It is believed that the motive for the crime was the divorce between the victim and the sister of the alleged mastermind of the crime.
Katherine Magbanua, 37, a resident of South Florida, was sentenced this Friday by Circuit Judge Robert Wheeler to life in prison without the possibility of parole or pardon, plus two additional sentences of 30 consecutive years. The sentence was handed down for his role in the July 2014 shooting murder of Florida State University law professor Dan Markel.
Magbanua, who was arrested in October 2016, was convicted of first degree murder and related charges of conspiracy and commissioning of murder last May, according to Tallahassee Democrat.
Investigators say it was a murder for hire. Sigfredo García, father of Magbanua’s children, and his friend Luis Rivera, were the two men who shot Markel in his Betton Hills garage . According to prosecutors, Magbanua conspired with her then-boyfriend, Charlie Adelson, to kill Markel.
Authorities said Magbanua served as an intermediary between Charlie and the killers, informs the New York Post. The motive for the crime is believed to have been the stormy divorce between Adelson’s sister, Wendi, and Markel.
García, who was convicted in 2019 of first-degree murder, has appealed his conviction, while Rivera pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Tara Kawass, a Magabanua attorney, provided a statement on behalf of her client in which she referenced his repentance and unsuccessfully petitioned the judge to impose the minimum sentence for the additional charges. years of suffering and mourning: “His murder has been horrible for me and my family. Shocking, surreal and very difficult to understand. His future was cut short,” reports the Tallahassee Democrat.
Charlie Adelson was arrested in April 2022, after a grand jury indicted him for first degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and order a murder in connection with these events. The man pleaded not guilty.
