Donna Adelson, 73, was arrested while allegedly attempting to flee the country on a one-way flight to Vietnam, a country that does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S.
The 73-year-old mother of a recently convicted man in the murder of a Florida law professor was arrested before she attempted to leave the United States.
Donna Adelson, 73, was arrested for her alleged role in the murder-for-hire plot that killed her then-son-in-law, Dan Markel, in his driveway nine years ago. The arrest comes only one week after her son, Charlie, was convicted for hiring the two hitmen to kill Markel.
The grandmother was arrested while allegedly attempting to flee the country on a one-way flight to Vietnam, a country that does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S.
Prosecutors argue that Donna and Charlie conspired together to get rid of the Harvard-educated law professor after a bitter custody dispute between Markel and his ex-wife, Donna’s daughter and Charlie’s sister, Wendi Adelson.
Markel and Wendi had an ongoing dispute because Wendi wanted to move away with the kids but the judge granted Markel custody.
When Wendi found out Markel was killed, she cried and asked investigators “who would do this.”
Investigators gained interest in Donna after recorded jail conversations between her and her convicted son revealed she was considering suicide or fleeing to a country that does not allow extradition to the U.S.
Donna allegedly told Charlie she was “getting things in order, creating trusts, and making sure her grandchildren are taken care of.”
Reporter Kendall Brandt of ABC 27 spoke to the prosecutor.
“He said that he wasn’t sure if she would ever see her day in court if they didn’t make that arrest before she got on that plane,” Brandt tells Inside Edition.
