Dan Markel, a law professor at Florida State University's College of Law, was shot at his home in Tallahassee, Florida, shortly before 11 a.m. on July 18, 2014, and died of his injuries early the next day. Markel held the D'Alemberte Professorship at FSU, where he had taught since 2005 after clerking for a federal appeals judge and practicing white-collar criminal defense in Washington, D.C. He had built a national reputation for scholarship on punishment and criminal justice. Tallahassee police described him as the intended victim and treated his death as a murder from the start. The Associated Press later reported that the police response to the shooting had been delayed after a 911 dispatcher misclassified the initial call as less serious than it was.
The case went unsolved for nearly two years. Investigators eventually built a case using cellphone, banking, and toll-record data, along with security-camera and bus footage, that placed two men, Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera, in a rented Toyota Prius near Markel's home on the morning of the shooting. Garcia was arrested in May 2016, and a Leon County grand jury indicted both Garcia and Rivera the following month. According to the unsealed probable-cause affidavit, investigators concluded the killing was a contract killing arranged through Katherine Magbanua, who had two children with Garcia and was in a relationship with Charlie Adelson, the brother of Markel's ex-wife. Prosecutors alleged that Charlie Adelson and his mother, Donna Adelson, paid Garcia and Rivera to kill Markel so that Markel's ex-wife could gain full custody of the couple's two sons and relocate with them to the Miami area, following a contentious divorce in which Markel had won a court order blocking such a move. Prosecutors also named Markel's ex-wife and her father as unindicted co-conspirators in the killing; neither has been charged.
Rivera pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in October 2016 and was sentenced to 19 years in prison. Magbanua was arrested and charged with murder that same month. In October 2019, a combined trial ended with Garcia convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder; he was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years. The jury deadlocked on Magbanua's charges, and a mistrial was declared. Magbanua was convicted at her 2022 retrial of first-degree murder, conspiracy, and solicitation of murder, and sentenced to life in prison plus two consecutive 30-year terms. Charlie Adelson was arrested in April 2022 and convicted in November 2023, receiving a life sentence plus 30 additional years each for conspiracy and solicitation. Donna Adelson was arrested in November 2023 at Miami International Airport, where she was allegedly attempting to board a one-way flight to Vietnam. Following a trial delayed by her attorney's withdrawal, she was convicted in September 2025 and sentenced to life imprisonment the following month, becoming the fifth and final defendant convicted in the case.
The case also had a legislative aftermath. In the years following the 2016 arrests, Markel's parents lost contact with their grandsons, whose surname was later changed from Markel to Adelson. The Florida Legislature subsequently passed a law, known informally as the Markel Act, expanding grandparents' legal standing to seek court-ordered visitation; Governor Ron DeSantis signed it in 2022.
Markel and his wife, with whom he has two young sons, separate.
2013
The couple's divorce is finalized; Markel is granted a court order preventing his ex-wife from relocating to Miami with their two sons.
2014
Markel files a motion seeking to bar Donna Adelson, his former mother-in-law, from being alone and unsupervised with his children, citing alleged disparaging remarks about him.
2014-07-18
Markel is shot at his home in Tallahassee, Florida, shortly before 11 a.m.
2014-07-19
Markel dies of his injuries.
2014-08-01
The Associated Press reports that the police response to the shooting was delayed after a 911 dispatcher misclassified the call as less serious than it was.
2015-07
Tallahassee police publicize a search for a silver Toyota Prius connected to the killing, and a separately funded $100,000 reward is offered for information in the case.
2016-02
Tallahassee police release unredacted crime-scene reports, which contain no new information about the killing.
2016-05-26
Sigfredo Garcia is arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
2016-06-17
A Leon County grand jury indicts Garcia and Luis Rivera on charges of first-degree murder.
2016-10-01
Katherine Magbanua is arrested and charged with murder.
2016-10-04
Luis Rivera pleads guilty to second-degree murder in a plea agreement and is sentenced to 19 years in prison.
2019-10-11
A jury finds Sigfredo Garcia guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
2019-10-15
Garcia is sentenced to life in prison without parole, plus 30 years for conspiracy.
2019-10
The jury deadlocks 10-2 for conviction on the charges against Katherine Magbanua; a mistrial is declared and she awaits retrial.
2022-04-21
Charlie Adelson is arrested and charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation to commit murder.
2022-05-16
Katherine Magbanua's retrial begins.
2022-05-27
A jury finds Magbanua guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation to commit murder; she is sentenced to life in prison plus two consecutive 30-year terms.
2023-10-26
Charlie Adelson's trial begins in Leon County.
2023-11-06
Adelson is convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder.
2023-11-13
Donna Adelson is arrested at Miami International Airport on a warrant, allegedly while attempting to board a one-way flight to Vietnam.
2023-12-12
Charlie Adelson is sentenced to life in prison, plus an additional 30 years each for the conspiracy and solicitation convictions.
2024-09-17
Donna Adelson's trial is set to begin but is delayed after her attorney withdraws on the first day of jury selection.
2025-08-22
Donna Adelson's trial begins.
2025-09-04
Donna Adelson is convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder.
2025-10-13
Donna Adelson is sentenced to life imprisonment.
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Titles and descriptions are the creators’ own and may not reflect current legal status; see the dossier above for sourced case facts.
VIDEO
Annie Elise / 1 min
Two Men Arrested In The Murder of Dan Markel
People
Dan Markel
VICTIM
Law professor at Florida State University College of Law; shot at his Tallahassee, Florida home on July 18, 2014, and died the next day.
Sigfredo Garcia
CONVICTED
Convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in October 2019; sentenced to life in prison without parole plus 30 years for conspiracy.
Luis Rivera
CONVICTED
Pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in October 2016 as part of a plea agreement; sentenced to 19 years in prison.
Charlie Adelson
CONVICTED
Markel's former brother-in-law; convicted in November 2023 of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder; sentenced to life in prison plus an additional 30 years each for the conspiracy and solicitation counts.
Donna Adelson
CONVICTED
Markel's former mother-in-law; convicted in September 2025 of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder; sentenced to life imprisonment in October 2025.
Katherine Magbanua
CONVICTED
Convicted at retrial in May 2022 of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder, after a 2019 trial ended in a hung jury; sentenced to life in prison plus two consecutive 30-year terms.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Florida State University law professor Dan Markel was shot and killed at his Tallahassee, Florida home in July 2014, in a murder-for-hire scheme investigators tied to a bitter child-custody dispute following his divorce. Five people, including his former mother-in-law and brother-in-law, were convicted between 2016 and 2025.
Where did the murder happen?
Tallahassee, Florida.
Who was convicted?
Sigfredo Garcia (Convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in October 2019; sentenced to life in prison without parole plus 30 years for conspiracy.), Luis Rivera (Pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in October 2016 as part of a plea agreement; sentenced to 19 years in prison.), Charlie Adelson (Markel's former brother-in-law; convicted in November 2023 of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder; sentenced to life in prison plus an additional 30 years each for the conspiracy and solicitation counts.), Donna Adelson (Markel's former mother-in-law; convicted in September 2025 of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder; sentenced to life imprisonment in October 2025.), and Katherine Magbanua (Convicted at retrial in May 2022 of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder, after a 2019 trial ended in a hung jury; sentenced to life in prison plus two consecutive 30-year terms.).
