A mother-in-law was scolded in court after being found guilty of masterminding the murder of her daughter’s husband.
Donna Adelson, 75, was charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy, and solicitation in the 2014 killing of Florida State University law professor Daniel Markel.
The jury’s verdict brought an explosive reaction from Adelson, who cried out, “Oh my God,” before shaking and sobbing in front of the panel.
Florida Second Judicial Circuit Judge Stephen Everett ordered the jury out of the courtroom and gave Adelson two minutes to regain composure.
“Mrs. Adelson, control yourself,” he warned, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
“While this was not the outcome I’m sure that you desire, there will not be any further outbursts in front of the jury.”
Markel, 41, was shot in the head in the garage of his Tallahassee home on July 18, 2014, per Daily Mail.
At the time, he was embroiled in a bitter custody battle with Adelson’s daughter, Wendi, who wanted to move their two young sons more than 370 miles to South Florida.
A judge had blocked the move after Markel refused to relocate.
Prosecutors argued that Adelson "hated" her son-in-law and painted her as the controlling head of her affluent family during the trial.
They said she had the means, money, and motive to orchestrate the killing to clear the way for her daughter.
Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman told jurors that Adelson signed 44 checks used to funnel money to Katherine Magbanua - the ex-girlfriend of Adelson’s son, Charles - who served as the go-between for the hired killers.
Adelson even noted Markel’s car details in her daily planner, which prosecutors suggested were passed to the gunmen to hunt him down.
“She was paying for a murder,” Cappleman said in her closing arguments.
“She knew it was going to be murder; she’s the one who wanted it done.”
Investigators said the mother-in-law even tried to flee the country in November 2023, one week after her son Charlie was convicted of the same crime.
She and her husband, Harvey, were stopped at Miami International Airport as they prepared to board a one-way flight to Vietnam, a country without an extradition treaty with the United States.
In a recorded call, Adelson was heard discussing “extradition from Vietnam” and how she had “looked at all the places,” according to WCTV.
Adelson's conviction marked the fifth in the sprawling murder-for-hire case.
Among those already serving a life sentence for the killing is her son, Charles, and Sigfredo Garcia, who was convicted as the gunman.
Another man named Luis Rivera accepted a plea deal and is serving 19 years after cooperating with authorities.
Wendi, Markel's ex-wife and Adelson's daughter, has denied involvement in the killing and has not been charged.
For the victim's family, the verdict brought a bittersweet sense of justice.
“We have lost a treasure. My son Dan’s life was cut tragically short at 41 years old,” his mother, Ruth Markel, said.
“For 11 years we have been forced to a life filled with unimaginable pain and heartbreak," she added, urging the judge to impose the maximum life sentence, calling it the justice her son “fully deserved.”
The 75-year-old's defense attorneys insisted the state lacked direct evidence tying her to the murder, arguing she was guilty of meddling in her children’s lives, not masterminding a killing.
“She’s just being a parent, not a killer,” attorney Jackie Fulford told the jury. “She’s a meddler - not a murderer.”
The judge has not yet scheduled sentencing, but set a case management hearing for October 14.