saying we're innocent. They're not gonna have any evidence to show we're a part of something, that we were a part of it. If we had any part of this, we'd be going to the airport right now.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Isn't it true --
CHARLIE ADELSON: And I still say the same thing.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- Doctor, that they're not going to have any evidence because you were careful?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. Because we weren't a part of this.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You were smart.
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. We weren't a part of this.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You walled yourself off --
(Simultaneous speaking)
CHARLIE ADELSON: I was sure they were not gonna have evidence --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- from the killers.
CHARLIE ADELSON: -- to show I did something I didn't do, so we're not running to the airport.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You're untouchable; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. We didn't do a murder. I wasn't part of a murder. There's no reason to run to the airport.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: In the next clip, you're discussing what's gonna happen if -- if this person that did the bump goes to the police. And you're going through all these scenarios, you know, these possibilities.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Like, if he goes to the police?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yeah. "If the blackmailer goes to the police, they're gonna say where is the weapon, and he's not gonna know. He's just gonna have hearsay basically. If someone told me they did it, it's not gonna be enough to put the investigation anywhere."
Why are you thinking through the possibility of the blackmailer going to the cops if the blackmailer doesn't have any dirt on you to take to the cops?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I wasn't thinking about the blackmailer. What I was trying to say is I don't know anything about Sigfredo. I don't know anything about this crime. I was trying to tell her that I'm harmless. I don't have any knowledge of what went on. Like, the last thing I wanted is that, now that she's saying it's the police, is someone to come and kill me and think I'm some kind of loose end. So that's why I'm saying that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But that's not what you're saying. You're saying if this is a person that Luis Rivera ran his mouth to and they go to the police, it's gonna be worth zero because they're not gonna know anything other than, hey, my brother told me this.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I don't know if I was saying someone who knows Luis Rivera. I was trying to make the point that I don't know anything.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And then you suggest what they would have to do is get him to wear a wire and get the person to confess, and that's probably what this -- what this could be an effort to do; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: well, they're thinking that we were part of a murder, so that's -- this was the same thing I said before was that this is their theory, so this is a police tactic. And it could be either a bad guy or the police, and this is -- this is how they're pursuing it.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Exactly.
So as long as you keep your mouth shut, you can get away with murder; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No, not at all.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Isn't that --
(Simultaneous speaking)
CHARLIE ADELSON: We didn't -- we don't do a murder --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- what you told Ryan Fitzpatrick?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. Ryan Fitzpatrick is someone who stole over half a million dollars from me.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: That's not my question, sir.
CHARLIE ADELSON: sorry.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you say that to Ryan Fitzpatrick --
CHARLIE ADELSON: No, never. Never at all.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Why do you go into so much detail about rental car examples? Let's start with -- strike that.
Can you agree that the Prius -- you knew that the police were looking for a Prius at the time you met at this Dolce Vita restaurant.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I think it had been released at that time.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And you're -- and you heard the full recording. You're arguing --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Let's play the clip. This is gonna be clip -- I think let's play 7 and 8, please.
MR. RASHBAUM: Is this from Dolce still?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: That's right.
MR. RASHBAUM: Okay.
(Audio recording published in open court. This transcript should not be considered a verbatim record of these proceedings due to inaudibles and inability to distinguish between speakers. It should be noted that the best evidence of the actual content of the digital recording is the digital recording itself.)
(First audio clip begins:)
CHARLIE ADELSON: Because the fact is, is like, even if -- let's say you just got out of my car; right? And then I go ahead and I commit a crime. And then I go -- and you're getting into the car, and I go, yeah, Katie was in my car and Katie got out and she did this horrible crime. Okay.
Then they come and they get the DNA in the car. They go, yep, Katie was in the car. No. Katie sat in the car for two minutes and got the AC and then got out of the car. Katie had nothing to do with me robbing the Burger King
(inaudible).
(Second audio clip begins:)
CHARLIE ADELSON: Outside of that, there's no evidence. Okay? Did -- you know, if you have a car and you can link this person to renting that car that was used at the scene of the crime, okay, but, you know, you have to prove that they were also driving that day too and they never rented it and lent it to a friend.
What if you rented a car today, and I go, Katie, can I just -- can I borrow it for the weekend and I'll bring it back on Tuesday? You go, yeah, sure. So you rented a car. You've been in that car. I drive it to fucking Orlando. I rob the McDonald's in Orlando. I come back and I go, here's the keys, Katie. And you go, okay, thanks. Yeah, you rented it, but -- but what if you were fucking out all weekend and didn't even know I took your car and I did something and I brought it back?
Okay. My point is that I don't have any knowledge of what went on. Evidently this person's either pretending to or does. I don't want someone paying visits to my parents.
(Audio playback concluded.)
BY MS. CAPPELMAN:
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Sounds like you're saying, even if they tracked down the Prius, even if there's DNA or fingerprints in the Prius, meaning, like, they can link someone to the Prius, that"s not gonna be enough evidence to make any arrest in this case.
Is that what you're saying?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No, not at all. What I'm doing is restating --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You've answered my question.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Can I -- can I give you an --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: On redirect you'll have an opportunity.
CHARLIE ADELSON: well, I --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: My question was --
MR. RASHBAUM: Judge, he should be able to answer the question.
JUDGE EVERETT: One moment.
BY MS. CAPPLEMAN
MS. CAPPLEMAN: My question was --
JUDGE EVERETT: We're not just wildly arguing. Hold on.
Mr. Adelson, please answer the question.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Okay.
BY MS. CAPPELMAN
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I can just ask you a yes-or-no question.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Please allow me to answer your question.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Can I?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yeah.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Okay. Sure.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Knock yourself out.
CHARLIE ADELSON: what I was saying to Katie is that the information she had just told me in the car about Sigfredo not being there when the crime was committed -- she told me that Sigfredo was high on drugs at the hotel and that Luis had rented a car and that he's the one who killed Dan. And I'm restating to her that I don't have any knowledge of what went on and that all I know is that Sigfredo wasn't even there when this happened. So that's what I'm restating to her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: That Sigfredo can't be caught even if he's connected to the car --
CHARLIE ADELSON: That Sigfredo -- I knew Sigfredo wasn't the one who killed Dan.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Wouldn't it be good for you -- "cause you know now that Sigfredo is the extortionist; right? She just told you that in the car?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Sigfredo, yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. And wouldn't it be good for you if the police investigation into the Prius led to the arrest of the killer/extortionist?
CHARLIE ADELSON: If they arrested the people who'd killed Dan?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yeah.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I knew the extortion would stop. As long as I kept my mouth shut, I'd be safe.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Right. So why are you trying to argue to her that, like, the car is not gonna lead anywhere, and they're not gonna be able to do anything with the car?
CHARLIE ADELSON: That's -- that's not what I'm saying. I was just saying that I know that Sigfredo wasn't the one who killed him.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you say on this recording if there's a --
"If they're a bad guy, there's two ways of dealing with it. Go ahead and contact the police. They'll] contact him," the blackmailer, "and arrange a setup. Take him down, and he'll proffer 10 years, and now tell us everything you know or else you're gonna serve ten years in prison.
"Next thing you know, this person is singing. He's calling out your name. My parents are gonna have to say -- gonna have to tell the story of what happened.”
Singing about what? About the extortion?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. That's -- I think you're reading it wrong or -- I know the audible is bad, but ...
MS. CAPPLEMAN: what would --
CHARLIE ADELSON: Are those -- are those the words?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yes, sir.
What would the extortionist -- and now I'm referring to the one that contacted your mother --
CHARLIE ADELSON: The Latin King extortionist.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Well, they're both Latin Kings; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. The second extortion.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: What would they have to sing about?
CHARLIE ADELSON: The second extortion would be singing and talking about the first extortion where they learned their information from.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: who cares? That doesn't have anything to do with you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: well, when they catch the first extortion, Katie's tied to them, and I'm tied to Katie. They're gonna come talk to us, and we're gonna be in danger when we tell them what happened.
So that's -- we were -- I was saying, if they catch the second, they're gonna turn in on the first, and that's the same thing I said yesterday.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You gave precise instructions to Katherine Magbanua on what she was to say when she called the phone number; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you do that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Absolutely.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And then you say, quote “You'd better kill him because he's gonna be a big problem and he knows who you are. If he can't do it, I'll have someone else do it.”
Aren't you telling her that if Garcia can't handle this problem and kill whoever is behind this, you will have someone else do it?
CHARLIE ADELSON: You're reading it totally wrong.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: It's a yes-or-no question, sir.
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. You're wrong.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: When Dan Markel's murder was taking too long to happen, didn't you tell Katherine Magbanua that if she couldn't get it done you would find someone else to do it?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I've never said that either.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And then you say in the recording -- I'm back to Dolce now -- "Yeah. And when the -- guess what? When the F-ing police show up and there's a doctor, there's an oral surgeon standing there with a dead gang member in his F-ing driveway, they're not gonna come down too hard on me."
So you knew you'd be believed if you went to the police; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I didn't -- I didn't know I'd be believed, but I feared for my life.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And then you say, “So help me God, if they fuck with my family, it's gonna be fucking Nazi shit because this will be done. Do you know what I'm saying? I mean, Katie, I don't care what I spend. Okay. I swear to God."
What is "Nazi shit"?
CHARLIE ADELSON: That's an expression that Katie would use to describe someone that's going crazy ‘cause I think the Nazis were absolutely crazy people. So I'm saying I'm gonna get somebody to go crazy on the guy that's trying to extort my mom for money. I'll pay someone to go threaten him and to scare him.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Not --
CHARLIE ADELSON: I was not talking about killing anybody.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Well, you say the word "kill." Yes?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. Oh, when you -- when you're putting the words in my mouth? Well, we can do that sentence.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: No, sir. Do you say the word “kill"?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I'm talking about if Sigfredo's coming after you, he's such a dangerous guy, you'd have to kill him to stop him. That's the only thing you could do. I'm not talking about killing the extorter. I'm talking -- that second extortion.
I'm saying that if Sigfredo's coming after you, the only thing that you could do is you'd have to kill him to stop it. I'm not talking about killing anybody. I'm talking about that's the only way that you can stop Sigfredo from coming after you because you would have to kill him. And that's exactly what I said there. You're wrong. That's exactly what I said.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. Thank you.
Nazis kill; right? Isn't that, like, their primary objective?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I think Nazis are insane, crazy people.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: That exterminate; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: That kill, yes. But they're -- but they're crazy. And she would -- that was an expression she would use, and that's when I used it to her, but basically saying I'm gonna have someone go crazy on this guy. I could have used the word "crazy." I thought it was interchangeable.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Isn't what you're doing here on this portion of the tape feeling her out to make sure Garcia doesn't have any bad feelings toward you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I -- when I said it, yeah, ‘cause I thought he could have been behind the second extortion. I think I've said that before.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And you go into, like, how your relationships didn't overlap. You never disrespected him. And you mention that, you know, you don't think that they -- I assume you mean these other people, associates that have contacted your mom -- wouldn't want to mess with his connections; right? Do you remember?
CHARLIE ADELSON: You're talking about the copycat extortion.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Right.
And then you ask if he's too far removed or can he still make a call. Are you referring to Garcia in that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. Exactly.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So can Garcia make a call to try to figure out who this is?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Could Garcia help stop the second extortion. Someone's doing a piggyback extortion on the first. That's exactly what I said.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: On the topic of conversation for Katherine Magbanua, don't you say, "I look for things to do. I show you. That's the difference. You don't ask me for shit.”
You said all those things?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Absolutely. That's proving what I've been saying all along is that I didn't think she was part of this, so I was doing things to keep her happy from time to time. I -- Ethan's birthday I brought up there. I gave her $300. I helped her out with her car when her car was broken. For sure.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And then you say, “Listen. You giving somebody money is not an admission of any kind of guilt.”
Would paying the money have made her look guilty?
CHARLIE ADELSON: That's what -- that's what she was saying to me is she said it's the police and you can't pay the police. They're gonna think you're a part of a murder, and they're gonna arrest you.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But if it was an extortionist, it could have created a monster; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: And if you don't pay the extortionist, you could get killed.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: So when you --
CHARLIE ADELSON: Or you could keep getting extorted.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I'm sorry. Go ahead.
CHARLIE ADELSON: I said if you don't pay the extortionist, you could get killed, or you could keep getting extorted.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But your main concern was that, if we pay, this guy will think I'm an ATM machine; right? He'll keep coming back again and again and again. Don't you articulate that to Katherine Magbanua?
CHARLIE ADELSON: If it was a -- if it was an extorter, that was one of the -- one of the concerns. The other concern was not paying him and getting killed.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But what you say is -- well, I don't remember the quote exactly. The main concern, what I'm most worried about is that they're gonna keep coming back for more; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I don't remember using the word "the main concern."
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But what you don't say in here is, like what you for your homeys have been doing to me for two years?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Of course not. I don't want her to think I'm setting her up.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: why are you explaining extortion and how extortion works to Katherine Magbanua?
CHARLIE ADELSON: In there?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yeah.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Because I know.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: But she knows too, doesn't she?
CHARLIE ADELSON: So I repeat myself. I do that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You also explain it to your mother how extortion works, and she has known about it for two years too; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: From what I've -- what I told her, yeah. I'm reminding her.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Then you say, "If someone's messing with you, they're messing with me. And if someone's messing with me, they're messing with you. It's one and the same." Right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes, I said that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You're in this together; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: we're both innocent.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You were very obviously relieved on the wire when you came to the conclusion that this was law enforcement. would you agree with that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Very relieved, yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: All right. And at that same time that on the wire you're expressing relief -- or I should say shortly after all the relief expressed on the wire, we've got the arrest of Katherine Magbanua; right?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: No. Okay.
would you agree that it goes relief on the wire --
CHARLIE ADELSON: Mm-hmm.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- then arrest of Katherine Magbanua?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Do you want to give me dates ‘cause Kathy was arrested six months later.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Okay. Can we agree --
(Simultaneous speaking)
CHARLIE ADELSON: The wire was in April, and she was arrested in October --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- that you were very relieved on the wire and that six months later Katherine Magbanua was arrested?
CHARLIE ADELSON: She was arrested six months later; correct.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And six months later, after you were completely relieved on the wire, you began to exhibit these extreme behavior changes that we've heard about. And what is your explanation for that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Because I thought I'd be falsely arrested.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you encourage Katherine Magbanua to reconcile with Garcia? That's a yes or no.
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes, for sure I did.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Was that a good decision for her or a good decision for you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Neither.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You heard your lawyer say that you talk a lot. Do you agree with that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes, I do.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And you talk a lot on the wire; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes, I do.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you agree you're not a direct person?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Am I a direct person?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: There's a lot of circular talking on the wire.
CHARLIE ADELSON: However you want to describe my mannerisms of talking, you're welcome to describe.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I'll do that in closing.
What I'm asking is do you agree --
CHARLIE ADELSON: I mean --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: -- that you are like that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I think at times I'm direct, for sure.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you have a way of saying things without really saying it?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I think I'm pretty direct with things.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you think you can talk your way out of this?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No, I don't. I'm not part of a murder.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Who are they gonna believe -- right? -- an oral surgeon or a gangster?
CHARLIE ADELSON: That's extorting me in my driveway and coming and threatening me?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You're untouchable; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. I'm not part of this murder. You have it wrong.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: There's a lot of talk about going to the police on the wire, which I think we've well established did not happen, but you've always gone to the police before; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I've had other things that I've gone to the police for. Yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You've gone to the police in reference to something to do with your child's mother? Yes or no?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: You've gone to the police when you were threatened to be blackmailed over something with a woman back in 2015. Do you remember that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No, I didn't go to the police.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Did you send a letter from your lawyer indicating that her -- describing her actions as an attempted shakedown and indicating that, Not only will Dr. Adelson never pay a settlement, he will undoubtedly prevail and seek attorneys’ fees against your client"?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Right. That's -- that's a civil complaint, and somebody was making an unfounded civil complaint and threatening filing a lawsuit. And an attorney handled the civil complaint. The police were never notified. But it was a civil suit.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: It was somebody trying to shake you down for money?
CHARLIE ADELSON: It was an unfounded claim from a civil suit to me and another dentist that it was involving.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: It was a claim that potentially had criminal implications as well, wasn't it, Doctor?
CHARLIE ADELSON: For me?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yes.
CHARLIE ADELSON: No. There was never a police investigation with that.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: In 2018 did you report an aggravated assault where a vehicle was driving aggressively and narrowly avoided striking you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I had a reporter almost kill my 10-week-old puppy dog that I was walking because I was going for a walk in the morning and he was stalking outside my house.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: In 2018 did you report an aggravated assault where a vehicle was driving aggressively and narrowly avoided striking you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: It was more he almost hit my dog too, but, yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do your nephews deserve to know the whole truth about who killed their father?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. Now they do.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do Danny's parents deserve to know what happened to their son?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Absolutely.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And you say you knew -- I mean, you now say you knew a big piece of what happened; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Do you feel bad about not volunteering that to Danny's parents?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I feel a sense of relief that now I was able to tell everybody what finally happened.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Yesterday, almost 10 years later; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: And that's because you didn't just know a big piece of it, you were a big piece of it, weren't you, Doctor?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I -- I was extorted, and I knew a lot, yeah.
MS. CAPPLEMAN: One moment, please, Your Honor.
Nothing further, Your Honor.
JUDGE EVERETT: Before we redirect, do any members of the jury need to take a break before we continue with the examination? The bailiff will escort you back to the jury room.
We'll have a brief ten-minute break before we have redirect.
(The jury exited the courtroom.)
JUDGE EVERETT: Everyone can be seated.
We will reconvene at 11:20.
MR. RASHBAUM: I'm not gonna talk to the witness now.
JUDGE EVERETT: What's that?
MR. RASHBAUM: TI won't talk to the witness now.
JUDGE EVERETT: Very well.
MR. RASHBAUM: I just want that on the record.
JUDGE EVERETT: You can sit at counsel table, sir.
(Recess taken.)
JUDGE EVERETT: Everyone can be seated. You can bring them in.
MR. RASHBAUM: May Mr. Adelson take the stand?
JUDGE EVERETT: Yes. Come back and take the stand, Mr. Adelson.
(The jury entered the courtroom.)
JUDGE EVERETT: Everyone can be seated.
Members of the jury, I was informed by an unnamed source that some baked goods have made their way into the jury room. If there is a red velvet cake and no one brought enough to share, contempt powers will be exercised.
Mr. Rashbaum, you may redirect your client.
MR. RASHBAUM: Thank you.
REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. RASHBAUM
MR. RASHBAUM: Do you remember when Ms. Cappleman asked you about that text on August 25th, 2014, when Katie said to lose her number? Do you remember that -- those questions?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah.
MR. RASHBAUM: Isn't it true that within 12 hours of that text you're offering her help on her car with an individual name Sully?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes. I remember that.
MR. RASHBAUM: why are you offering her that help just within hours after that text?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Because I wanted to keep Katie happy, and she was getting mad at me, and I needed her protection. I didn't want her to stop protecting me.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, there was a lot of questions about timing, and I want to make sure that everyone has this clear ‘cause it's really important.
In 2014 did you think Katherine Magbanua was extorting you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No, not at all.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, after she testi- -- after she went to trial and testified and after you saw the evidence of the money that was in her accounts, did you know that you were wrong and, in fact, she was the person who was extorting you, either with Sigfredo or without him?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. That wasn't until 2019, five years later.
MR. RASHBAUM: So when Ms. Cappleman shows you all of those text messages and emails in 2014 that seemed friendly --
CHARLIE ADELSON: Mm-hmm.
MR. RASHBAUM: -- at that point and in 2016 that seemed friendly and all the gifts, at that point in time, what did you think she was?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I thought she was protecting me and she got dragged into this the way I did.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, do you remember when Ms. Cappleman showed you that indictment?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: And it had your name on it and Katherine Magbanua’s name on it as co-conspirators?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah.
MR. RASHBAUM: Do you remember when she directly asked your sister in this courtroom if she participated in a birthday gift for your dad of the murder of Professor Markel?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I remember her asking that.
MR. RASHBAUM: So her name's not in that indictment, but were you in this courtroom when the first thing in opening the State put on the board was a picture of all of you because their theory is that all of you participated in this murder? Right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah. They said me, my mom, my dad, my sister.
MR. RASHBAUM: And their theory is wrong about your sister; correct?
CHARLIE ADELSON: A hundred percent.
MR. RASHBAUM: Just like it's wrong about you?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Hundred percent.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, Ms. Cappleman asked you about you paying over time as opposed to just paying the money all up front. why did you pay over time?
CHARLIE ADELSON: The reason I didn't pay it all off is because it became like a life insurance policy, and I felt like every month when I paid I felt like they weren't gonna kill me. Because if they killed me, they wouldn't get the money next month.
MR. RASHBAUM: Ms. Cappleman asked you, does it make sense? Why wouldn't they just rob you? Do you remember she asked you that question?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yeah.
MR. RASHBAUM: Were you in the courtroom -- do you recall -- when you were in the courtroom, do you recall Luis Rivera saying he just wanted to rob the lady? Do you recall that?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: And do you recall he said that Sigfredo Garcia told him that Katie told him, We can't just rob the lady; we have to do a murder?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, you don't know -- you were told in the car that Luis Rivera was the killer. You've learned since that Sigfredo Garcia was the shooter; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I learned that -- yeah. I learned that he was convicted of shooting Dan and -- but in 2016 when I was sitting in the car, Katie was telling me that he went up in the rental car and that he was high on drugs and that it was Luis Rivera, the head of the Latin Kings, that killed Dan.
MR. RASHBAUM: She was protecting her husband.
CHARLIE ADELSON: She was -- that's what she was telling me. At the time I thought she wasn't a part of it and she was telling me the truth.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, Ms. Cappleman asked you about other times that you have called the police since this case began -- well, not since this case began, but since the events of this case.
She asked you about a photographer and a car. She asked you about a woman who's a child -- the mother of your child when you called the police. In either of those circumstances, was someone threatening your life?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No, not -- not at all.
MR. RASHBAUM: In either of those circumstances, was someone threatening your family's life?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Not at all.
MR. RASHBAUM: In either of those circumstances, had within hours before someone been shot in broad daylight in their driveway?
CHARLIE ADELSON: No, not at all.
MR. RASHBAUM: By the way, you're heard on the wire about at some point your jet ski getting stolen; right?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: And do you recall what you say on the wire about your jet ski getting stolen?
CHARLIE ADELSON: I said I don't even want to even catch the --
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Objection. Hearsay, Your Honor.
MR. RASHBAUM: Well, I'll ask it a different way.
BY MR. RASHBAUM
MR. RASHBAUM: When your jet ski was stolen, did you call the police?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Objection. Relevance.
JUDGE EVERETT: Sustained.
You may continue.
MR. RASHBAUM: May we go sidebar, Judge?
JUDGE EVERETT: Approach.
(Sidebar conference was had on the stenographic record as follows:)
JUDGE EVERETT: Go ahead.
MR. RASHBAUM: She has brought into this --
JUDGE EVERETT: Keep your voice down.
MR. RASHBAUM: She's brought into this case that he does call the police. On the wires -- and I don't need to get into the wire -- he says, I didn't call the police when my jet ski was stolen because I don't think the police can protect me, and I don't want to get someone thrown in jail.
I don't expect -- I'm not trying to ask him what he said on the wires. I understand that objection. But I should be able to ask him did you call the police when your jet ski was stolen. He's gonna say no, and I should be able to say why. It's a --
JUDGE EVERETT: Response?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: Relevance, Judge. I was -- he says on the wires, I don't go to the police. I don't talk to the police. Cindiscernible whispering) then he does. Other extraneous matters where he hasn't gone to the police, I just think it's far afield at the relevance.
MR. RASHBAUM: She's making it seem that the only time he didn't go to the police is in this extortion which she doesn't believe happened. I should be able to show another example of when he didn't go to the police. She opened the door to it. Two questions.
JUDGE EVERETT: Well, I believe this started with, first, the comment from the Dolce Vita video. But as to that point, every time that he's never called the police really is not going to change the outcome of this case one way or another.
MR. RASHBAUM: I'm giving one example, which, by the way, is referenced in the wires so that they have an understanding of what it means.
JUDGE EVERETT: It is referenced in the wire?
MR. RASHBAUM: Yes.
JUDGE EVERETT: Which call?
MR. RASHBAUM: It's in -- jet -- the jet ski is in -- I can't tell you offhand, but it is in one of the calls that is in evidence.
JUDGE EVERETT: Is there any disagreement from the State concerning the jet ski being raised in the wires themselves other than Sigfredo running him off the road?
MS. CAPPLEMAN: I don't think -- right. That's the only one I'm aware of is in the wires that are in evidence.
JUDGE EVERETT: That's the one that I recall from listening.
I'll accept what you're saying as an officer of the court. However, every opportunity he's ever had to call the police and didn't, this is really where it's beginning to go far afield.
MR. RASHBAUM: I'm not gonna do that.
JUDGE EVERETT: I'll let you finish with this line of questioning. We need to move on from there.
MR. RASHBAUM: Two questions.
(Sidebar conference was concluded.)
JUDGE EVERETT: You may continue with your examination.
BY MR. RASHBAUM:
MR. RASHBAUM: Do you recall your jet ski getting stolen?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Yes.
MR. RASHBAUM: Did you call the police when your jet ski got stolen?
MR. RASHBAUM: why not?
CHARLIE ADELSON: Because I didn't want the people who knew where I lived to come back if I put them in prison.
MR. RASHBAUM: Now, Ms. Cappleman asked you several questions about why now are you telling what really happened. Tell the jury why you're now telling what happened.
CHARLIE ADELSON: If I don't tell everyone what happened now, I'm gonna spend the rest of my life in prison for something I didn't do.
MR. RASHBAUM: I have no further questions, Your Honor.
JUDGE EVERETT: You may step down, Mr. Adelson.
(witness excused)