Florida woman sentenced to life behind bars in murder-for-hire shooting death of prominent FSU law professor

A South Florida woman has been sentenced to life in prison plus additional time for her role in a murder-for-hire plot that resulted in the shooting death of a local law professor. 

Katherine Magbanua was sentenced Friday morning to life behind bars without the possibility of probation or parole, as well as two consecutive 30-year prison terms. Magbanua, 37, was convicted in May of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation to commit murder. 

Prosecutors said she acted as a go-between for her ex-boyfriend, dentist Charlie Adelson, and the men whom he allegedly hired to kill Florida State University law professor Daniel “Danny” Markel eight years ago. 

Magbanua’s attorney, Tara Kawass, had asked for the lightest possible sentence, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. 

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Kawass read a statement on her client’s behalf, in which she told the court: “She does think about Dan Markel every single day, She does think about his kids every single day. … Not a day goes by that she’s doesn’t express how her heart is broken for the Markel family. One thing that I can say that Ms. Magbanua hopes and prays for is that justice is ongoing and has not been reached in this case, and she wants each and every person who had a hand in this and knows something about this to be brought to justice.” 

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Markel, a prominent lawyer, was on the heels of a contentious divorce with Adelson’s sister, Wendi, when he was gunned down in his car on July 18, 2014. The pair had disagreed and sparred in court documents over certain issues, namely, Wendi’s relocation from Tallahassee to be closer to her family in south Florida.

Tallahassee Police Department investigators said Markel dropped his children off at daycare around 8:50 a.m. roughly five miles from his home and then made his way to Premier Health and Fitness Center, where he arrived around 9:12 a.m., according to a probable cause affidavit shared online in 2016.

Daniel Markel
(Florida State University)

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