Juan Marcos Vega KM
Connected to the Markel murder per phone tip from Imran Hussain.
People
91 people across the trial record.
Victim
Dan Markel
Dan Markel was the murder victim — an FSU law professor and father of two shot in his Tallahassee driveway on July 18, 2014 — whose killing formed the sole charged offense across all three trials.
Markel is the named victim in the charged offense across all three trials and the evidentiary anchor for the motive narrative; his divorce and custody litigation records, autopsy findings, crime-scene physical evidence, and identifying information — including his vehicle tag recovered from a defendant's day planner — constitute load-bearing exhibits throughout the multi-trial archive.
163 mentions
Defendants (3)
Katherine Magbanua KM
Convicted defendant who testified in her own defense at her murder trial and later as the prosecution's central cooperating witness in both Adelson trials.
Also appeared in CADA
2,372 lines · 8 appearances
Charlie Adelson CA
Wendi Adelson's brother and named co-conspirator in the Markel murder-for-hire; testified as sole defense witness in his own trial and was convicted of first-degree murder in November 2023.
1,837 lines · 8 appearances
Donna Adelson DA
Adelson family matriarch; discussed-person in trials 1-2, defendant in trial 3; convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and solicitation to commit first-degree murder in the Dan Markel killing.
27 lines
Judges (2)
Stephen Everett CADA
Leon County Circuit Court
Presiding circuit court judge in both Adelson murder-for-hire conspiracy trials before the Leon County Circuit Court.
3,348 lines
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 (3)
Georgia Cappleman KMCADA
State Attorney's Office
Chief Assistant State Attorney and lead prosecutor for the State across all three Adelson-Magbanua trials.
11,945 lines · 111 appearances
Sarah Kathryn Dugan KMCADA
State Attorney's Office
Second-chair prosecutor who delivered opening statements and anchored financial, cell-site, and motive evidence threads across all three Markel murder-for-hire conspiracy trials.
6,016 lines · 50 appearances
Eddie Evans KMCADA
State Attorney's Office
Prosecution attorney who argued the state's positions on jury instruction disputes at charge conferences in all three trials.
107 lines
Defense (7)
Dan Rashbaum CADA
Defense team (Charlie Adelson)
Lead defense attorney for Charlie Adelson in his 2023 trial; referenced in testimony as a discussed third party during Donna Adelson's 2024 trial.
4,939 lines · 38 appearances
Christopher DeCoste KM
Defense team (Magbanua)
Defense co-counsel in the Magbanua retrial who led the extended cross-examination of cooperating hitman Luis Rivera and drove the alternative-motive theory that Garcia acted on personal obsession.
4,322 lines · 28 appearances
Tara Kawass KMDA
Defense team (Magbanua)
Defense co-counsel for Katherine Magbanua in the retrial and her attorney at arrest, through whom investigators relayed a cooperation offer.
2,797 lines · 15 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 KM
Defense team (Magbanua)
Defense co-counsel in the Charlie Adelson trial who argued jury instruction positions at the charge conference and cited appellate authority on exhibit playback access.
63 lines
Co-conspirators (4)
Sigfredo Garcia KMCADA
Convicted triggerman in the Dan Markel murder, discussed across all three trials as the hitman whose cell data, financial movements, and relationship to Katherine Magbanua were central to the prosecution's evidentiary chain.
Anthony Ortiz KMCADA
Deceased Latin King and Rivera associate whose uninvestigated July 19 phone activity and Rivera's mid-trial phone-handoff claim became a recurring defense investigative-gap argument across all three trials.
Luis Rivera KMCADA
Cooperating codefendant hitman who drove the getaway vehicle during the Markel murder and testified as the prosecution's only eyewitness to the killing across all three trials.
2,056 lines · 10 appearances
Expert witnesses (9)
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 KMCADA
District 2 Medical Examiner's Office
Prosecution forensic pathologist who performed Dan Markel's autopsy and testified to a two-shot sequence, cause of death, and manner of death across all three trials.
232 lines · 6 appearances
Christopher Corbitt KMCADA
Tallahassee Police Department
Tallahassee Police Department sergeant and prosecution cell-site analyst who testified across all three trials presenting call detail records, tower dump findings, and digital forensics linking the Adelson family and co-conspirators to the Markel murder.
3,361 lines · 19 appearances
Brock Dietz KM
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
State forensic video analyst who authenticated surveillance footage compilations from gym cameras, ATM images, and bus cameras for the prosecution's vehicle-tracking exhibits.
25 lines · 2 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 KMCADA
Mary Hull Financial Investigations
Prosecution forensic accounting expert who presented financial pattern analyses of Katherine Magbanua, Luis Rivera, Sigfredo Garcia, and the Adelson family across all three trials.
1,428 lines · 9 appearances
Joanne Maltese KMCADA
Tallahassee Police Department
Retired TPD forensic specialist who documented the Trescott Drive crime scene and testified to physical evidence, casing absence, and close-range stippling across all three trials.
217 lines · 6 appearances
James Keith McElveen KMCADA
Florida State University
Prosecution forensic audio expert who authenticated enhanced covert restaurant surveillance recordings in all three trials.
175 lines · 8 appearances
Elizabeth Richey KM
Florida Department of Law Enforcement
FDLE firearms analyst who testified that the two projectiles recovered from Dan Markel were fired from the same firearm, consistent with a .38 Special or .357 Magnum revolver.
39 lines · 2 appearances
Law enforcement (17)
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 KMCA
Tallahassee Police Department
TPD investigator who authenticated a Rodriguez impeachment recording as a defense witness at trial 1 and was named by defense counsel as present at Magbanua proffer sessions at trial 2.
41 lines · 2 appearances
Bill Brannon KMCADA
Tallahassee Police Department
TPD Officer #510, prosecution witness in all three trials, who testified to observing a Honda Odyssey van make an immediate turnaround at his Trescott Drive perimeter roadblock on the day of the Markel shooting.
144 lines · 7 appearances
Louis Bronstein KMCADA
FBI
FBI Special Agent who operated concealed recording equipment at the April 20, 2016 Dolce Vita restaurant meeting between Charlie Adelson and Katherine Magbanua and authenticated the resulting recording for the prosecution across all three trials.
132 lines · 7 appearances
Stephen Downing KM
Florida Highway Patrol
Florida Highway Patrol trooper. Also referred to as Trooper/Officer Downing.
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 DA
Miami-Dade Police Department
Miami-Dade detective who authenticated the search warrant executed at Donna Adelson's Brickell condominium and the Vietnam-destination luggage and visas recovered there.
77 lines · 2 appearances
Corey Hale KMCA
Tallahassee Police Department
TPD investigator referenced in Trial 1 testimony as conducting an early witness interview and called as a prosecution witness in Trial 2 to corroborate the timing of a key civilian disclosure and confirm suspect clearance.
52 lines · 2 appearances
Craig Isom KMCADA
Tallahassee Police Department
Retired TPD lead detective and the prosecution's primary investigative witness in both Magbanua trials.
1,073 lines · 10 appearances
Oscar Jimenez Jr. KMCADA
FBI
Retired FBI special agent who personally executed the April 2016 undercover bump operation against Donna Adelson and appeared as a prosecution witness across all three trials.
283 lines · 8 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 KMCADA
Leon County State Attorney's Office
SAO investigator; defense witness on the Rivera proffer timeline in Trial 1 and prosecution document custodian for State's Exhibit 60 in Trial 3.
540 lines · 8 appearances
Patrick Sanford KMCADA
FBI
FBI Special Agent and lead Markel case investigator; prosecution's principal evidentiary witness across all three trials.
3,243 lines · 19 appearances
David Sims KMCADA
Tallahassee Police Department
Retired TPD sergeant and first law enforcement officer on scene at the Markel shooting; prosecution witness in all three trials.
84 lines · 6 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 (6)
Gary Cohn CA
Attorney the Adelson parents consulted about legality of million-dollar relocation offer.
Chuck Collins KM
Rivera's defense attorney (Collins father-son team).
John Lauro KMCADA
Retained witness counsel for Wendi Adelson; appeared in all three trials to place her Fifth Amendment posture and immunity grant on the record.
15 lines
David Marcus KMDA
Attorney identified as Charlie Adelson's counsel, referenced in testimony for contacting the lead detective following Magbanua's 2016 arrest.
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 (27)
Kristin Adamson CADA
Wendi Adelson's board-certified family law attorney, called as a defense witness in both trials to characterize the Adelson-Markel divorce as legally routine and contest the prosecution's relocation-motive theory.
269 lines · 6 appearances
Wendi Adelson KMCADA
Dan Markel's ex-wife; prosecution witness under immunity in all three trials; central figure in the alleged custody-driven motive for Markel's 2014 murder.
2,657 lines · 14 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
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
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
Michael Dillmore KM
Defense exhibits foundation witness who testified about Cellebrite extraction of Garcia's phone and processing of Charlie Adelson's iCloud data.
57 lines · 2 appearances
Ryan Fitzpatrick KMCADA
Former close friend and one-time business partner of Charlie Adelson who testified in all three trials on Charlie's character, cash-payment practices, behavioral changes, and a post-murder statement.
317 lines · 7 appearances
James Geiger KMCADA
Dan Markel's next-door neighbor and the prosecution's opening witness across all three trials, who heard the shooting, observed the fleeing Prius, discovered Markel dying in the garage, and called 911.
217 lines · 6 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
Erika Johnson KMCADA
Adelson Institute for Aesthetics
Adelson Institute front-desk employee and prosecution witness in two trials who authenticated the intercepted call she placed to Charlie Adelson when law enforcement arrived seeking Katherine Magbanua's employment records.
178 lines · 6 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 KMCADA
FSU social work professor and Wendi Adelson's former boyfriend who testified across all three trials to her July 13, 2014 confidential disclosure that Charlie Adelson had explored hiring a hitman to kill Dan Markel.
865 lines · 14 appearances
Clariza Lebredo KMCADA
Adelson Institute for Aesthetics
Dental assistant at the Adelson Institute for nearly 40 years; prosecution witness in all three trials on office staffing, payroll controls, and Katherine Magbanua's non-employment.
224 lines · 8 appearances
Ruth Markel DA
Mother of Dan Markel. Delivered victim impact statement at Donna Adelson sentencing (Day 9).
12 lines
Yindra Velazquez Mascaro KMCADA
Prosecution witness in Trial 1 who testified to Magbanua's cover-story framing of the Markel murder as a car accident; cited only as a cell site location landmark in Trials 2 and 3.
606 lines · 5 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
Waldo Mesa Nunez KM
Comfort Rental
Former Comfort Rent-A-Car employee who authenticated the rental records placing Sigfredo Garcia at the Miami airport counter on June 2, 2014.
134 lines · 3 appearances
Marcia Rodriguez KM
Records custodian who authenticated Cellebrite extraction data from Wendi Adelson's iPhone 4 for the prosecution.
19 lines · 3 appearances
Jessica Rodriguez KMCADA
Prosecution witness in Trial 1 who testified about a 2014 package delivery at her Miami apartment linking Magbanua to a payment scene; named but uninvolved in Trials 2 and 3.
464 lines · 3 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 KMCADA
Former girlfriend of Charlie Adelson; prosecution witness in all three trials on his cash practices, behavioral changes following key arrests, and Donna Adelson's statements about the Markel investigation.
565 lines · 7 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 post-divorce custody proceedings and was concurrently serving as Charlie Adelson's divorce lawyer, placing him in phone contact with both men on the morning of the murder.
59 lines · 2 appearances
Mentioned (12)
Harvey Adelson KMCADA
Charlie Adelson's father and Adelson Institute co-owner, discussed across all three trials through financial transfers, cell records, covert recordings, and a post-conviction proffer placing him at the murder payment delivery.
Jerome Obed KMCADA
Broward Dermatology operator and Charlie Adelson associate whose practice employed Katherine Magbanua, named peripherally in financial and jailhouse informant testimony across all three trials.
Stephanie Carmona KMCA
Sigfredo Garcia's girlfriend known as "Shrimp," whose Normandy Isle address recurs in cell-site testimony as Garcia's last known phone location before signal loss on July 19, 2014.
Jane McPherson CA
Wendi's friend and doctoral program colleague. Named Lacasse as potential suspect to TPD.
Annie Diaz KM
Mother of Rivera's children. Normandy Isle residence relevant to cell phone location analysis.
Carrie Rosana KM
Mentioned in testimony. Also spelled Rosanna.
Dave Atell CADA
Wendi Adelson's ex-boyfriend referenced in wiretap evidence and identified as a South Florida businessman across two trials.
Fabian Radoslovich KM
Optima Realty employer who paid Magbanua in cash April–June 2016.
John Sawicki KM
Mentioned in testimony.
Lincoln Adelson DA
Dan Markel and Wendi Adelson's son.
Roman Adelson DA
Dan Markel and Wendi Adelson's son.
Whitney Kick CA
Charlie's girlfriend immediately before June Umchinda.