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Despite arrests, questions remain in professor murder case

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It’s been nearly two years since a well-known law professor was shot in the middle of the day in Tallahassee, Florida. Since then, there’s been plenty of wild speculation by the public about who did it, and now, there may be even more questions. 

After what police called a “painstakingly thorough” investigation, chasing thousands of leads, two men were arrested this summer.

Dan Markel, a 41-year-old law professor at Florida State University College of Law, was shot in the head at point-blank range on July 18, 2014. He had just arrived home from dropping his two young sons off at day care and was talking on the phone while still in his car in the garage.

It took emergency crews 19 minutes to arrive to the scene after a neighbor called 911. To avoid litigation, Tallahassee’s dispatch agency has paid $40,000 to Markel’s sons.

Markel died at the hospital the next day.

Now, two South Florida men, 34-year-old Sigfredo Garcia and 33-year-old Luis Rivera, face charges of first-degree murder in the death. Police had most of the evidence tying them to the murder within months, the Tallahassee Democrat reported, but it took longer to connect with one key witness.

Garcia and Rivera are expected to go to trial together in November, and both could face the death penalty.Police and the FBI still suspect the two were enlisted to commit the crime.

But, by whom?

According to the Tallahassee Democrat, law enforcement allegedly has evidence implicating family members of Markel’s ex-wife, Wendi Adelson, who also taught at Florida State University College of Law. Court documents show investigators suspected the murder plans were linked to the couple’s acrimonious divorce, and that Markel’s in-laws wanted their grandsons to move to South Florida, where they lived. An affidavit does not allege that Wendi Adelson had any knowledge of or involvement in the murder.

Investigators have also pointed out a possible link between the Adelsons and the alleged hitmen: the former girlfriend of Wendi Adelson’s brother, Charles Adelson, has two children with Garcia.

Despite years of work reviewing evidence — from financial records to texts to internet searches — there have been no arrests. In August, the family members, represented by some of the country’s top lawyers, broke their silence with a statement saying they hope those responsible will be brought to justice.

“There has been a lot of unsupported speculation that the Adelsons had something to do with the murder,” the statement read. “That speculation is categorically false. To be clear, none of the Adelsons — Wendi, her brother Charlie, or their parents Donna and Harvey — had anything to do with Dan’s murder.” 

“We understand why the government has put the Adelson family through this type of severe scrutiny. But nothing has turned up that supports this fanciful fiction that the Adelsons were involved. The investigation has gone so deep that it employed FBI agents, undercover agents, and a tip line. There is a reason that the police have not arrested any of the Adelsons — they weren’t involved in Dan’s death.”

So, who did it? 

Stay tuned. It looks like we’ll have to wait until the trial to find out what really happened. 

The National Jurist

The National Jurist

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