For Toronto's Markels, justice and advocacy after 'unthinkable' murder has come slowly, but surely

With three criminal trials, four murder convictions and now, a stunning fifth arrest, Toronto's Markel family will likely see their push for justice for their son and brother stretch out past a decade.

Respected law professor and father Dan Markel, who was born in Quebec and raised in North York, Ont., was in a relationship and by all accounts starting a new chapter in his life when he was fatally shot in his Tallahassee, Fla., garage. The July 2014 killing occurred about a year after a court denied his ex-wife Wendi Adelson's bid to move their two sons a seven-hour drive away to South Florida, where her parents resided.

Earlier this week, Donna Adelson, 73, was indicted on charges that include first-degree murder in the death of her former son-in-law. She was planning to fly to Vietnam via the United Arab Emirates, two countries which have not established extradition treaties with the U.S., authorities say.

The indictment came just days after her periodontist son, Charlie Adelson, was convicted of murder and other charges.

"Charlie Adelson's conviction and then Donna's arrest this week is a huge indicator that the wheels of justice are moving, moving faster," Shelly Markel, Dan's sister, told CBC News. "In the beginning, they moved very slowly, so we're very pleased that justice is forthcoming."

In the dark for nearly 2 years

Until the first arrest in the case in 2016, Shelly Markel and her parents Ruth and Phil heard little from investigators, who didn't want to compromise what became a wide-ranging probe, a case whose circumstances Ruth Markel has described in a book as "unfortunately, a true-crime addict's dream."

The evidence compiled by the police agencies over the years has included a voluminous paper trail of bank, phone and rental records, extensive use of roadway and business cameras, telephone and in-person surveillance recordings, and an FBI sting operation.

Dan Markel is shown in an undated photo. Markel was raised in Toronto, leaving after high school to study in the U.S. and England before eventually settling into a teaching role at Florida State University. (Submitted by the Markels/FSU/CBC News)

"The first two years, when the theories and details were not public, now looking back at the amount of police work that was done in that period, by the Tallahassee Police Department and the FBI was astounding and very impressive," said Shelly Markel.

As the case has progressed, there has also been an evolution in the family's willingness to speak publicly.

"I'm very private and for the first number of years, we did not talk at all about it, but in the more recent years, we've come to understand — especially as we're closing in on nine and a half years since his murder — the media has been our partner, actually," said Shelly Markel.

For her part, Ruth Markel details that process in the 2022 book The Unveiling: A Mother's Reflection on Murder, Grief and Trial Life, but not before describing moments where "pain felt almost insurmountable," including when her son's tombstone was unveiled in a traditional Jewish ceremony in Maple, Ont., in 2015.

"I never wanted to return to that place again, and yet I never wanted to leave, because leaving would mean leaving Dan forever," she writes.

'Keep the fire burning'

Dan Markel, who studied and taught at Harvard, was a respected law scholar with published work in several law reviews and mainstream publications, and the Markels took solace from the support of his many friends and colleagues. But there were also unexpected occurrences and newly made connections that strengthened Ruth Markel's resolve to "keep the fire burning," a phrase she once heard her son use.

First, Dan Markel's close friend got her in touch with his own father-in-law, Abe Anhang of Winnipeg, whose own son was killed in a domestic, murder-for-hire scheme outside of Canada. Anhang, Markel says in her book, provided much-needed counsel and support through a yearslong rollercoaster of emotions.

Then there was a chance meeting at a Florida beauty salon with a woman who had extensive experience in various staff roles in state government. That sparked a process that led to the Markel Act, signed into Florida law last year, for which Ruth Markel was recognized with a victim advocacy award.

From left to right, Ruth Markel, Phil Markel and Shelly Markel speak to reporters outside the Tallahassee courtroom on Nov. 6 after Charlie Adelson was found guilty. (Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat/The Associated Press)

The legislation allows grandparents to petition courts for visitation where a living parent has been found culpable by a criminal or civil court for the other parent's death. While Wendi Adelson has never faced charges, the Markels have spoken of a six-year period that lasted until 2022 in which they had no in-person contact with their two grandsons, now 13 and 14 years old.

That battle for access is still complicated and has largely informed the family's decision to speak to shows like Dateline and 20/20, as well as Court TV, where the Charlie Adelson trial was carried live.

"We live a really normal life, and could not have expected ever that this would be something we would have to live with, deal with, cope with, spend our days thinking about," explains Shelly Markel.

From unindicted co-conspirators to defendants

In court documents filed this week in Leon County, new allegations yet to be proven were laid out in an affidavit. Donna Adelson told her son in calls recorded recently at jail that she was "getting things in order, creating trusts, and making sure her grandchildren are taken care of," authorities allege.

"Donna discusses plans for a suicide, but also discusses plans to flee to a non-extradition country," per the affidavit.

After years of agonized waiting, "the compass is going in the right direction," Ruth Markel told Court TV on Wednesday.

Charlie Adelson is shown at trial on Nov. 6 in Tallahassee. The jury took just three hours to come back to find the South Florida dentist guilty of first-degree murder. (Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat/The Associated Press)

Markel spoke to the broadcaster a while back in Toronto after a two-week trial she described as a "crazy experience."

"Having Charlie Adelson sit in front of you, [it's] very different when you know this person," she said.

Complicated impact statements

The path to the Adelsons began with the May 2016 arrest of gunman Sigfredo Garcia, who was sentenced to life in prison three years later. The Markels had to confront the "unthinkable," Ruth Markel has written, as Wendi, Charlie and Donna Adelson were named then as unindicted co-conspirators.

Also arrested was Luis Rivera, who drove Garcia in a rented Toyota Prius to Markel's home. Rivera reached a deal to avoid life in prison on a second-degree murder charge, his admissions leading to the October 2016 arrest of the woman described as the lynchpin of the case.

Katherine Magbanua, a mother to two children with her ex-partner Garcia, later dated Charlie Adelson after the pair met at a dental office. After a split verdict at the same 2019 trial in which Garcia was convicted, Magbanua was retried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2022.

It has been learned in court that Magbanua was paid over six figures after Markel's murder, with some of her cheques signed by Donna Adelson.

The jury didn't buy Charlie Adelson's testimony that Magbanua extorted him after he told her their relationship wouldn't progress to the next level.

Ruth Markel describes in The Unveiling a well-meaning and necessary part of Florida's judicial system, but one that has been traumatic and involved bringing "excruciating memories to the surface" — victim impact statements.

The Markels will have to summon the strength to go through that process at least one more time, as they will deliver victim impact statements on Dec. 12, when Charlie Adelson's mandatory life sentence will be handed down.