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This is Crime House. Police respond to the sound of gunfire in a quiet Tallahassee neighborhood. Tallahassee police investigators now say Dan Markell was the intentional victim of a deadly shooting, a bombshell development in a murder for hire scheme. New body camera video shows Florida police arresting 73 year old grandma Donal Adelson at Miami International Airport and as she and her husband attempt to board a one way flight to Vietnam. It was a seemingly normal day for Dan Markell. He dropped off his kids at preschool and went to the gym. But as he sat in his car, he was shot and ambushed. Fourteen hours later, Dan was pronounced dead. This is a story of how a 75 year old woman, a wealthy family and a heated custody battle is to blame. Welcome to the very first episode of Crime House Daily. My name is Katie Ring, but if you're here this early for my first episode, you may know me as the Self Defense girl. And if this is our first time meeting, hi, I'm Katie. I'm a true crime analyst, self defense instructor and fierce advocate for victims. Many of you found me through my coverage of the Karen Reed trial and asked for more true crime content. So I decided to deliver by partnering with Pave Studios to bring you Crime House Daily, your new true crime fix. Every morning and night here at Crime House Daily, we will be taking an investigative approach to true crime. We stay on the cases and trials making headlines now where justice is still in motion, arrests are still being made, and where new evidence is still coming to light. Every morning we'll make sure you're up to speed on today's biggest crimes with our first watch episodes. And every night we go deeper with our night watch episodes. If you want to follow a case from the first 911 call to the final verdict, you're in the right place. Make sure to follow Crime House Daily wherever you get your podcasts. Leave a review, hit five stars and for ad free listening, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. For video content, head to our YouTube channel @Crime House Daily. This episode discusses active criminal cases and breaking news. The information we share is based on what's publicly available at the time of recording and may change as new evidence comes to light. We aim to inform and not to decide guilt here, so everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in the court of law. To kick things off, we're covering a trial underway right now exposing how one picture perfect family's obsession with power and control ended in murder. For our second case today, we will be covering the new NHL ruling that Five former players are eligible to play again in the league. They haven't played in two years because of a sexual assault trial that paused their careers. After being found not guilty, the NHL just ruled that they can come back to the ice. Buying a car in Carvana was so easy. I was able to finance it through them. I just. Whoa, wait, you mean finance? Yeah, finance. Got pre qualified for a Carvana auto loan, entered my terms and shot from thousands of great car options all within my budget. That's cool. But financing through Carvana was so easy. Financed, done. And I get to pick up my car from their Carvana vending machine tomorrow. Financed, right? What they said. You can spend time trying to pronounce financing or you can actually finance and buy your car. Today on car finance financing subject to credit approval, additional terms and conditions may apply. There is an insane trial going on right now that is taking the nation by storm. It involves a custody battle, a hitman and someone pulling the strings who you would never expect. So let's go back to the beginning in 2014, back when the Adelson family had it all. They were successful, rich and untouchable. They live in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, just up the coast from Miami. For a wealthy family like the Adelsons, it's an incredible place to live and so far it's been a charmed existence for them. The father, Dr. Harvey Adelson, has a successful dental practice that he runs with the help of his wife Donna. They've raised three kids together who are all now successful adults with great jobs. Their oldest, Rob, is an ear, nose and throat doctor and he's more of a private person who generally lives his personal and professional life behind closed doors. Then they have their middle child, 37 year old Charlie, the family's shining star who owns a dental practice. Like his father, Charlie enjoys a luxurious lifestyle but lives close to his parents and would do anything for his family. And finally, there's the Adelson's youngest, their 35 year old daughter Wendy, who took a slightly different path than her brothers by practicing law instead of medicine and moving a few hours away to Tallahassee, Florida where she shares joint custody of her two young boys with her ex husband, 41 year old Dan Markel. But if Wendy had her way, she'd be back in Fort Lauderdale with the rest of her family. But there's a snag. Her divorce agreement says she cannot relocate the kids without Dan's consent. But Dan isn't interested in leaving his job as a law professor at Florida State University in Tallahassee And Wendy's not about to move seven hours away to Fort Lauderdale without her children. So for the time being, she decides to stay put, which makes her mom, Donna Adelson, furious. Donna hates that Dan is keeping her away from her grandkids, and the rest of the Adelson family agrees. In their eyes, Dan is public enemy number one. He's the one thing preventing them from all being together. And in a tragic turn of events, it's not long before they get their way. On July 18, 2014, Dan is following his regular Friday routine. He drops his boys off at preschool, gets in a quick workout, and then drives home. As he pulls into his garage, a silver Prius drives up behind him, and a man holding a gun gets out. But before Dan can get away, the man walks up to his window, and with two shots to the head, execution style, Dan Markell's life is over. It's clear to police that Dan's murder was targeted. Nothing was stolen, and there was no sign of a struggle. But it was clear whoever did this wasn't a pro, because they made a crucial mistake and left behind a major clue. The killer's silver Prius was recorded on a neighbor's security camera. Investigators quickly traced the vehicle to a rental agency in Miami, and there's a name attached to it. Catherine Magbanua. After digging through her phone records, police discover that Catherine has ties to multiple dangerous men, including her ex and father to her two children, Sigfredo Garcia. Sigfredo's rap sheet is long. He has 22 prior arrests, with crimes ranging from robbery and burglary to weapons charges. Investigators subpoena Sigfredo's phone records as well, and its data shows he drove from Miami to Tallahassee while on the exact same day Dan Markell was killed. It doesn't seem like Catherine went with him, but someone else did. Siegfredo was accompanied by a gang member named Luis Rivera. Catherine organized the whole thing. But how are these three people associated with Dan Markell? It turns out Catherine was dating Charlie Adelson. They believe Catherine was acting as the go between in a murder for hire plot. And. And Charlie Adelson had two important pieces to the puzzle. Money to pay the hitman and motive. Since his family did not like Dan, it seems like an open and shut case. But with so many players involved, the police need more evidence to prove there's no reasonable doubt. They spend the next two years working the investigation. But getting concrete evidence against Charlie is especially complicated. So in April 2016, they get creative. That month the FBI orchestrates a sting operation called the bump, a tactic where an undercover agent bumps into a suspect and gets them nervous enough to start talking, usually by means of blackmail. In this instance, they target Charlie's mom and the family matriarch, Donna Adelson. The undercover agent pretends to be a gang member, approaching her with a note. Let's play that interaction. And I want you to know that my brother, he's incarcerated. He helped your family with this problem you guys had up north. And we want to make sure that he's going through some rough times, and we want to make sure that you take care of what he's going through the way you're taking care of Katie. And to go. Well, this will explain it. And the bump works. Donna's rattled enough to immediately call her son Charlie. The FBI already had their phones tap and uncover this call between them. Let's listen. Does it involve me or other people? Well, what's that? You can choose one. Even though the call sounds very suspicious, investigators think the evidence isn't concrete enough. They still need more. So they keep listening. And it's not long before Charlie does something else that's highly suspect. Right after the bump operation, Charlie meets his girlfriend Catherine at a Miami restaurant called Dolce Vita. He has no clue that the police learned about his plans and wired the place with cameras and microphones. It's the perfect trap. But unfortunately, the audio quality is muffled and the police can't make out anything the suspects are saying. So for now, it doesn't lead anywhere and Charlie stays free. The authorities know he was dating Catherine and that he sent her a lump sum payment through his dental practice after the murder. But it's not enough for an arrest. The investigation is making progress in other areas, though. The next month, in May 2016, Catherine and Sigfredo Garcia are arrested. Sigfredo is charged with first degree murder and conspiracy, while Catherine faces charges of first degree murder, conspiracy, and solicitation. And they've got an uphill battle ahead of them because their accomplice, Luis Rivera, takes a plea deal and tells the cops everything. He admits that he was the getaway driver, that Siegfredo was the gunman, and that they were paid to kill Dan. In exchange for his testimony, luis receives a 19 year sentence. Meanwhile, Siegfredo is ultimately convicted and sentenced to life in prison. And a few Years later, in 2022, Catherine receives the same fate. By that point, the investigation into Charlie Adelson has finally made progress. That year, FBI audio experts are able to enhance a recording of him and Catherine from 2016. Charlie's voice comes through loud and clear, and it does not look good for him. He told catherine, quote, if they had any evidence, we'd already be at the airport. This is exactly what investigators needed to hear. On April 21, 2022, Charlie Adelson is arrested on charges of first degree murder, Conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation of murder. Charlie's trial finally begins in October 2023, nearly a decade after dan markell's death. And it's a doozy, because not only does the prosecution have a lot of evidence that he ordered dan's murder, but they argue that he did it on his mom's behalf, all so donna adelson could have her grandkids Nearby in fort lauderdale. On the other side of it, the defense argues that catherine set charlie up. He was just her boyfriend and had no role in the murder. But the jury's not convinced. On November 6, 2023, they find Charlie guilty on all counts, and he's sentenced to life in prison. He's not the only member of the adelson family in hot water, though. Just a week after Charlie's sentencing, His mom, donna, Tries to make a run for it. On November 13, 2023, she and her husband harvey, Arrive at miami international airport with one way tickets to vietnam, A country that does not have an extradition treaty with the united states. What a coincidence. She doesn't make it there, though. Federal agents intercept donna at the gate. As the alleged mastermind behind all of this, she's charged with first degree murder, Conspiracy, and solicitation, Just like her son. And on September 4, after 12 days of trial and only around three hours of deliberation, Donna adelson was found guilty of these crimes. And when the verdict was read in court, Describing her reaction as dramatic Would be an understatement. Let's listen to that moment in court. The defendant is guilty of first degree murder. Mrs. Adelen, control yourself. Mrs. Adelen, while this was not the outcome I'm sure that you desired, There will not be any further outbursts in front of the jury. If you cannot control yourself, I am going to have to determine if you'll be removed from the remainder of this process. As for the rest of the family, Donna's husband, Harvey adelen, Remains by her side, but he hasn't been charged with anything yet. Then there's Donna's daughter and Dan's ex wife, wendy. Although many believe she's not innocent in this. Wendy, who moved down to be with her family in south Florida, just days after Dan's murder, insists that she had no knowledge of this murder plot. Nearly a decade after Dan Markell was murdered, the battle to bring his killers to justice continues. The saga has shattered the Adelson family. The only question now is how much further will they fall? 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Plus get an extra 5% off every rack purchase with a Nordstrom credit card. Great brands, great prices. That's why you rack. You may have seen me cover this next case on my social media, and it's a big one. This summer, five Canadian hockey players went on trial for allegedly committing sexual assault back in 2018. They were found not guilty, but the case is still in the headlines because the NHL decided the allegations were serious enough to conduct its own review. And they just decided that the players will be allowed to come back to the league on December 1. The players at the center of this story are Michael McLeod, Alex Fermentin, Carter Hart, Dylan Dube, and Cal Foot. They were members of Canada's 2018 World Junior Hockey Team, a really selective group of amateur hockey players. Unfortunately, their performance on the ice isn't why we're talking about them today. And I know it's a lot of names to keep track of, so to keep it simple, I'll break the story down through the group's most prominent member, Michael McLeod. Like a lot of star players, Michael's upbringing was all about hockey and his family even had a backyard ice rink at their house in Lorne Park, a high end neighborhood just west of Toronto, Canada. The McLeods weren't the only Hockey obsessed family in the neighborhood. Michael grew up with a ton of talented players, but he was head and shoulders above the rest and he knew it. The people around Michael called him flaky, immature and bratty. But even with his attitude, he was aggressive, great player, which meant he could get away with things that others couldn't. Michael was one of hockey's golden boys. He was so good that when he was 16, a scout told Michael that he'd definitely play in the NHL one day. Not only that, the scout said Michael would soon become Team Canada's next household name. Fast forward to 2022. 21 year old Michael has fulfilled his prophecy. He's playing for the NHL's New Jersey Devils and seems destined for stardom. But that spring, everything comes crashing down. On May 26, 2022, the Canadian news outlet TSN reveals that Michael and eight of his junior world Hockey teammates were accused of sexually assaulting a woman in June 2018, when Michael was only 18. And he's accused of orchestrating the entire thing. TSN also reveals that Hockey Canada, which oversees the world Junior Hockey team, had a private fund that they had been using to pay off victims of sexual assault since 1989. It was also reported that by 2022, Hockey Canada had settled with 21 victims for a total of eight, $8.9 million and that this money had been used to help Michael and his teammates. These findings enraged the public. Because Hockey Canada is partially funded by the Canadian government, they demanded an audit. And although taxpayer money had not been used, they found that player registration fees had been used to pay the victims, further enraging parents who had paid these fees for their children. In the wake of this public outrage, the Crown ended up freezing funding to Hockey Canada and the London Ontario Police Department reopened the investigation into the alleged assault from 2018. The craziest part, Michael McLeod is allowed to continue playing in the NHL while this is all playing out. And in the summer of 2023, he's even given a 1-point.4 million dollar contract extension with the Devils. But before we keep going forward, let's rewind to the night of Michael's alleged crime. A night that ruined a young woman's life and saw Michael McLeod's once promising career wither away. It's June 18, 2018 and 18 year old Michael McLeod and his teammates are in London, Ontario for a Hockey Canada gala and golf tournament. The party is being thrown in their honor to celebrate the Junior hockey team victory in the World Championship earlier that year. During the day on June 18, Michael and his teammates are paraded around the city. That night they attend a celebration party at the London Convention Center. And around 10pm they go to a sports bar called Joe Cools for reference. The drinking age in Ontario is 19, though it's enforced a lot less strictly than in the United States. After they're done at Joe Cool's, they head over to another bar called Jack's, which is packed to the brim with college students. That's where Michael meets a 20 year old woman whose alias is Em for the purpose of this case. The details of this encounter aren't clear, but we do know that Em has been drinking and she agrees to go back to Michael's hotel room at the Delta Armory's hotel, which is just a quick walk from Jack's. When they get there, Michael and Em have consensual sex around 2 in the morning. But after this consensual interaction, things take a dark turn. At 2.10am, Michael texts his team's group chat quote, who's up for a three way quick? And then he provides his room number, 209. Five minutes later, he texts his teammate Taylor Radish, quick quote, come to my room if you want a gummer, which in the hockey world is slang for oral sex. Taylor and another guy named Boris Kachuk get to Michael's room at 2:30amthey leave at 2:35am but after that, more guys start coming into Michael's room. The men admit to all of the shocking things they did to Em, but they argue that it was not rape because it was common, completely consensual, and even claim it was her idea and that she was making fun of them for not participating. But it's clear that the men realize what they're doing is wrong, or at least in a morally gray area because they film two consent videos of Em. In the video, a man is heard off screen asking, you're okay with this? And she replies, I'm okay with this. In a second video, she says, it was all consensual and I am so sober. That's why I can't do this right now. When Em gets home around 5am, her mom finds her sobbing uncontrollably in the shower and asks her what happened. So she tells her mom what the men allegedly did to her. It's clear to her mom that this was not consensual and her mom calls the police. Her stepfather also calls Hockey Canada's human resources department to report what happened and an internal investigation is launched after hearing that the police had been contacted mcloud DMS Em and asks, how can we make this go away? And she says that her mom called the police, but that she didn't want anything bad to come of it, so she told her to stop. The police interviewed McLoud on November 17, 2018, and the case was dropped. A few months later, in September 2020, Hockey Canada also closes their investigation, and none of the players are reprimanded, and they get to continue on with their careers while Em is left putting her life back together. But that doesn't mean she's done fighting. In April 2022, EM sues Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League for $3.55 million in damages. It settled in May of that year, which is when TSN news outlet hears about it. Once the story breaks, it launches a whirlwind series of events. We won't get into the nitty gritty details, but basically both investigations are reopened. Hockey Canada loses a bunch of sponsors because of all the allegations, and its governing body is completely restructured, including having its CEO replaced. And this time, the case seems to be taken a lot more seriously. Two years later, in January 2024, Michael is forced to surrender himself to the London police. And the other men involved in this case are detained, too. These are the guys I mentioned earlier in the beginning, and three of them were in the NHL when they were arrested. Dylan Dube, a forward for the Calgary Flames. Carter Hart, a goaltender for the Philadelphia Flyers, and Calfut, a defenseman on the New Jersey Devils, the same team as Michael the fifth. Alex Fermentin was a left wing for a team in Switzerland. And all five men were charged with one count of sexual assault. And Michael was also charged with one count of being a party to an offense. This means even if he didn't directly participate in the sexual assault, he either knew about it or helped carry it out in some way. All of the men plead not guilty and get separate defense attorneys. And when the case finally goes to trial on April 22, 2025, it's basically five mini trials combined into one. The evidence presented at trial is pretty much a recounting of what happened seven years earlier. On June 18, 2018, the prosecution shows the guys text messages where it looks like they're trying to corroborate stories and say that they did nothing wrong. Em, who's now 27 years old, testifies for nine whole days, and she's asked to tell a bunch of people in the courtroom what the men allegedly did to her. And I want to note that throughout the Whole thing. Em does a really good job of maintaining composure. She says, quote, I made the choice to dance with them and drink at the bar. I did not make make the choice to have them do what they did. Back at the hotel, tears are shed on the stand, but she holds her own. But things get even tougher when the defense attorneys question her. On cross examination, Michael's lawyer, David Humphrey says that Iam cheated on her boyfriend of three months that night with Michael. He accuses her of only saying she was drunk so that her boyfriend was would forgive her. Em insists that she was drunk and that her memory of the night is splotchy. Which makes her so called consent videos a gray area. Legally speaking, when someone is drunk, their ability to consent should be automatically compromised. But this isn't always the case in Canada. In Canada, how drunk someone is doesn't always impact their ability to give consent. Canadian law suggests that if a person person wants sex in their right mind, they can give consent. So it's circumstantial. The details of the rest of the trial are really graphic and intimate. So I'm not going to repeat all of it, but I will say that this case is being hotly debated in Canada right now. Especially because of how the verdict was decided. Just two days after the trial started, the judge declared a mistrial. And because a defense attorney accidentally interacted with one of the jurors during a lunch break. They got a new slate of jurors. But there was another problem. This time someone on the jury said that a defense attorney laughed at them. So the judge decided that she determined the verdict herself, which is apparently legal in Canada. And on July 24, 2025, after an eight week trial, the judge decided that all five of the hockey players were not guilty on all charges. She said that Em was neither credible or reliable and that she didn't seem drunk enough in the consent videos, the ones taken hours after they had stopped drinking and in which she looked like she had been crying. And that there was not enough evidence to prove that the sexual acts Em did were non consensual. The judge also said that Em had a tendency to blame others and that Em went to quote, great lengths to let everyone know that she was drunk on June 18, 2018 as a way to blame Michael and his teammates for what happened. This decision has created a lot of controversy. When did making plans get this complicated? It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the secure messaging app that brings the whole group together. 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Only pay for what you need@libertymutual.com Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty Savings Very underwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. Affiliates excludes Massachusetts legally, it seems like Michael and his teammates are in the clear, but professionally, things are up in the air. Following the verdict, the NHL released a statement on July 25, 2025. The league said, quote, the allegations made in this case, even if not determined to have been criminal, were very disturbing and the behavior at issue was unacceptable. We will be reviewing and considering the judge's findings while we conduct that analysis and determine next steps. The players charged in this case are ineligible to play in the league, end quote. With the NHL season right around the corner, all eyes were on the league to give an update on their decision. And on September 11, the NHL decided the five acquitted players will be suspended for the start of the 2025-2026 NHL season, but they can sign contracts starting Oct. 15 and can play again starting Dec. 1. Many speculate that McLeod's legal troubles may not totally be past him after a report that eight unnamed players, players from a Hockey Canada team McLeod played on when he was 16, are being investigated for the gang rape of one of the players girlfriends. In this case, the event started out as consensual sex with her boyfriend, but the boyfriend invited his teammates down to take turns. We will keep you updated, so as always, follow us at crimehouse24seven for more foreign we covered a lot today for our first episode and that's just a taste of the investigative stories we're looking into at Crime House Daily tomorrow morning. A man is awaiting trial right now for the murder of an elderly woman in Washington, how police tracked him after finding his abandoned car in Calabasas. And tonight, I'm really excited to cover a case that launched me into the realm of true crime. And if you're into true crime, there's no way you haven't heard about this one. Tonight on Night Watch, First Watches Evening Companion, we are going to be diving deep into the case of Karen Reed. In the meantime, make sure to drop your facts, theories and anything you have in the comments below. I want to hear it all and tell us what we should cover next@Crime House24.7 on TikTok and Instagram and subscribe to our YouTube CrimeHouseDaily for ad free listening and more. Join Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. Until then, you stay curious and I'll stay on the case. We'll see you later tonight. Martha listens to her favorite band all the time. In the car, gym, even sleeping. So when they finally went on tour, Martha bundled her flight and hotel on Expedia to see them live. She saved so much she got a seat close enough to actually see and hear them. Sort of. 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