Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Donna Adelson Murder for Hire Trial Day 6 | Crime Alert 6AM 08.27.25

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Donna Adelson Murder for Hire Trial Day 6 | Crime Alert 6AM 08.27.25 · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I'm Drew Nelson. Donna Addelson's trial continues in Florida for
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: planning the twenty fourteen murder of her former son in
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  Speaker 1: law Daniel Markle, a case that has already led to
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  Speaker 1: four convictions, including her son Charlie. Donna's trial continued Tuesday
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  Speaker 1: with key testimony from Catherine Magbanua, the woman already convicted
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  Speaker 1: as the go between in the murder for higher plot.
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  Speaker 1: Magbanua told jurors quote, Charlie would consult his mother and
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  Speaker 1: then come back and speak to you. Magbanua described Charlie
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  Speaker 1: as frantic and holding a gun after the shooting. She
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  Speaker 1: said she passed the money from Charlie to the hitmen,
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  Speaker 1: who were paid in cash. She also confirmed Donna signed
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  Speaker 1: all her paychecks from the Addlson Institute after the murder.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: Assistant State Attorney Georgia Kappelman walked the jury through text
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  Speaker 1: messages between Charlie and Magbanua, and emails from Donna to
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  Speaker 1: Wendy Minnie came from the shared email account Donna Harvey
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  Speaker 1: at gmail dot com. Sergeant Chris Corbett of TPD testified
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  Speaker 1: he believed Markl was under surveillance the day he was killed.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: Selchower and call frequency reports helped link the family to
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  Speaker 1: the hitmen, Sigfredo Garcia and Luis Rivera. Forensic accountant, Mary
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  Speaker 1: Hull testified that Magbanua deposited over twenty six thousand dollars
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  Speaker 1: in cash the year of the murder. She also noted
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  Speaker 1: that Garcia's banking information changed after the shooting, and both
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  Speaker 1: hitmen bought new cars. Donna signed Magmanua's paychecks, even though
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  Speaker 1: she never worked at the Addlson's dental clinic. Donna's daughter,
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  Speaker 1: Wendy Adelson, testified under subpoena. She admitted calling Markle quote
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  Speaker 1: an emotional terrorist. She said Donna quote unquote, micromanaged her life.
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  Speaker 1: Wendy also confirmed Charlie joked about hiring a hit man,
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  Speaker 1: saying it was cheaper than a divorce. She denied knowing
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  Speaker 1: about the murder plot, but said, quote, my mom thought
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  Speaker 1: my life in Tallahassee wasn't good. On the day of
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  Speaker 1: the killing, she drove near the crime scene but didn't
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  Speaker 1: stop or call Markle. Robert Addelson, Donna's estranged oldest son,
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  Speaker 1: says his mother quote ran the show and became angry
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  Speaker 1: and gleeful during Wendy's divorce. He said, quote, she had
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  Speaker 1: a complete lack of curiosity about who killed Markle. When
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  Speaker 1: he brought up the arrests of the hitmen, Donna said, quote,
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  Speaker 1: I've got to go and hung up. That was their
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  Speaker 1: last conversation. Wendy's ex boyfriend, Jeffrey la Cass, said Wendy
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  Speaker 1: once told him quote, the only way she'd ever be
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  Speaker 1: able to relocate is if something happened to Danny. He
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  Speaker 1: also testified, quote, last summer, my brother looked into all
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  Speaker 1: options to take care of the Danny Markle problem, including
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  Speaker 1: hiring a hitman. He called the comment quote chilling. Former
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  Speaker 1: girlfriend of Charlie, Julie Umchindas said Donna looked upset after
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  Speaker 1: the murder and once told her it felt like Markle
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  Speaker 1: was quote haunting her from the grave. Um Chindas said
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  Speaker 1: Charlie became erratic during the investigation and believed his phone
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  Speaker 1: was being tapped. She also said she saw Charlie keep
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  Speaker 1: money in stapled bundles, the same way the hitmen were paid.
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  Speaker 1: Former Addlson employee CLARESA. Spultri said Donna had access to
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  Speaker 1: patient records and that mag Banua was a patient before
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: the murder, She said Donna never spoke badly of Markel
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: to her. Tuesday ended with testimony from officers who outlined
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  Speaker 1: surveillance and photo records linking the family to the plot.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: Court resumes this morning at nine am. More crime and
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  Speaker 1: justice news after this Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Geufrey has
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  Speaker 1: a posthumous memoir coming out this fall that promises to
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  Speaker 1: share disturbing new details of her abuse. Geuffrey, who was
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  Speaker 1: once known as one of Epstein's most outspoken victims, was
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  Speaker 1: reported to have died by suicide in April at the
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  Speaker 1: age of forty one. Family friends and her publishers said
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  Speaker 1: she had already finished the four hundred page manuscript, titled
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  Speaker 1: Nobody's Girl, A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice.
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  Speaker 1: The book will be released on October twenty first. She
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  Speaker 1: worked on it with journalist Amy Wallace and left instructions
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  Speaker 1: that it was her quote heartfelt wish for the memoir
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  Speaker 1: to be published quote, regardless of her circumstances. In an
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  Speaker 1: email weeks before her death, she wrote, quoted as imperative,
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  Speaker 1: that the truth is understood and that the issues surrounding
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: this topic are addressed. Both for the sake of justice
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  Speaker 1: and awareness. The memoir describes her years as a teenager
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  Speaker 1: being trafficked by Epstein and Gellaine Maxwell, and it includes
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  Speaker 1: clear accusations against Great Britain's Prince Andrew. She sued Andrew
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  Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one and reached an out of court
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  Speaker 1: settlement in twenty twenty two. Publisher Knopf says the book
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  Speaker 1: contains quote intimate, disturbing, and heartbreaking new details about her
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  Speaker 1: time with Epstein, Maxwell and their powerful friends. Publisher Jordan
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  Speaker 1: Pavlin called it, quote the story of a fierce spirit
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  Speaker 1: struggling to break free. Giuffrey first came to public attention
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  Speaker 1: in two thousand and one when a photo showed her
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  Speaker 1: as a teenager with Prince Andrew. She later described being
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: recruited at mar A Lago by Maxwell, who hired her
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  Speaker 1: as a messuse for Epstein. President Trump has recently said
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  Speaker 1: that Epstein had quote unquote stolen Geufrey from mar A Lago.
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  Speaker 1: Maxwell has denied her claims. Giuffrey once said she made
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: mistakes recalling some events, and in twenty twenty two she
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  Speaker 1: dropped allegations against attorney Alan Dershowitz Geffray's book deal was
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  Speaker 1: reported in twenty twenty three as being worth millions. The
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  Speaker 1: publisher says the memoir was fact checked and legally vetted.
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  Speaker 1: Epstein died in a New York jail in twenty nineteen
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  Speaker 1: in what officials called a suicide. Maxwell was convicted in
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty one of sex trafficking and is serving a
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  Speaker 1: twenty year prison term, currently in minimum security. A New
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  Speaker 1: York model is left permanently disfigured after a horrifying stabbing
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  Speaker 1: on a tram in Germany while trying to protect two
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  Speaker 1: women from attackers. John Rudat, a paramedic and part time
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  Speaker 1: model from Coloni, New York, was in dressed on Sunday
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  Speaker 1: when two men began harassing women on the tram. Police
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  Speaker 1: say Rudat stepped in and one of the men slashed
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: him across the face with a six inch knife. The
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  Speaker 1: wound left him hospitalized with what they describe as deep
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  Speaker 1: facial injuries the doctor say will scar him for life.
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  Speaker 1: The New York Post reports police arrested a twenty one
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  Speaker 1: year old Syrian migrant, released him within hours for lack
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  Speaker 1: of evidence, then re arrested him today after new findings
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  Speaker 1: after new evidence tied him to the stabbing. Dresden police
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  Speaker 1: said in a statement quote now that further investigation results
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  Speaker 1: are available, the twenty one year old Syrian, who was
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  Speaker 1: briefly in police custody on August twenty fourth, twenty twenty five,
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  Speaker 1: is also under strong suspicion of having been involved in
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  Speaker 1: the knife attack on the American and of having injured
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  Speaker 1: the victim with a dangerous object. Rudat posted on social
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  Speaker 1: from his hospital bed with his face wrapped in heavy bandages. Quote,
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  Speaker 1: If y'all didn't think Europe had an immigration problem, especially Germany,
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: let me drop some knowledge on you. He added that
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: one of his attackers was a known drug dealer end
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: quote very popularly known here, especially by the police, and
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  Speaker 1: was righteously upset that he was released within twelve hours
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  Speaker 1: before being re arrested. His brother, Logan told the newspaper
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  Speaker 1: he was not surprised by his siblings' actions quote, I
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: would have been surprised if he hadn't stepped in. It's
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: part of his character. That's just the way we were raised.
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  Speaker 1: The US Embassy in Berlin condemned the attack quote while
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: courageously intervening to protect a fellow passenger. He was viciously attacked.
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  Speaker 1: We urged German authorities to swiftly bring the perpetrators to
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  Speaker 1: justice and punish them to the fullest extent permitted by law.
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  Speaker 1: Pictures showed blood and debris covering the floor of the
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  Speaker 1: tram after the attack. They showed the tissues used by
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  Speaker 1: passengers trying to help Roodat as he was bleeding. His
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  Speaker 1: modeling manager Taylor Kelsaw writes, quote, he tried to help
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  Speaker 1: two young women and one of the assailants slashed his face.
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  Speaker 1: This is a most heinous act of crime. John had
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  Speaker 1: just begun his career with us. We are devastated, but
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: thankful he wasn't killed. For the latest crime and justice news,
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: follow crime alerts hourly update on your favorite podcast app
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: with this crime alert. I'm Drew Nelson.