Charlie Adelson found guilty in 2014 murder-for-hire killing of Dan Markel

Charlie Adelson, the Fort Lauderdale dentist long suspected in the plot to kill Florida State law professor Dan Markel nearly a decade ago, has been found guilty in his murder.

The 12-person jury just returned a guilty verdict in Adelson's trial at the Leon County Courthouse in Tallahassee, Florida. He could spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Adelson, 47, was charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation in Markel's grisly demise the morning of July 18, 2014. After taking his kids to preschool and going to the gym, Markel was shot twice in the head at point-blank range in the garage of his home. He died 14 hours later.

The complicated, sensational case involving lengthy investigations by Tallahassee police and the FBI, a confession, wiretaps, recorded conversations, four arrests, three trials, and a COVID delay has made national news, features on Dateline and 20/20, and has been the subject of a popular true crime podcast.

As the jury announced the guilty verdict, Adelson leaned his head forward, resting it on the defense table. He said nothing and showed no emotion after that.

During the eight-day trial, prosecutors painted Adelson as a wealthy and arrogant "playboy" who thought he was smart enough to get away with murder. According to the state, Adelson wanted Markel out of the way to end a bitter child custody fight with his ex-wife, Wendi Adelson, the defendant's younger sister.

The verdict marks the fourth conviction since Markel's death and the first involving a member of the Adelson family, long suspected as conspirators in the plot. Wendi Adelson, who testified in her brother's trial, and her parents, Donna and Harvey Adelson, have denied any involvement.

Luis Rivera, the Latin Kings gang leader who drove the getaway car, pleaded guilty in 2016 and testified against his one time friends, Sigfredo Garcia, who pulled the trigger, and Katie Magbanua, the mother of Garcia's kids who was dating Adelson at the time of the murder. Garcia was found guilty during his joint trial with Magbanua in 2019, though the jury hung on charges against her. She was convicted at trial last year.

Adelson, who took the stand in his own defense, claimed that he had been a victim of "double extortion" by the actual killers, who he said demanded money through Magbanua the night of the murder, and a subsequent FBI agent posing as a blackmailer. He and his lawyer said comments he made in incriminating wire taps and other recorded calls were about the extortion, not the murder. But jurors appeared to have rejected that explanation.

Case primer: Everything to know about the murder-for-hire case

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com.