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Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski | True Crime News & Commentary

Donna Adelson Trial — Tim Kelly (Realtor) Says Family Looked at Tallahassee Homes

Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski | True Crime News & Commentary

True Crime Today

News, News Commentary, True Crime

3.3908 Ratings

🗓️ 3 September 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Donna Adelson Trial — Tim Kelly (Realtor) Says Family Looked at Tallahassee Homes


In this raw courtroom clip from the Donna Adelson Trial, Tallahassee realtor Tim Kelly takes the stand and lays out a detail the defense wants front and center: back in 2011, he showed homes to Donna and Harvey Adelson—appointments he says were set up at Dan Markel’s request. Kelly methodically explains when the showings happened, the neighborhoods he toured with the Adelsons, and the ordinary, practical tone of those conversations. It’s not flashy testimony, but it’s the kind that makes jurors pause: if Donna and Harvey were considering a move to Tallahassee years before Markel’s 2014 murder, how does that square with the state’s theory that the family was fixated on getting Wendi and the kids out of Tallahassee?

Why it matters: motive. Prosecutors have framed this case around family conflict, relocation pressures, and control. Kelly’s testimony can’t rewrite the larger timeline—but it complicates it. The defense is using him to suggest the Adelsons’ priorities weren’t a one-way street. If jurors conclude the family at one time explored living near Markel instead of removing the children from him, that nuance could seed reasonable doubt around the state’s overarching motive story.

Watch for the specifics: who contacted whom (Kelly says Markel), how the showings unfolded, and how the search ultimately fizzled. The defense is aiming for a simple takeaway—this was normal family logistics, not a breadcrumb trail toward violence. The prosecution, for its part, will argue the 2011 showings are a blip with little bearing on the decisions and communications that followed years later.

Bottom line: Kelly adds a quiet but strategic brick to the defense wall. It’s not the kind of testimony that makes headlines, but it’s exactly the kind that jurors revisit when they’re sorting motive from speculation.

#hashtags #DonnaAdelsonTrial #DanMarkel #TimKelly #TrueCrime #Tallahassee #MurderForHire #Courtroom #TrialUpdate #LegalAnalysis

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

A Better Help ad.

0:02.3

Lewis Capaldi partnered with Better Help to get word out about how important therapy can be.

0:07.6

I struggle most weeks to get up, get myself up and ready and go to therapy or whatever.

0:13.0

Even like to open the laptop to talk to, my therapist sometimes could be really difficult.

0:17.4

But I do it because I realize how important it is for me to continue to feel good.

0:21.8

Because I felt the best I've felt in a long time through therapy.

0:24.9

Learn more about online therapy at betterhelp.com.

0:28.7

A better help ad.

0:30.6

Lewis Capaldi partnered with Better Help to get word out about how important therapy can be.

0:36.6

I struggle most weeks to get up, get myself up and ready and go to therapy or whatever.

0:42.2

Even like to open the laptop to talk to, my therapist sometimes could be really difficult.

0:46.6

But I do it because I realise how important it is for me to continue to feel good.

0:51.2

Because I felt the best I've felt in a long time through therapy.

0:54.1

Learn more about online therapy at betterhelp.com. to feel good because I felt the best I've felt in a long time through therapy.

0:57.9

Learn more about online therapy at betterhelp.com.

1:02.2

This is continuing coverage in the trial of Donna Edelson from the Hidden Killers podcast and True Crime Today.

1:06.0

Now, back to the courtroom.

1:09.9

You're madzening Mr Kelly when you're ready.

1:13.5

Thank you, Judge.

1:15.6

Mr. Kelly, this is going to be very brief.

1:17.9

Could you please tell the jury your name and then spell your last name for the court reporter, please?

1:22.3

Yes, Tim Kelly, T-I-O-L-N-L-N-A-L-Y.

...

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