Eddie Varnes — Direct/Cross/Redirect
143 linesJUDGE EVERETT: Please call your next witness.
MR. ZELMAN: Eddie Varnes.
JUDGE EVERETT: Do you swear or affirm the testimony you're about to give will be the truth?
EDDIE VARNES: I do.
JUDGE EVERETT: You may take your seat.
EDDIE VARNES: Thank you, sir.
JUDGE EVERETT: Please adjust the microphone if you need to.
EDDIE VARNES: We'll do it. Okay.
MR. ZELMAN: Thank you. Good afternoon, sir. Can you please introduce yourself to the jury?
EDDIE VARNES: Yes. My name is Eddie Varnes.
EDDIE VARNES: Excuse me. E-D-D-I-E.
EDDIE VARNES: Last name V as in Victor. A-R-N-E-S.
MR. ZELMAN: How are you employed, sir?
EDDIE VARNES: I'm a private investigator.
MR. ZELMAN: How long have you been a private investigator?
EDDIE VARNES: I've been a private investigator on my own for ten years. Prior to that, a total of 27 years.
MR. ZELMAN: 27 years as a private investigator?
EDDIE VARNES: Yes, 27 years as an investigator. The last— yes.
MR. ZELMAN: What type of casework do you handle?
EDDIE VARNES: Mostly criminal at this point in time. I also do insurance, civil stuff and insurance, but I've been exclusively pretty much criminal for about the last 10 years.
MR. ZELMAN: How do you get your work?
EDDIE VARNES: I market. I have my own company. I try to market and get work, and—
MR. ZELMAN: That's how you do it.
EDDIE VARNES: That's all I can say.
MR. ZELMAN: Were you retained as a private investigator by Mrs. Adelson's original attorneys?
EDDIE VARNES: Yes, sir.
MR. ZELMAN: And when was that?
EDDIE VARNES: May of 2024.
MR. ZELMAN: I want to specifically direct you to when you were asked to speak with an individual by the name of Patricia Byrd.
EDDIE VARNES: Yes, sir.
MR. ZELMAN: Do you remember when that was?
EDDIE VARNES: That was August 30th, 2024.
MR. ZELMAN: And— did you go to the jail to meet with her?
EDDIE VARNES: Yes, sir. I received a call from prior defense counsel saying there may be a person that has information on the case.
EDDIE VARNES: He gave me the name, so at that point I had traveled to Leon County Jail. Got there about 11 o'clock and then was able to meet with Miss Byrd.
MR. ZELMAN: Did— Now, there are different kinds of visits that you can do at the jail. Did you meet with— how did you meet with her?
EDDIE VARNES: I met with her in an attorney booth.
MR. ZELMAN: So you don't need to schedule an appointment for that?
EDDIE VARNES: No, sir. Just normal business hours.
MR. ZELMAN: Yes, sir. And tell us— how did— without telling us what was said, how did the conversation go?
EDDIE VARNES: Basically, I met her and I introduced myself and explained to her who I was, and I said, "You understand you might have some information on the case," and she said yes, she might have some information on Donna Adelson's case.
MR. ZELMAN: Yes, sir. Okay. What did she have information about?
EDDIE VARNES: She told me she had some information about what Katie Magbanua had stated to her back in 2021 when they were incarcerated together.
MR. ZELMAN: Now— Did she tell you that Donna Adelson offered her any sort of compensation to testify in her case?
EDDIE VARNES: No, sir.
MR. ZELMAN: Um, specifically, did Miss Byrd tell you that Donna Adelson offered to buy her a piece of land?
EDDIE VARNES: No, sir.
MR. ZELMAN: Did she— did Miss Byrd tell you that Donna Adelson offered to buy her a trailer for that piece of land?
EDDIE VARNES: No, sir.
MR. ZELMAN: Did Miss Byrd tell you Miss Adelson offered to buy her a vehicle?
EDDIE VARNES: No, sir.
MR. ZELMAN: What about veneers for her teeth?
EDDIE VARNES: No, sir.
MR. ZELMAN: So she didn't tell you any of those things that Donna Adelson— that she is saying Donna Adelson offered?
EDDIE VARNES: Absolutely not.
MR. ZELMAN: Did she tell you that Donna Adelson confessed to her?
EDDIE VARNES: Absolutely not.
MR. ZELMAN: Did you record your interview with Miss Byrd?
EDDIE VARNES: I was instructed by prior defense counsel to not record the interview. That wasn't unusual because we spoke to a lot of— or I spoke to several prior inmates throughout those two or three months.
EDDIE VARNES: So to answer your question, no, sir, I did not record the interview.
MR. ZELMAN: Now, did she— did Miss Byrd talk extensively about Miss Magbanua?
EDDIE VARNES: Yes, she did.
MR. ZELMAN: Did she say that Donna Adelson told her to say those things?
EDDIE VARNES: No, absolutely not.
MR. ZELMAN: Did Ms. Byrd know who Donna Adelson was prior to meeting Ms. Adelson?
EDDIE VARNES: No, she did not.
MR. ZELMAN: Had she heard the name Donna Adelson?
EDDIE VARNES: No, she didn't. She actually told me, when she met her in the jail — like, she'd never heard of Donna's name. She'd met her like maybe four weeks earlier inside the jail at that point in time.
MR. ZELMAN: Now, when Ms. Byrd is telling you about Ms. McDonough, did you caution her in any way about her cooperating on Donna's behalf?
EDDIE VARNES: Yes, sir, I did. She told me what she told me, and I said, "Ms. Byrd, you know, the state's going to — you know, if you're a potential witness in this case, you're going to be put on the stand. They're going to say you were given something to say this."
EDDIE VARNES: "Our client told you to say this."
EDDIE VARNES: And she said, absolutely not. They can say that all they want — that's the truth.
MR. ZELMAN: Did Ms. Byrd tell you that Donna told her to say anything other than what was true?
EDDIE VARNES: No.
MR. ZELMAN: Was it your understanding that she was waiting for a plea offer in her own case?
EDDIE VARNES: She made mention to me — I asked her about her charges. I wanted to get to know her a little bit, so she told me why she was in, and we discussed that a little bit. And then she said, "I'm expecting an offer soon."
MR. ZELMAN: That was — what you said? "Expecting an offer soon" — from?
EDDIE VARNES: "I'm expecting an offer from the state soon."
MR. ZELMAN: And that was just over a year ago?
EDDIE VARNES: Yes, sir. That was August 30, 2024.
MR. ZELMAN: Just a moment, Your Honor.
MR. ZELMAN: Nothing further at this time.
JUDGE EVERETT: Cross-examination.
MS. DUGAN: Yes, sir.
MS. DUGAN: So, Mr. Varnes, you said that you interviewed Ms. — Byrd because Donna Adelson's prior defense counsel said that this may be a person who has information?
EDDIE VARNES: That's correct.
MS. DUGAN: But that was prior to July 25, when the state listed Patricia Byrd as a possible witness for the state, right?
EDDIE VARNES: That was August 30, 2024.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. Okay. So in August of '24, the defense, for some reason, would have thought this person may have information and gone to you to interview them.
EDDIE VARNES: Correct.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. And defense counsel asked you about this, but you said you did not record your interview with her?
EDDIE VARNES: No.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. You could have taken a recorder, like a pocket recorder, into the jail and recorded it, right?
EDDIE VARNES: I could have, but I was instructed not to record the statement. Yes, sir.
MS. DUGAN: Now, after hearing this statement about how Magbanua basically lied on the Adelsons, killed Dan Markel just to extort them for their money — is that right?
EDDIE VARNES: That's not exactly right. You're in the ballpark, but that's not exactly what she told me.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. Can you tell me again exactly what she told you?
EDDIE VARNES: Yeah, I'm going to refer back to my report a little bit, if that's okay. I spoke to Patricia, and she said that they were sitting at a table talking about the case, and then Byrd quoted the following that Magbanua had told her, and that was: "After we had him killed, we tried to get the money, because we knew her boyfriend and family had a lot of money. We knew that they had money because the family offered the man a million dollars apiece to move to South Florida."
EDDIE VARNES: So at that time, Patricia — and she and Katie, excuse me, said, "Why not kill him, get the money ourselves?" So then Byrd replied with, "Girl, that's crazy as hell, that's extortion." And Katie replied to her and said, "My kids have got to be raised and go to college as well."
MS. DUGAN: So I have a question about that. So according to what you say Byrd told you — yes, Byrd used the word "extort," "extortion"? That's the word Patricia Byrd used?
EDDIE VARNES: Yes, ma'am. That's correct.
MS. DUGAN: Okay, now — When you heard this story that would be very helpful, right, to Donna Adelson's case — did you call her prior defense counsel and say, "Listen to what this lady's telling me. Can I have permission to record this? Can I do a recorded interview with her? This is going to be very important"?
MS. DUGAN: You didn't do that, did you?
EDDIE VARNES: I did call them immediately when I left the jail, and I sent them an email with my summary within an hour.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. Did you ask to go then do a recorded interview with her so you would have evidence of that?
EDDIE VARNES: No, I didn't ask.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. And did they ask you to?
EDDIE VARNES: They didn't ask me, no. I told them what they told me, and if they have any additional instructions for me, I'll gladly go do what they ask me to do.
MS. DUGAN: All right. Now, if — if Ms. Byrd, after all that — do you know why the defense never listed Patricia Byrd as a witness?
EDDIE VARNES: I don't know the specific reason. I'm not the attorneys on the case. That's — you know —
JUDGE EVERETT: State, allow the witness to answer the question before cutting off, please. Please, Ms. Dugan — please wait for him to finish the answer.
MS. DUGAN: Please repeat, please.
MS. DUGAN: Do you know why either defense counsel never listed Patricia Byrd as a witness?
EDDIE VARNES: I have no idea.
MS. DUGAN: You were hired by prior defense counsel, you said?
EDDIE VARNES: That's correct.
MS. DUGAN: Okay. And you did charge for your services.
EDDIE VARNES: I did charge for my services, yes, ma'am.
MS. DUGAN: That's all. Thank you.
JUDGE EVERETT: Redirect examination?
MR. ZELMAN: Just one moment.
MR. ZELMAN: Mr. Varnes —
EDDIE VARNES: Yes, sir.
MR. ZELMAN: The state just asked you, according to what you say Byrd said to you — isn't that, in fact, what Ms. Byrd said to you, not just what you claim?
EDDIE VARNES: No, that's exactly what she said to me.
MR. ZELMAN: Okay. And you've been working in this industry for how many years?
MS. DUGAN: I would object to improper bolstering, Judge.
JUDGE EVERETT: Sustained.
MR. ZELMAN: Judge, the state attacked his credibility.
JUDGE EVERETT: We're not doing speaking objections. I ruled. Ask your next question.
MR. ZELMAN: Would it surprise you, sir, to learn that, contrary to what the state implied —
MS. DUGAN: Objection to relevance as to what he would be surprised by.
JUDGE EVERETT: Overruled. Let him finish his question first then you can object.
MR. ZELMAN: Thank you, Your Honor. Would it surprise you to learn that defense — prior defense counsel — in fact listed Patricia Byrd on the witness list that they submitted prior to this case being set for trial in September of 2024?
EDDIE VARNES: Would that surprise me? No.
MR. ZELMAN: Okay. And so, contrary to what Ms. Dugan indicated on cross-examination, it was your understanding that Ms. Byrd was listed as a defense witness?
EDDIE VARNES: Yes, sir. That is correct.
MR. ZELMAN: Just a moment, Your Honor.
MR. ZELMAN: Nothing further, Your Honor.
JUDGE EVERETT: Will this witness be recalled by either party?
MR. ZELMAN: He'll be retained, but he's free to go on about his business.
JUDGE EVERETT: Mr. Varnes, do not discuss your testimony with any other person. You may step down.
EDDIE VARNES: Sir, thank you.