TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – During her closing on Monday, Leon County Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman asked a jury to deliver justice for Daniel Markel, a 2014 murder victim.
Cappleman also asked the jury to remember the testimony of a witness who reported concerns about Markel’s former brother-in-law Charlie Adelson, of Fort Lauderdale.
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“He testified about Charlie Adelson bragging in the hot tub about connections to a Cuban criminal element,” Cappleman told the jury in court about Jeffrey Lacasse’s testimony.
Cappleman also said Adelson, 47, thought he was “untouchable.” After seven days of testimony, the jury deliberated for three hours on Monday afternoon and found Adelson guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation to commit murder.
“All kidding aside, her brother really had looked into hiring a hitman to kill Dan Markel,” Cappleman said about Lacasse’s testimony.
Lacasse, a professor of social work at Florida State University, where Markel also worked as a law professor, testified during Adelson’s trial on Oct. 27.
Lacasse, who was in a romantic relationship with Adelson’s sister, reported that he was aware of her child custody dispute with Markel.
“She asked to speak to me confidentially and, in a very serious tone of voice, told me that Charlie had investigated all possible options to take care of the problem ... including hiring a hitman,” Lacasse said in court later adding, “This was something very different. This was chilling, a little scary, it made my stomach flip. I found it disturbing.”
Markel, 41, died on July 19, 2014. He was talking on the phone in his car when he was shot in the head twice, just outside of his home in Tallahassee, police said.
Lacasse testified Adelson frightened him and reported his suspicions about an alleged effort to frame him for the murder.
Detectives found cell phone and credit card records showing Lacasse was traveling in Tennessee at the time of the murder in Tallahassee.
Also in the trial, Adelson’s ex-girlfriend Katherine “Katie” Magbanua testified she connected him to the hitmen who were Sigfredo “Tuto” Garcia, of Miami Beach, the father of her children, and Luis “Tato” Rivera, of North Miami, a Latin King gang member and friend.
“What you see in this trial is a mountain of reasonable doubt,” Attorney Daniel Rashbaum, who represented Adelson, said during his closing argument.
Rivera took a plea deal for 19 years in prison for second-degree murder. Garcia and Magbanua were convicted of first-degree murder. Adelson’s sentencing is pending.
“Stay tuned,” Cappleman told reporters about the possibility of other cases related to the ongoing investigation into Markel’s murder.
Adelson’s sister Wendi Adelson and his parents Donna and Harvey Adelson were regularly mentioned during the trial, but there were no cases against them.