Dateline season 34 episode 5: What happened in the Dan Merkel murder case

Dateline season 34 episode 5, Deadly Mischief, aired on Oct 24, 2025, at 9 pm ET on NBC. The two-hour broadcast revisited the killing of Florida State University law professor Daniel Markel and the long chain of arrests, trials, and verdicts that followed.

The episode set out the timeline in plain terms. A daylight shooting in Tallahassee in 2014. A neighbor’s 911 call and a light-colored Toyota Prius leaving the area. A custody fight that hung over the case. Then, over the years, a series of prosecutions led to multiple convictions.

---

Dateline recap: what happened in the Markel case

On July 18, 2014, Daniel Markel returned home from morning errands. A gunman shot him in his garage. He died the next day at the hospital. A neighbor reported the Prius that sped off. Investigators traced movements with toll and camera records and built out phone timelines.

Investigators traced movements with toll and camera records (Image via Unsplash)

The family story mattered. Markel and his ex-wife, Wendi Adelson, had split. She had sought to move their two boys to South Florida, and a judge had blocked relocation. Prosecutors later said that the dispute sat at the center of the plot.

Also read: Who killed Ajike ‘AJ’ Owens? Netflix's The Perfect Neighbor explores the tragic case

---

Dateline shows the players and charges

Luis Rivera, a Miami gang member, told police he drove the Prius and confessed to a $35,000 role in the hit. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received 19 years. Sigfredo Garcia was tried in 2019 and got life for first-degree murder and conspiracy.

Sigfredo Garcia was convicted of first-degree murder in 2019 (Image via Pexels)

Katherine Magbanua, who had dated Wendi’s brother Charlie Adelson and was linked to the Adelson family’s dental practice, was convicted at a 2022 retrial of murder, conspiracy, and solicitation and received life, plus additional time.

Charlie Adelson faced a 2023 trial. Jurors convicted him of first-degree murder, conspiracy, and solicitation after roughly three hours of deliberation, and he later received life plus added terms.

His mother, Donna Adelson, went to trial in 2025. A Leon County jury found her guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy, and solicitation. The Tallahassee Democrat reported the verdict and subsequent life sentence in 2025.

Wendi Adelson has denied involvement and has not been charged. Prosecutors have named her and her father as unindicted co-conspirators in filings, which they argued reflected evidence developed in the probe. She has rejected those claims.

---

Dateline tracks motive and money

Jurors heard that Rivera and Garcia allegedly carried out a paid hit driven by the relocation fight. Rivera said the plan came through Magbanua and Charlie Adelson, and that the payment was split. Phone records, bank spikes, and work checks cut to Magbanua were featured in court exhibits. The state described wiretaps, an undercover “bump,” and coded talk about a “TV” that allegedly referred to money.

The defense side differed. Charlie Adelson testified in 2023 that he was the target of an extortion scheme after the killing. Donna Adelson’s team argued she was a meddling parent, not a planner, and said no witness placed her in an agreement to kill. Dateline presented both accounts, while noting the juries that weighed the evidence and returned guilty verdicts. AP News reported the 2023 Charlie Adelson conviction and sentence.

---

Dateline takeaways for Dateline viewers

The broadcast stressed records over rumors. Surveillance video that tracked a Prius. Cell and toll logs that mapped travel. Statements that changed over time. The show also laid out how prosecutors said the custody dispute supplied motive, while defense lawyers pushed back with claims of pressure, bias, or outright extortion.

By the end of the episode, the posture of the case stood like this. Five people had been convicted. Rivera was serving 19 years. Garcia and Magbanua were serving life. Charlie Adelson was serving life plus added time.

Donna Adelson had been convicted and sentenced to life in 2025. Appeals and post-trial motions could follow, as they often do. The core facts stayed the same. A professor was killed, a community watched the case move through the courts, and Dateline walked viewers through how investigators, prosecutors, and juries reached their conclusions.

---

Also read: What happened to Jessica Currin? Details explored as a new episode of 20/20 delves into the case

Edited by Preethika Vijayakumar