NBC's "Dateline" promises new details in their third look at the murder-for-hire saga of Florida State law professor Dan Markel.
The two-hour episode, entitled "Family Matters," will report on a "stunning new twist in the murder-for-hire plot involving a prominent Florida family that left law professor Dan Markel dead and a grandmother arrested," according to a release. The show airs Friday night.
The special will report on the trial of Markel's former brother-in-law, Charlie Adelson, who was found guilty of masterminding Markel's murder by hitmen and was sentenced to life in prison. It also promises "newly obtained police bodycam footage" of the arrest of Markel's former mother-in-law, Charlie's mother Donna Adelson.
How to stream: Here's how to watch "Dateline" on the Dan Markel murder (free trial)
"We're not sure what Charlie was getting at when he spoke to his mother on that jailhouse call" and said it was like watching "Dateline," an ad for the show said, referring to phone calls between the just sentenced Charlie Adelson and the newly arrested Donna.
"Of course, he wasn't wrong," the ad continued. "It was an epic story filled with twists and turns, just like a Dateline."
Where and when can I watch the Dateline 'Family Matters' episode on the murder of Dan Markel?
Dateline's two-hour "Family Matters" episode airs Friday, Jan. 19 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.
It's also available on Pluto TV for free, and Peacock, Hulu, Sling TV and YouTube with subscriptions. Potential subscribers to Sling TV can get a free trial.
What will the new Dateline episode on Dan Markel's murder include?
A lot has happened since Dateline did their last episode on the Dan Markel murder. "Tallahassee Trap," over three years ago.
Since then Charlie Adelson's former girlfriend Katherine Magbanua wasfound guiltyof first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder andsolicitation of murder, and Charlie himself was found guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation to commit murder. Both were sentenced to life in prison. Including the two men Adelson hired to kill his former brother-in-law, Luis Rivera and Sigfredo Garcia, that makes four people convicted for the crime so far.
"But even we were surprised by what happened next..." the Dateline promo ad says, over bodycam footage of Charlie Adelson's mother Donna being led away in handcuffs.
'This is insane':Miami-Dade PD releases video of Donna Adelson's airport arrest
One week after Charlie was found guilty, his parentsDonna and Harvey Adelson were stoppedat Miami International Airport before they could board a one-way flight to Vietnam. Donna Adelson, 73,was arrested on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation and indicted by a grand jury on the same charges.
The Dateline episode features interviews with Charlie and Donna Adelson's defense attorney Dan Rashbaum, Dan Markel’s parents Ruth and Phil Markel, friends Josh Berman and David Lat, and others.
Who was Dan Markel? How was Dan Markel murdered?
Daniel Eric Markel, 41, was a Canadian-born Florida State law professor, author and prominent legal scholar. He was married to fellow FSU professor Wendi Adelson and they had two young sons, but they separated in 2012 and battled through an extremely acrimonious and bitter divorce in 2013.
According to prosecutors, Markel's murder “stemmed from the desperate desire of the Adelson family” for Wendi and the two sons to move to South Florida. In 2012, while Markel was away,Adelson had moved out of their house with the childrenand most of the couple's possessions and left divorce papers on the bed, according to court filings. Markel won 50/50 custody and an order prohibiting Adelson from moving them away in the divorce. The two parents battled in court for months over every detail of their children's lives, with Markel filing motions against his former wife and Donna Adelson.
On July 18, 2014, Latin Kings gang leader Luis Rivera and his childhood friend Sigfredo Garcia, who had driven up to Tallahassee from Miami in a rented Toyota Prius, stalked Markel as he ran errands and Garcia shot him twice at his home in Betton Hills,according to testimony from Rivera before getting paid by Charlie Adelson. Markel died the next day.
Thecomplicated, sensational case, which The Tallahassee Democrat has chronicled from the beginning,involved lengthy investigations by Tallahassee police and the FBI, a confession, wiretaps, recorded conversations,four arrests, three trials, and a COVID delay that made national news, features onDatelineand 20/20, and was the subject of apopular true crime podcast.
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Editor's note: This will be the third Dateline episode to feature the Dan Markel murder and not as originally reported.