Wendi Adelson: Brother joked about hiring hitman
Before Dan Markel was allegedly killed by hitmen, his former brother-in-law had joked about hiring a hitman, Markel's ex-wife told investigators the day the Florida State law professor was shot.
Wendi Adelson divulged details about that day during a five-hour interview with police just hours after the 41-year-old father of the couple’s two children was shot at his Betton Hills home.
A TV repairman came to Wendi Adelson’s house the morning of July 18, 2014.
Her brother Charlie Adelson joked that buying her a new TV was cheaper than hiring a hitman, said Wendi Adelson during the videotaped interview obtained by the Tallahassee Democrat.
She had spoken with her brother on the phone the morning Markel was killed.
“He knew Danny treated me badly and it was always his joke, he said, "I looked into hiring a hitman and it was cheaper to get you this TV so I got you this TV,'" Wendi Adelson told investigators. "He would never.
"I told that to the repair guy this morning. He asked me how much it cost, and I said I didn’t know because it was a gift because my brother said it was cheaper than a hit-man. It was my divorce present. Such a horrible thing to say. I’m so, so sorry.”
Adelson's statement came minutes after Tallahassee Police investigator Craig Isom told her Markel had been shot by someone who wanted him dead and he was not expected to survive.
Wendi Adelson broke down and burst into tears as investigators tried to establish where she was that day.
“Oh my god,” she wailed, trembling. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
Police were quick to tell her she was not a suspect. But they wanted to know more.
Adelson cooperated with investigators, handing over her phone and offering her computer to be inspected.
Investigators say two men, Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera, traveled from Miami in a rented Toyota Prius to kill Markel. He was found slumped over the steering wheel of his car inside his Trescott Drive home with two gunshot wounds to the head.
Charlie Adelson and his mother Donna Adelson have been implicated by investigators in the plot.
Attorneys representing the Adelson family members have denied any involvement in Markel’s shooting, calling the state’s theory “fanciful fiction.”
Garcia and Rivera have been charged with first-degree murder and are scheduled to stand trial in November.
Wendi Adelson drove on Trescott Drive around noon the day Markel was shot. She said she thought the road, which by that time was cordoned off by crime scene tape, was closed because of a downed tree
She went around and bought a bottle of Bulleit Rye Whiskey from the ABC on Thomasville Road to take to a party later that evening.
Before that, she said she had been working at home after fielding the TV repair man that morning.
The couple’s contentious divorce, a motive for Markel’s killing investigators say, was a central theme during the interview.
Adelson was concerned about the safety of their two young children who were at daycare the day their father was killed. She also was concerned about how she would tell the boys what happened and repeatedly asked about Markel’s condition.
“I’m just worried about the kids and am so sorry for his family and his children who are now going to grow up without a father,” she said.
Adelson said Markel was at times emotionally abusive during their marriage, but she couldn’t think of anyone who would want to kill him. They got along for the sake of their kids after they split, she said.
Her family may have been upset with him, but not to the point of harming him.
She nervously called her mother near the end of the police interview to tell her what happened, calling it the “worst day of her life.”
Donna Adelson can be heard on the other end of the line asking questions during the short phone call. Before she hung up, she agreed to come to Tallahassee to console her daughter and grandchildren.
Wendi Adelson remarked afterward to a victim's advocate about her mother’s initial reaction.
“My parents sounded really surprised, so that’s at least a relief,” she said. “I’m just trying to think who would be angry enough to do something to him. My parents would be angry, but they’re not capable of this. Thank God. I really couldn’t handle that right now.”
Contact Karl Etters at ketters@tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter.