A circuit judge ordered this week that Donna Adelson remain in jail until her trial this summer.
Judge Stephen Everett denied Adelson’s bond request in a three-page ruling unsealed on Tuesday afternoon. Adelson’s attorneys expressed her concerns about feeling unsafe in jail due to alleged assaults, threats, and extortion at 76 years old.
Adelson is facing charges in the murder case of her son-in-law, Florida State University law professor Dan Markel. Markel was found shot in his garage on July 18, 2014. Her son, Charlie Adelson, his ex-girlfriend Katherine Magbanua, and the hired hitmen Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera have already been convicted in connection to the crime.
Markel was married to Adelson’s daughter, Wendi Jill Adelson, who hasn’t been charged in the case.
Police arrested Adelson right before her reported attempt to escape the US.
“I wasn’t afraid of being arrested,” she told the court, CourtTV reports.
Adelson recounted her shock and trauma upon learning about what happened to Charlie and how they wanted to find peace and take a break by going away somewhere.
Miami International Airport police arrested Adelson in November 2023 as she and her husband, Harvey, prepared to board one-way tickets to Vietnam via Dubai—two countries without extradition treaties with the US.
WCTV reports that Everett denied Adelson’s bond request because she posed a risk of not appearing at future proceedings.
“The Court finds that one of the primary considerations of bail – ensuring the appearance of the criminal defendant at subsequent proceedings – cannot be met.”
The judge unsealed a second ruling Tuesday after denying her request to block jurors from hearing a jail phone call with her son, Charlie Adelson.
In the bond ruling, Everett ruled that prosecutors had presented enough evidence to keep her in jail. He acknowledged that courts can use discretion in detaining defendants but said her case did not warrant it.
He cited her arrest as a key factor in the decision.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin June 3. Check back for updates.
Feature Photo: Dan Markel/FSU College of Law faculty biographies; Donna Adelson/AP
