Grandma busted trying to flee country in FSU professor's murder-for-hire plot could lose lawyer in legal twist
The Florida grandmother charged in a murder-for-hire plot to kill her former son-in-law, Florida State University law professor Daniel Markel, waived a potential conflict of interest her own lawyer has in the case at a hearing Monday.
Attorney Daniel Rashbaum is also representing Donna Adelson's son, Charlie Adelson, a dentist who is serving a life sentence for his role in plotting Markel's 2014 murder.
She waived the potential conflict and her right to obtain outside counsel. But she could still lose her lawyer if he is called as a witness in the case.
Miami police arrested the 73-year-old Adelson at an airport in November, where she allegedly had a one-way ticket to Vietnam. A prison phone recording of a call between her and her son showed she discussed fleeing to Vietnam, China and Korea to avoid extradition.
Bodycam video of the arrest released earlier Monday showed her resisting officers' attempt take the cellphone out of her hand before they slapped her in handcuffs in front of her husband, who has not been charged in the murder conspiracy.
"I didn't know there was a warrant," she told officers in the 12-minute video. They allowed her husband to remove and keep her jewelry and other valuables before they escorted her away.
Florida prosecutors have charged Adelson with first-degree murder and solicitation of murder in Markel's death. He and Adelson's daughter, Wendi Adelson, were involved in a bitter child custody battle at the time of his slaying. The Adelsons, who are Catholic, also allegedly opposed Markel's desire to raise the children in a kosher household.
Markel died when gunmen ambushed him in his Tallahassee driveway on July 18, 2014. That morning, he dropped his children off at day care and went to the gym. As he returned home, he was on the phone with a charter school representative discussing his children's enrollment when a hitman shot him in the head.
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A neighbor who heard the gunshot rushed over and called 911.
"You need to send an ambulance in a hurry," he told the dispatcher. "He is still alive. He is moving."
First responders arrived 19 minutes later, and Markel was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Three co-conspirators convicted in the case include Charlie Adelson's ex-girlfriend, Katherine Magbanua, and hired guns Luis Rivera and Sigfredo Garcia.
Adelson's next hearing is set for Feb. 12. She has pleaded not guilty.
Fox News' Shona Holagh, Landon Mion and Stephanie Pagones contributed to this report.