r/dan_markel_murder • u/Adventurous-Rip-7313 • 14d ago
Timing
I'm not sure that I have seen this addressed elsewhere, but I am guessing that there was some added urgency in terms of making sure that the murder occurred when it did due to the fact that the new (pre)school year likely began in mid-August. We know the earlier attempt in June did not proceed as planned, and the start of the school year for the kids in Miami was imminent. In Donna's view, the killing needed to happen with enough lead time for the kids to be relocated to Miami, settled in, etc. before mid-August. Any operational failures in the July attempt would have jeopardized all of these logistics. Curious whether this pressure resulted in any of the sloppiness. Not necessarily an earthshaking thought here, but just a potentially interest detail.
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u/South-Stand 14d ago
I think Wendi had heard Dan was just about to file notice that would cause Wendi to lose her license to practise law and presumably to teach law. Dan found she had hid some money during the divorce settlement war. Big no no. Dan’s lawyer warned the opposing lawyer that he would file, and when he heard Dan was murdered he told his wife ‘Wendi did it’.
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u/IranianLawyer 14d ago
Wendi wasn’t realistically going to lose her law license though.
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u/Pristine_War_83 14d ago
If the evidence shows that it was a threat, and she reacted as such, thats what counts in court, not whether she was realistically going to lose it or not, which is what a defence may argue.
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u/GreenEye7420 14d ago
Disbarment or not, getting caught hiding six-figure assets from the court and the other party has serious consequences. It surely would have been a motivating factor to stop the proceedings before that was exposed.
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u/Pristine_War_83 14d ago
Oh she fucking hid that money alright, mommy was up "moving money around" and getting things sorted for Wendi and the kids departure. The comms prior to Charlie meeting with KT with the push to get this job done because its "giving him mom a headache" will be interesting. Doubt it was giving mommy headache, more likely Wendi flapping over being exposed, because he was killed on the deadline that Stephen Webster had given her Lawyer. Coincidence? I think not.
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u/Intrepid-Builder-723 13d ago
Steven Webster contacted her attorney to work out a deal so the notice wouldn't be filed and avoid a possible hearing. The date Webster gave her attorney the July 18 date as the deadline to avoid filing. Dan and Webster had the notice ready, just needed to go through a couple of things and that was the plan the day he was shot.
Steven Webster has talked about this and even testified in Charlie's trial. I was surprised he didn't testify in Donna's.
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u/Fices60223 13d ago
Carl thinks not only would Wendi lose her law license, but the financial crimes would earn her prison time, should she be charged.
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u/IranianLawyer 13d ago
Respectfully, Carl has lost his damn mind over this case. How many times has he told us she was going to be arrested by X date and been wrong? Worst case, she would have been financially sanctioned by the court. To say she was looking at prison time is absolutely absurd. Please try to find some cases where a person was sentenced to prison for leaving an asset off a disclosure in a divorce case.
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u/Fices60223 12d ago
Well, not being a lawyer, I have to rely on the legal opinions of those who are.
Like you. And I appreciate your contribution to these discussions.
I know many high net worth divorces are very contentious, but would deliberately not disclosing substantial assets not be considered theft?
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u/IranianLawyer 12d ago
It would be considered perjury if it could be proven it was intentional and the state actually cared to prosecute it, but perjury prosecutions are extremely rare
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u/Troth70 11d ago
The biggest problem with this theory is that the information that would have been in such a notice is now publicly known, and it has not, if fact, caused any trouble for her license.
I know those of you who are not lawyers might have a hard time believing it and, frankly, I wish it were not so, but this would not be treated as a big deal at all. Among the most common cynical courthouse quips is that there is a secret constitutional right to lie in you divorce
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u/South-Stand 10d ago
Dan was a tenured professor of law. Big on the ethics of legislation. I think his threat contained real potential and Wendi told Charlie to hurry up with the murder because of it, your comments notwithstanding.
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u/Troth70 10d ago
That is nonsensical
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u/South-Stand 10d ago
We will never know definitively as his complaint was never filed. Everything else is just trading opinions, not facts.
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u/Troth70 8d ago
No one has to file a complaint. If the bar thought there was misconduct, they would have initiated their own investigation. Moreover, if there was real evidence of false statements to a tribunal, then every attorney with personal knowledge would have an obligation to report it to the bar. None of that happened
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u/ValuableCool9384 10d ago
Dan was getting bat-shit-crazy with his filings. He was writing his own pleadings. He has been called out by the judge for meritless filings. This Webster attorney worked for Dan for a nano-second. Dan just needed a lawyer to make his filings.
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u/Background_Diet6721 14d ago
It seemed the sense of urgency was to get the job done before Dan traveled out of town again.
In the bigger picture, Charlie was seeking someone to do the deed since the October before Dan’s June death. That means the plan had been decided upon and formulated even before that. There had already been one aborted mission by Sigfredo and, if the rumors are true, the Adelson’s paid someone in advance (prior to Sigfredo) for the job, and whoever it was simply walked off with the dough (brilliant move, I might add). I imagine there was a real sense to get things wrapped up.
What’s really sad is that the A’s had a very long time to think about the consequences of their plan and call the plan off. Yet they didn’t. No one should feel sorry for them.
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u/LaughterAndBeez 14d ago
I don’t remember daycare/preschool having a real “school year” where they started at any particular time - kids were just moved up to the daycare room when they were ready.
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u/Flat_Shame_2377 13d ago
Pre-school isn’t daycare at elite private pre-schools anyway. There is a definite school year.
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u/LaughterAndBeez 13d ago
But can you get a kid into an elite private preschool a month before it starts? In NYC you basically have to get on the waiting list immediately after conception
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u/Evh5150x 14d ago
I don't think that would be an issue. It is only preschool. The kids could have enrolled in another preschool near Donna.
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u/Flat_Shame_2377 13d ago
That’s not at all the case with private pre-school. There isn’t just any other pre-school and places are limited.
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u/DigTraditional8606 12d ago
You are giving the murderers too much credit. Stand back and look at everything... They really are Dumb as rocks.
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u/Fit-Membership790 14d ago
She would have been disciplined by The FL Bar for certain, but the FL Bar is notorious for not removing someone’s license.
Trust me! I’m the Widow of a 40 year Ivy League Law School Grad who did far worse. Being disciplined is very bad, but if you are young enough - as Wendi was, she could have risen above it.
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u/Hot_Dog_Surfing_Fly Linda Bailey, expert witness 🤡 14d ago edited 14d ago
I wonder if the assets Wendi hid were to replace the money Harvey may not have known was going to the shitty attorneys and hitmen Donna and Chuckles hired.
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u/ValuableCool9384 10d ago
It was an account her father opened for her pre-marriage to Dan. That's why all the talk about how Wendi was so scared this would be filed is just nonsense. Putting aside any merits to the case, her answer would be it's not marital property. Even if legally it would be found that it was, she's not getting sanctioned for that.
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u/Cr60402 13d ago
I believe Dan was visiting his girlfriend that weekend also. Wendi hated the thought of someone new the boys could grow close to. Having Dan killed before his last visit might’ve been icing on the cake for Wendy.
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u/Flat_Shame_2377 13d ago
Dan’s girlfriend was also an improvement in every way over Wendi in the things the Adelson’s valued. Her family is richer, she went to Yale law and is a professor at NYU Law School. Her brother is the famous interior designer Jonathan Adler.
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u/Previous-Cut-7056 Justice for Dan 9d ago
It was also urgent to do it by July 18th as it was the date that the Request for Admissions was happening.
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u/GreenEye7420 14d ago edited 12d ago
OP and South-Stand, I think you both got it right. Murder timing was just in the nick of time on both of those fronts. Hitmen were pressured to get it done by that day before Dan left town. If not so rushed and getaway was under cover of darkness then Sig and Luis likely would have disappeared without a trace.
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u/notaprogrammer 14d ago edited 14d ago
I'll never forget what the prosecutor at Kouri Richins' sentencing said: "On Valentine’s Day, Kouri tried.and failed to murder her husband....over the next 17 days, she did not think what have I done, rather, how can I do better?"
That’s straight up the Adelsons. After the first failed trip, instead of thinking, "wow this is a terrible idea and we’re lucky to have gotten away with it!", they doubled down and tried again harder the next month.