Katie Magbanua: Trials, Conviction, and Testimony Against the Adelsons

Katie Magbanua is a Florida woman serving life in prison without parole for her role as the middlewoman in the 2014 murder-for-hire of Florida State University law professor Dan Markel. Prosecutors said she connected the Adelson family, who wanted Markel killed over a custody dispute, with the two hitmen who shot him in his Tallahassee garage. After a first trial ended in a hung jury in 2019, she was convicted in 2022. She later became the state’s key witness against Charlie and Donna Adelson.

The Role That Put Her at the Center of the Case

Magbanua occupied a position no one else in the plot could fill. She was romantically involved with Charlie Adelson, a South Florida periodontist and the brother of Markel’s ex-wife Wendi. She was also the mother of two children with Sigfredo Garcia, one of the two men who traveled to Tallahassee to carry out the shooting. That dual connection let her bridge the family who wanted Markel dead and the men willing to kill him, without either side needing to deal with the other.1Florida Politics. Charlie Adelson Trial: Accomplices Tell the Truth

Dan Markel, 41, was shot twice in the head at point-blank range on July 18, 2014, while sitting in his car in the garage of his Betton Hills home. He died the next day. The killing grew out of a bitter divorce and custody battle: Markel’s ex-wife Wendi Adelson had sought to move the couple’s two young sons to South Florida to be near her family, and a family court judge denied the request. Hitman Luis Rivera later told investigators that Garcia had explained the job to him this way: “The lady wants her two kids back. She wants full custody.”2NBC News. Daniel Markel Murder: Hit Men, Family, Donna Adelson, Katherine Magbanua

How the Plot Ran Through Her

By Magbanua’s later account, the plot began in October 2013 when Charlie Adelson asked her if she knew anyone who could “harm someone.” She said yes, thinking of Garcia.3WCTV. Katherine Magbanua Returns to the Witness Stand at Donna Adelson Murder Trial She testified that she kept the two men compartmentalized, referring to each simply as “my friend” when speaking to the other, because she believed Garcia “wouldn’t have wanted to do anything to help Charlie.”1Florida Politics. Charlie Adelson Trial: Accomplices Tell the Truth

As Charlie grew “more adamant that the job gets done” in the summer of 2014, he gave her what she called a “kill sheet” in a sealed manila envelope. She said he told her not to open or touch it and warned that he had worn gloves handling it. She kept the envelope in her diaper bag and passed it to the shooters without ever looking inside.1Florida Politics. Charlie Adelson Trial: Accomplices Tell the Truth

On the night of the murder, she went to Charlie’s house to collect payment for the hitmen. She described him as “frantic, pacing back and forth” with a gun in his hand, saying his parents had just left.3WCTV. Katherine Magbanua Returns to the Witness Stand at Donna Adelson Murder Trial She later noticed the cash was damp and starting to mold. When she asked, she testified, Charlie told her “Donna washed the money,” meaning his mother had physically laundered the bills.4WTXL. Katherine Magbanua Testifies in Donna Adelson Trial

In the months after the killing, Magbanua was added to the payroll of the Adelson Institute, the family’s dental practice, though she never worked there. She said the arrangement helped her obtain health insurance for her children. Investigators identified the checks as continued payment tied to the murder.3WCTV. Katherine Magbanua Returns to the Witness Stand at Donna Adelson Murder Trial

How Investigators Traced the Killing Back to Her

A neighbor’s report of a light-colored Toyota Prius backing out of Markel’s driveway put police on the trail. Surveillance footage from a city bus captured a green Prius with a toll transponder, and toll records led investigators to a Miami rental agency, where the car had been rented by Luis Rivera. A phone number on the rental agreement connected to Sigfredo Garcia.5ABC News. How Police Tracked and Caught Suspected Hit Men in FSU Murder

Cellphone records and GPS data placed both men in Tallahassee near Markel’s home on the day of the killing. The same records showed extensive calls between Garcia and Magbanua that day, and between Magbanua and Charlie Adelson. Garcia called Magbanua about 90 minutes after the shooting.6WTXL. Dan Markel Murder Trial: How We Got Here Investigators also documented more than $50,000 in cash deposited into Magbanua’s bank account in the 16 months after the murder, along with regular checks from the Adelson dental practice.7ABC News. Suspect Arrested in 2014 Murder of Florida Professor Dan Markel

The Dolce Vita Recording

The most damaging piece of evidence against Magbanua came from an FBI sting in April 2016. An undercover agent posing as a Latin Kings gang member approached Donna Adelson outside her Miami condominium, handed her a flier about the Markel murder, and demanded $5,000, claiming to represent Rivera’s associates.8Tallahassee Democrat. Donna Adelson Trial Livestream

The move provoked the calls investigators were hoping for. Donna phoned Charlie; wiretaps captured them discussing the encounter in what prosecutors said was coded language, referring to the murder and the extortion attempt as a “TV” and a “Yelp review.”9WCTV. Donna Adelson Trial Testimony Day 4 Charlie then met Magbanua at the Dolce Vita restaurant in Miami Beach on April 20, 2016. The FBI recorded more than 40 minutes of conversation. On the tape, Adelson discussed the logistics of the killing, wondered aloud whether the contact was from police or blackmailers, and said at one point, “If they had any evidence, we would have already gone to the airport.” None of the suspects reported the extortion attempt to police.10Tallahassee Democrat. Dan Markel Murder Case: Charlie Adelson Audio Recording Transcript

The State Attorney’s Office later called the Dolce Vita recording the “breakthrough piece of evidence” in the case. After forensic audio experts enhanced sections obscured by background noise, it became central to the prosecutions of both Magbanua and Charlie Adelson.10Tallahassee Democrat. Dan Markel Murder Case: Charlie Adelson Audio Recording Transcript

Arrest, Refused Immunity, and Two Trials

Magbanua was arrested on October 1, 2016, in Davie, Florida, on a warrant for second-degree murder. A grand jury indicted her on first-degree murder on November 29, 2016.11WCTV. Woman Accused in Markel Murder Indicted on First-Degree Murder

Before her first trial, state prosecutors offered her full immunity in exchange for testimony against Charlie Adelson. She refused. Chief Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman said publicly that Magbanua “was offered immunity, refused it. She’s now sitting in jail. I believe she holds the key to her own freedom essentially.”12Above the Law. The Dan Markel Case: Katherine Magbanua Turns Down a Deal Magbanua later said she rejected the deal because cooperating against Charlie would also have required her to implicate Garcia, the father of her children.

She was tried alongside Garcia in the fall of 2019. After ten days of testimony and roughly ten hours of deliberation, the jury convicted Garcia of first-degree murder and conspiracy but hung on Magbanua. Judge James Hankinson declared a mistrial on October 11, 2019.13WCTV. Mistrial Declared in Case of Katherine Magbanua

Her second trial took place in May 2022 before Judge Robert Wheeler, with the Dolce Vita recording playing a central role. The jury convicted her on all three counts: first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation to commit murder.14WLRN. Magbanua Is Sentenced to Life On July 29, 2022, Judge Wheeler sentenced her to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus consecutive 30-year terms on the conspiracy and solicitation counts. She was 37.15David Lat’s Newsletter. The Dan Markel Case: Katie Magbanua

Magbanua appealed, raising three issues tied to the handling of testimony and depositions from Wendi Adelson. On July 2, 2025, a three-judge panel of the Florida First District Court of Appeal unanimously affirmed her convictions, finding she had failed to show prejudicial error.16Tallahassee Democrat. Appeals Court Affirms Conviction of Katie Magbanua in Dan Markel Murder17Justia. Magbanua v. State of Florida, 1D2022-2733

Why She Finally Testified Against the Adelsons

Shortly after her sentencing, Magbanua reversed the position she had held for six years. She was brought from prison to Tallahassee in November 2022 for a closed-door meeting with prosecutors and gave at least one additional proffer session by early 2023. Judge Wheeler sealed the contents, citing a “serious and imminent threat” to Charlie Adelson’s right to a fair trial.18Florida Politics. Trial Delayed, Proffer Stays Sealed

She took the stand at Charlie Adelson’s trial in October 2023. She identified Charlie as the person who “came up with the idea to kill Dan Markel,” described her own role as a go-between motivated by money, and admitted she had lied at both of her earlier trials “to save myself.” Defense attorney Daniel Rashbaum pressed her on whether she was lying again now to avoid a life behind bars. She again explained that her earlier refusal of immunity came down to Garcia: she could not implicate Charlie without giving up the father of her children.19WCTV. Katherine Magbanua on the Stand at Charlie Adelson’s Murder-for-Hire Trial

She testified again in August 2025 at the trial of Donna Adelson, Charlie and Wendi’s mother. She described a chain of communication that mirrored her own: Charlie acted as a go-between for her and Donna the way she acted as one for Charlie and Garcia. She said Charlie would frequently step out of the room to consult with his mother before returning to speak with her.3WCTV. Katherine Magbanua Returns to the Witness Stand at Donna Adelson Murder Trial She testified that from September 2014 to May 2016 she received paychecks from Charlie, all signed by Donna, and that they stopped only after Garcia’s arrest.8Tallahassee Democrat. Donna Adelson Trial Livestream Under cross-examination, defense attorney Jackie Fulford established that Magbanua had almost no direct contact with Donna beyond a single dental visit and was not part of any direct discussions among Donna, Charlie, and Garcia.4WTXL. Katherine Magbanua Testifies in Donna Adelson Trial

Asked at that trial why she was finally telling the truth, Magbanua said: “I think the truth needed to come out and the people responsible needed to be arrested.” She added, “I’ve been living a lie this whole time, and it was so hard to come out with the truth.” She said she had not been promised anything for her testimony, though she acknowledged hoping one day to see her two children again.3WCTV. Katherine Magbanua Returns to the Witness Stand at Donna Adelson Murder Trial

Where the Rest of the Case Ended Up

Her cooperation helped close out the prosecutions of everyone else charged in the plot.

Wendi Adelson, Markel’s ex-wife, has been named an unindicted co-conspirator but has not been charged and denies any involvement.25Tallahassee Democrat. Donna Adelson Trial Analysis Magbanua remains in Florida state custody serving her life sentence.