Police video shows ex-wife of slain law prof Dan Markel reacting to news of his shooting
The ex-wife of slain Florida State University law professor Dan Markel told a Tallahassee police officer that her brother had joked when he gave her a new TV that it was cheaper than hiring a hit man.
ABC News obtained video of the July 2014 police interview with the ex-wife, Wendi Adelson, as a result of a public records request. The video shows Adelson beginning to cry when she is told that Markel has been shot and he is not going to survive.
Adelson told the officer that her brother, Charlie Adelson “knew that Danny treated me badly, and it was always his joke, he said, I looked into hiring a hit man but it was cheaper to get you this TV.”
Charlie Adelson had at one time dated a woman whose two children were fathered by one of the men charged with Markel’s murder. Police have said they believe the case was a murder for hire, but they have not charged anyone with hiring the two murder suspects, Sigfredo Garcia and and Luis Rivera.
Adelson tells the officer questioning her that she repeated her brother’s joke to the TV repair man that morning. The repair man had asked how much the TV cost, Adelson said, “and I said I didn’t know because it was a gift because my brother said it was cheaper than a hit-man. It was my divorce present. Such a horrible thing to say. I’m so, so sorry.”
“But even my family who felt like I had been mistreated would never do something like this,” Adelson said. “Never.”
At another point, Adelson says Markel hadn’t treated her very well and she is “scared someone maybe did this—not because they hate Danny but because they thought this was good somehow.” Later, however, she said doesn’t think anyone in her family would kill him.
When the officer asks Adelson if she would have hired someone to kill Markel, she replies, “Not in a million years.”
Adelson also says she is afraid because someone is out there, and she fears for the safety of her children.
Adelson and her family members released a statement earlier this month saying they had nothing to do with the murder, and no evidence “supports this fanciful fiction that the Adelsons were involved.”
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ABAJournal.com: “Ex-wife and her family deny involvement in law prof’s slaying”
ABAJournal.com: “Two men are indicted in law prof’s slaying”
ABAJournal.com: “Affidavit links law prof’s slaying to ‘desperate desire’ of ex-wife’s family to win battle over kids”
