The former boyfriend of Wendi Adelson took the stand Tuesday during her mother, Donna Adelson’s, murder trial in Tallahassee.
Jeffrey Lacasse testified about his relationship with Wendi in 2013 and 2014, and how he thought he would be framed for the murder of her former husband, Florida State University law professor, Dan Markel.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Donna Adelson, 75, is accused of planning Markel’s murder. She’s facing first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation charges, for the contract killing.
Police found Markel dead in his Tallahassee driveway, in July 2014. He had been shot in the head at point-blank range.
The defendant’s son, Charlie Adelson, along with his ex-girlfriend Katherine Magbanua, and hitmen Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera, have been convicted in connection with the case.
Lacasse said he began dating Wendi during her tumultuous divorce proceedings, which was “almost a daily topic of conversation,” with Wendi telling him that she wouldn’t be able to leave Tallahassee unless something happened to Markel.
At the time of Markel’s death, a judge had ruled that Wendi Adelson could not relocate with the couple’s two children.
Lacasse described the Adelsons as a “family without boundaries,” then recalled a dinner in South Florida in which he met Charlie Adelson and Magbanua.
“[Charlie] didn’t like Danny. That might be understating it,” Lacasse testified, WCTV reports.
In one instance, according to Lacasse, Charlie Adelson said that he “knew people on both sides of the tracks,” and “had social contacts that were in the criminal element.”
“He was kind of bragging,” Lacasse said.
According to Lacasse, Wendi also confided to him that her “brother looked into all options possible to take care of the Danny Markel problem, including hiring a hit man, and it would cost about $15,000.”
“This I found chilling, I found disturbing. It made my stomach flip. It kind of took me back. She was dead serious when she said this.”
Wendi also allegedly wanted to know Lacasse’s plans for July 18. 2014, the day Markel died, including his travel route, which would have placed him close to Markel’s home.
“I was confused why, at that moment, she wanted to know the details,” Lacasse said, adding that it gave him “the creeps.”
Lacasse said he had plans to travel to Atlanta that day, which, according to Chief Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman, would “have been consistent with how the killers fled town.”
She also allegedly asked Lacasse not to contact her again until July 21, 2014, which confused him.
“I was puzzled. I wondered, ‘What in the world is happening on July 21?’” Lacasse testified.
Lacasse said in another instance, he took a trip to Gainesville, and during that same time, the hit men were in Tallahassee.
“Two times in 2014, I leave town on a trip by myself in my car and both times hit men are in town trying to kill Danny Markel, one successfully,” Lacasse said.
Around 10 days after the murder, after Lacasse asked Wendi for no contact, she began contacting him again, asking questions. He said he had been in Tennessee the day Markel was killed after a change of plans that allowed him to travel at a different time.
Lacasse said he noticed Donna Adelson had been in Tallahassee frequently during the divorce proceedings, supposedly to visit her grandchildren.
Donna Adelson was also reportedly unhappy that Lacasse was not Jewish.
Charlie Adelson’s former girlfriend, June Umchinda, also took the stand Tuesday, and testified that she dated him for a few years after Markel’s murder.
She, too, said she met the defendant only a handful of times, but described her as having a “motherly role” within the family, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
When questioned about Markel, Umchinda said that she only knew of him through what Charlie Adelson told her.
“I had no idea who Dan Markel was; I’d never seen the case in the media. I just know that when I asked Charlie about his family, he advised me that his brother-in-law was murdered and shot in the head in the garage, and they don’t know who did it.”
Umchinda said Charlie Adelson’s behavior changed once police started investigating him, and he began losing sleep from stress. She also noticed that he kept his cash in stapled bundles, something she learned from the news that the hit men also did.
She said she didn’t notice anything unusual about Donna Adelson but remembered the matriarch once becoming upset while saying Markel was “back from the grave, like haunting her or something.”
Defense attorney Jackie Fulford argued that during previous testimony, Umchinda admitted that she didn’t specifically hear the word “haunting” from Donna Adelson.
Testimony resumes Wednesday. Check back for updates.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Feature Photo: Dan Markel/FSU College of Law faculty biographies; Donna Adelson/AP]
