Juan Marcos Vega GMKM
Discussed third party — a co-defendant on Luis Rivera's federal Latin King RICO indictment raised by the defense as a briefly investigated alternative-suspect lead.
People
119 people across the trial record.
Victim
Dan Markel
Florida State University law professor and father of two who was shot and killed at his Tallahassee home on July 18, 2014 — the victim whose death underlies every case in this record.
Markel is the fixed reference point of the entire case record: his death is the charged offense in each prosecution, and the physical, medical, surveillance, and phone evidence introduced across the trials is organized around his final morning. His divorce and custody filings, entered as exhibits, are also the primary documentary record of the dispute prosecutors identified as the motive. Anyone tracing how the case evolved from the accused shooters through to the alleged solicitors will find his role largely constant while the surrounding proof accumulates.
229 mentions
Defendants (4)
Katherine Magbanua KM
Katherine Magbanua — charged as an intermediary in the murder-for-hire of Dan Markel, tried as a defendant in both the Garcia/Magbanua 2019 trial and the 2022 Magbanua retrial, then a prosecution witness in the 2023 Charlie Adelson and 2025 Donna Adelson trials.
Also appeared in GMCADA
3,641 lines · 14 appearances
Charlie Adelson CA
Charlie Adelson — Wendi Adelson's brother, named across all four archived trials as the alleged organizer of Dan Markel's murder and a testifying defendant in his own 2023 trial.
1,838 lines · 8 appearances
Donna Adelson DA
Mother of Charlie and Wendi Adelson, discussed across three earlier Dan Markel murder proceedings and convicted on all three counts as the defendant in the 2025 Donna Adelson trial.
27 lines
Sigfredo Garcia GM
Sigfredo Garcia — the man convicted as the gunman in the 2014 killing of Dan Markel, tried as a defendant in 2019 and discussed as a central figure in the three later Markel-case trials.
9 lines
Judges (3)
Stephen Everett CADA
Leon County Circuit Court
Judge Stephen Everett presided over both the Charlie Adelson and Donna Adelson trials.
3,348 lines
James C. Hankinson GM
Court
Judge who presided over the joint Garcia–Magbanua trial, ruling on evidence and instructions and overseeing deliberations, Garcia’s verdict, and Magbanua’s mistrial.
2,719 lines · 17 appearances
Robert R. Wheeler KM
Leon County Circuit Court
Judge who presided over the Magbanua retrial in Leon County Circuit Court, managing hearsay rulings, Crawford challenges, and jury instructions before guilty verdicts on all counts.
1,995 lines
Prosecution (4)
Georgia Cappleman GMKMCADA
State Attorney's Office
Chief Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman, lead prosecutor for the State of Florida in all four Dan Markel murder-for-hire trials.
15,916 lines · 162 appearances
Sarah Kathryn Dugan KMCADA
State Attorney's Office
Second-chair prosecutor across the Markel conspiracy trials, handling opening statements and key evidentiary examinations.
6,016 lines · 50 appearances
Anna Norris GM
State Attorney's Office
Second-chair prosecutor who presented much of the State’s digital-forensics, cell-site, wiretap, and financial-record evidence through direct, redirect, and rebuttal.
2,387 lines · 28 appearances
Eddie Evans GMKMCADA
State Attorney's Office
Prosecution attorney who argued the State's positions on jury instructions and trial procedure across four Tallahassee murder-case trials.
164 lines
Defense (9)
Christopher DeCoste GMKM
Defense team (Magbanua)
Defense attorney for Katherine Magbanua in both the 2019 Garcia–Magbanua joint trial and the 2022 Magbanua retrial.
8,047 lines · 64 appearances
Tara Kawass GMKMDA
Defense team (Magbanua)
Defense attorney for Katherine Magbanua in the Garcia-Magbanua 2019 trial and the Magbanua 2022 retrial, and named in testimony during the Donna Adelson 2025 trial.
5,073 lines · 22 appearances
Dan Rashbaum CADA
Defense team (Charlie Adelson)
Lead defense attorney for Charlie Adelson, later referenced as Charlie's counsel during Donna Adelson's trial.
4,939 lines · 38 appearances
Saam Zangeneh GM
Defense team (Garcia)
Sigfredo Garcia’s lead trial counsel, who delivered the defense opening and closing and handled most cross-examinations and contested evidentiary arguments.
3,773 lines · 46 appearances
Jackie L. Fulford DA
Defense team (Donna Adelson)
Defense co-counsel for Donna Adelson who delivered the opening statement and closing argument and cross-examined key prosecution witnesses on the absence of direct evidence.
2,121 lines · 21 appearances
Joshua D. Zelman DA
Defense team (Donna Adelson)
Lead defense attorney for Donna Adelson who conducted examinations of prosecution and defense witnesses, litigated evidentiary disputes, and argued jury instruction positions throughout the nine-day trial.
1,546 lines · 31 appearances
Kathryn Meyers CA
Defense team (Charlie Adelson)
Defense co-counsel in the Charlie Adelson trial who conducted the Kristin Adamson examination and proposed corrections to jury instructions before deliberations.
134 lines · 2 appearances
Kristen Kawass GMKM
Defense team (Magbanua)
Defense attorney for Katherine Magbanua, appearing at the jury-instruction conferences in both the 2019 Garcia–Magbanua trial and the 2022 Magbanua retrial.
98 lines
Mauricio Padilla GM
Defense team (Garcia)
Sigfredo Garcia’s co-counsel, whose courtroom role centered on a brief cross-examination of the medical examiner about autopsy documentation and late forensic contact.
32 lines · 1 appearances
Co-conspirators (3)
Anthony Ortiz GMKMCADA
Anthony Ortiz, known as "King Anthony," a Latin Kings associate of Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera who died in 2017 and never testified, but whose July 19, 2014 phone activity was discussed across four trials.
Luis Rivera GMKMCADA
Luis Rivera — cooperating co-defendant who testified as a prosecution witness in all four Dan Markel murder trials, giving the only firsthand account of the killing.
3,972 lines · 17 appearances
Expert witnesses (13)
Kate Butler DA
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
FDLE forensic document examiner who established through handwriting comparison that Donna Adelson authored the script jailhouse informant Bernhardt alleged Adelson wrote for her.
53 lines · 2 appearances
Anthony Clark GMKMCADA
District 2 Medical Examiner's Office
Forensic pathologist who performed the July 19, 2014 autopsy of Dan Markel and testified as a State witness in four Markel-case trials.
320 lines · 8 appearances
Christopher Corbitt GMKMCADA
Tallahassee Police Department
Tallahassee Police Department sergeant and cell-site analyst who testified as the State's phone-records expert in all four Markel-murder trials.
4,914 lines · 43 appearances
Michael Dillmore GMKM
Michael Dillmore — Tallahassee Police Department digital forensics investigator who testified as a witness in both the 2019 Garcia–Magbanua trial and the 2022 Magbanua retrial.
224 lines · 6 appearances
Kelsey Guay DA
Defense digital forensics expert who challenged the prosecution's CDR frequency counts and cell site location analysis for Donna Adelson's AT&T records.
172 lines · 5 appearances
Mary Hull GMKMCADA
Mary Hull Financial Investigations
Mary Hull is a certified fraud examiner and state financial investigator who testified for the prosecution as a forensic accounting expert in all four Dan Markel murder trials.
2,243 lines · 20 appearances
William Kornegay GM
Tallahassee forensic specialist who searched the crime scene for prints and casings and received two projectiles recovered during Dan Markel's autopsy.
32 lines · 1 appearances
Joanne Maltese GMKMCADA
Tallahassee Police Department
Retired Tallahassee Police Department forensic specialist who processed the Dan Markel crime scene and testified as a State witness in four trials.
332 lines · 8 appearances
James Keith McElveen KMCADA
Florida State University
Forensic audio engineer who authenticated the covert Dolce Vita and Matsuri restaurant recordings as a prosecution witness in the Magbanua retrial, Charlie Adelson trial, and Donna Adelson trial.
175 lines · 8 appearances
Elizabeth Richey GMKM
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Elizabeth Richey — Florida Department of Law Enforcement firearms analyst who testified for the State as an expert witness in both the 2019 Garcia–Magbanua trial and the 2022 Magbanua retrial.
118 lines · 5 appearances
Marcia Rodriguez GMKM
Retired Tallahassee Police Department digital forensic investigator who testified in both trials about the Cellebrite extraction of Wendi Adelson's iPhone 4.
68 lines · 5 appearances
John Sawicki GMKM
Digital-forensics and cell-tower expert who testified for Sigfredo Garcia in the Garcia/Magbanua 2019 trial and was listed but never called by the defense in the 2022 Magbanua retrial.
154 lines · 4 appearances
Robert Shawn Yao GM
TPD forensic supervisor whose assumption-dependent bullet-path opinion favored a shooter near six feet tall; he acknowledged formal trajectory analysis was not possible.
86 lines · 5 appearances
Law enforcement (20)
Special Agent Undercover #3 (Matsuri) CA
FBI
FBI undercover agent who testified about the covert April 2016 Matsuri restaurant surveillance operation targeting Charlie Adelson. Identity sealed by the court.
27 lines · 2 appearances
Sherry Bennett GMKMCA
Tallahassee Police Department
Tallahassee Police Department investigator who testified about wiretap-recording custody and a recorded witness interview, and whose investigative work was discussed across the Dan Markel prosecutions.
56 lines · 3 appearances
Officer Bradshaw GMKM
Tallahassee Police Department
Tallahassee Police officer who responded to the scene of Dan Markel's shooting; discussed in testimony but did not testify.
Bill Brannon GMKMCADA
Tallahassee Police Department
Tallahassee police officer who guarded the Trescott Drive perimeter on the day of Dan Markel's shooting and testified as a prosecution witness in four trials.
300 lines · 12 appearances
Louis Bronstein GMKMCADA
FBI
FBI special agent who recorded the April 20, 2016 Dolce Vita restaurant meeting between Charlie Adelson and Katherine Magbanua and testified as a witness in four trials.
189 lines · 10 appearances
Brock Dietz GMKM
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Forensic video analyst who testified for the State in the 2019 Garcia–Magbanua trial and the 2022 Magbanua retrial about Premier Gym and city-bus footage, with the 2022 record additionally covering ATM still images.
97 lines · 5 appearances
Stephen Downing GMKM
Florida Highway Patrol
Florida Highway Patrol trooper, later sergeant, who wrote the June 4, 2014 speeding citation to Luis Rivera and testified about it for Sigfredo Garcia's defense.
78 lines · 3 appearances
Deputy Franklin DA
Leon County Sheriff's Office
Correctional deputy at Leon County detention. Potential defense witness who declined to meet defense counsel.
Jonathan Grossman GMDA
Miami-Dade Police Department
Miami-Dade law enforcement investigator who testified for the prosecution as an evidence-collection witness in the Garcia-Magbanua 2019 trial and the Donna Adelson 2025 trial.
167 lines · 6 appearances
Corey Hale KMCA
Tallahassee Police Department
TPD Sergeant Corey Hale — referenced as an investigator in one case, and a corroborating witness in the other.
52 lines · 2 appearances
Craig Isom GMKMCADA
Tallahassee Police Department
Retired Tallahassee Police Department lead detective on the Dan Markel homicide, and the prosecution's primary investigative witness across the Markel-related trials.
1,934 lines · 20 appearances
Oscar Jimenez Jr. GMKMCADA
FBI
Retired FBI special agent who conducted the April 19, 2016 undercover street approach to Donna Adelson in Miami and testified about it in four Dan Markel murder trials.
414 lines · 11 appearances
Brian Kendall DA
FBI
Plantation police officer on federal task force duty who authenticated the covert audio-video recording from the April 2016 Matsuri restaurant surveillance operation.
20 lines · 2 appearances
Sara Newhouse DA
Tallahassee Police Department
TPD victim advocate called by the defense who testified that Donna Adelson sounded shocked when Wendi called to report Dan Markel's shooting on July 18, 2014.
20 lines · 2 appearances
Jason Newlin GMKMCADA
Leon County State Attorney's Office
Jason Newlin, an investigator with the Tallahassee State Attorney's Office, who testified in three trials arising from the Dan Markel case.
674 lines · 12 appearances
Carrie Rosana GMKM
Florida Department of Law Enforcement forensic biology analyst who tested DNA swabs from Dan Markel's car and garage door.
18 lines · 1 appearances
Patrick Sanford GMKMCADA
FBI
FBI special agent and lead investigator on the Dan Markel murder case, who testified as a prosecution witness in all four trials.
4,856 lines · 33 appearances
David Sims GMKMCADA
Tallahassee Police Department
Retired Tallahassee police sergeant who was the first officer to reach Dan Markel's car, called as a prosecution witness in all four trials.
134 lines · 8 appearances
Josh Turner DA
Leon County Sheriff's Office
Leon County detective called by the defense to authenticate jail surveillance footage and confirm the timeline of jailhouse informant Bernhardt's witness-tampering scheme.
95 lines · 3 appearances
Undersheriff DA
Leon County Sheriff's Office
Leon County Undersheriff who testified about jail protocols for attorney visits to Donna Adelson. Name not stated on record.
10 lines
Attorneys (7)
Gary Cohn CA
Attorney the Adelson parents consulted about legality of million-dollar relocation offer.
Chuck Collins GMKM
Defense attorney for Luis Rivera, referenced in both the 2019 Garcia–Magbanua trial and the 2022 Magbanua retrial.
David Collins GM
One of Luis Rivera's attorneys, late-listed by the State as a possible rebuttal witness during 2019 disputes over depositions and attorney-client privilege.
John Lauro GMKMCADA
Attorney for witness Wendi Adelson, appearing across four trials during colloquies about her immunity and Fifth Amendment posture.
17 lines
David Marcus GMKMDA
David Marcus, an attorney named on the record in connection with Charlie Adelson, mentioned in testimony across three trials without ever appearing as a witness or party.
Shannon Novi DA
Wendi's original divorce attorney before Kristin Adamson.
Michael Weinstein DA
Family friend and attorney. Source of 'don't talk to police' advice Donna relayed to Robert.
Witnesses (36)
Kristin Adamson CADA
Wendi Adelson's family law attorney, called as a defense witness in both trials.
269 lines · 6 appearances
Wendi Adelson GMKMCADA
Dan Markel's ex-wife, who testified as a state witness under immunity in all four Tallahassee murder-for-hire trials.
3,085 lines · 20 appearances
Robert Adelson DA
Donna Adelson's oldest child, called by the prosecution to testify about her controlling family role, management of Wendi's divorce, and her flat reaction to news of Dan Markel's murder.
205 lines · 2 appearances
Linda Bailey DA
Board-certified family law expert called by the defense to testify that the Adelson-Markel dissolution was routine and that Markel's post-judgment filings were legally groundless.
306 lines · 3 appearances
Thomas Balboni GMKM
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Fingerprint examiner and investigator with the State Attorney's Office, Second Judicial Circuit, who testified as an expert in the 2019 Garcia–Magbanua trial.
56 lines · 4 appearances
Drina Bernhardt DA
Prosecution jailhouse informant who testified that Donna Adelson wrote a fabricated script directing her to deliver false testimony about Katherine Magbanua in exchange for payments.
164 lines · 3 appearances
Shelby Blank GM
Tallahassee Memorial Hospital general surgeon who treated Dan Markel after the shooting and testified about his injuries, resuscitation, and death.
16 lines · 1 appearances
Andrew Brown GM
StarMetro employee who authenticated July 18 bus footage, then testified that the first exhibit was a prosecution-edited composite with only a brief, indistinct passenger view.
70 lines · 4 appearances
Patricia Byrd DA
Prosecution jailhouse informant who testified that Donna Adelson confessed in custody and attempted to recruit her to spread a fabricated account implicating Katherine Magbanua.
105 lines · 3 appearances
Ann Elizabeth Cunningham DA
Defense character witness and long-time friend of Donna Adelson, whose testimony about Donna's reaction to the murder was challenged by CDR records on cross-examination.
192 lines · 5 appearances
Marissel Descalzo DA
Donna Adelson's former criminal defense attorney who testified under privilege waiver about post-verdict conversations regarding Donna's mental state and travel plans.
44 lines · 3 appearances
Ryan Fitzpatrick KMCADA
Witness in the Magbanua retrial, Charlie Adelson trial, and Donna Adelson trial; friend of Charlie Adelson whose testimony on family attitude, cash practices, and post-arrest demeanor recurred across the case.
317 lines · 7 appearances
James Geiger GMKMCADA
Neighbor of Dan Markel who testified as a prosecution eyewitness in all four Tallahassee murder trials.
278 lines · 10 appearances
Ron Gutterson DA
Defense character witness and family friend who testified the Adelsons' post-verdict overseas travel was a temporary media escape with a firm return date.
59 lines · 2 appearances
Len Harvey GM
Longtime Premier Health and Fitness director who authenticated July 18 surveillance footage and its full unedited source; he had reviewed about 75% of the footage.
61 lines · 4 appearances
Erika Johnson GMKMCADA
Adelson Institute for Aesthetics
Longtime front-desk employee and assistant at the Adelson Institute who testified for the State in three trials that Katherine Magbanua never worked at the dental practice and who authenticated the intercepted call she placed to Charlie Adelson when law enforcement arrived seeking Magbanua's employment records.
340 lines · 12 appearances
Tim Kelly DA
Tallahassee realtor called by the defense to testify about a November 2011 home-showing tour he arranged for the Adelsons at Dan Markel's request.
30 lines · 2 appearances
Tarana Khan DA
Defense private investigator who testified in rebuttal to jailhouse informant Patricia Byrd, denying any inducement was offered during a January 2025 jail interview.
51 lines · 3 appearances
Jeffrey Lacasse GMKMCADA
Florida State University professor and Wendi Adelson's former boyfriend, who testified for the prosecution in all four Dan Markel murder trials about a confidential statement she made to him five days before the killing.
1,097 lines · 18 appearances
Clariza Lebredo GMKMCADA
Adelson Institute for Aesthetics
Longtime dental assistant at the Adelson Institute who testified for the prosecution in four Markel-related trials that Katherine Magbanua never worked at the practice.
347 lines · 11 appearances
Keith Leland GM
Creative Preschool employee who recalled a grayish-green or silver Prius during Dan Markel’s July 18 drop-off, but could not see inside or identify any occupant.
57 lines · 4 appearances
Steven Lutes GM
JPMorgan Chase security specialist who authenticated ATM footage of a silver Prius, while stressing it could not show whether the transaction was a deposit or withdrawal.
67 lines · 2 appearances
Ruth Markel GMDA
Mother of murder victim Dan Markel; victim impact speaker at the Donna Adelson 2025 verdict and sentencing, and a person discussed in testimony at the 2019 Garcia–Magbanua trial.
12 lines
Yindra Velazquez Mascaro GMKMCADA
Childhood friend of Katherine Magbanua who testified for the State in the 2019 Garcia and Magbanua trial and the 2022 Magbanua retrial, and was referenced in the two later Adelson trials.
1,056 lines · 10 appearances
Ramzi Naber KM
Former owner of Club Fate who testified about the nightclub's modest finances and Katherine Magbanua's brief employment, countering her claimed tip income.
158 lines · 3 appearances
Chadrick Nobles GM
Tallahassee witness who testified that he sold cocaine to Garcia and Rivera and rented them a motel room the night before Dan Markel was shot; both defenses challenged him.
212 lines · 4 appearances
Waldo Mesa Nunez GMKM
Comfort Rental
Rental-car employee who authenticated the June 2014 rental agreements and testified for the State in both the 2019 joint trial and the 2022 retrial.
222 lines · 5 appearances
Jessica Rodriguez GMKMCADA
Luis Rivera's former partner, discussed across the Markel-related trials and a prosecution witness in the 2022 Magbanua retrial.
464 lines · 3 appearances
Stuart Schlazer GM
Music teacher who was on the phone with Dan Markel at the shooting and recalled Markel mentioning someone or something "unfamiliar" in his driveway.
14 lines · 2 appearances
Daren Schwartz GM
Miami rental-car company owner who rented a green Toyota Prius to Luis Rivera and authenticated the vehicle's SunPass and GPS records.
63 lines · 2 appearances
Richard Shagran DA
Defense character witness and 37-year Adelson family friend who testified to provide an innocent explanation for the one-way ticket to Vietnam.
58 lines · 3 appearances
June Umchinda GMKMCADA
June Umchinda, Charlie Adelson's former girlfriend, who testified as a prosecution witness in four Dan Markel murder trials.
748 lines · 12 appearances
Eddie Varnes DA
Defense private investigator who testified about an unrecorded jail interview of jailhouse informant Patricia Byrd, introducing the basis of the defense's extortion counter-narrative.
63 lines · 3 appearances
Stephen Webster CADA
Florida attorney who represented Dan Markel in his custody dispute and testified for the prosecution; separately named as Charlie Adelson's divorce attorney in phone records from the morning of the murder.
59 lines · 2 appearances
Justin Noble Willits GM
FDOT SunPass records custodian who authenticated toll data and described a Prius-account search, while noting a transponder did not identify a specific vehicle.
51 lines · 1 appearances
Ronald Witt GM
T-Mobile records custodian who authenticated tower-dump data in the 2019 trial; he did not identify any phone, subscriber, or location.
35 lines · 1 appearances
Mentioned (19)
Harvey Adelson GMKMCADA
Dentist and co-owner of the Adelson Institute, husband of Donna Adelson and father of Charlie and Wendi Adelson; discussed in all four trials but never a witness in any of them.
Stephanie Carmona GMKMCA
Sigfredo Garcia's girlfriend, known as "Shrimp," discussed as a location reference point but never a witness.
Jerome Obed GMKMCADA
Broward Dermatology operator and Charlie Adelson's former roommate who employed Katherine Magbanua; discussed in four trials but never a witness.
Sully Dawson GM
Eco-Friendly
Sully Dawson was the mechanic Sgt. Christopher Corbitt believed was tied to phone entries connecting Charlie Adelson, Katherine Magbanua, and Sigfredo Garcia.
Whitney Kick GMCA
Former girlfriend of Charlie Adelson, named by other witnesses but never a witness herself.
Jane McPherson CA
Wendi's friend and doctoral program colleague. Named Lacasse as potential suspect to TPD.
Maria Rivera GM
Luis Rivera’s sister, whom he described as his closest sibling; he testified that he left the murder-payment envelope at her home without telling her its contents.
Shelly Markel GM
Dan Markel’s sister, named during a dispute over exempting family members from witness sequestration for possible voice-authentication testimony; she did not testify.
Amy Manka GM
Amy Manka was identified as Katherine Magbanua's former jail cellmate and the subject of an unrecorded, investigator-initiated 2019 interview.
Annie Diaz KM
Mother of Rivera's children. Normandy Isle residence relevant to cell phone location analysis.
Brenda Ward GM
Brenda Ward was identified as a Leon County jail inmate who met twice with SAO investigator Jason Newlin in unrecorded 2019 meetings that she initiated.
Dave Atell CADA
Peripheral figure named in testimony as one of Wendi Adelson's ex-boyfriends.
Fabian Radoslovich KM
Optima Realty employer who paid Magbanua in cash April–June 2016.
Imran Hussain GMKM
Author of a September 2016 tip letter to the State Attorney's Office that pointed investigators toward Juan Marcos Vega.
Jennifer Mosley GMKM
An inmate named as the author of a December 2016 letter offering information about Luis Rivera, discussed in both the Garcia/Magbanua 2019 trial and the 2022 Magbanua retrial.
Leanback GMKM
A third party described in testimony as the outside contact who relayed Luis Rivera's federal prison messages to Sigfredo Garcia.
Lincoln Adelson DA
Dan Markel and Wendi Adelson's son.
Phil Markel GM
Dan Markel’s father, named during a dispute over exempting family members from witness sequestration for possible voice-authentication testimony; he did not testify.
Roman Adelson DA
Dan Markel and Wendi Adelson's son.