TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The fates of two people accused of killing an FSU professor are now in the hands of twelve jurors.
Prosecutors began their two hour summation pinning the blame squarely on the family of Dan Markel’s ex-wife.
“What enemy or enemies had Mr. Markel made that set into motion such a brutal act? The answer: His own family,” said Prosecutor Georgia Cappleman.
For three weeks, the government has played wiretaps and a video referred to as the bump, where an undercover FBI agent hands a note to Donna Adelson, Markel’s ex-mother-in-law, and then recorded who talked to whom.
“She goes straight to Charlie Adelson, who goes straight to Katherine Magbanua, who goes straight to Sigfredo Garcia. Exactly what this undercover operation was designed to ferret out,” Cappleman said.
But Cappleman told jurors that justice for anyone not in the courtroom would have to wait for another day.
“We are all trusting you to render a wise and legal verdict in this case,” Cappleman said.
Accused trigger man Sigfredo Garcia’s lawyer tried to shift the blame to Luis Rivera, the gang kingpin who became the government’s key witness.
“A gangster killed Dan Markel,” said attorney Saam Zangeneh.
The lawyer for Katherine Magbanua turned the attention back to the Adelsons.
“They tried to build a case around her. To force her to cooperate, so they could get what they have been going after for years now, the Adelson family,” said Attorney Chris DeCoste.
The jury got the case just before 4 p.m. on Thursday.
The Adelsons have not been charged with any crime, and they deny any involvement in the Markel murder.
The case is going to be the subject of at least two national news magazines shows in the coming weeks. Both Dateline NBC and 20/20 are working on the true crime story.