Guilty

I don't know how many of my readers were following the story of the murder of law professor Dan Markel. It happened so long ago that I could see how one could lose track of where it all stood. I know I did for a while there.

But last week they convicted Markel's ex-brother-in-law, Charlie Adelson (pictured), of hiring the hit men who shot Markel dead, point blank, in his driveway. It was all because of a bitter divorce and child custody dispute between Markel and Adelson's sister, Wendi, who once worked at the same law school as Markel.

It took nine years and change for the state to convict the brother, who was a dentist. The case was going next to nowhere until Charlie's one-time girlfriend, who served as the go-between between him and the hit men, finally flipped and starting talking from her prison cell. The jury came back with the verdict in three hours. Adelson took the stand in his own defense, and the jury didn't believe a word he said.

In court papers filed by the State of Florida in Charlie's case, Wendi and their mother, Donna, were named as co-conspirators. They are not off the hook yet.

The murder victim's parents had been denied visitation with their grandchildren, Dan and Wendi's two sons, who moved in full-time with their mom and her nearby family after the boys' father was murdered. But apparently Wendi is now letting the Markels have access of some kind to the kids.

Those poor kids. 

The TaxProf Blog has been all over this sad story from Day 1. Their latest, along with links to a lot of prior stuff, is here.

Many of us had gotten mighty impatient with the police and the prosecution in this case. But in the end they got the main man. I hope his eight years of freedom after offing his sister's ex were fun. Now at age 47, he's looking at the rest of his life in prison. Good old Uncle Charlie.

UPDATE, Monday night: You'll never guess who was taken into custody today.