A circuit judge ordered this week that Donna Adelson remain in jail until her trial this summer.
Judge Stephen Everett denied Adelson’s bond request in a three-page ruling unsealed Tuesday afternoon. Her attorneys said the 76-year-old felt unsafe in jail, citing alleged assaults, threats, and extortion.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Adelson is charged with the murder of her son-in-law, Florida State University law professor Dan Markel. Police found him shot in his garage on July 18, 2014. Her son, Charlie Adelson, along with his ex-girlfriend Katherine Magbanua, and hitmen Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera, have been convicted in connection with the case.
Markel was married to Adelson’s daughter, Wendi Jill Adelson, who hasn’t been charged in the case.
Police arrested Adelson right before her reported attempt to escape the US.
“I wasn’t afraid of being arrested,” she told the court, CourtTV reports.
“My husband and I – literally shocked and traumatized at what had happened to Charlie – and he said, ‘We need to just get some peace, we need to catch our breath, we’re gonna go away somewhere.’”
Miami International Airport police arrested Adelson in November 2023 as she and her husband, Harvey, prepared to board one-way tickets to Vietnam via Dubai—two countries without extradition treaties with the US.
WCTV reports that Everett denied Adelson’s bond request because she posed a risk of not appearing at future proceedings.
“The Court finds that one of the primary considerations of bail – ensuring the appearance of the criminal defendant at subsequent proceedings – cannot be met.”
The judge unsealed a second ruling Tuesday after denying her request to block jurors from hearing a jail phone call with her son, Charlie Adelson.
In the bond ruling, Everett ruled that prosecutors had presented enough evidence to keep her in jail. He acknowledged that courts can use discretion in detaining defendants but said her case did not warrant it.
He cited her arrest as a key factor in the decision.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin June 3. Check back for updates.
Feature Photo: Dan Markel/FSU College of Law faculty biographies; Donna Adelson/AP
