True Crime

 I tend to mostly avoid investing any interest in the big crime cases. I followed OJ since everyone did, and actually got asked to comment on it twice on local news. Joan Benet Ramsey melts into Casey Anthony for me -- tragedies, of course, but I have more important things to worry about -- like Canes football.

But there's a trial going on right now that has both Wifey and my attention: the murder case of Donna Adelson.

So 11 years ago, as D2's friend Tara was getting ready to start law school at FSU, there was a murder of a law professor -- Dan Markel. He was a brilliant Canadian born Jew who went to Harvard and was well respected -- he had spent a year at UM teaching, apparently, and was gunned down in his driveway after he returned from his gym. It shook Tally, and became a national story, and a big mystery -- it wasn't a robbery, and other than the guy's ex wife and her family, he was beloved. A Ha!

Sure enough, a few years later they got the shooters -- 2 Latin Kings gang members from Miami who drove up to Tally in a rented Prius, of all things. They spilled the T (I recently learned that term from D2) about the ex wife of one of them -- a young Latina named Katie Magbuana, who had given them lots of pesos for the hit. But why?

Well, turns out that Katie was the office girl and sometimes girlfriend of a dentist in Broward named Charlie Adelson, whose sister Wendi was Dan's ex wife!

Turns out, the law professor was killed over the terms of his divorce from Wendi. She wanted to move back to South Florida with her 2 boys, who were 4 and 2, and Dan fought her and won. The Leon County judge ruled, correctly, that the marriage was there, Dad had a great job, and just because Wendi had family support in South Florida -- too bad.

Ultimately, over a decade, the FBI and local police got Charlie, and he went to trial and lost -- serving life. The shooters and Katie got life, too. But the kingpin, apparently, was Donna Adelson, the blonde, Queens born and raised, grandma, who despised her former son in law.

OK -- I admit it -- she shares a name and kind of looks like my dear friend Donna -- also from Queens -- though my friend would NEVER have a former daughter in law killed. I don't think...

Anyway, last night Wifey and I watched a few hours of Wendi's testimony -- under immunity. Wifey did a deep research dive -- many believe Wendi is the real culprit, and manipulated her family into offing her annoying ex .

Wendi now lives on South Beach -- plenty of money in the family. He oldest brother Robert testified, too -- he's a successful ENT in NY -- somewhat estranged from the family. He threw his Mom under the bus a bit -- admitting she is controlling and acted VERY strangely when they learned about her former son in law's murder, and arrested the shooters.

Seems to me Donna will get launched. Part of it is a mistake she made that Wifey may have, too. When she was on the phone with her jailed son Charlie, knowing everything was being recorded, she thought she hung up, but didn't. She said to her husband "We need to go somewhere that doesn't have an extradition treaty with the US -- like Vietnam."

A few weeks later, she and her husband were stopped at MIA with one way tickets to Hanoi. Not a good look...

Anyway, the camera keeps showing now 81 year old father, Harvey. The guy's face tells the story: "What the hell happened? I studied hard, worked hard to build my dental practice in Coral Springs. Donna and I raised a doctor, dentist, and lawyer. We had grandkids. We decided to sell the house and move to a luxury building in South Beach, so we could live the sweet life by the ocean with our family when they visited. Now my former dental partner son is in prison for life, my wife WILL be, my oldest son is estranged, and I blew millions on legal fees. Why did all this happen?"

Wifey is convinced that Wendi is next -- she has immunity while testifying, but Wifey thinks she is the evil one -- and her mother and brother just took the fall.

All I know is, this lurid case has our attention.

I had issues with MY suegros over the years. But man -- I never thought they would have me killed. Then again, my late father in law did have connections with Mossad...