Georgia Cappleman's Entire Closing Argument In Donna Adelson's Murder-For-Hire Trial

Video Description

Florida Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman gave a two-hour closing argument in Donna Adelson's murder-for-hire trial in Tallahassee, Tennessee, today (Thursday, September 4, day 9). This is her entire argument. Cappleman has been a licensed attorney in Florida since 2002. She earned her juris doctor from Florida State University College of Law. 08:33 "Wendi filed her petition for divorce on September 10 of 2012, and the defendant was right in the middle of it." 16:18 "She made it crystal clear in these emails that she had no respect for these boys father's wishes for them regarding religious practices." 22:10 "Dan Markel knew that Wendi's parents and their considerable resources were a big part of why this divorce litigation was dragging on." 37:10 "One thing Dan Markel wrote in this email is, quote, 'I fear that the children's best interests are not being pursued so much as what Grandma wants.' If he only knew how legitimate that fear really was." 47:45 1st time Garcia and Rivera followed Markel: "They rented the car June 2, 2014" 55:43 "A text is sent from Wendi's phone to Dan Markel on July 6 of 2014 at the time this text was sent. ... The phone was present at the South Beach condo where the defendant lived. Dan Markel confirms, yes, I'm going to be in town to get murdered. Not specifically, but he's asked, Are you going to be in town July 14 through the 18th? Those are the dates the killers were here." 01:01:10 "Dan Markel is rushed to the hospital. He's treated, but the damage is catastrophic." 01:04:39 "Charlie answers the door with a gun in his hand. He's extremely amped up. He tells Magbanua, 'And my parents just left.'" 01:11:41 "Rob Adelson also noted a complete lack of curiosity on the part of his mother about this murder in the family." 01:17:10 "She's the original code talker." 01:25:26 "June Umchinda noticed these changes in Charlie's behavior as well, but she also noted a major change in this defendant's demeanor after the bump." (The bump was an FBI undercover operation meant to generate or 'bump' activity on the Adelsons' wire tapped phone lines." "The defendant told June she felt Danny was haunting her from the grave. Why would she make that statement, unless she felt guilty about having wronged Dan Markel?" 01:38:50 "Charlie expresses concern that if they pay the money, they'll create a monster that will demand more and more and more money." Case background: Donna Adelson, 75, is accused of orchestrating the murder-for-hire of her former son-in-law because she wanted her daughter and grandchildren to move to Miami. Adelson is accused of conspiring with her son Charlie Adelson more than a decade ago to hire hitmen to kill Dan Markel, who was a Florida State University law professor and the father of her two young grandsons. Her defense is that she had no knowledge of what hitmen Luis Rivera and Sigfredo Garcia were going to do, and that prosecutors are only focusing on her hatred for Markel to show she had a motive to want him murdered, when there's no evidence she was actually involved. Rivera, a former gang leader, is serving a 19-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and testifying against Garcia, who fired the fatal shots, as well as the woman who linked Garcia to the victim: Katherine "Katie" Magbanua, who was Garcia's on-again, off-again girlfriend and also was in a relationship with Adelson's son Charlie Adelson. Garcia was convicted in 2019 and Magbanua in 2022. Rivera also testified in Charlie Adelson's trial in 2023, and Adelson was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. After their son's trial, Donna Adelson and her husband, Harvey, bought one-way tickets to Vietnam. Police arrested her on the jetway at Miami International Airport on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and solicitation of first-degree murder. Her trial is expected to go through Sept. 5 in Leon County Circuit Court in Tallahassee, Florida. Donna Adelson's lawyers are Josh Zelman and Jackie Fulford of Tallahassee. Assistant State Attorneys Georgia Cappleman and Sarah Kathryn Dugan are prosecuting. The judge is Stephen Everett, who is the chief judge of Florida's 2nd Judicial Circuit. ****************************************************************************** Become a member of Meghann's YouTube channel to show your support: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOHIOF-rFAeLOnH0ri5F62g/join Subscribe to Legal Affairs and Trials with Meghann Cuniff: https://www.legalaffairsandtrials.com/subscribe Support Meghann on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/MeghannCuniff BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/meghanncuniff.bsky.social Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@meghannmcuniff Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meghanncuniff/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meghanncuniff Threads: https://www.threads.net/@meghanncuniff Venmo: MeghannCuniff