Man found guilty in murder of Florida prof
At the end of a high-profile trial over the killing of a Toronto-born Florida State University law professor, Sigfredo “Tuto” Garcia has been convicted of first degree murder, with the case of his co-accused, Katherine Magbanua, declared a mistrial.
In July 2014, Harvard Law graduate Dan Markel, 41, was shot in the head as he sat in his vehicle in his garage in Tallahassee, Fla. Detectives say the lawyer was killed in a hit arranged by his ex-wife’s family, after a bitter divorce a year earlier.
Wendi Adelson, Markel’s ex-wife, has strongly denied any involvement in the murder, as has her family. However, investigators suspect Adelson’s mother, Donna, and her brother, Charlie, played roles in the killing, the Tallahassee Democrat has reported. None of the Adelsons have ever been arrested or charged.
The Democrat reports that although probable cause affidavits were drawn up for Donna and Charlie Adelson, these were never approved by prosecutors, leading to conflict between prosecutors and detectives, who felt the case was a strong one.
Wendi Adelson and her family, police say in an affidavit for Charlie Adelson, had been adamant that she should have sole custody of the couple’s two boys, aged three and four, after the breakup.
ABC News reported that Wendi Adelson petitioned for the boys to be relocated with her to Coral Springs, more than 700 kilometres south of Tallahassee. Markel contested this and a judge turned down the request.
Magbanua, at the time of the killing, had reportedly been in a relationship with Charlie Adelson, whom she worked for at the Adelson family dental practice. She also has two children with Garcia, who was convicted of Markel’s killing. Police say she is the only link between the suspects, Dan Markel and the Adelsons.
After Florida gang member Luis Rivera was charged in the case in 2016, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder just before trial.
He then implicated Garcia, as well as Magbanua.
In court last week, Rivera testified that Garcia had been sourced by Magbanua to do the hit. Magbanua, he said, was arranging the killing for someone he referred to only as “the lady.”
Rivera supplied the gun, he said, and added that he had driven Garcia — who did the shooting — to the scene of the crime.
According to the Democrat, Rivera told the court he had received $35,000 of a total $100,000 payout for the murder. Garcia got $40,000, he said, and Magbanua received the rest.
“He (Garcia) said we were going to kill the man for some kids ... For a lady because the lady wanted her kids back,” Rivera said, according to the Democrat.
The Democrat reports that after the killing, the three suspects made expensive purchases, and Magbanua started depositing cheques to her bank account from Donna Adelson — some $56,000 worth between July 2014 and November 2015.
Via attorneys, the Adelsons told the Democrat the accusations against them are “fanciful fiction,” with Charlie Adelson’s attorney attacking prosectors’ use of Garcia as a witness.
“The prosecution admittedly didn’t have enough evidence so it went out and bought some by giving away the farm to a murderer,” David Oscar Markus said. “This convicted gangster knows the game and would have said anything not to come out of prison in a box ...”
On Friday, Garcia was found guilty by a jury of first-degree murder. He could have faced the death penalty, but jurors on Tuesday recommended life in prison. The same jury could not reach a unanimous decision on Magbanua’s guilt and a mistrial was declared. She will be tried again.
Arrested in prison where he was already serving 12 years for a separate crime, Rivera was given a concurrent 19-year sentence.