Donna Adelson: Inside the Matriarch’s Murder Plot

In this full-length Hidden Killers special, Tony Brueski brings together the complete story of Donna Adelson, the woman prosecutors say sat at the center of one of Florida’s most cold-blooded murder-for-hire conspiracies. With three co-conspirators already convicted—including her son Charlie—Donna is now the final alleged architect heading toward trial, and this episode lays out the entire case: the family pressure, the money trail, the coded prison calls, and the psychology of a matriarch accused of pulling the strings. We begin with the internal dynamics of the Adelson family, where prosecutors argue Donna exercised powerful influence over major decisions, including the bitter custody dispute with Dan Markel. We examine the alleged $1 million relocation offer, the threatening language about religious upbringing, the burst of phone calls on the day of the murder, and the suspicious financial pipeline prosecutors say flowed from the Adelsons to Katherine Magbanua—all pieces the state will use to argue Donna wasn’t a bystander, but a driving force. Tony, alongside legal analyst Eric Faddis, breaks down the prosecution’s likely strategy: emphasizing the established conspiracy convictions of others, introducing Donna’s coded language on jail calls, highlighting the abrupt Vietnam one-way ticket, and showing jurors a pattern of decisions that point to intent. At the same time, we explore how the defense may try to reframe Donna as a sympathetic grandmother swept into chaos she didn’t create. We also dive into Donna’s public and private narrative control—interrogating her recorded jail calls, emotional shifts, strategic omissions, and the way she shapes conversations with family members still outside the system. Even from behind bars, her influence continues. Finally, we look ahead to the fallout: the psychological toll on the Markel children, the Adelson grandchildren’s future, the long-term identity fracture of carrying a notorious last name, and the intergenerational trauma that will ripple long after the verdict is read. This is more than evidence. This is a story of power, manipulation, loyalty, and the catastrophic consequences of a single decision that changed two families forever. #DonnaAdelson #DanMarkel #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #CharlieAdelson #KatherineMagbanua #FloridaCrime #ProsecutionStrategy #EricFaddis #FamilyDynamics Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872