Dan Markel murder: Wendi Adelson, Markel's ex-wife, testifies

good afternoon your honor it's John Lauro la uro and I'm counsel for mrs. Olsen cannot be used against but you will be required to answer oh yes your honor no your honor thank you all right anything else would we then break after there's a cross with you know all right please introduce yourself and spell your name my name is Wendy a Tolson w en di a de L Fon how are you employed mrs. Olsen I'm an attorney and do you know I'm an attorney all right how are you employed back in 2014 I was employed at FSU Law School okay I'm where you a member of the Florida Bar at that time I was all right and do you know did you know Dan Markel yes I did how did you know mr. marquel he was my husband when did you meet him we met in 2004 and when did you marry we married in 2006 did you ever live and tell Hasse I did live in Tallahassee when did you first move to Tallahassee we moved to Tallahassee in 2000 in the fall August of 2005 and we lived in Tallahassee that academic year so from 2005 until the summer of 2006 and then we spent a year living in Miami from 2006 to 2007 and then I lived back in Tallahassee from 2007 to 2014 why did you move to Tallahassee the first time the first time we moved to Tallahassee for Danny's job he got a job at FSU law school alright and what about the second time and the second time we moved back to Tallahassee because he had tried to get a job at University of Miami Law School and it didn't work out alright so both times it was for his employment yes okay did you like living in Tallahassee I alright and did you live on Truscott Drive we did that was that was our home and where are you from as a tellson I'm from Broward County originally family members in Broward currently I have one family member in Broward where do you live currently I live in Miami Dade County and what about your parents where do they live they currently live in Miami Dade County alright and what about your brother Charles Adelson he lives in Broward County and do you have any children I do and how many children do you have I have two children what are their ages they are 10 and 8 turning 9 soon okay both boys both boys and both the biological children of Dan marquel yes how is your are your family members employed specifically your parents and your brother my mom is not currently working very much she helps out with my dad's office my dad is a dentist and my brother Charlie is a periodontist and does your family have a dental practice in South Florida they do that they own and operate video is your family in South Florida wealthy and that's a relative term are you asking me to speculate no I'm asking if they're wealthy you may if you don't know you say you don't know it depends how you define wealthy are they millionaires No when did you separate from mr. marquel we separated in the fall of 2012 and was part of the reason for your disagreement or separation having to do with how to raise the children in terms of your faith yes we we had different ways of practicing our faith okay do you know when you filed for divorce I believe it was the fall of 2012 okay 9 10 2012 sound right to you that sounds right and when you separated initially in the fall of 2012 did you move to South Florida with the kids no I did not you didn't go to South Florida with the kids no I did not was it your desire during that time to move with the children to South Florida I would say right then no it wasn't are you familiar with a court order ordering you to come back to Tallahassee from South Florida I'm not familiar with that when you moved out from the marital home there on Truscott Drive you lived at another residence in Tallahassee is that correct I did and do you recall the address there I do 3303 aqua Ridgway okay and was there a time during the time that you were living there at aqua red aqua Ridge that you determined that you would like to move to South Florida with the children there was and were your parents very involved in trying to facilitate that relocation my parents were supportive of me moving to South Florida would you describe your parents as being over involved in your personal business that's compared to other people's parents yeah I don't know what was the child custody schedule when you were living at aqua Ridge and I assume mr. Marko will continue to live in the marital home on Truscott he did okay what was the custody situation with the kids so the custody situation changed over time and depending on the part of the year but I think in the beginning we would we would do a Wednesday night overnight we had it was about 50/50 shared custody but I don't remember the exact arrangement I do remember in the summertime it would switch to week on week off but during the school year it was slightly different so still 50/50 but not necessarily every other week it was mixed up within the week it was okay and you mentioned that you did develop a desire to move to South Florida did you file a motion to that effect on January 14th 2013 that sounds that sounds I did file a motion I don't remember the exact date okay but that sounds about right all right and in that motion did you make some allegations that mr. Markel was making things difficult for you at work I did okay and was that motion granted or denied that motion was denied all right denied with prejudice I don't remember if you have it you can I'm happy to take a look okay but in any event you were not able to move at that time I did not move okay and were you upset about being stuck in Tallahassee I was relieved you were relieved do you wanted to stay in telling us I was happy at my job okay do you recall when your divorce to mr. mark Cal became final the summer of 2013 okay July 31st sound about right that sounds right would you consider your divorce with mr. mark held to be a nasty divorce I think most divorces aren't very pleasant okay but this one was like really unpleasant right I found getting divorce to be unpleasant yes and in the litigation that ensued between the two of you you guys argued over things as small as a tennis racket I noticed in one bleeding I don't remember that did he threaten to press kidnapping charges against you I don't remember that no did he threaten to go after your law license do that I don't remember that no do you remember him saying you failed to disclose a bunch of assets in the divorce process I do remember that okay did you guys have any mediations as part of your divorce we did have mediations leading up to settlement to eight our mediations correct I don't remember how long they were but they seemed very long yeah and they both did not result in the resolution they did not all right but you did reach a settlement I think kind of just on the eve of a trial on the matter correct that sounds right do you remember this motion that was filed by your deceased ex-husband on March 26 2014 involving it among other things that had to do with your mother an allegation that your mother was disparaging the children I'm sorry disparaging him to the children is what I meant to say are you familiar with that pleading I am familiar with that pleading all right in that pleading did he allege that you were depriving him of physical access to the children I don't remember the specifics do you recall whether he was complaining about you refusing to community with him about right of first refusal to the children during your time with them I know he was frustrated about the skyping lack of communication via Skype but it's hard to Skype with with two toddlers yes and in that motion do you recall him being upset about an allegation that you let the kids eat non-kosher foods I remember him being upset about that in general but I don't remember whether it was an emotion or not what does that mean non kosher foods so kosher rules have to do with the separation of milk and meat or dairy and meat so non kosher foods would be meat that hasn't been killed in a way that conforms with Jewish law or the mixing of the two and as observing those types of eating habits something that's important to you it is not important to me and was it something that was important to Dan Markel it was important to Danny it was important to him that the children observed the that way of eating correct it was and in that motion did he seek to restrict your mother's contact with the kids to supervised visits only I'd I don't remember but if you'd like to show me the motion I can take a look okay but you don't remember that portion no all right do you remember the allegation that your mother made statements to the children that grandma hates you grandma says you're stupid your father is trying to take my Sunshine's away anything like that do you recall no but again I'm happy to look at it if you'd like to show me I understand do you recall that mr. Markel was seeking sanctions against you personally in that motion I don't remember that do you know whether this would have been emotion that you would have shown to your mother would she have been aware of it I probably would have shown my mom the motion is it fair to say that your parents are very protective of you I think that's hard to say fair to say that your brother is very protective of you I think that's fair to say okay what about Dan marquel did your family like him do you want to specify a point in time well I'm specifically thinking of the statement you made in the interview after his death were you indicated that your parents were very angry with him is that accurate at that point in time during our divorce I do think they were angry with him they felt like he had treated me badly and the motion to preclude your mom from having unsupervised contact with your kids that was still pending at the time of his murder correct that's possible I mean I I don't think anyone took that motion very seriously okay did your mom take it seriously I don't think so did Dan marquel take it seriously I don't know how Danny felt about emotion if he wrote the motion he was probably taking it seriously approach with some emails have you had an opportunity to review state's exhibit 80 this exhibit 80 just take a moment and I've been showing the exhibit my parents have a joint email address whoever signed my email but it could be from either or both of them that sounds right we'll get that far let me give a brief legal explanation to the jury you've heard a number of hearsay objections about things that were said by mr. mark old things that are in these emails by another person who may not be testifying normally we refer those things as hearsay and they're not allowed without the person actually testifying but there are a whole bunch of exceptions to that and one of the exceptions to that is when it's not being offered to prove that what said is true but simply to show that it's been said because there's some relevance to the fact that these statements were made so I'm not offering these statements to show their true these persons I mean obviously mr. mark will can't be here for us to have cross-examination of them we don't anticipate that the other miss Adel centobie here's a witness we can't test the attorneys will not be able to test that see whether that's true or not but I am allowing it for limited purpose to show state of mind of these persons you may proceed mr. captain I noticed in the emails that your mother referring to who I think is Dan Markel as jibbers what does that mean dippers was a nickname that I gave Danny when he was being really difficult and causing me a lot of pain was sort of a nickname I gave him to make him feel less threatening so it was a derogatory thing I wouldn't say it was draw a torii did you call him that to his face no I called him Danny to his face okay and jibbers would be what would you spell that I don't know that I ever solved it out in the emails I can get spelled with a J but I guess you could swallow it with a gene J hat B BER is Miss Adelson you had mister marquel's phone number programmed into your phone as ji bibi ers that's right do you know much about your brother Charles Adel scens business practices I know that he does implant surgery do you know anything about whether he offers discounts for cash or does a lot of business in cash I have no idea do you know if there's a safe in your parents house that has stacks of cash inside I don't know about a safe with stacks of cash so you don't have a stack of cash and your parents safe that's Wendy stack no okay [Music] did Charlie adel s'en like Danmark m and again I'm referring to the time frame before his death I mean I think he was also he would listen to me when I would tell him about things I was upset about at the time with the divorce so whether he liked him or didn't like him he certainly was supportive of me but he never expressed and he disliked no did he mention hiring a hitman to kill your husband objection no did he ever joke about he looked into hiring a hitman but buying you a TV as a divorce president would be cheaper he did make that joke he tended to repeat himself and sometimes he would make jokes that weren't very funny about all kinds of things all right and was that TV did he buy you a TV as a divorcement he did and was that TV the same TV that was being repaired at your residence at the time that your husband was murdered it was who made the arrangements for that TV repair I did your mom didn't make those arrangements I don't believe so and the repairman was at your house that morning that your husband died between 8:30 and 9:15 do you agree with that I remember he was supposed to come between 8 and noon and then he ended up coming on the early side that's when he arrived between 8:30 and 9:15 it's my best recollection did Charlie ever say that he considered all possible options to take care of the problem the problem being Dan Markel did he ever say that no after the murder of mr. mark L did Charlie Adelson take you out for a celebration dinner no do you recall any dinner where shortly after mr. marquales death where you were with mr. Charlie Adelson and vomited I do remember that dinner I I'm sorry go ahead after after Danny died I was terrified that someone was going to come after me or my children and harm us as well and so I didn't leave my house for about a month and when I finally felt ready to leave the house and have dinner I told my brother that I wanted I wanted to have dinner that I was ready to finally go to a restaurant and eat a meal again and I'd barely eaten for a full month just out of grief and shock and so that night when I finally ate for the first time they they ended up taking a while before they sat us and they sought us at the bar and I had a drink and I wasn't used to eating anything or drinking alcohol and I threw up at the table the only time in my life I have done something like that but it was certainly not a celebration and you never heard your brother referred to it in that way no okay were you involved in any way and a plot to kill Dan Markel no do you have any knowledge other than the statements you said your brother made or the jokes your brother made do you have any knowledge of anyone being involved in a plot to kill your husband no do you know Catherine madman law I have met her before how do you know her we met one time at dinner when I came home and my brother introduced me to her and I think we might have gone to the beach once with her and a friend for a few hours show you the state's exhibit 36 with her friend that looks like the three of us yes do you recall when this was taken I don't so June 2014 that's possible all right would it refresh your memory to look at the data associated with that photograph sure now looks like it was taken on June 15th 2014 I think that South Beach yes I she was dating my brother I'm the one in the middle the one on the left hand side to the right of me in the photo yes yes I don't recognize that photo but I recognize the people in it that's my brother and I think that's Katie yes that looks right sustained your brother dated Katherine my grandma yes okay and was at the context in which you became acquainted with her was through your brother yes do you know when they began seeing each other your brother in this mag ban law I have no idea do you know when they stop seeing each other I have no idea do you know whether the relationship between your brother and Miss Mary animal was a serious relationship I met many many girlfriends of my brothers over the years I I didn't get any indication that it was a serious relationship okay he's a guy that has a lot of girlfriends he has had a lot of girlfriends how many girlfriends says he had since Katherine mag manawa I have no idea several probably and does he have a child with someone now he does have a child how old is your brother forty-three has he ever been married no do you know whether your brother makes a practice of giving gifts to his former girlfriends I have no idea are you aware of any specific gift he's ever given to a former girlfriend you know do you know sigfredo Garcia no have you ever met him no I want to ask you about the week prior to mr. marquel's murder she like June 30th through July 10th 2014 were you in South Florida that week I know I was in South Florida for my father's 70th birthday my dad's birthday is July 5th they don't remember if his party was on his actual birthday or a little before a little after but I remember I went down for his birthday can you tell the jury whether or not you were in South Florida on July 1st 2014 I couldn't say for sure ok but I may have traveled that day I don't remember exactly when I went down I only remember I was there for probably about a week and that I went down for my dad's birthday but I couldn't tell you more exactly than that your dad's birthday's on the fifth it is of July was mr. mark Hill planning to leave town the day after he was murdered I believe he was do you know where he was going I believe he was going to New York to visit his girlfriend and how to visit his girlfriend how old was mr. Markel when he was killed he was born in 1972 and he died in July of 2014 for his birthday is in October he was 41 41 years old yes did the law enforcement in this case analyze your cell phone I gave them my cell phone okay and and in your cell phone you have some contacts for Donna Adelson Harvey Adelson and Charlie Adelson as well as jibbers who we've established is Dan marquel are all the phone numbers in your phone for them accurate phone numbers for those folks I would have mentioned so and I want to ask you about some recorded phone calls that were taken in association with this case did you have an opportunity to review a disc of some of those phone calls I did the phone calls weren't plated I'm sorry yep all right so I you with a disc correct yes and a list of the specific phone calls and the voice is on the specific phone calls that I was asking you whether you could identify yes all right and did you initial next to the letters of those calls that you weren't able to identify I did I'm gonna approach and show you state's exhibit one I just wanted to clarify that we didn't listen to the phone calls from beginning to end for each one but that we were able to listen to parts of the phone call so that we could authenticate who was speaking on the phone call myself and my attorney that's right that's correct correct I want to talk about your location on the day of mr. Marshalls murder you know that law enforcement looked at your phone and sort of looked at your movements that day yes okay and the if that information indicates you were home at the aqua Ridge residence at approximately 12 27 in the afternoon that day is that correct I don't remember exactly what time but that that sounds right I know I had left to meet some friends for lunch so I guess it was I had left I was home until that time that sounds right all right so it seems like kind of around lunchtime about half afternoon sure all right and then shortly after that at 12:29 it appears you were traveling on Centerville Road is that a normal way that you would ingress and egress from your aqua Ridge residents that sounds right all right and when you left there when you left your residence you said you were going to lunch did you go directly to lunch no I stopped and made a purchase for a party that I was supposed to attend first and what was that purchase it was it was my first time purchasing bourbon it was for it was for a like a not a bridal showers for a bachelor no it was for a wedding party but it was the bride and groom together and they had asked for people to buy certain alcohol to help them go stock the bar party a stock at the bar party I forgot what it's called okay and do you remember what type of bourbon you purchased I don't does Bulleit Bourbon sound familiar maybe it was they had a list of what they wanted and so I asked the person at the store if they had whatever kind it was okay and do you recall where you went to purchase the alcohol I think I went on Thomasville Road at ABC liquor is there a reason you went to that particular store no I just I don't know many liquor stores that was the first one that popped up all right and you made that purchase according to the receipt that was in your vehicle at 12:49 does that sound about right to you that sounds right okay and did you make any stops between leaving your residence and going to the liquor store did I maybe I purchased gas I don't know if you did or not but I'm referring to your visit to the crime scene I did not visit the crime scene you did not pull up to the crime scene tape on Truscott drive no I was driving on Centreville and sometimes I would take the shortcut through Truscott yes ma'am but when I was driving on Centerville Road I saw some sort of tape or obstruction and so I didn't turn okay and then you went from the liquor store straight to the restaurant mm-hmm yes and what restaurant was that what was the name of that restaurant mosaic mosaic you've seen the photographs that we're taking of your vehicle I have not that looks like my car that looks like bourbon yeah who had your kids the morning that mr. mark Hill was killed the kids are at preschool but I mean who what at what home did they wake up that day that morning I think they were at Danny's house did you stand to gain anything from your husband's death like financially no do you know how much the lawyers that assisted you with the divorce process and litigation that followed the divorce do you know how much they cost how much my lawyers I'm a junior where's ya I honestly don't remember fair to say it was a lot of money it felt like a lot of money to me how many different lawyers did you have during the pendency of your divorce and the litigation that followed I had three do you know how many mr. mark L had they don't remember do you remember your mom suggesting a plan to offer Danny a million dollars to allow the relocation of you and the children to South Florida I'm sure I knew about it at the time that it happened and then I had my memory refreshed about it recently did you ever make the offer to mr. marquel no did you move to South Florida after their father was killed with the children so after he was killed I went to I packed a weekend bag and went to South Florida for what I thought would be a couple of days maybe a week my son's birthday is July 29th and I thought we'd be back in Tallahassee by then I remember come back I did come back a few times but not not permanently okay so you ended up moving there permanently I wouldn't say it's permanent but I'm living there right now well it's been five years it has been a while I've been exploring options for employment in many different places and when you initially left to go to South Florida was that the same day as the funeral service for your husband no the day after it might have been the day after or the day after that I don't remember did you change your children's last name from Marc Alda Adel s'en I did when was that done so after Danny died there's a lot of press coverage and CNN put pictures of my children's faces unblurred on national television newspapers put their names without any consideration to the fact that their children and I appreciate that but the question is when when did you change their name when they started school I registered them under my name hoping it would keep them safe and then approximately a year after their dad was killed it was whenever I registered been for school so it was it was soon after but I didn't legally change their name until after that okay and where did they start school when you say you changed their name when they started school was that here in Tallahassee or somewhere else no it was in South Florida so that fall they started regular enrollment like you would in the normal of the school year that's right okay and did you also eliminate your older son's middle name when I legally changed their names I did and you just dropped that from the name they did okay and that was a name that came from Dan marquel's deceased maternal grandmother is that correct the name started with an A which was to honor my grandfather Aaron Adelson and the second half of his name was to honor Danny's grandmother so we lost an honor to both families okay thank you you say listen I represent mr. Garcia and I'm gonna ask you some questions okay okay Charlie's your older brother or younger I'm the youngest in the family so both my brothers are my older brothers and how many years older is Charlie than you he was approximately three years older would you describe your relationship with your brother as a close relationship I would and the brother I'm referring to as Charlie and just for the record all the questions they have with regards to brothers is gonna be focused just on your brother Charlie okay okay Charlie graduated high school he did college he did that dual school he did so he has substantial educational background yes would you consider him to be book smart he did very well in his classes so that was a that would be yes what about street smart do you think he was kind of street smart I think he's good with people and would it be fair to say that he has a wide range of friends different types of friends you have a lot of friends would you say Oh are there certain friends that he goes out night clubbing with I don't know you know talk to me about night clubbing okay well when you have when he has social events do you ever go out with him socially I haven't in a long time I'm pretty busy with my kids but I have once or twice gone out with him and as if the same types of friends that he goes out to the club to these to these social events with he would usually go with his roommate who's I don't think they're living together anymore but they live together for a while would you agree with me that your brother Charlie was at I don't want to call him like a socialite but he would be he would frequent the nightclub scene I honestly don't know that so you're single brother pretty handsome guy right I think you found that right we see this pictures good-looking guy never been married right no and what kind of car does he have for a while look what does he have what is he driving right now well my car's like he hears a lot of cars right and these aren't like Honda's or Toyota's they're Mercedes's and Ferraris right he drove an unmarked police car for a while but that wasn't my question my question was does he have a did he ever have a Mercedes I think so yeah okay and it wasn't like a c300 it was like a 5 Series right I honestly don't know anything about cars well it was the bigger Mercedes right yeah it was big it was the bigger one and he also had a Ferrari right I know he had one really fancy car but I don't remember what what brand it was okay so you're telling this jury that you don't remember if your brother had a Ferrari cars are really not important to me you saw mine I drove a minivan well but you're not your brother right I am NOT my brother no I knew he had a fancy car I just don't remember if it was a poorer sure if it was a Ferrari it was something fancy something kind of fancy yeah okay so you have a pretty successful brother right you successful yes and he likes to show off his success with his extravagant cars correct he likes fancy cars okay handsome guy in good shape right you found them and you indicated that he had a lot of girlfriends right yes now I know you didn't go clubbing with him but were you aware that he would go to like Miami Beach a lot I mean South Beach sure I mean I couldn't say how often he went out or where he was going it's just not something I would really talk to him about it when you when you took her when your brother took you out to dinner and you vomited was do you remember what the restaurant was I do which restaurant was it it's called euboea okay where's that located it's on Lincoln Road okay I'm Lincoln Ward in South Beach right Lincoln Road us in South Beach are you aware if your brother took steroids no I I'm not aware if he took steroids what about if your brother used illicit drugs I'm not aware of my brother using illicit drugs and the fact that you're not aware if you use it doesn't mean he didn't use it correct no I'm just saying I don't I don't know do you know when Luis Rivera started serving your brother drugs I don't know anything about that your brother would frequent South Beach in Miami Beach sometimes right I don't know you don't know the restaurant that he took you to was in South Beach correct I was living close to that restaurant at the time and your your parents had a home in South Beach also correct my parents did not have a home in South Beach they were renting an apartment I'll rephrase it they had a place to stay in South Beach right correct good afternoon how are you doing you doing okay fine you nervous am i nervous yeah yeah some nervous okay now you say seed on direct examination that you are a lawyer I am a lawyer right so you understand that the oath that you took before you understand correct yes you know the consequences of not being truthful there of course and you also have a separate obligation as an attorney to tell the truth right of course okay now do you know who killed Dan Marco no did your brother have anything to do with killing dinamarca I don't believe so your mother is Donna Abelson she is where is she right now right now she's with my children in Rome in Tallahassee in Miami okay she's not in jail no she's never been arrested before no okay she's not even testifying in this case is she do your knowledge to my knowledge mom what about your brother Charlie is he in Miami right now he's probably in Fort Lauderdale right now okay but he hasn't been arrested no hasn't been charged no and he's not testifying in this case is he no are you aware of the state has attempted to subpoena them to come to court I believe they have received a subpoena to come to court okay and it was for them to come and testify in this trial or you don't know I don't know for certain okay but you know they've received some sort form of subpoena I heard about that okay when is the last time you spoke to your family your mom in particular um this morning I called to check in on the boys okay how is your relationship with your parents now is it estranged in any way or you still have a good relationship with your parents I still have a good relationship what about your brother Charlie I still have a good relationship when is the last time you spoke to Charlie probably last week at some point okay now you would mention that Charlie is the father he is when did he have his child is it a boy or a girl it's a boy okay he was born in December 2017 okay so about I would say that's over a year after Miss McMahon was a risk I couldn't say okay do you know who the mother of that child is I do who is she you want her name yes her name is Bree price and is he married to her no he's not married are they still together depends on the day and do you know if he has any other girlfriends at this month I have no idea all right have you been keeping up with the media coverage in this case I don't want any media related to this case okay so but you are aware of the attention that has been brought on this case I'm aware only because of the constant death threats that I received yes okay so just to specify you haven't watched any of the specials that have been on air about this case I have not watched any of them you know if your parents have watched any of the specials on this case I advised them not to they may have seen bits of them but I don't know for certain what about your brother Charlie I don't know did you watch the state's opening statement in this case I did not you did not I did not okay so you're not aware of what the state's theory is in this case I'm not now you mentioned on direct examination something about listening to some recordings that the state provided to you yes okay is that the first time you've ever listened to those recordings yes do you know what those recordings are about there are many many recordings hey did they give you all of the recordings I don't know I listened to what I was given but I don't know if there's more how much time did it take you to listen to the recordings that you were given again I didn't listen to the entire thing so probably about an hour to go through all of the recordings and listen to excerpts of each of them of each of them so you're not aware of the state gave you all of the recordings that they that they have in their possession I have no idea okay did they have you listened to any recordings that occurred before April 19th of 2016 I'm sorry - yeah 2016 so I'd have to see the document to remember the exact date on it I do remember my birthday's in April so I remember the dates being close to that but I I don't remember exactly did they ask you to listen to the phone call where Charlie Wilson is talking to miss mag banner about work I promised until something so it's fair to say that they only let you listen to portions of the phone calls that they think are important I was given conversations and I listened to some of them to authenticate voices but I I don't know I imagine they thought it was important for me to listen that's why I did did you listen to a phone call so the question was miss adelon did they have you listened to any phone calls where they it was a conversation between your brother and your mother if you were able to identify any conversations like this I think I did between yes now I want to talk about the circumstances surrounding your actual divorce okay which I believe you said was finalized in 2013 right yes you just left your divorce papers on a mattress of Dan marquel in the house and left out is that correct no well how is it that you delivered the divorce papers to him I called him to let him know that I wanted a divorce it wasn't the first time I asked for a divorce but it was the last time and told him that I would see him when he got home not home but back to Tallahassee and then I did leave the papers for him but I didn't leave town I was still in Tallahassee okay so he was actually aware of the in fact that you were going to be seeking a divorce before you actually delivered the papers to him I had asked for a divorce several months earlier okay that's when we started going to counseling and he told me that if I if I tried to get divorced from him that I could leave with the clothes on my back and that he would take the kids and that I would be penniless and so when I actually asked her a divorce I thought it best not to be there so is it fair to say that this was not a mutual thing between the two of you that Danny did not want a divorce I don't think he wanted to get divorced how close is your brother's relationship Charley Adelson with your mother Donna hey Dalton I think they're close would you characterize our relationship as closer than you are with your mother no I wouldn't say that I mean I do think they talk more frequently than I do but I don't think closeness always has to do with the frequency of communication and you had said on Direct that your parents were not happy with Don marquel's behavior during the divorce no they didn't think he was treating me well and is this just Donna Eagleton your mom or was it both Donna and Harvey it's I'm I'm sure both of my parents felt that way did they ever express those those feelings to you yes do they call him names yes okay did one parent do that more than the other or it was consistent between the two I think it was consistent between the two what kind of names did they call him I mean I've had my memory recently refreshed so I saw things but my memory is I don't remember name calling but I did recently see emails where they they called him names now after the divorce you started dating other people right when is it that you had your first I wouldn't say serious boyfriend but your first boyfriend after Denmark Oh probably within within a month okay when did he if you know did he start seeing anybody else after the divorce he did but I I don't know when it started and is that a me or was it somewhat the person I know about Amy but I don't know if there were other people before Amy did you know what at the time of the murder do you know what any future plans Danmark alhat I couldn't really say about his future plans but I felt like by then he and Amy were pretty serious and he was trying to spend as much time in New York as possible do you know if his intention was today's only if you know it was his intention to remain in tallahassee or do you know if he was planning to leave the state I think he always planned on leaving Tallahassee it was just a question of when no it wasn't an aversion to Tallahassee he just he was a very ambitious person and so from the moment we arrived in Tallahassee he was always looking for a stepping stone toward a better University where he could teach and he took a very special interest in what he did which is a you know he's a law professor right he graduated from Harvard and he studied criminal law right that was a special team okay and did there come a time where you were dating someone by the name of Jeffrey Lacoste yes you know who that is I do do you remember when you start to dating Jeffrey Lacoste I don't remember exactly but 2013 okay do you remember how long you dated him for I remember it was less than a year but probably more than six months were you dating him at the time leading up to the homicide which would be July 18 2014 we broke up a few weeks before Danny was killed or a week or so we broke up before Danny was killed how would you describe your ghibli Jeff really cause I mean I think it took different turns but I think it was more casual in the beginning and then it was getting more serious and then I was feeling more committed to the relationship and then in in late June I just we had this big fight and after that point I didn't really want to be with him anymore I remember what the fight was about what was it about he didn't trust me in terms of he saw other people he thought I was he thought I was cheating on him ok and you said when was that we broke up it was it would have been one of the last weekend's in June so fairly close to when the homicide was occurred right now that Spring Break which would have been the month of March mm-hmm didn't you and Jeffery Lacoste come down to Miami we did ok and you stayed with your brother Charlie we did ok and do you know at that time who he was they don't okay does it sound do you if I say that was when he was dating Katherine that battle is that a correct statement or you don't remember I don't remember okay do you remember having dinner with Jeffrey Lucas at a restaurant and with your brother and that Kathryn McDonough was was there I have a vague recollection of it and do you remember if this restaurant had outside seating we always used to go to the same restaurant and so I I know the restaurant had house outside seating and Charley introduced you to her as his girlfriend probably okay definitely as someone that he was seeing right I don't remember if you use the term girlfriend but is there in a romantic kind of way okay not it's not as just a friend and am i characterizing mr. mr. Charlie Adelson correctly when I say you know you would said he has lots of girlfriends I've met lots of girls over the years which is why it's hard to remember whether I had dinner with one person versus another do you know what his thoughts and beliefs are in marriage does he not believe in marriage I don't think he's so pro merit no do you know how many times you spent how many times you met Katie we talked about the time on the beach and then we've already now talked about a dinner I remember vaguely those two I don't remember any other time do you remember the name of the person that was in that picture with you no okay does Indra Velasquez Martha Mascaro sound familiar no now you didn't have a really close relationship with Katie right no okay did you know that Katie has two kids I did did you know that miss McBain who I had children I did know that okay did you ever discuss with mr. Benoit the details of the divorce that you had before she knew who your brother was that wouldn't be possible cuz I only met her with my brother okay so you didn't talk your relationship wasn't a close relationship where you would talk to her about Dan Markel no do you ever remember having a conversation with about Dan marking on your divorce it's very possible that I brought it up but not that thing stands out no not at all now I want to talk to you about the time of the murder okay the day before the homicide all right okay you had talked about your custody situation with Dan Markel that it was a week on week off is that correct that's right and an overnight stay switch on a Wednesday that's my best memory so it's you know a better way to describe it would be if it's your week you have the boys but on Wednesday night they will sleep at Dan mark stay do an overnight sleep over at Dan Marco right and then return them to you the next day or return them to school and then you pick them up in the evening right so the day of the homicide do you remember day of the week that was I believe it was Friday okay so um the day before would have been a Thursday right okay do you remember what you were doing that day I don't is there any way that you would have been walking down Truscott Drive with your two sons the day before his murder no I don't live in walking distance so there's no reason why I would have been walking down the street you and mr. mark Hill weren't on that kind of talking or speaking terms where you would be at the Tresckow home and he wasn't there no you wouldn't go and take the boys for a walk on Truscott Drive hey I don't think so no and as far as you knew at that time the kids what school were they attending they went to creative preschool okay and when you would drop the kids off at creative preschool do you have to sign them in you do have to sign them in okay and then so there should be a record of the days that the boys would have been at the preschool that's right what time would you drop the boys off early morning thing or I would drop them off in the morning I don't remember maybe it was 8:00 maybe it was 9:00 I but nothing late like 11:00 I don't think so and then what would be the usual time you pick them up in the afternoon I think it would depend on whether I was teaching or if I had court what I was up to but my guess is sometime between 3:00 and 6:00 I would pick them up so would it be fair to say that you know around 11 o'clock in the morning the boys would probably be in school on a weekday that would be right okay do you know someone by the name of Whitney I do know Whitney who is winning Whitney was a girlfriend of my brothers do you know who introduced Charlie to mr. Edison to to Whitney I don't you know how long they were dating I don't do you remember when they started dating I don't remember when they started dating okay when did your brother buy you that TV I remember having the TV in the house on aqua Ridge so sometime sometime after the fall of 2012 that's and then I sometime between 2012-2013 something like that do you remember making a phone call to Charlie that morning and having a conversation with him without going into the details in that conversation which morning the morning of Danny's murder yes I'm sorry judge mr. mark Hills murder do you remember how long you spoke for I don't remember how long I spoke for now you described your brother as a talker is that fair to say yeah I think I described him as a more of a joker talker but he does talk do you remember the circumstances under which he made that statement that the state talked about about hiring a hitman but instead I got you this TV what who else was around when this statement was made well he tends to repeat himself so he kept repeating that joke because he thought it was funny okay but do you remember the timeframe of when that happened like was this way before after it would have been when he bought the TV when he bought the TV and that would be after the divorce well not after I filed for divorce right well not after the divorce was finalized so sometime after I really don't remember when I got the TV but maybe some time starting with the fall of 2012 some some time around them but it could have been 2013 do you know know your parents apartment on South Beach are they still living there no okay so they moved they did at the time do you know how much their rent was in that apartment I have no idea you said they did not own that property No [Music] now you said that you stayed in Tallahassee after the homicide I stayed for a few days and do call it detective I some tried to call you after I had loved before you left and before you left had a C but after the memorial service for mr. marquel he did not call me before I left Tallahassee no did he try to call you he called me when I was already on the road okay about four hours away from Tallahassee did he ever try to talk to you again no as a prosecution when is a lot when is the first time the prosecution reached out to you to speak to you about what I want I don't remember ever talking with the prosecution proceed your honor okay do you know if detective ice I've ever tried to reach out to your parents I don't think he did do you know it detective I Sam ever tried to speak to your brother chart I don't think you did now you are testifying today under a state subpoena correct correct and that state subpoena gives you immunity for your testimony right yes can you explain to the jury since you're an attorney what's immunity is immunity is freedom from prosecution so that means that anything you say today can't be used against you if the state decides to arrest you later on the state isn't going to decide to arrest me do you know if they consider you a suspect I don't know now the life insurance policy that the state was asking you about have you received any money from the life insurance policy from mr. Marco I don't know if maybe in the beginning the life insurance that Danny owed me about $100,000 when he died I do think that his family made that dispersement I don't know if they paid that through the life insurance policy but other than that there's been the life insurance policy is money put away for the kids I've never seen it do you are you do you have access to that or you have no control of it I have no control over that all right and I huh where did you say so the your your boys are now down in Miami with your mother correct at the moment yes okay and you stopped and letting Danny's parent or the mr. Marquez parents see the boys is that correct two years after Danny died I stopped a visitation okay do you have any intention of letting them see their grandchildren again I I do we've actually been in discussion in the last few weeks Rick how many times have Dan's parents been able to see your boys in the last five years in the last two years after they died they've been able to see them every time they've asked to see them okay what about the last three years since 2016 they have been not been permitted to see the boys they have not been permitted that's right by you by me Yeah right and that's not through lack of trying on their part no that's because of what they did okay but they want to see those boys don't very much want to see the boys and Dan Markel sister is the I'm not sure if that's the right word but the executor of that trust for the boys is that right I think she has fiduciary responsibilities over the trust for the rest thank you that sounds that sounds right did you at one time hold that position in Dan's will Oh before we got divorced I probably did okay but sometime after the divorce he changed that over to the sister you must have yes okay and did you initiate proceedings to try to fight that decision that he made to make the sister the executor or the beneficiary have the fiduciary duty for this money over you the disbursement to your children can you repeat the communication did you initiate any type of proceeding at any point to try to contest or fight dan Markel sister being appointed as this fiduciary for the life insurance for the boys I don't believe that I did you did not I don't remember doing that no right saito-san I don't remember what it related to exactly I mean I remember you saying this and one of the jurors had a question but you said your memory had been refreshed about something what did you mean by then um so five over five years have passed since Danny died and sorry so more than five years have passed since Danny died and a lot of the things that we're talking about today I just don't remember at all and so to refresh my memory to make sure that I could remember things certain documents were shown to me emails legal pleadings from the case so that I could remember what was happening at that time one of the jurors was a little confused with the timing you had a boyfriend it was a month after your separation and filing for divorce or a month after it was short so I I started dating someone who as a friend of mine for many years and it didn't become romantic until after I had filed for divorce so about a month after I filed for divorce someone who was a friend and my life became more like a boyfriend than a friend what's wrong with television I think one of my kids might have thrown something at it so there was a crack in the TV well they were allowed to see the grandchildren for two full years and I used to cook meals for them and arrange playdates we had sleepovers and then I found out that that Ruth Markel had reached out to a foster care agency to try to place my children with that agency and I became very worried that they were trying to take my chilled away from me and so after that time I didn't feel a level of trust that they could spend time with the kids I was afraid they were trying to take them from me reference to the foster care agency does that have to do with an email that was sent to me from your your mother-in-law yes it does all right at Dan's mother yes and that email was in reference to in the event that you and your parents were arrested and association with this crime could I please contact that particular agency to assist with the children in the event they have no guardian temporarily until they could get down here from where they reside in Canada is that correct that's correct okay so they were not trying to take your children unless there was an event where you were unable to care for them but because there's no event in which I would be unable to care for them that feels like trying to take away my children and this email about you about there being possible arrests of you and your family that came right after Katherine McMahon was arrested right I don't remember exactly the timeline of thank you you can communicate with her about any arrangements if you need her to come back which she's free to go at this point hi lastly this afternoon right now not what you want to hear but it was a little legal lesson that one of the jurors raised they asked a question about the type of immunity that was discussed by mr. Adel so this is really not a fact question it's a legal question but this is a little legal lesson in the state of Florida there are three kinds of immunity there's transactional immunity there's huse immunity there's use and derivative use immunity transactional immunity means that some person cannot be prosecuted for an offense use immunity means that what what the person says cannot directly be used against them use in derivative use immunity means that what they say cannot be used against them to work can it be used to develop leads to gather evidence against them the type of immunity that Adelson has received because I have been the one that acclaimed at or is you some derivative use immunity in other words what she says today cannot be used directly against it nor can it be used to develop leads against her she does not have transactional immunity I mean she could be prosecuted for the crimes involved but what she said cannot be used against her nor use for any leads to develop information so hopefully that answers the jurors question that asks the question

Channel: Tallahassee Democrat

Views: 665,843

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Id: 3DlGjwXGtwM

Length: 90min 20sec (5420 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 30 2019