Sentencing is underway Monday afternoon for 75-year-old Donna Adelson, convicted of helping orchestrate the 2014 murder of ex-son-in-law Daniel Markel, who was a Florida State University law professor shot in his Tallahassee garage.
Adelson faces life in prison on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation to commit murder.
Prosecutors said Adelson helped plan the killing after Markel blocked her daughter, Wendi, from moving their children to South Florida. Four others, including her son Charles Adelson, are already serving prison sentences.
Defense attorneys argued the state lacked evidence tying Adelson directly to the plot. She was arrested in 2023 at Miami International Airport while attempting to board a one-way flight to Vietnam.
The case has gripped Tallahassee for more than a decade, fueled by family conflict, custody battles and a murder-for-hire plot.
