NEWS

Prosecutor: Plea deal a 'necessary evil' in Markel case

Karl Etters
Democrat staff writer

Luis Rivera will spend an additional seven years in prison in exchange for providing key information in the killing of Florida State law professor Dan Markel. It was the break prosecutors say they needed in the high-profile murder case that seemed stalled weeks before trial.

Luis Rivera, one of two men accused in the killing of Dan Markel, pleads guilty Tuesday at the Leon County Courthouse and is sentenced to 19 years, to be served concurrently with the 12 years he is already serving on an unrelated charge.

Rivera, a known gang leader, pointed investigators to a long-sought third suspect, Katherine Magbanua. He also told prosecutors he supplied the gun, drove the car to the scene of the crime and that his co-defendant Sigfredo Garcia was the shooter in the murder-for-hire plot that spanned from Miami to Tallahassee.

For the 33-year-old’s cooperation, Rivera was sentenced to 19 years in prison. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder Tuesday afternoon. As part of the deal, Rivera will serve an additional seven years on top of his 12-year federal sentence on unrelated charges.

His attorney, Chuck Collins, was not available for comment following the plea hearing.

Tensions flare in Markel case after unexpected document drop

Rivera was facing one count of first-degree murder and the death penalty before Tuesday's plea hearing. His trial was two weeks away. Rivera was arrested in May at a federal facility where he was serving time.

Chief Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman said getting Rivera's help is a step forward in bringing to justice others she believes are involved in the plot.

“It’s a necessary evil,” Cappleman said. “Otherwise, you’re looking at the possibility of other culpable parties not facing any ramifications for their role in the crime.”

Investigators say Markel’s former in-laws orchestrated the 41-year-old’s killing.

Tallahassee Police Department and the State Attorney's Office point to Markel's acrimonious divorce with his ex-wife Wendi Adelson and her family's desire to move their young children to South Florida as potential motives for the murder.

Her brother Charlie Adelson and mother Donna Adelson have been implicated in the plot, according to court records; however, prosecutors have not approved arrest affidavits drafted by TPD.

While Rivera’s testimony helped nab Magbanua Saturday in Broward County and will help make the case against her during a grand jury hearing, Cappleman stopped short of saying it was the tipping point in charging the Adelsons.

Documents detail potential links to Markel's in-laws

Through their attorneys, family members have denied any involvement, calling investigators' theories, "fanciful fiction."

Charlie Adelson's attorney said the deal with Rivera was an attempt to elicit any information from a desperate man facing life in prison.

"The prosecution admittedly didn't have enough evidence so it went out and bought some by giving away the farm to a murderer. This convicted gangster knows the game and would have said anything not to come out of prison in a box," said David Oscar Markus in a statement. "Seven years is just offensive. The prosecution literally threatened him with the needle to get this testimony. That's not a search for the truth. That's a deal with the devil."

Markel was gunned down just before 11 a.m. at his Betton Hills home July 18, 2014.

Police say Rivera and Garcia, who is scheduled to stand trial Nov. 14, traveled to Tallahassee from Miami in a rented Toyota Prius. Multiple security cameras showed them tailing Markel the day he was killed.

November trial date set for Sigfredo Garcia

Cell phone signals tracked the men as they drove north a few days before the killing, the day of and then again as they headed back to Miami.

A Prius was reported leaving Markel’s home after a neighbor heard sounds of gunfire.

Magbanua, who has two children with Garcia, faces charges of first-degree murder when she is brought to Leon County.

For months, prosecutors have called 31-year-old Magbanua a suspect, or at least a witness, in the killing. They say she is the link between both Garcia and Rivera and the Adelsons. Last month prosecutors sought records of a breast enhancement procedure Magbanua underwent, which they say, was partially paid for by Charlie Adelson.

At one point, the two were romantically involved, court records say. Call records show she is one of the periodontist's top contacts.

Police: Magbanua was 'conduit' in Markel slaying

All three suspects began making expensive purchases following the shooting. Around the same time, Magbanua’s bank account began to grow as she received handwritten checks from Donna Adelson.

From July 2014, the month Markel was killed, through Nov. 2015, she deposited more than $56,000 in cash into her bank account. The money trickled in, court documents say, through ATM deposits of $300 to $2,000.

“Investigators believe that Magbanua is supported financially by Charlie Adelson," court records say, "and has received numerous benefits from the Adelsons since Markel’s murder.”

Her attorney, Tara Kawass, has not returned requests for comment.

However, Markus, the attorney for Charlie Adelson, said Sunday that Magbanua's arrest "smacks of utter desperation."

"It's sad that the police have arrested Katie when just last week the prosecution said there was no basis to proceed," he said. "They are trying to pressure a single mom who has no priors by threatening to make her little kids orphans. That's not how our criminal justice system is supposed to work."

Meanwhile, Cappleman said she wasn’t overly thrilled with the sentence for Rivera, the North Miami tribe leader of the Latin Kings, a national gang. But his trial testimony could mean the difference in securing several more convictions in Markel’s murder, she said.

“You can understand why it was necessary to move forward and try to hold everyone accountable that has a part in this crime,” she said. “I could not have moved forward without something else other than what I had prior to Mr. Rivera’s cooperation.”

Contact Karl Etters at ketters@tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter.