00:00:00
a surprising turn in a Twisted case out
00:00:02
of Florida where a grandmother faces
00:00:04
murder charges for her role in a
00:00:06
Sinister plot that left her former
00:00:08
son-in-law dead weeks after Donna
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adelson's lead attorney withdrew from
00:00:13
her case another shakeup at the defense
00:00:15
table a Florida judge ordered adelson's
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new attorneys can't represent her in her
00:00:19
upcoming murder trial leyon County
00:00:21
Circuit Judge Steven Everett issued the
00:00:24
order on Monday it disqualifies Adam Kar
00:00:27
and Robert a Morris from representing
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the 74 old signaling another delay in
00:00:31
her trial that decision mirrors the same
00:00:34
situation that pushed back the trial
00:00:36
last month adelon previously hired the
00:00:38
same lawyer that represented her son
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Charlie adelen who was sentenced earlier
00:00:42
this year to life in prison for his role
00:00:44
in hiring Hitman to kill his ex-
00:00:46
brother-in-law Dan rashbam who
00:00:48
represented Charlie withdrew from being
00:00:50
Donna's Council in mid-september the
00:00:52
same day jury selection was supposed to
00:00:55
begin in her trial Robert Morris who was
00:00:57
co-counsel with rash Bal initially
00:00:59
stayed on the case but he filed a motion
00:01:01
asking for the court to clarify its
00:01:03
ruling when it comes to her future
00:01:05
counsel judge Everett wrote quote the
00:01:07
withdraw of attorney Daniel rash bound
00:01:09
became necessary when he engaged in a
00:01:11
conflicted representation falling short
00:01:14
of the ethical obligations for members
00:01:16
of the Florida bar upon further
00:01:18
consideration of the September 17th 2024
00:01:21
record and the in camera proceedings
00:01:23
with attorneys Daniel rashbam and Robert
00:01:25
a Morris a sufficient ethical wall was
00:01:28
not established thus th the conflict of
00:01:30
interest involving privileged
00:01:31
information or Communications has been
00:01:34
imputed to Robert a Morris additionally
00:01:36
this case is Rife with potential for the
00:01:38
same conflict as to Adam Kar the order
00:01:42
went on to State quote without the
00:01:43
establishment of a sufficient ethical
00:01:45
wall and the fact that even third-party
00:01:48
Council cannot avoid the potential for
00:01:50
conflict the court cannot permit Robert
00:01:52
a Morris or Adam Komar to remain as
00:01:55
Council of record nor will the court
00:01:57
permit the untenable situation to
00:01:59
continue accordingly for the above
00:02:01
reasons attorneys Robert a Morris and
00:02:03
Adam kassar are disqualified from
00:02:05
further representation of the defendant
00:02:07
judge Everett's order is the latest blow
00:02:09
to Donald adon's case so how did we get
00:02:12
here the Florida grandmother was
00:02:13
arrested in November after she booked a
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one-way ticket to Vietnam with her
00:02:17
husband she was booked into jail less
00:02:20
than a week after her son Charlie adelen
00:02:22
was convicted for the 2014 murder of his
00:02:25
former brother-in-law and FSU law
00:02:27
professor Dan marel Donna reportedly was
00:02:30
captured on recorded Jail phone calls
00:02:32
with her son telling him she was
00:02:33
considering leaving the country both
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Donna and her husband were taken into
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custody at Miami International Airport
00:02:39
however adon's husband was not arrested
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Donna's arrest came more than 9 years
00:02:44
after her former son-in-law Dan Marquel
00:02:46
was gunned down in his Tallahassee home
00:02:49
at the time of his death Marquel who was
00:02:50
previously married to Donna's daughter
00:02:52
Wendy was in a contentious custody
00:02:54
battle over their sons after the divorce
00:02:57
in 2012 Wendy wanted to move the
00:02:59
children to South Florida to be closer
00:03:00
to her family but a judge ruled against
00:03:03
her according to Donna's arrest warrant
00:03:05
she suggested offering Marquel $1
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million dollar divided up in thirds to
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change his mind and make the move Donna
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also suggested Wendy threatened to
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convert marquel's children to
00:03:15
Catholicism despite knowing marel was
00:03:17
very observant in his Jewish faith then
00:03:20
Charlie steps in we cover a lot of
00:03:22
Twisted and disturbing stories here at
00:03:24
lawn crime and part of the reason we're
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able to keep bringing you these types of
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gas prosecutors say Donna's son and
00:04:20
Wendy's brother Charlie orchestrated The
00:04:22
Killing he recruited his former
00:04:23
girlfriend Katherine mbua who then
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brought on the father of her children
00:04:27
sick Fredo Garcia who recruited his
00:04:29
friend Louis Rivera to carry out the
00:04:31
horrific slaying at his trial Charlie
00:04:33
admitted paying mcbow after the murder
00:04:35
but claimed he did it because he
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believed he was the victim of an
00:04:38
extortion scheme and mcbow could pay off
00:04:41
the people who killed Marquel but mcbow
00:04:43
denied she tried to extort Charlie
00:04:45
authorities alleged Donna had the means
00:04:47
to finance the murder and the day after
00:04:49
Marquel was killed Donna allegedly
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delivered a bag of cash to her son that
00:04:53
officials say was used to pay mcbo up
00:04:56
then 2 years after the murder law
00:04:58
enforcement launched an undercover sting
00:05:00
operation to try to determine who was
00:05:02
all involved in April of 2016 an
00:05:04
undercover federal agent posing as
00:05:06
someone trying to Blackmail Donna over
00:05:08
the murder approached her outside her
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Miami condo and handed her a news
00:05:12
article about marquel's murder that
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handoff came along with a written note
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with a $5,000 amount and a phone number
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in an intercepted phone call Donna
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called her son about some paperwork that
00:05:25
was delivered to her and when Charlie
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asked if it was about him she whispered
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well probably the both of us then Donna
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called the number handed off by the
00:05:33
undercover agent which was played in
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court in Charlie's
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trial this is this is Mrs a soon is this
00:05:41
um Sammy Sammy okay my grandchildren had
00:05:45
my phone before
00:05:48
so ad I'm Mrs
00:05:52
ad yes
00:05:54
yes had my phone before so that's and I
00:05:57
saw that you
00:06:00
so
00:06:01
okay you left the message on my on my
00:06:04
voicemail listen to me let's stop around
00:06:07
let's
00:06:09
stop okay you know who Katie is and you
00:06:12
know that Katie has somebody that knows
00:06:15
s and they and they took care of a
00:06:18
problem for you people that's just the
00:06:20
bottom line the bottom line is you know
00:06:23
you know who the ktie is look I don't no
00:06:27
more no more Mr I'm not I'm not with you
00:06:31
you know who Katie is you know that they
00:06:33
took care of Katie and her people
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nobody's taking care of T I know you
00:06:38
don't know who T
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is but we know we know who all of you
00:06:42
are fast forward to 2024 Katherine mcbow
00:06:46
sigfredo Garcia Luis Rivera Charlie
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adelon and Donna adelon are all behind
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bars Donna is charged with first-degree
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murder conspiracy and solicitation all
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of which she pleaded not guilty and as
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Donna still needs to face trial without
00:07:01
her attorneys it doesn't appear that'll
00:07:03
begin anytime soon with so many layers
00:07:06
to this case I want to bring on a very
00:07:08
special guest and that's the state
00:07:09
attorney for Palm Beach County Dave
00:07:11
aronburg Dave it's always so great to
00:07:13
see you you know this case happened
00:07:15
about 6 hours north of where you are and
00:07:18
there's been so many twists and turns in
00:07:19
this case overall but what do you make
00:07:22
of the latest judge's order
00:07:23
disqualifying Donna adon's
00:07:26
attorneys I'm mildly surprised Elizabeth
00:07:29
because because at first the judge
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seemed to be okay with allowing the
00:07:35
newer lawyers to stay on now he had a
00:07:37
problem with rash bomb being part of it
00:07:40
but now the judge is saying you know I
00:07:42
want to protect this case on appeal and
00:07:46
now that Charlie has this very
00:07:48
impressive respected appeals court uh
00:07:51
lawyer on his side that anything we do
00:07:55
is going to be scrutinized very heavily
00:07:57
and we don't want Charlie's conviction
00:07:59
to be challenged on appeal to be
00:08:02
threatened on appeal so we're going to
00:08:04
air on the side of being extra careful
00:08:07
whereas before we were a little Loosey
00:08:09
Goosey about it so that's how I read
00:08:12
into the judge's ruing like now this is
00:08:14
a new day we're going to be really
00:08:16
exacting we are going to make sure
00:08:18
there's no doubt here if you have been
00:08:22
uh tainted by rash bomb you're gone and
00:08:24
by tainted it's well did you work with
00:08:27
him if you did you're gone Morris gone
00:08:30
now the other lawyer that came on later
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because he worked with Morris who was
00:08:34
allegedly tainted by rash bomb is gone
00:08:37
it's all fruit of the poisonous tree and
00:08:39
we're going to have an extended view of
00:08:42
it and do you think it was the right
00:08:43
decision and talk to me also a little
00:08:46
bit about why did the adelon kind of
00:08:48
think it might have been a good idea to
00:08:50
use the same attorneys for their cases
00:08:52
it was a terrible idea but if you're
00:08:55
Donna adelen first time you've been
00:08:57
charged with a crime there is say a
00:08:59
small circle of people you trust even
00:09:02
though your lawyer rash Bond represented
00:09:04
your son who was convicted really wasn't
00:09:07
his fault he was stuck with the Trashy
00:09:10
facts that he was given did his best and
00:09:14
so then Don is like I think well I can't
00:09:17
really trust anyone else uh rash bomb
00:09:20
knows where all the bodies are buried
00:09:21
metaphorically speaking let's stick with
00:09:23
him and rash bomb though I think should
00:09:25
have just said I I don't think it can be
00:09:26
done and the only way it could have been
00:09:29
done is this is by getting a written
00:09:31
waiver from Charlie which apparently he
00:09:33
never did he had a verbal waiver but
00:09:36
this should never have been allowed but
00:09:39
rash bomb was set and going ahead with
00:09:41
it and now I think he's paying the price
00:09:42
through reputational damage potentially
00:09:44
a bar complaint I even the judge now was
00:09:47
just was really tough in his order uh
00:09:51
being very critical of the decision by
00:09:53
rash bomb to stay on the case what does
00:09:56
this mean for um Donna now that she has
00:09:58
to find these new attorneys and what
00:10:00
does this mean for her case Beyond now
00:10:01
that it's pushed back yet
00:10:04
again it means delays I think this could
00:10:07
mean a significant delay because you're
00:10:08
starting now from scratch for the
00:10:10
lawyers the lawyers who come in will
00:10:12
start from the beginning and they're
00:10:14
probably going to ask for a lot of time
00:10:16
to prepare now Donna wanted this thing
00:10:18
to get done soon she invoked her speedy
00:10:21
trial she wanted to be out this year
00:10:24
thinking that she would be
00:10:26
acquitted good luck with that uh but
00:10:30
now I think this trial is not going to
00:10:31
take place until later in
00:10:33
2025 and I mean there are some lawyers
00:10:36
who say that this won't take place until
00:10:38
2026 I I'm a little more optimistic but
00:10:41
uh this this is tough because I believe
00:10:44
that the state attorney's office up
00:10:46
there in
00:10:47
Tallahassee is going to wait until the
00:10:49
end of this case until they make their
00:10:51
next move on perhaps charging other
00:10:55
members of the family so if you're
00:10:57
waiting for full Justice in this case
00:11:00
we're going to have to wait a lot longer
00:11:02
and I think a lot of people and even our
00:11:04
viewers may have wondered why wasn't
00:11:06
Wendy Adelson charged in this case do
00:11:09
you believe that is something that could
00:11:11
happen in the future or do you think
00:11:12
that's just kind of dead and gone as far
00:11:15
as her facing any type of
00:11:18
charges no I think it could still happen
00:11:20
it's just a matter of having a small
00:11:25
office this a prosecutor's office in
00:11:27
Tallahassee having the resources to go
00:11:29
after multiple high-profile Big Ticket
00:11:32
cases at the same time also they have
00:11:34
benefited from doing it one at a time
00:11:36
just think if they had arrested everyone
00:11:39
at the same time they would never have
00:11:41
had Donna's jail calls with Charlie they
00:11:42
would never have had Donna's cell phone
00:11:45
as and the evidence when she was trying
00:11:47
to escape all that new evidence that's
00:11:49
on her phone that could be used against
00:11:51
her when she was trying to escape to
00:11:53
Vietnam I mean all that stuff happened
00:11:55
because they did it one at a time and it
00:11:58
has worked
00:11:59
now if you uh try to also charge
00:12:03
everyone at the same time then that
00:12:04
speedy trial clock starts ticking and
00:12:06
you're dealing with a smaller office in
00:12:08
Tallahassee and it just will put a great
00:12:11
burden on them to have to do all of it
00:12:13
at the same time and I think this
00:12:16
strategy is working now I must say that
00:12:18
if Donna is acquitted I don't think
00:12:21
anyone else will be charged I think this
00:12:22
case will be over but I don't think
00:12:26
Donna will be acquitted and in your
00:12:28
opinion how strong is the evidence
00:12:30
against Donna adelen do you think when
00:12:32
we do get to trial prosecutors have
00:12:34
enough to
00:12:36
convict oh I think there's enough
00:12:38
evidence you know prosecutors are not
00:12:39
going to bring charges unless they think
00:12:41
they have a good faith basis to get a
00:12:44
conviction Beyond a reasonal doubt this
00:12:46
is different than police who can make an
00:12:49
arrest based on prob will cause a much
00:12:51
lower burden now when it comes to
00:12:54
prosecutors they're not going to go
00:12:55
forward with this high-profile case that
00:12:57
the world is watching unless they've got
00:12:58
the goods and and I think they've got
00:13:00
the goods they've got her conscious of
00:13:03
guilt by attempting to flee that was
00:13:06
something they got later on but they got
00:13:07
that they got her cell phone we'll see
00:13:09
what kind of stuff they have on that but
00:13:11
also they have the evidence that Donna
00:13:14
was allegedly the person who paid for
00:13:16
the hit came over the night of the
00:13:18
murder to drop off the money to Charlie
00:13:20
and the money was wet because according
00:13:22
to Katie mag Bowa Donna was trying to
00:13:24
launder the money taking money
00:13:26
laundering literally that's why it was
00:13:28
moldy and wet which is just such a crazy
00:13:32
anecdote and also you have all the
00:13:35
motivations here by her repeated
00:13:37
attempts to get the kids out of
00:13:39
Tallahassee her demeaning of the
00:13:40
community her determination to step up
00:13:44
the pressure on Danny marel so you've
00:13:47
got a lot of stuff also you know the
00:13:49
bump was very big I mean they had that
00:13:51
undercover officer go up to her and
00:13:52
instead of calling the police which you
00:13:54
would normally do if someone comes up to
00:13:56
you and says they've got information
00:13:58
about her son-in-law's murder and trying
00:14:00
to extort her for money she calls
00:14:04
Charlie not the police never the police
00:14:06
she calls Charlie and talks and code
00:14:08
with him about the TV and needing to
00:14:10
talk in secret who does that unless
00:14:12
you're guilty that's the argument the
00:14:13
prosecutors will make the adson case has
00:14:15
always been so fascinating to me in part
00:14:18
because you know I actually used to live
00:14:19
in Tallahassee for about two years it
00:14:21
was years after the Marquel murder but I
00:14:23
just remember how big that case was in
00:14:25
leyon county in Tallahassee and I
00:14:27
remember when we covered the case here
00:14:29
at lawn crime listening to those FBI wir
00:14:31
Taps were pretty shocking so how
00:14:34
important do you think those wir Taps
00:14:36
will be in the case against
00:14:38
Donna people lie but recordings don't
00:14:42
you've got Donna on the recordings when
00:14:44
she apparently didn't think anyone was
00:14:46
listening saying something to the effect
00:14:49
at the end of the call with the person
00:14:51
who's trying to extort her for money
00:14:54
saying I'll call you later now said
00:14:58
something to that effect like why why
00:14:59
would you do that this person is trying
00:15:00
to extort you from money you claim you
00:15:02
don't know anything you don't call the
00:15:03
police and you're trying to negotiate
00:15:05
with someone who has evidence about your
00:15:09
son-in-law's murder it doesn't make
00:15:12
sense unless you're part of the scheme
00:15:15
and so I think that's really going to
00:15:16
come back to hater I I think that she'll
00:15:20
have to take the stand because the jury
00:15:24
will hear Donna's testimony through the
00:15:26
recorded phone calls that's one way
00:15:29
they're going to hear from Donna so
00:15:30
Donna may want to get up on the stand
00:15:31
like Charlie did and try to appeal to
00:15:34
the jurors as an older woman who was
00:15:37
brought into this by her son who didn't
00:15:39
know what was going on and had no men's
00:15:41
Rea and should not be found guilty but
00:15:44
would she throw her son under the bus to
00:15:46
save herself not so sure and that's an
00:15:50
interesting point that you bring up what
00:15:51
other types of defenses do you see Donna
00:15:53
adon's new attorneys eventually kind of
00:15:56
exploring ahead of trial
00:15:59
well they could adopt Charlie adon's
00:16:01
double extortion Theory which was so
00:16:03
ridiculous it got laughed out of court I
00:16:06
mean was it was a quick guilty verdict
00:16:08
even though he sold it on the stand I
00:16:10
mean he had a lot of time to repair
00:16:12
that's what sociopaths do but you know
00:16:14
he had a lot of time in prison to make
00:16:16
it look real so I don't think she'll go
00:16:18
down that road it was so Preposterous
00:16:19
the whole double
00:16:20
extortion explanation so I think for her
00:16:23
she's just going to perhaps lean on the
00:16:26
burden of proof that do you have proof
00:16:28
that she was part of this scheme I think
00:16:31
yes which is why I think she may need to
00:16:33
take the stand herself also just like
00:16:36
Charlie now that she's stuck in in jail
00:16:39
pre-trial she'll have a lot of time by
00:16:40
herself to think about what she would
00:16:42
say and prepare herself for the
00:16:44
inevitable withering
00:16:46
cross-examination so I I don't know
00:16:49
exactly which way she'll go I do think
00:16:50
her best defense is probably trying to
00:16:52
just throw Charlie under the bus try to
00:16:54
say this is all Charlie who did all this
00:16:57
I don't know what was going on just as
00:16:58
Soul lady who was just not part of it
00:17:02
and any money that I gave I didn't know
00:17:04
it was for a hit this is just my son
00:17:07
asking me for help for some money I
00:17:09
don't ask questions I'm a good loving
00:17:11
mother I guess we'll all have to wait
00:17:14
and see kind of how that all plays out
00:17:16
as now we're expecting the trial to
00:17:18
begin possibly next year maybe the year
00:17:20
after well Dave aronburg I appreciate
00:17:23
your time as always before we sign you
00:17:24
off is there anything else you'd like to
00:17:26
add well I knew Danny Marquel he was a
00:17:29
friend of mine and he was a great guy
00:17:30
and no one deserves his fate especially
00:17:33
a guy like him who dedicated his life to
00:17:36
helping others to teaching others could
00:17:38
have made a lot of money at a big Law
00:17:39
Firm but instead he wanted to teach and
00:17:42
he wanted to help share his values and
00:17:45
his values were trampled over by this
00:17:49
horrific murder by not just killing him
00:17:52
but by eliminating his last name from
00:17:55
his kids like his kids who he cared for
00:17:57
thought the world of live for they were
00:18:01
able to wipe away Danny's Legacy his
00:18:03
memory his last name and I just hope
00:18:07
that in the end Justice is done for Dany
00:18:09
in this
00:18:10
case right Dave aronberg always great to
00:18:13
see you always great to have you on
00:18:14
thank you again so much for your time
00:18:16
today thank you Elizabeth according to
00:18:19
court documents Donna adon's case
00:18:21
management hearing that was set for next
00:18:23
week was canceled and rescheduled to
00:18:25
December 10th at this time online court
00:18:27
records reveal adelon does doesn't have
00:18:29
a new attorney just yet reporting for
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law crime I'm Elizabeth Milner
