After leaving the gym, Dan Markel drove home expecting an ordinary day.
asserted
Markel → leave → day
Instead, his killer was waiting for him.
asserted
killer → wait → him
As he arrived home, the prominent Florida State University law professor was talking on the phone with music teacher Stewart Schlazer about school options for his children.
asserted
professor → arrive → children
Then the conversation took a terrifying turn.
asserted
conversation → take → turn
"Can you please hold on a second?
asserted
you → hold → ?
There's an unfamiliar person in my driveway," Markel said.
asserted
Markel → be → driveway
Seconds later, Schlazer heard what he described as "a loud boom.
asserted
he → hear → boom
"
"There are really eerie parts of those final hours," producer Lily Fletcher told Fox News Digital.
asserted
Fletcher → be → Digital
"You look at the CCTV footage, and it's a normal day.
asserted
it → look → footage
Dan dropped off the kids at school, he's gone to work out at the gym, and then there's a Prius driving around the gym car park.
asserted
he → drop → park
It never stops.
asserted
It → stop → ?
It's clearly waiting for him.
asserted
It → wait → him
"It's always reminded me of a shark circling," Fletcher said.
asserted
Fletcher → remind → me
That really stayed with me.
asserted
That → stay → me
That's a really chilling part, just watching that footage.
asserted
That → watch → footage
Markel was shot in the head while sitting in his car in the garage of his Tallahassee, Florida, home on July 18, 2014.
asserted
Markel → shoot → July
The 41-year-old died the following day.
asserted
old → die → ?
The case is the subject of a new true crime docuseries from ABC News Studios, "Welcome to the Family: The Murder of Dan Markel," now streaming on Hulu.
asserted
case → stream → Hulu
It features exclusive interviews, including with FBI agent Pat Sanford and a recorded conversation with Rob Adelson, the oldest Adelson son, who testified against his mother, Donna Adelson, at her trial.
asserted
who → feature → trial
It largely follows the prosecution's investigation and trial evidence, while also including testimony and recordings introduced during court proceedings.
asserted
It → follow → proceedings
Markel married Wendi Adelson in 2006 after the two met online.
asserted
two → marry → 2006
The docuseries depicts prosecutors' theory that Wendi's mother, Donna, was a dominating, controlling figure in their lives with strong opinions about her daughter's choices.
asserted
mother → depict → choices
Wendi later said the couple's marriage fell apart after they had two sons, Benjamin and Lincoln.
asserted
they → say → sons
Their contentious divorce in 2013 centered on one question: where the boys would grow up.
asserted
boys → center → question
Wendi fought to move them to South Florida to be near her family, while Markel pressed to keep them in Tallahassee, where the parents shared custody.
asserted
parents → fight → custody
According to the docuseries, Donna was furious after the relocation request was denied.
uncertain
request → accord → docuseries
Prosecutors said the custody dispute became the catalyst for a murder-for-hire plot that would take years to unravel.
asserted
that → say → years
They argued at trial that Donna helped orchestrate Markel’s killing after he stood in the way of letting her daughter and two young grandsons make the move south.
asserted
daughter → argue → move
They also revealed that her son Charlie Adelson arranged for Markel's killing through his then-girlfriend, Katherine Magbanua, who connected him to Sigfredo Garcia, the father of her children, and Garcia's friend Luis Rivera.
asserted
who → reveal → children
Prosecutors said Garcia shot Markel while Rivera drove the getaway car.
asserted
Rivera → say → car
Over the next decade, investigators used cellphone records, surveillance video, financial records and secretly recorded conversations to build the case.
asserted
investigators → use → case
"Investigators suspected members of the family were involved, but weren't able to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt for a really long time," Fletcher said.
asserted
Fletcher → suspect → time
"And I think what really surprised me about the investigation was how incredibly thorough and how many needles in how many haystacks they went through to find the evidence, whether it was tracking silver-colored Priuses across Florida, or going through thousands of phone data to find any links to the family and near the crime scene.
asserted
it → think → scene
At trial, prosecutors painted Donna as the calculated matriarch of an affluent South Florida family with the means and motive to orchestrate the killing of the ex-son-in-law she "hated."
asserted
she → paint → law
Defense attorneys, however, insisted the state didn't have sufficient evidence to link her to the murder plot.
asserted
state → insist → plot
In 2023, Charlie, a dentist, was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation to commit murder in his former brother-in-law's killing.
asserted
Charlie → convict → killing
Prosecutors told jurors that Charlie paid to have Markel killed and used Magbanua to hire Garcia.
asserted
Markel → tell → Garcia
They said Garcia enlisted the help of Rivera, his childhood friend.
asserted
Garcia → say → Rivera
Charlie testified that he had nothing to do with the killing and was stunned when Magbanua came to his home and said her friends were the killers.
asserted
friends → testify → home
According to reports, he also said he needed to pay more than $300,000 in 48 hours or he would be killed.
uncertain
he → accord → hours
…and 25 more, not listed.
The Aporia
