Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Police Hunt Mystery Car in Dan Markel Murder

Florida police are hunting for a mystery car spotted in the neighborhood of law professor Dan Markel around the time he was shot and killed in his home Friday.

The Tallahassee Police Department says it is seeking information about the “vehicle of interest” spotted after the gunshot rang out around 11 am, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

“This is only a vehicle of interest as it may have been a resident, passerby or delivery driver,” a written TPD release said.

Markel, 41, was killed with a gunshot to the head.

Police have been tight-lipped about the crime, but say they are sure he was the “intended victim” of the murder, as opposed to a break-in or random attack.

Investigators did not offer any possible motive for the crime or say if there were any suspects.

His estranged wife, also a law professor, was said to be distraught at the news and cooperating with the investigation.

The Jewish Florida State University College of Law professor was at home when neighbors heard a loud bang Friday morning.

Paramedics rushed the popular 41-year-old professor and scholar to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.