WATCH LIVE: Hitman Conspiracy Murder Trial – Charlie Adelson Takes the Stand – Day Six Part One

entering the court good morning members of the jury everyone may be seated my assistant has told me that you all are uh making good progress on the snacks that we've provided to you it's been a long trial so you are entitled is the defense ready to call its next witness yes your honored we call Charlie adelen please raise your right hand do you swear or affirm the testimony you're about to give will be the truth I do sir you may take your seat please speak loudly and clearly Charlie let's start with the most important question did you cause the death of Professor Dan marel absolutely no did you hire anyone to kill him no did you put any letters in any diaper bags of Katie magbanua to have Professor marel killed no uh before we get there let's spend some time on your background how old are you I'm 47 years old Where Were You Raised I was raised in Coral Springs Florida when were you arrested in this case I was arrested April 21st 2022 and by the way are are you how do you feel right now really nervous why are you nervous my my whole life depends on it where have you been living since you were arrested a year and a half ago Leon County Jail growing up what was your family like it was pretty normal um I was in the middle of three children um my dad was a dentist my mom was a school teacher um played a lot of sports pretty normal upbring Do you have a brother and a sister I have an older brother and a younger sister how close were you with your siblings growing up um my brother I wasn't real close with my sister I wasn't really that close with either probably until I got into high school and we were probably closer in age and had more in common um and then I got closer to her as the years went on your family growing up would you just describe it how would you describe it financially um I'd say it was upper middle class and then ' 92 my dad lost a lot of money and then uh wasn't upper middle class after that and then my my dad worked hard and we worked until he was 78 he retired where did you go to High School uh I went to public school in corl Springs I attended Terra high school was school easy for you uh not really I mean I had to work really hard to to get good grades and I really didn't get good grades until I went to college where did you go to college I went to uh UCF in Orlando and after graduating from college what did you do next uh I went to dental school where did you go to dental school uh I went to dental school at Nova sou Eastern in Fort lale after after dental school what did you do I did a residency in parod donics and I did that at Nova Southeastern alone briefly what is periodontics periodontics is the surgery of the gums and Bone and it's uh three more years after dental school during your residency did you work I did i' I'd Moonlight and I'd work nights and weekends as a general dentist when your residency ended what was your financial situation I had uh about $200,000 in student loans now after graduating from your residency what did you decide you were going to do um I started basically Moonlighting when I was in dental school and then when I got out I really didn't have money to start a start a business so I started working for just individual dentists where I'd come in and do the surgery for them in uh in house so they wouldn't have to send the work out but the patients could still be seen by a specialist so I travel from office to office when you started and I think when do you graduate your residency graduated my residency in 2006 when you started how many offices did you travel to when I first started it was just the first off the first office that I was Moonlighting in when I was in my residency and then through an assistant that worked there she introduced me to a couple offices and then those offices introduced me to more people and it just it grew from there by the end of the first year I was probably working in I would say six or eight offices by the time frame of 2014 when Professor Marquel was murdered how many offices were you working in approximately between 30 and 35 offices I would come in too when you graduated where did you live when I graduated uh when I graduated perio I lived in an apartment across the street from school and then I I bought my house I I still lived in 16 years or 20 years later uh after that and that house is where on Whale Harbor I moved in there in 2006 now during this time frame of 2014 um can you describe for the jury how far you would travel in other words how far were the offices apart from one another I I never turned any work down so I had an office as far south as Cutler Ridge which is a little bit north of Homestead uh it's good an hour and a half south of Fort laurdale and then my furthest office I went to North was in East Port St louc which is a good hour hour and 45 minutes north of Fort lale Port St Lucy is probably about halfway between Miami and Orlando is that fair to say or closer to Orlando i' say it's probably closer to Orlando okay yeah now your typical work week what did it look like I would work in usually two offices a day I would start around 8 or 9:00 work in one office till about 1:00 and then I'd go to another office and I'd piggy back it I try to be in another office that was in the same vicinity as the first office and I'd usually start there around 1:30 I'd have it where it's only a five or 10 minute drive to the second office I I would tell them I could stay as late as you need and then when people had emergencies which when you work in 30 offices there's always someone that has an issue um I would come into their office I was just say just have an assistance day and when I got done with that second office if it was 8:00 8:30 I would still go in and I'd work in the third office so it was almost two offices on most days and I would say 20% 30% of the time there was a third office how many days a week did you work and again we're talking about the 2014 time time frame I was working six days a week and I yeah then I was still working six days a week now something sometimes i' every once in a while there'd be a big case and my whole week was booked up and the patient needed something and it was hours and I didn't have time so an office would open up on Sunday and I go in on Sunday and do the work for the most part in your job working in these offices what form of payment were you paid mostly in was it cash or some other form of payment the offices would always pay me an office check now were you ever paid in cash from the these offices I wasn't paid from the the offices that I work for in cash but if I was doing a a work on like one of the assistants in the office or a friend of the dentist and the dentist didn't want any money to come to him and I was doing it as a favor I would say just go ahead and pay me in cash for the materials and then the assist and the materials were expensive sometimes they were hundred sometimes it was $1,000 and then if I was but the dentist didn't want to take any of the money from that person so he was like I'm removing myself from the situation so the person would pay me the cash for the just for the materials for the work that I did on that and that was really just when I was doing favors and it wasn't a it was sporadic sometimes more than other depends on the month by the way backtracking a little bit growing up what profession was your dad in my my dad was a general dentist and what was did your mom work growing up when you grew up she was when she she had three kids and uh she still worked as a substitute teacher where she uh she would come in sporadically but she wasn't working full-time after uh after she had the three of us did there come a time where she worked in your dad's dental practice yeah I would say probably after the kids went to college um or maybe probably towards the end of high school college my mom came in and was and was doing front desk work and helping my dad out and uh what other roles did she have in the office um she did the bookkeeping she helped me with all my financial stuff as far as like paying insurances making stuff was anything that was due at a certain time licenses um she paid salaries at the office and then also did front desk with Erica all right um let's talk talk about the Adon Institute when you became this traveling period onist uh was one of the were one of the places that you traveled to uh your dad's dental practice yes how often uh did you work at the dent at the at the adelon Institute I would work at my dad's office uh I would say every four to six weeks um and I would piggy back at there was another office that I worked at every two weeks that was in the same Plaza as my dad's so I would finish there usually about 4:00 and then I'd go into my office and then I'd start working there by 4:15 and I'd stay as late as I needed to I mean 10 11:00 do you remember what the full name of the practice was called well originally or when we changed it to well let's start with what you changed it to okay well when I graduated uh my residency in periodontics I thought since I was joining my dad's practice and it was now going to have a periodontis there I thought we'd rename the practice and and give it a fancy name so I I we called it the uh we copyrighted The adelon Institute for implants and aesthetic dentistry okay now growing up did it have that name no it was just a plain old dental practice right yeah it was just my my dad and his three employees how many people worked at The adelon Institute uh there was Erica Johnson uh Clarissa Eric who was the front desk Clarissa was my dad's assistant since 1979 until he retired two years ago and then uh Amy was the uh hygienist and then my my mom when she would when she would be there and your mom controlled the checkbook yeah she she handed that stuff who did all the billing for the practice um my mom and Erica do the billing how many dentists were in the practice just one dentist just my dad did there come a time when you bought the practice from your dad yeah my my dad was going to sell the practice and I I thought it would be a good idea for for me to buy it and I thought maybe I'd run it and it would be something that I would that I would always have but I didn't I didn't like the idea of it being sold um so I I bought it for my dad uh when he wanted to slow down in 2012 during the time period of 2014 who owned the practice in 14 I I was the owner of the practice okay now during the time frame of the wires in 2016 who owned the practice I I had sold it back to my dad in in 2015 why did you sell it back to your dad CU I didn't have any time to run it and even though I bought it nothing had changed my dad was still the same dentist that was there my mom was still the same person doing the books and they were spending all their time running it and I I was so busy with my traveling paradon XS uh I didn't have time to dedicate to it and it it really wasn't financially was it wasn't feasible and it wasn't there was a benefit I want to talk about um cash a little bit um do you like to collect cash I always have yes why I just I like this probably goes back to when I was a kid I mean I get a dollar a week allowance and I would save it up and I just like the feeling of of looking at it I'd rather look at it than put it in the bank so whenever I had cash I always saved it up now uh were there several ways that you accumulated cash yes there was did you have a real estate business uh some real estate in 2014 in 14 yes okay and uh would you accumulate cash through this business there were there was some cash that came in through that yes okay um did you rent out doc space behind your house yeah I rented out my dock space behind my house since 2006 and it's been rented ever since and how would you be paid for that dock space um the guy would come down uh once a year and he would pay me in cash for the year were there other ways that you would accumulate cash over the years from from whenever I did uh work on someone as a favor and they were just paying me for the materials I got paid in cash on that um and probably the the biggest source of cash through the years is every time I went out every chance I could I used my credit card to build up the airline miles and I'd always pay the tab and whoever was there would just give me the cash and it it added up over the years I've done that 20 years and once you had this cash what would you do with it whenever I had $1,000 I would have staple it and it was a packet so and it was really I disbled it cuz it was just being saved I wasn't wasn't spending it I was always using my credit card so the cash built up where would you put the cash I put it in my safe when you I'm going to go back to your business a little bit when you started your business did you make a lot of money the first couple years no no I mean I I it took off pretty quick but it it wasn't wasn't wor it was in 13 14 or 15 by 2011 uh approximately how much money were you making I was probably making 350 a year and what did your income look like in the 2014 Range 14 I made between I think around 850 to 900,000 what were your best years financially uh 13 14 15 have you ever been married no in the time frame of 20134 did you have any kids back then I didn't have my song during this 2013 2014 time frame how would you succinctly describe your lifestyle work came first I you know work worked my whole life to get to where I was so I um I wasn't turning any work down and I was single so I I worked um I'd go to the gym late at night and I'd probably go out one night a week usually on a Saturday night is when I'd go out now do you have any children now I've got one son how old five I want to talk to you about your relationship with your parents as an adult fair to say you're close with your mom and dad yes as an adult how often would you talk with your mom and dad I would talk to my mom more often a lot more often just because my dad was always working um but I talk to my mom every day once a day or or multiple times um at least once a day but Mo most likely probably twice a day because there was always usually one thing was a personal thing and one thing was a something having to do with the office or scheduling or some something like that during the 2014 time frame when you own the office did your mom work for you you could say that yeah did did she control the books she she wrote the checks yeah she they had the checkbook t now um was there any particular time that you would talk to your mom more often than other times yeah in in the morning driving into work I'd call my mom and usually on the way home from work i' I'd call them just depends on how long the driveway is really how involved was your mom in your life um business-wise was very involved because she was running the office um personal wise um I mean I would tell them things and keep them up to date with stuff and my life but it was my life I mean I did whatever I wanted to do we're going to get to this later but how involved was your mom in your sister's life um she was I think she was more involved and I think my sister involved my mom maybe more and it just depends on different issues I want to talk a little bit about your sister Wendy as adults before she married Professor marel how often would you talk with her I'd call my sister i' say about every 10 days or so we talk I'd call her but she was real she was busy and she wasn't really good with the phone so she I would I would call her and she would always take a day or two to call me back I spoke to her half the time when I called half the time she didn't pick up how often would you see her um again pre-marriage how how often would you see your sister um not a lot I in 1995 I left to go to college in 97 she left to go to college up in Boston so it was pretty much I would say holidays like every 3 four months you know Thanksgiving Christmas time sometimes turn summer so maybe three four times a year us here there came a time when Wendy started dating Professor Marquel right yes do you remember when you first met him uh I do I I think he was in town and I remember all of us going out to lunch I think we went to ad Deli what did you think of him um other he's a nice guy I mean kind of seemed like all my other sister's boyfriend she's had in the past I've never really had much in common with them um and she kind of kind of seemed like the rest of them but I I that was pretty much it now after they got married what was your relationship with what was your relationship like with Professor Marquel um it was the same as before they got married I mean I didn't we texted each other on our birthdays um I don't think we ever really called each other or hung out I mean just see him when he came over the house with with my sister and how often would you see him and your sister I would say twice a year maybe or roughly around there maybe three times a year in the years that Professor Marquel and your sister were married and living in Tallahassee how often did you come to Tallahassee I'd only been to Tallahassee I was there twice I believe believe when her children were born um and then once when I was working in Alabama I had a research fellowship and I uh was passing through Tallahassee I spent the night with them and I I saw him that time too when Professor uh Marquel and your sister were married did you still communicate with your sister about the same amount of time it may have been a little less because I remember when she had kids I mean she had even less time so I probably spoke to her I'd call her and then probably more times than not she didn't pick up the phone and then I'd get a call back a couple days later so it was pretty similar did there come a time when you became aware that Wendy and Professor marel were having marital issues yes what did you learn um I took my sister out to dinner when she had come to town and uh and we went to The Melting Pot and I remember her telling me me that they were having issues and it was pretty serious did she tell you that they were going through marriage counseling yeah she that's that's what I found out and I guess that's what I was going to say is like have you tried to work things out and that's when I found out that they they had been in counseling for six months I didn't know about it before now what were some of the issues if you remember that she told you they were having um he he was becoming very very religious uh there was becoming issues with diet and how she was cooking in the house um she wasn't really respectful of of he wasn't really respectful of her career um he would belittle her um she was he obviously lost seemed like he lost his eye for her and she seemed like she' lost his eye for him and she wasn't happy now did she complain about violence or danger or anything like that never did she complain that he was not a good father no no he was very attentive to his sons did you learn at some point that your sister was going to file for divorce I did and when you heard that she was going to file for divorce how did you feel I felt bad for her I mean she was sad I mean no one goes to get married to get divorced um but she seemed like she'd spent six months in in therapy with him and it didn't it didn't change anything how she felt and he didn't change how he was um and I said listen I said kids need to grow up in a happy household like they can't have fighting they can't have a miserable mom who's unhappy um you need to have the kids are better off growing up in two separate households where there's positive environment instead of negative did your sister seem angry to you no she seems sad how involved were you with the divorce proceedings I I wasn't really involved with the divorce proceedings um on the day-to-day stuff I I would definitely hear stories uh most of which would come from my mom uh when I'd be driving to work in the morning or driving home I would I would hear the latest update of what's going on but I would say probably 20% came from Wendy and 80% came from my mom how did uh Wendy seem to you during the period uh when they were going through the divorce proceedings extremely stressed very stressed out um how did your mom seem uh she she was upset because my sister was was stressed and it was almost like a telephone game like my my sister would vent to my mom then my mom would be vented to thing in general was your perception that the litigation was very litigious yeah I I did I did learn that I mean he fighting over bicycle and all kinds of nonsense and seemed not to end now were there some big issues like relocation that were issues as well yes let's talk about relocation did there come a time that you learned that your sister filed a motion to try to relocate to South Florida I did and do you know why she wanted to relocate to South Florida uh primarily it was because she had no family in Tallahassee and she had two young kids and my parents lived in South Florida I I lived in I lived in Fort Lauderdale um and she wanted to be closer to family and she had a a better more secure job for her career in South Florida how did you feel about the idea of your sister and the boys moving to South Florida I thought it would be great I mean I hadn't lived in the same town as s since 1995 um so I thought it'd be great to have her have her in town how important was it to you I mean it wasn't real important to the point like I I thought about it all the time but I mean if I thought about it I'd be happy to have her back home how important was it to your mom and your dad oh to them it was very important they wanted her to to come back because she had no family in Tallassee and what was your understanding of what Professor marel thought about this relocation effort I knew he was against it and he he wanted her to stay in Tallahassee with him did you learn at some point that the petition was denied for relocation yeah and when it was denied um how did your mom feel about it my mom was they were very disappointed they they were unhappy how about your sister she wasn't that disappointed I guess cuz she's a loyer and she knows you know what what's the probability of something like this happening and she she said it was a long shot she said she wasn't really expecting it but it was it was worth it just to take a shot to see if it would happen were you angry no I mean didn't change anything in my life now we've seen some emails regarding converting the boys to Christianity we've seen um some pretty out there emails from your mom do you recall seeing those emails in this trial I do yeah and do you recall whether you saw those emails when they were ridden back when they were ridden yeah I would get forwarded me all kinds of stuff for sure did you come up with any of those ideas no now on some of those emails we'll see that you respond I like it why did you respond that way well my my sister tried being really nice to Danny it got her nowhere and he was being really litigious and he was looking to give her a hard time and I thought that this would I thought it was a way that she would go ahead and give him a hard time back and kind of push his buttons the way he was trying to push her buttons so basically you know if he's being a jerk to you just be a jerk back and see if maybe he'll stop so I I didn't think any of those things she was actually ever going to follow through with you know but I I thought that it would really push his button so I I thought why not give it a shot now I want to talk about the million-dollar offer did you ever become aware of efforts by your family including yourself yes to offer Professor marel money to allow your sister to relocate I did yes and do you recall who came up with that idea it was my parents what was the what were the terms of the offer how much was it for the offer was uh for $1 million to to have him move down south to South Florida with my sister and the boys and that would afford him enough money that he could easily commute to his job in Tallahassee for the days that he worked uh just the way senators in South Florida commute to Tallahassee all the time and that was the idea behind it now how were you involved in this idea not super involved but I I definitely said to my parents I said I will I will help and I will pay a third of that million dollars and when Wendy one day starts making real money um you know she's able to I want to be paid back at this point in time were you making more money than your parents I was yes did you or your family ever speak with an attorney about the legality of this offer I didn't but I know they they wanted to run it by uh an attorney I think they Ed Gary con to uh to run it by do you know if the offer was ever made I as I sit here today I know that the offer was never made but back when the offer I thought was made I thought it was made and it thought it was turned down did you Charlie you like to talk a lot right yeah I didn't realize how much I talk until I listen to all those tapes and uh evidently I do I mean I knew I like to talk but didn't realize how much when you got involved in this million dooll offer would you talk about it with others yes how would it come up it would come up when people would say you know doesn't your sister want to move back back back home you know how's she doing and I said yeah no she definitely wants to move back home we tried everything we could like we even offered a million dollars to uh to Dan to see if he would move down with her and uh it didn't work like turned it down now did you ever talk with Katherine mag Bowa and we'll talk a lot about her in a little bit but did you ever talk with Katherine magbanua about that million dooll offer yes I did and what do you remember telling her the same thing I told everybody else is it came up when my she was asking me about you know doesn't your sister want to move back home and I said yeah I said you know we tried everything we could we even offer Danny a million dollars to move back to South Florida and uh and it didn't work the same thing I said to her is what I said to a bunch of people how did she respond she she was like wow that's a lot that's a lot of money she's like you got to take out a loan for that and I said no I got cash I can pay for it okay now let's talk about um gifts to your sister during her divorce in general did you provide any financial assistance to Wendy during the divorce no she she never asked and I I never gave her any money did you pay for her lawyers never now did you give her any gifts and and let's just start with the broad question and then we'll break it down you give her any gifts yes I I've given her gifts through of course okay do you recall giving her a TV yes how did that come about well when she was moving out of the marital home um and she was starting you know from scratch in a new house she didn't take any of it only took her belongings um I said to my mom I said what do Wendy need like what does she need for the new place and she said actually she's she's uh leaving the TV sets she needs a TV set for the for the house so I said all right fine I said go to you know go to the store up there and go to Best Buy and pick out a really nice TV set and I'll I'll pay for it I said buy it and I'll give you the money now do you recall making a joke that buying her a TV was cheaper than hiring a Hitman something to that effect yeah it was I'm going to say what yeah tell me what the joke was what what happened was I when I gave her the TV said as a divorce present I stupid the stupidest thing I ever said in my life and I said you know I was going to get you a Hitman but the the che the TV set was a lot cheaper so I went with the TV set instead and I said it is a complete joke and it was stupid but I do that a lot did you make that joke to others yes did you make that joke many times throughout 2013 and 2014 I made I made that joke when she was having problems and she was fighting and she was upset I I recycled the joke and it was stupid did you ever say that joke to Katherine magbanua yes I did Ju Just to clear did you ever look into hiring a Hitman no never are you aware that the divorce proceedings settled in July of 2013 yeah I believe it ended in summer of 13 now how did your your sister react to the settlement I think she she found it as like a sense of relief it seemed like she like had closure she knew knew what she was going to be doing and where she was going to be living and she uh I think she was just looking she I think she was happy H happy in the sense that she was able to put it behind her what was the custody Arrangement do you KN do you know what the custody Arrangement was I know it was 50/50 after the settlement how were things with professor marel and your sister um I think they were calm for a little bit and then it got litigious that be a little brief areas of calm and then I think he was try kept trying to bring her back into court and it started becoming litigious again what was your understanding of this mostly based on things that I'd hear from my mom probably 20% from my sister 80% from my mom was your mom upset she she would get upset when my sister would would tell her that about Danny pushing her buttons and filing all these things in court and giving her a hard time what about you during the period of all this litigation what were your feelings about professor marel I I thought he was being a jerk I mean hearing stories that he's showing up at her work and badmouthing her to other colleagues and saying horrible things about her like you know I thought he was just being a jerk to her now would you think about this all day long in the morning and at night I mean how how important was this to your life it it wasn't I mean I I would only think about it when I I'd be listening to a story and uh and it would be I'd be driving in the car talking to my mom she would relay the latest that my sister told her and then she'd be telling me and that's when I would think about it but I mean I never for a second was at work thinking about it or doing activities that I enjoyed thinking about it when I wake up in the morning I never thought about it were you panicked at all about it were you concerned that your sister was going to be disbarred anything like that was that a big issue for you no I mean that was that was a nonsense threat um when you would learn about things though would you talk to them talk about what was going on to others yeah yeah I did talk a lot why would you considering your sister's divorce wasn't and her her issues with Professor marel weren't a huge part of your life as you've testified why why would you be talking about it to others one I talked a lot how would it come up and it would it would come up when I'd be sitting at the dinner table and I'd hear this crazy story that my mom told me from from earlier that day and I guess it's more interesting than talking about teeth so I would I would sit there and I'd share things with my girlfriend or friends and I'd relay stories by the way during this time period and now I'm talking about late 13 second half of 13 and 14 were you still speaking with your sister about the same amount or or more I would say it's probably about the same but every 10 days or so we talk did you travel to Tallahassee to check on her after she filed for divorce how many times did you come to Tallahassee during this time period never I think the last time I came to Tallahassee was 2011 2011 or 2010 now what was your understanding of how Wendy felt about the idea of staying in Tallahassee um as time went on I think she she understood that's what her her life was going to be I mean she she loved her job up here um she was getting excited about things she was dating people she was she was embarking on her her new life in Tallahassee what was her um did there come a time when she won an award and what do you remember about that I remember I was real proud of her uh she wrote a book and the book was selected by Florida State to be the mandatory reading for all incoming freshmen and uh she was chosen to be the speaker uh to the incoming class and that was to take place in August and I know she was super excited about it and we're all planning to come up there and be there for her okay I want to shift gears and talk a little bit about Katherine mag Bowa may I have one moment your honor thank you to okay let's talk a little bit about Cather MD when did you how did you first meet Katherine magbo I met Katie uh in the summer of 2013 she started working the front desk of a dental office that I worked at and uh what was that dental office where was it the name of the office was Sophie dentl and it was uh in South Beach what did she do for the dental office she was the the front desk and office manager for the office how often would you work in that office I was there say every three weeks I was there for half a day every three weeks was that office a big generator of income for you um it was one of my better offices yeah now you said you met her in July 2013 when did you first go out with her we first went out it would been uh first week of October around October 10th and who initially pursued who I I pursued her why did you ask her out Katie was really cute um she was friendly um she went to the same she actually graduated from UCF also different different time but she graduated from there she was she was a really smart girl I mean she was extremely smart and uh and witty and uh that's why I pursued her once you went out with her did you learned that she had two kids I did now initially did you learn anything about her ex husband no I the only thing I knew is that she'd been with somebody for about 10 years uh and that she was Now sing after you dated her a couple times what did you like about her well and aside from the initial things What attracted me to her was she was she had a very busy life also and my life was so busy it was hard for me to be in a a relationship where someone wanted to go have dinner at five 5:00 and hang out with me a couple days a week so she was she was working full-time had two kids so she was fine seeing me once or twice a week and we both had very little time now you said that your first date was sometime in early October 2013 yeah it wasn't even a real date we just went and had dinner there's a restaurant in the building and we finished late and I said you want to grab dinner we ate the at the building did you ask her just two weeks later if she could find someone to kill Professor marel no not at all did you have a Halloween party with her or go trick-or-treating with her and after the party say hey uh do you know anyone who can take care of my ex- brother-in-law for me no absolutely not now back to the relationship over time did it become more serious over time yeah in the beginning it's always like you're just trying to see who each other is and then as time went on she wanted to get more serious I'd say probably by the springtime by probably around March she started asking me now did you consider her to be your girlfriend though she was my girlfriend yeah uh did you consider yourself to be exclusive after the first three months together yeah for sure did you ever see a possibility of marriage with her no I didn't during the time that you dated her how often and let's let's let's be clear we're talking about now the beginning of 2014 right so let's keep it far away from July during the time that you dated her how often would you communicate with her we we talked every day when would you talk to her I'd call her when I was in the car driving to to work um we text throughout the day and uh and then I'd always talk to her at night time where was she living at the time she was living in in North Miami Miami and again you were living in the same place in Fort Lauderdale same house in Fort Lauderdale yeah how often would you see her I would see her once a week sometimes every once in a while it would be twice but I would say more often once than twice and when you saw her what would you typically do would go to dinner um hang out watch a movie um hang out at my house um did you have any relationship with her children no I met her children on one occasion may maybe twice but definitely no more than twice did she go to family events with you um she did meet my family a couple times yeah she met your sister how many times if you recall two times and how many times do you think she might have met your parents I would say maybe around eight times eight or nine times was she a patient of your dad's yes she was we're going to get into this in more detail later but let's be clear right now did Katherine magbanua ever work for your dad or for you at the adelon Institute no never now I think you alluded to this a little bit earlier but as time went on in 2014 did she want to be more serious yeah and what did you think about that I I like the way it was I mean it was it was good in the beginning my life I wasn't looking to change it I was still in that workaholic mode um but she started asking me you know what are we what are we doing at the time that you met her and I want to talk a little bit about your knowledge of Seco Garcia now at the time that you met her to your knowledge she was single right yes and I think you testified that initially you didn't learn anything about her ex nothing other than she was she was completely single she was done with them I want to show you defense exhibit it's not in evidence may apprach your honor your May I'm showing you what's marked for identification purposes as defense exhibit 34 please take a look at are these text messages uh between you and Katherine magbanua on November 27th at 2:13 yes they are judge I'd move in defense exhibit 34 at this time response here say your honor pleas approach as to hear say is overruled you may continue with your examination these text messages are they a true and correct reflection of your messages on November 27th 2013 yes they are judge I'd move in exhibit 34 at this time any further objection no they are admitted at this time may I publish you may now you see the the timing is in military time so it is November 27th at 1342 we can agree that's 142 yes ktie says my ex knows about you I'm pretty sure how I know how he knew because he even knows your name you see that yes I do and you say do I know him from my past you see that yes I do what are you asking K here um I have no idea who who her ex is she's saying he knows me so I'm I'm saying does he do I know him and that's in late November 2013 right yes that's after one month almost after Halloween correct yes now as time went on did you learn more about her ex uh in the springtime I did in February was there an incident with Katie and her ex that you recall yeah um I remember her coming over my house and she was she was pretty upset she had a a mark on her neck uh they'd gotten into an altercation and he ripped a necklace that he'd given her off her neck and she was crying and she was all upset how did you react she could tell I I was upset I mean someone just roughed her up and uh she could tell I was upset and she said don't don't do anything she goes he he will kill you he will kick your ass he's you don't stand a chance now why did you continue to date her after this I didn't take that as a threat to me I just took it as she's got a crazy ex-boyfriend that wants her back and she's got two kids with him and it wasn't a threat to it was I didn't feel like he was threatening me she just was like you know it's a it's a part of her life that I wasn't going to hold against her I want to show you a couple other texts related to your relationship with Miss magbanua uh in February January February and March of 14 these will be defendants exhibits 35 36 and 37 I'll give it the the January text is 35 the February text is 36 and the March 24th text do you have that one yes it is 37 I 15 may I approach your honor you may just put that's 36 and that's 37 can you take a look at these items do you recognize these text messages yes I do were they kept are they accurate reflections of your text messages they are yes I would move these exhibits into evidence now your honor any objection say your honor you can show me a copy of the exhibits yes you're here p for exhibits I have your honor my objection attorneys can briefly approach as to hear say you may continue with your examination so let's talk about um defense exhibit 35 sure text from January 19 2014 and in this exchange what is Miss mag Bowa asking you about she asked me she asked me if I wanted things to be different and she was saying how much she missed me and did you want things to be different at this point in time no I I wanted things to stay the way they were from when we just started dating now if you turn to defense exhibit 36 text messages from February 5th 2014 what is she asking you what does she start by asking you about and you don't have to read it just tell the jury generally what she's asking you about what is she concerned about about she's asking if I'm talking to a bunch of other girls and what do you tell her in response generally I I say no I'm not and again in this text message she's asking you whether she's telling you that she wants more right yeah and how do you respond um I ask I ask who are you thinking about getting back with your ex and then what do you say after that um oh yeah I say you're the coolest and most fun girl that I'm always happy when I'm around and then I said I know it's it's not easy and I think we're doing a good job at not rushing things so and what were you trying to tell tell Miss mag vanua in this text message I was trying to say I like you and I have a good time hanging out with you but I don't want to rush things now moving to text messages in March of 2014 Miss MC Bowa texts you you've mentioned me to your mom and you say yes and she says I love you a baby how did you why was this a big deal to her um I guess when I spoken to her I brought up that I'd mentioned her to my mom and she thought I was trying to I was making things more serious so she she got I think she got excited over that okay you can put those aside I'm gonna object regarding defens 37 and ask for best evidence that weish to the jury I'll sustain on best evidence grounds please publish Defense 3 seven members of the jury you're to reach your own conclusions as to the context of the statements okay just public to the jury says March 24th at 12:17 you see she texts you and says you've mentioned me to your mom yes do you see that you respond yes yes I do do you see that she responds that made me so happy yeah she she took it the wrong way any other clarification your honor is it fair to say that she was excited that you had mentioned her to your your mom um yeah she was she was happy and she she got overly excited I wasn't expecting that now in the early summer of 2014 what were you telling your friends about your relationship with Katherine magbo that is relevance stain please lay a foundation if you can was your relationship coming to an end in the summer of 2014 yes she she wanted more and I didn't want anything more and were you communicating that to friends yes I was I want to talk to you about a dinner on March 11th 2014 a yard bird dinner one moment your honor take your time do you recall going to that dinner yes I do do you remember whether who was a dinner with I was I met Katie uh down in Miami on Lincoln Road and uh my sister was in town and I I was already working down there I remember I was in my scrubs and uh my sister came and she brought uh the boy the guy that she just started dating who was uh Jeff Laos do you recall where you sat yeah we we sat outside the restaurant there was a few tables set up on the sidewalk and uh it was the four of us was sitting there did you know that you were being watched no not at all did you know that sigfredo Garcia was thinking about killing you that night no not at all now this is March 11th 2014 right yes during the dinner do you recall discussions about ex-husbands between your sister and Katherine magbanua yes I do do you recall who initiated those discussions no I don't do you recall making a bad joke again at that dinner yes and that's the same joke that we've already discussed yeah I did now after the dinner who came back to your house my sister and Jeff Laos came back to my house what about Katherine mbell no she she went home just to be with her kids and was it a normal night when your sister and Jeff Laos came back yeah but it's it's the first time I've ever had I think my sister and a boyfriend sleep over my house so it was it was normal did you ever have any conversations other than some text messages that Jeff Laos sent you with him after that night no I never spoke to him again did you know anything about a first attempted murder of Professor marel in early June no now there's been a lot of talk about birthdays and your dad's birthday and a birthday present and you may remember some text messages that the state showed during their case regarding wanting to talk to your give me one second do you Rec call the state showing text messages where you're texting with your mom and she tells you that she can't talk right now um that she'll call you when she's alone she's driving back and she's at a stop in in Gainsville and to erase the text message yeah do you recall what that is all about it was about my dad's birthday who was your mom with at that stop at Gainesville she was with my dad so she didn't want to talk in front of them and why didn't she want to talk in front of him because it was a surprise originally we were thinking about doing a crew what was a surprise that you were going to kill Professor marel or that you were going to have a surprise birthday party for your dad no it was it was going to be his 70th birthday party and do you recall in that text message talking about a caterer yes now you had discussed this caterer as far back back as April and May with your mom correct yes and those are reflected in text messages as well correct yes they are on June 5th do you recall your mom texting you and asking you don't forget to get information on the caterer yes now what did you get your dad for his birthday gift I paid for the catering for the party and what type of catering was it it was uh a chef came to the party and they cooked paa and seafood and uh and then we had a bunch of desserts also and salads I'm showing you what's marked for identification purposes only as defendants exhibit 43 I'm showing you what's marked as defendants exhibit 43 and these are a composite of all of your text messages between June uh June 2nd 2014 and June 7th 2014 May I approach your honor may can you look through this and see if this is an accurate reflection of all your text messages during that period yes they are judge I would move in defense exhibit 43 at this point in time going to need to review the exhibit state do you have any objections yes your honor here say in relevance please bring me a copy of the exhibit for a jury the BFF is going to take you back to the Jury Room we will resume with the testimony momentarily seated if the attorneys can approach 12 minutes until 10:30 Adon if you need to step down and go back to council table you're permitted to do so

Channel: Law&Crime Network

Views: 290,586

Keywords: law and crime, law and crime network

Id: M08ZHA2jsmo

Length: 91min 0sec (5460 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 02 2023