(RepublicanPress.org) – Americans are fascinated by crime programs. Skeptical? Take a look at your latest cable guide or the list of movies and series that depict an insider’s look at the world of murder investigations. The nation recently got to observe a real-life drama play out on television after Florida law enforcement officials released footage of a woman accused of participating in a murder-for-hire plot getting arrested while attempting to flee to Vietnam, a non-extradition country with the US.
On January 17, media outlets exploded after officials from the Miami-Dade Police Department released body cam footage showing officers arresting Donna Adelson at Miami International Airport in November 2023. The 73-year-old grandmother stands accused of orchestrating the 2014 murder of her former son-in-law, Daniel Markel.
Police officers can be seen approaching Adelson and her husband Harvey and asking to see their passports. The cops quickly seized their documents and advised Adelson they were placing her under arrest. Confused bystanders can be observed gawking at the spectacle as they boarded their aircraft.
Cops initially struggled to take her cell phone. She tried to keep it in her grip, protesting that she needed to call her lawyer. Her husband tried to intercede on her behalf, asking the offices why they needed her phone. They explained that they were seizing it as evidence.
Prosecutors from the Florida State Attorney’s Office for the 2nd Judicial District recently charged Adelson with first-degree murder, solicitation to commit first-degree murder, and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. They claim she hired her son, Charles, to kill Daniel Markel, a Florida State law professor and former husband of her daughter, Wendi. She and Daniel were in the midst of a bitter custody battle at the time.
Wendi wanted to take their two children to South Florida to be closer to Adelson and other family members. Markel pushed back against the idea, and prosecutors allege the Adelson family subsequently conspired to have him eliminated.
Adelson pleaded not guilty to the charges at her formal arraignment hearing on December 11. On January 22, she waived any conflicts of interest related to her attorney, Daniel Rashbaum. He spearheaded her son’s defense. Charlie Adelson was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy, and solicitation by a Leon County, Florida, jury after an eight-day trial in early November.
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