Woman charged in lawyer’s shooting

TALLAHASSEE,FL A .• Police have made a third arrest in the 2014 killing of a Canadian law professor in Florida, a woman with ties both to the family of the victim’s ex-wife and one of the alleged shooters.

The Tallahassee Democrat reports that 31-year-old Katherine Magbanua was charged with murder Saturday in the July 2014 slaying of Daniel Markel, who was born in Toronto and was well known in national and international legal circles. His parents, Ruth and Phil, and his sister Shelly all live in Toronto.

Tallahassee police have alleged Markel was killed by two men, Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera, who are set to go on trial this fall on murder charges.

Police have alleged that Markel’s killing was arranged through Magbanua, who had been romantically involved with both Garcia and Charlie Adelson, the brother of Markel’s ex-wife Wendi Adelson.

“Investigators further believe Magbanua enlisted the father of her two children, Sigfredo Garcia, and his close associate, Luis Rivera, to carry out this murder, and they were all compensated for their actions,” a probable cause affidavit released last month said.

“Magbanua is the only tie between Markel and the shooters, Garcia and Rivera. Further, Magbanua’s only tie to Daniel Markel is Charlie Adelson.”

Markel finalized a contentious divorce from Adelson in 2013. The two had split custody of sons Benjamin and Lincoln, but they had follow-up litigation over money settlements. Adelson, also a lawyer, had worked at FSU but moved to Miami Beach about two years ago.

The documents released in September alleged that the Adelson family wanted Wendi Adelson to move with her two young children from Tallahassee in northern Florida to south Florida, but there was resistance from Markel. Court records say Magbanua received payments from the Adelson family.

Adelson family attorney David Markus said Sunday that “it’s sad” police are pressuring a single mother by threatening to make Magbanua’s children parentless in the event of a possible conviction.

Markus says the Adelsons had no involvement in Markel’s death, and there are no charges against them.