Image by getty images

A woman who once dated the brother in-law of murdered Florida law professor Dan Markel was indicted on charges of first-degree murder Tuesday in the 2014 slaying, reported the Tallahassee Democrat.

Magbanua allegedly acted as the conduit between those who ordered Markel’s killing and those who carried it out in what the state has presented as a murder for hire plot.

After Markel divorced his wife Wendi Adelson, prosecutors suspect someone paid Luis Rivera and Sigfredo Garcia $100,000 to shoot Markel as he stood in the driveway of his suburban home on a night in July 2014. The motive was pegged as securing full custody of the couple’s children for Wendi Adelson, who wanted to move them to south Florida.

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)

Garcia has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

Magbanua, prosecutors said, was known to Garcia, whom she has two children with, and Charles Adelson, with whom she was friends. Prosecutors believe Charles Adelson offered to pay for a breast augmentation for Magbanua if she agreed to act as conduit to the killers. They point to a pattern of phone conversations between Magbanua and the Adelsons and the killers to support their theory.

Markel’s murder occurred shocked the local community and has garnered front page mews in the northern Florida press. Rivera pled guilty and turned state’s witness, and will testify at the trials of Magbanua and Garcia, both set to occur next year.

None of the Adelson family members have been charged in the case or formally named as suspects by authorities.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

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. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount