Live Charlie Adelson trial updates: Both sides rest their case
After spending all day Thursday on the witness stand under questioning by his defense lawyer, Charlie Adelson will resume his testimony Friday morning in his murder trial.
Adelson, a Fort Lauderdale periodontist accused of arranging the 2014 fatal hit on Tallahassee law professor Dan Markel, is on trial in a Leon County courtroom on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation. Friday marks the seventh day of testimony in the case.
On Thursday, he refuted the prosecution's theory that he and his family wanted Markel dead so that Adelson's sister-in-law, Wendi Adelson, who divorced Markel in 2012, could return to Miami with their two kids.
Adelson, 47, offered his own explanation for seemingly damning wire taps and recordings that make up the heart of the prosecution's case and claimed he had been a victim of extortion by the killers.
Dan Rashbaum, his attorney, told the court he had only an hour or so left in his case. Once he's finished his direct questioning, Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman will have her time to cross-examine him.
Here's the latest from Courtroom 3G:
Charlie Adelson resumes his testimony
On May 4, 2016, Charlies Adelson's mother received a "bump" text at 2 a.m., and she was panicked. Adelson said this text was far more threatening that the in-person encounter.
The undercover agent said he would "go after the $100k" if Donna didn't pay. Adelson said when he called the agent's number he told him to go ahead and go to the police for the reward. He couldn't get the reward because he thought he would be killed if he came forward about the extortion and Dan Markel's murder.
"Was your mom scared?" Daniel Rashbaum asked.
"Extremely scared," Adelson answered.
He said he wasn't happy when he found out it was the police, but he was relieved to know that it wasn't the Latin Kings and his family wasn't going to get hurt.
Adelson was texted when Sigfredo Garcia was arrested, but he never reached out to Katherine Magbanua after learning this. A close friend who was an attorney told Adelson to not call her or talk to anybody about the case.
All her lies started piling up, and he came to realize that Magbanua was not innocent and she was behind the extortion.
"This girl is not broke," Adelson said. "I was getting played."
After Garcia was arrested, Adelson said he knew the police thought he was involved with the murder and understood why they were investigating, but he wasn't involved and didn't think he should be arrested.
"It's scary as hell to know you are one signature away from losing your life," Adelson said.
"Charlie I'm going to ask you again, did you have anything to do with the murder of Professor Markel," Rashbaum asked.
"Absolutely not," Adelson answered.
State grills Charlie Adelson during cross examination
"You have a thorough explanation, would you agree with that?" Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman asked.
"I told you everything," Charlie Adelson answered. "There's no explanation, I told you what happened."
Cappleman pressed Adelson about whether he thought Katherine Magbanua was the one extorting him.
"As I sit here today, I believe it was Katherine Magbanua and I believe Sigfredo Garcia, but I’m not sure," Adelson said.
Adelson testified that he never had any contact with a Latin King for the entire two years before "the bump." The hitmen got the money from Magbanua who got it from him.
"Since you're an expert on extortion, is this the way it's done?" Cappleman asked. "Do extortionists send a girlfriend of the victim to get the money?"
Adelson said that's how it was done to him.
During his testimony, Adelson and Rashbaum mentioned the word "extortion" 123 times during his testimony Thursday, Cappleman said. He never once said the word in his texts.
Magbanua told him to act like nothing happened, Adelson said, and his texts reflect that. He never told his sister, Wendi Adelson, anything even though her life was in danger.
Cappleman asked about the danger Wendi and her kids would be in if they moved to Miami.
“Would you rather live in Tallahassee or Miami if these killers were in Miami?” Cappleman asked.
“I don’t think distance would stop them,” Adelson said.
Adelson never hired a bodyguard or private investigator after his life was threatened, but he carried a gun on him at all times.
When he realized that Magbanua wasn't the one extorting him and was actually protecting him, he gave her gifts to keep her happy to keep him safe, he said.
He broke up with her around a week after the murder. He said he saw her again at the end of August when she came to get money and asked him to put her on the books at the Adelson Institute. He said they "hooked up" once probably five months after they split.
Their relationship actually got stronger after the alleged extortion, he said.
Cappleman pointed out how he never testified on her behalf during her trial even though he thought she wasn't invovled. Adelson said he thought the truth would've come out through Magbanua.
At one point Magbanua told Adelson to erase her number, but Cappleman asked why she would've asked that if she was the extortionist and was continually meeting him to collect the money.
"Wouldn't you want to distance yourself from this woman?" Cappleman asked. "She's the one who got you into this because she ran her mouth," she added.
"I ran my mouth too," he said, adding that he felt "responsible" too.
Cappleman also brought up all the "love texts" between Adelson and Magbanua. She said that most people don't send "kissy faces" to their extortionists. Adelson said he didn't think she was the extortionist then.
Cappleman asked Adelson about saying that Garcia had "roughed up" Magbanua. She said it's the same term Magbanua used in her proffer to describe what Adelson asked her about on Halloween 2013.
"That conversation never happened," he said.
Questioning shifted focus to Adelson's family, specifically about Wendi Adelson and Dan Markel's divorce and Donna Adelson meddling in her children's lives, especially Wendi's.
Cappleman asked if the divorce was a big deal for the Adelson family.
"It didn't effect my life I can tell you that," Adelson answered.
Cappleman asked if downplaying the "nastiness of the divorce" was a part of his defense. Adelson said his defense is the truth. She then asked why Wendi drove up to the crime scene tape the right after the murder.
"Nobody knew a murder was going to take place," Adelson said.
"She knew her husband had just been shot . . . and she said your name," Cappleman said.
"Why did you brag to Jeffrey Lacasse about your ties to the Cuban criminal element?" Cappleman asked.
"I never said that to him," Adelson said.
Cappleman shifted back to asking him about his conversations with his mother. Adelson laughed on the stand when Cappleman spouted off the list of curse words that Donna used to describe Dan Markel.
Adelson testified that he didn't go to either of Markel's two funeral services because he knew what happened and felt horrible.
Cappleman asked if he was shocked that the police were able to track down the car, that a person can be arrested for a crime even if they aren't at the scene.
"I wasn't part of this murder at all, you're wrong," he said.
Cappleman said she didn't understand how the murder of Markel got the ball rolling for a lifelong extortion.
Adelson said now that he has told the truth he is concerned something could happen to his family. He said Rivera is "highly connected", and even incarcerated, could easily orchestrate something from behind bars.
He denied that he told Ryan Fitzpatrick, and ex-business partner, if he kept his mouth shut he could get away with the murder.
Cappleman asked about Adelson's use of the word "kill" on the Dolce Vita recording, but he said he was referring to how dangerous Garcia was and that he would have to be killed to be stopped.
State finishes cross, Daniel Rashbaum takes over questioning again
Charlie Adelson said it wasn't until 2019 that he knew Katherine Magbanua was the one extorting him. He fully believed she was protecting him in 2014, and he said he kept giving her gifts to keep her happy and him alive.
Daniel Rashbaum points out that Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman focused on the times Adelson had gone to the police, but in these cases nobody's life was on the line and a murder hadn't preceded Adelson going to the police.
“Their theory is wrong about your sister?” Rashbaum asked.
“100%,” Adelson said.
“Just like they’re wrong about you?” he asked.
“100%,” Adelson said.
The defense rested its case in roughly 10 minutes.
Chronicling the Charlie Adelson trial:
Pre-trial: What we learned from jury selection
Walkthrough of witnesses: Those making the case for, against Charlie Adelson
Case primer: Everything to know about the murder-for-hire case
Day 1 opening statements: Defense says ex-girlfriend was murder 'mastermind'
Day 1 testimony: Wendi Adelson says she was surprised to learn Charlie knew Dan Markel's murderer all along
Day 2: Charlie Adelson murder trial sees twists, turns as his sister and a hit man testify
Day 3: Magbanua flips: Web of lies and phone records dominate Day 3 of Charlie Adelson trial
Day 4:Enter the FBI: Surveillance, wiretaps and phone records dominate Day 4 of Adelson trial
Day 5: Charlie Adelson announces he will take the stand amid bombshell wire taps
Day 6:'My life depends on it': Charlie Adelson testifies prosecutors 'wrong' about Markel murder
GAVEL-TO-GAVEL COVERAGE:
The Tallahassee Democrat will livestream each day of the trial of Charlie Adelson from the courthouse in Tallahassee. Watch on Tallahassee.com and the Tallahassee Democrat's Facebook and YouTube pages. For best viewing experience: Download the Tallahassee Democrat app to watch and receive text alerts on when to watch – from opening arguments to the verdict.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Dan Markel murder: Live Charlie Adelson trial updates
