Wendi Adelson and Dan Markel

Charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation of murder were brought together into one case against 33-year-old Katherine Magbanua on Tuesday in relation to the death of Florida State law professor Dan Markel, The Tallahassee Democrat reported.

Magbanua is accused of helping to orchestrate the alleged murder of Dan Markel, who was shot in his garage in July 2014. Magbanua pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Magbanua is one of three people charged in Markel’s death, which investigators say was a murder for hire paid for by Markel’s former in-laws.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

According to the Tallahassee Democrat, the alleged hit man charged with killing Markel confessed to a fellow inmate that Markel’s ex-mother-in-law had ordered the murder to gain custody of their two young sons.

Sigfredo Garcia, the 35-year-old father of two children with Magbanua, is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation of murder.

Magbanua enlisted Garcia, who brought on his childhood friend Luis Rivera to shoot Markel, Tallahassee police said.

Rivera pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to seven years in prison in addition to a 12-year federal sentence on other charges. His statements to investigators led to Magbanua’s arrest in October 2016.

Markel’s ex-wife Wendi Adelson has denied any involvement in the killing and no one in the family has been charged. “Danny didn’t treat me very well, and I’m so scared that maybe someone did this … because they thought this was good somehow,” She told police in 2017.

A July trial date has been set for Garcia. Magbanua’s trial is scheduled for October.

Contact Haley Cohen at [email protected]

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount