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Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Documents Reveal Wendi Adelson's Odd Behavior After Murder Of Dan Markel

Markel & AdelsonTallahassee Democrat, Documents Reveal Early Markel Investigation:

The just released documents also shed new light on Wendi Adelson's behavior before and after her ex-husband's murder. ...

One of the reports describes an investigation into Jeffrey Lacasse, a former boyfriend of Wendi Adelson. Lacasse, an FSU professor, was cleared as a suspect a few days after Markel’s death.

Several weeks later, on Aug. 12, Lacasse contacted Tallahassee police investigators to tell them about text messages between him and Wendi Adelson he had been reviewing. He said he and Adelson made reservations to travel to California July 11 to 17. She canceled plans on June 4 – two weeks before Rivera and Garcia traveled to Tallahassee during what investigators say was a botched first attempt to kill her ex-husband.

Lacasse said Wendi and others had told him that three weeks after Markel was killed, her brother Charlie Adelson contacted her and asked her to go out and celebrate. That dinner was memorable. Wendi Adelson vomited on the table. Lacasse found that highly suspicious.

“He believed that Wendi Adelson may be indirectly responsible for the murder of her ex-husband, Daniel Markel," the Dec. 4, 2014 TPD report says. “When I informed him that Wendi was not a suspect, he stated ‘well she should be.’”

Within hours of Markel's death, investigators had begun to look at his ex-wife.

Three days after Markel was killed, a judge signed a search warrant for information on Wendi Adelson’s phone and investigators began searching her Web browser and email records.

On her computer, investigators found Google Chrome keyword searches for Markel’s girlfriend Amy Adler, Adler's ex-husband and Adler's brother. They also found that Wendi Adelson had searched several porn sites for “teacher/student porn.”

Above the Law, Harsh Words From An Ex-Boyfriend Of Wendi Adelson, Ex-Wife Of Dan Markel

Update:  Above the Law, More Disturbing Details About The Dan Markel Murder Case

Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2016/08/documents-reveal-wendi-adelsons-odd-behavior-after-murder-of-dan-markel.html

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Comments

I sense some selective reporting here. Isn't the oddest behavior the brother's? Initiating celebration of the murder?

The article never said quite what he told her to celebrate.

Posted by: Art Deco | Aug 2, 2016 4:30:54 PM

That is pretty crazy. We all thought the identification of the two alleged hitmen was some late-breaking development, but they've had that info for a couple years apparently. That means the police have been looking for direct evidence of the murder for 18 or so months, which indicates, as I've said before, that they know this is not an easy case, even against the two men.

I think you're reading too much into a vague sentence in the article.

It does appear that the release of a picture of the Prius a year after the murder was some sort of gamesmanship re targets of the investigation, inasmuch as they apparently had already identified the vehicle.

My wager would be the last couple of years has been devoted to trolling for links between Garcia and Rivera and the people who hired them.

The Adelson's will never be out from under a cloud unless the case against Garcia and Rivera implodes completely or some plausible alternative motive to the one the police have floated.

Posted by: Art Deco | Aug 2, 2016 4:28:19 PM

Above quoted text should read:

"Within months of Dan Markel's slaying, detectives had most of the evidence linking two South Florida men to the killing of the Florida State law professor."

Posted by: JM | Aug 2, 2016 7:13:29 AM

two South Florida men to the killing of the Florida State law professor."


That is pretty crazy. We all thought the identification of the two alleged hitmen was some late-breaking development, but they've had that info for a couple years apparently. That means the police have been looking for direct evidence of the murder for 18 or so months, which indicates, as I've said before, that they know this is not an easy case, even against the two men.

Posted by: JM | Aug 2, 2016 7:12:52 AM

While a juicy tidbit, I don't really see the relevance of her search history to this story or the case, and I think she was probably entitled to privacy on that bit, at least by the author or the story. That said, when your whole life is blown up and dissected by something like this, an innocent role play fantasy isn't such a big deal while the whole world is watching.

Posted by: no soup for you! | Aug 2, 2016 4:58:16 AM

I sense some selective reporting here. Isn't the oddest behavior the brother's? Initiating celebration of the murder? What normal person wouldn't be disgusted by that?

Posted by: AMTbuff | Aug 2, 2016 3:26:40 AM