The Adelson Appeals: Charlie's February Showdown & Donna's Fight Begins

Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski | True Crime News & Commentary

True Crime Today

News, News Commentary, True Crime

3.3 • 908 Ratings

🗓️ 6 January 2026

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

February 3rd, 2026. Twenty minutes. Three judges. Charlie Adelson will stand before Florida's First District Court of Appeal and argue that his murder conviction should be thrown out. His 91-page appellate brief claims the jury pool in Tallahassee was poisoned by a decade of media coverage — that of 130 potential jurors, 53 of the 54 who had an opinion already believed he was guilty. He's also arguing that his defense attorney Dan Rashbaum had a conflict of interest that "infected" his trial — the same conflict Charlie himself weaponized to collapse his mother's trial in September 2024 when he revoked his waiver on the morning jury selection was supposed to begin. Donna Adelson, now convicted and sentenced to life, has filed her own notice of appeal. But her brief hasn't been written yet.

She's months behind her son in the process. In this episode, we break down what's actually at stake in these appeals, why Charlie didn't testify at his mother's trial, and why even winning an appeal almost never means walking free. The Markel case has been loud for a decade — wiretaps, stings, dramatic arrests, family members turning on each other. But appeals are quiet. No cameras. No jury reactions. Just legal arguments and the slow grind of procedural review. This is where the noise stops and the paperwork begins.

#CharlieAdelson #DonnaAdelson #DanMarkel #AdelsonFamily #MurderForHire #TrueCrimePodcast #FloridaJustice #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #AppealProcess

Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISDOES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/

Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/
Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod
X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod

Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This is Hidden Killers with Tony Bruske.
0:03.0	Here now, Tony Bruske.
0:06.6	On the morning of September 17th, 2020, for more than a hundred prospective jurors were
0:12.6	already inside the Leon County courthouse.
0:15.0	Donna Adelson, the 74-year-old South Florida matriarch accused of masterminding the murder of her former son-in-law, Dan Markell, was finally about to face trial.
0:26.6	Her defense attorney, Dan Rochebaum, had been preparing for months, along with Tom Fetty, Jackie Fulford.
0:34.4	The state was ready. The judge was ready. And then, before a single juror could be questioned, the whole thing collapsed because Charlie Adelson, Don his son, already convicted of serving life for the same murder, pulled the rug out from everyone. Did you know that? Were you aware that Charlie not testifying? He did not
0:55.6	make a special appearance in this edition of the program. It made a big difference in Donna's trial.
1:02.9	Would it have made a difference in terms of her guilt or innocence and what the jury would have
1:07.4	found? Well, we don't know the answer to that. But Charlie, Charlie said, no,
1:12.9	I'm putting me first, Mama, because I got an appeal coming up. He said it just like that.
1:20.0	I'm putting me first, Mama. I got an appeal coming up. And I can't stand to testify for you.
1:28.3	Okay, I don't think it quite went like that, but that is what took place.
1:33.5	If it were a Southern Gothic drama, that's, I guess, how Charlie would have said those words.
1:40.7	We're about to get into all of this.
1:42.9	Charlie's appeal is coming up.
1:46.3	Does he stand a chance?
1:48.5	We're going to get into all of that.
1:50.0	Before we do, please hit subscribe wherever you are listening to us or watching us, whether it's YouTube, whether it's audio boom, wherever it may be on a podcast platform apple podcast wherever it is please do hit
2:04.9	subscribe so you don't miss any of our coverage of these cases and do in the comment section
2:09.7	especially on youtube or on our substack let us know your thoughts on these cases the links
2:15.7	are in the description okay charlie's appate attorneys, they filed a notice that morning.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from True Crime Today, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of True Crime Today and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.