Mother of dentist convicted in murder-for-hire case accused of arranging death

MIAMI — The mother of a South Florida dentist convicted in the murder-for-hire killing of his former brother-in-law was arrested while attempting to board a one-way flight to Vietnam, authorities said.

>> Read more trending news

Donna Adelson, 73, of Miami, was arrested at Miami International Airport as she and her husband, Harvey Adelson, were preparing to board the flight overseas to Dubai and then Southeast Asia, the Sun-Sentinel reported.

Donna Adelson was taken into custody shortly after 10 p.m. EST, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. She was charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation.

Those are the same charges that her son, Fort Lauderdale dentist Charlie Adelson, was convicted of last week in the 2014 death of Dan Markel in Tallahassee, according to WCTV. Markel’s death was arranged through Katie Magbanua, a girlfriend of Charlie Adelson, according to The Associated Press. She employed her ex-husband and his friend, both members of the Latin Kings gang, to kill Markel.

Markel, 41, a professor at Florida State University, was fatally shot while sitting in his car outside of his home, the Sun-Sentinel reported. Markel was killed the morning of July 18, 2014, after dropping the two sons he shared with Wendi Adelson off at daycare, going to the gym and pulling into the garage of his home. Markel was shot twice in the head at point-blank range.

He died 14 hours later.

Prosecutors said Markel’s death came amid a custody battle between him and his ex-wife, Wendi Adelson. Wendi Adelson is Charles Adelson’s sister and the daughter of Donna Adelson.

State Attorney Jack Campbell said Donna Adelson and her husband had tickets to Vietnam, which has no extradition treaty with the United States, the Democrat reported. They also had scheduled a two-day stop in Dubai.

Campbell told the newspaper that while there was enough evidence to arrest Donna Adelson, her move to fly overseas pushed law enforcement officials “to make a decision quickly.”

“That’s what forced our hand,” Campbell told the Democrat. “We started talking to some of our law enforcement partners about the complexities of trying to bring someone back from either Dubai or Vietnam. And that might be a very complicated and lengthy process. So that’s why we had to make a decision quickly.”

Campbell told the newspaper that prosecutors did not have enough evidence to arrest Harvey Adelson. He is a retired dentist and former owner of the Adelson Institute in Tamarac, where Donna Adelson served as office manager and Charlie Adelson, a periodontist, also worked.

Wendi Adelson has not been charged.

Magbanua and her ex-husband, Sigfredo Garcia, are serving life sentences after being convicted of first-degree murder, the AP reported. Garcia’s friend, Luis Rivera, is serving a 19-year sentence after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and testifying against the others.

Charlie Adelson, who will be sentenced next month, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Donna Adelson was booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami on an out-of-county warrant late Monday night, the Sun-Sentinel reported, citing jail records. She is being held without bond.