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A Florida woman accused of plotting to murder her former son-in-law claims she is being subjected to “cruel and unusual punishment” while in prison.
Donna Adelson was arrested last month at Miami-Dade airport, a week after her son Charles was convicted of hiring hitmen to murder her son-in-law Dan Markel.
Adelson, 73, had been trying to fly to Vietnam on a one-way ticket, investigators said, which does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.
Since she was detained, her attorney, Marissel Descalzo, filed a motion alleging that jail staff force her to eat with her hands and sit naked.
The movement, seen by cnnmaintains that the alleged treatment is a violation of his Sixth Amendment rights.
Donna Adelson was detained at Miami-Dade International Airport and booked into the county correctional and rehabilitation center last month.
Charles Adelson (pictured) paid to have law professor Dan Markel, who was married to his sister, Wendi Adelson, killed.
The media reported that Descalzo is seeking justice to release Adelson so that he remains under house arrest or forces the prison to improve his conditions.
Barefoot is also requesting that the court give Adelson a ‘psychological evaluation’ that would place her in a different unit. A hearing on the allegations will be held on Monday.
Adelson was charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation in what prosecutors say was a contract killing of Dan Markel, her former son-in-law.
Dan Markel, a father of two, was shot while sitting in his car outside his home.
His son Charles, a dentist, was convicted of Markel’s murder a week before his arrest.
Charles had organized the murder through his girlfriend Katie Magbanua, who then employed her ex-boyfriend Sigfredo García and his friend Luis Rivera to carry out the murder.
Markel’s death revolved around a court battle he won to prevent Adelson’s daughter Wendi from moving from Tallahassee to South Florida with her two children.
Markel was shot in the head while sitting in his car outside his home in Tallahassee, after taking his children to daycare and going to the gym.
The Adelsons immediately became suspects after Wendi Adelson told detectives that her ex-husband’s murder may have been arranged in her name, saying her parents were “very angry with Markel.”
The court heard that Donna Adelson “hated” Markel and was “desperate to find a way” to overcome his determination to prevent her two children from moving to South Florida.
Markel had asked a judge to prevent him from having unsupervised contact with his grandchildren, and prosecutors discovered a July 2013 email in which he reacted to the court ruling.
Sigfredo García, left, and his friend Luis Rivera, right, had been hired to carry out the murder.
Dan Markel (right) was shot to death outside his home in 2014. He was married to Wendi Adelson (left), but in the midst of their bitter divorce, the couple fought over where their children would live. It was during this time that Markle was shot and killed.
“It’s time to take control of your life and not let Jibbers think that he simply ‘gained’ anything by letting you stay in Tallahassee, eight hours away from the only family you have, and lose what will be a job that will allow you earn money”. and your children advantages they could never otherwise enjoy,’ he said to his daughter.
‘Let’s show this bastard what will make him absolutely miserable. You know his weak points; money, religion, control.’
Authorities say the Adelsons considered offering Markel $1 million to let his ex-wife and children move out, but then Charlie Adelson and other family members began plotting his death.
During his trial, it was proven that Charles paid Magbanua $138,000, which she split with the killers.
The family then gave him a no-show job at their dental office and other payments totaling more than $56,000. Charlie Adelson also gave him a used Lexus.
Magbanua and Garcia were convicted of first-degree murder, and Rivera is serving a 19-year sentence after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for testifying against him.
Katherine Magbanua photographed in court in 2019
Wendi wanted to move from Tallahassee to South Florida to be closer to her family. However, a judge at the time ruled that Wendi Adelson could not move without Markel’s consent and he refused, saying she could not move the children to Miami.
Investigators were able to trace phone records that showed numerous calls between Charlie Adelson and Magbanua, her and the killers and Charlie Adelson, her mother and sister in the hours before and shortly after the murder, as well as large monetary transactions between the family and Magbanua.
Charlie Adelson was arrested last year after technicians enhanced a recording made of him and Magbanua inside a Mexican restaurant in 2016 while they were under surveillance discussing the extortion attempt.
In the conversation, Adelson told Magbanua that he would have to meet with the extortionist and accept a one-time payment.
During the trial, Wendi took the stand to testify that her family had nothing to do with her ex-husband’s murder in 2014. She denied having any knowledge of the murder-for-hire plot or any involvement of her own.
Wendi, who works as a lawyer, ended up moving to Miami days after her husband was shot. She was granted limited immunity for her testimony.
Wendi Adelson and her father, dentist Harvey Adelson, have not been charged, but Campbell said the investigation remains open. They have denied their participation.