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True Crime Today | Daily True Crime News & Interviews

Donna Adelson's Children, Wendy & Robert TURN on Their Mother Court!

True Crime Today | Daily True Crime News & Interviews

Tony Brueski

News, News Commentary, True Crime

4.3598 Ratings

🗓️ 26 August 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Donna Adelson's Children, Wendy & Robert TURN on Their Mother Court!

The Donna Adelson murder-for-hire trial has taken a shocking turn — with two days of testimony that could change everything.
On the stand, Donna’s daughter Wendy Adelson, her eldest son Robert, and Wendy’s ex-boyfriend Jeffrey Lacasse each delivered damning statements that prosecutors say tie the Adelson family directly to the 2014 killing of Florida State law professor Dan Markel.

Wendy Adelson, testifying under subpoena with immunity, admitted that her mother pushed her relentlessly during the divorce — urging her to “put on a performance” in court, to fake a conversion of her children to Catholicism, even to use psychological tricks to “take control” of Markel. Emails shown to the jury revealed Donna calling Markel names, proposing a $1 million bribe, and demanding relocation as “non-negotiable.”

Then came Robert Adelson, who described his mother as “controlling” and “overly involved.” He recalled Donna renting Wendy an apartment to escape Markel, working on court filings, and, most disturbingly, showing zero curiosity after the murder. When Robert asked Donna what she thought had happened, she told him, “I don’t know and I don’t care. It doesn’t concern me.” He also testified that she warned him not to speak with police.

But perhaps the most devastating testimony came from Wendy’s ex, Jeffrey Lacasse. He described Wendy canceling a vacation just weeks before the murder with an odd explanation. He testified that Wendy told him “the only way I’ll ever relocate is if something happens to Danny” — and that Charlie had looked into “all options” to handle the “Dan Markel problem,” including hiring a hitman for $15,000. Lacasse said this was no joke — “it made my stomach flip.”

With testimony like this, prosecutors are building a case that Donna Adelson wasn’t just a worried mother. She was the architect of a conspiracy.

Watch as we break down every key moment from Wendy, Robert, and Jeffrey’s testimony — and what it could mean for Donna Adelson’s future.

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#DonnaAdelson #WendyAdelson #DanMarkel #TrueCrime #MurderTrial #CourtTV #HiddenKillers #RobertAdelson #JeffreyLacasse #KarenReadTrial #TrueCrimeCommunity #CrimeNews

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This is Hidden Killers with Tony Bruskey.

0:03.5

Here now, Tony Bruske.

0:06.8

Oh, hi.

0:08.4

Took me a few moments to figure out what to put in the little headline bar there.

0:14.8

Actually, it took me all of three seconds after seeing the last three witnesses in the trial of Donna Adelson.

0:24.5

It don't look too good when your kids, at least two of the three so far, have checked the box that says,

0:32.8

we think mom's guilty.

0:35.2

The courtroom in Tallahassee has been tense before, but over the last two days

0:41.1

of testimony, the spotlight has burned hotter than ever on Donna Adelson. The 75-year-old

0:47.5

matriarch of the Adelson family is accused of orchestrating the murder for hire plot that left her former son-in-law

0:57.3

law professor Dan Markell dead in 2014.

1:02.4

What is it that jurors have heard that such a line, Donna Adelson is aft.

1:12.8

Should be spread across the screen in that way?

1:16.9

Well, we'll get into that.

1:19.0

And I want to hear your thoughts in the comment section on YouTube as we go through this.

1:25.5

Journalers have already heard about the broader conspiracy.

1:28.5

The hitman hired, the chain of connections through Don his son Charlie and the family's

1:32.5

years-long obsession with relocating Wendy Adelson and her children from Tallahassee to Miami.

1:38.9

But what was unfolding in the last few days in a very dramatic fashion is not from law enforcement or professional experts.

1:49.2

It's from inside Donna Adelson's own family.

1:54.8

The emeshment that once held them all together, it appears to be torn.

2:01.7

It appears to be gone.

...

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