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Katherine Magbanua faces a jury again in the murder of acclaimed Florida State law professor Dan Markel.
In the retrial that began on May 18, Magbanua faces charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and solicitation of murder in connection with Markel’s broad-daylight shooting in July 2014.
She is suspected of being the conduit between the hitmen and Markel’s former in-laws who have been implicated as the masterminds and financiers of what investigators say was a murder for hire.
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What follows is a regularly updated reporter’s notebook account of the day’s proceedings from Karl Etters, who has covered all the twists in the case for the last seven years. Follow him on Twitter here.
11:30 a.m. Rivera points to Magbanua despite conflicting stories
Luis Rivera’s testimony concluded Friday with more pointed questions from Katherine Magabnua’s defense team.
Chris DeCoste peppered Rivera with questions about the guns used to kill Markel, how many trips he and Garcia actually made to Tallahassee and tried to jog what at times was the Dan Markel killer’s foggy memory about key details.
Rivera was combative but seemed to confirm some of the suspicions of Magbanua’s defense team that he may have fabricated parts of his story to fit a narrative already being alleged by prosecutors when he was arrested in May 2016.
DeCoste asked Rivera about Garcia confronting Charles Adelson, Markel’s former brother-in-law who was dating Magbanua at the time of the murder, and whether the two men hatched the sinister plan to kill the law professor.
Garcia, an on-again, off-again boyfriend of Magbanua and the father of her two children, and Rivera stalked Magbanua and Adelson at a Miami restaurant in Garcia’s black pickup truck.
Rivera testified he was angry enough that she’d begun dating the wealthy dentist to “run the truck through the restaurant,” but instead they left. Days later, Garcia would pull his car in front of Adleson’s vehicle in the middle of the road and confront the couple.
DeCoste contends Adelson used that anger to his advantage turning into a negotiation to leave Magbanua if Garcia killed Markel.
“He confronted Charles. That confrontation turned into a negotiation between him and Charles Adelson,” DeCoste said, noting that after the murder Garcia and Magbanua got back together. “That guy you just said he wanted to run over, he said ‘hey we’re going to do a job for him.’”
“You think they spoke?” he asked, casting doubt on the notion that Adelson and Garcia negotiated the murder-for-hire.
“She’s been involved the whole time” Rivera said of Magbanua. “It’s the only girl he speaks to. Whatever she says to do, he jumps and does.”
Charlie Adelson was charged with first-degree murder in Markel’s murder last month.
Adelson arrest:
2019 flashback:Dan Markel murder: Luis Rivera points to Sigfredo Garcia as shooter
Rivera’s morning testimony followed questions by DeCoste Thursday in which he alleged that Rivera already had the names and basic information about investigator’s theory of the murder from court records he reviewed when he was arrested months before Magbanua was arrested.
Rivera is a cooperating witness who took a plea agreement in which he received a 19-year sentence to run concurrent with a federal prison sentence in another case for pleading guilty to second-degree murder.
“You had to advance their theory to get time off. You agreed to government facts,” DeCoste said.
Rivera agreed.
But during redirects questioning by Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman, Rivera disputed that notion.
“You were asked if you agreed with government facts. Did you read or have read reports in this case then regurgitate the reports?” Cappleman asked. “It would be helpful if you knew Charlie Adelson did it, but you don’t know that fact right?”
“No ma’am,” Rivera replied, later saying “it hurts” to testify against his childhood friend Garcia and Magbanua.
DeCoste asked Rivera about his statements that a third trip to Tallahassee occurred. At first Rivera said he never said that. Then he recalled saying that to investigators but denying it was him who accompanied Garcia.
He also said he never drove a vehicle during any of the trips, but in June 2014, he received a speeding ticket near Gainesville.
DeCoste noted that although Rivera said the gun used to kill Markel was thrown from a bridge while he and Garcia drove back to Miami after the shooting, he may have had a reason to make sure it was never located.
Rivera was already in federal prison in connection with another case. His possession of a firearm would have been a prosecutable federal charge for interstate commerce.
“I’m not the shooter,” Rivera replied.
When pressed about the lack of phone records from a phone call Garcia allegedly made to Magbanua when the duo spotted Markel’s ex-wife Wendi Adelson — whose family has been implicated in the murder plot — Rivera divulged seemingly new information.
“Would you be surprised if I told you they had throw-away phones,” Rivera asked DeCoste.
“So your testimony now is the Katherine Magbanua had a throw-away phone? You have never made that claim,” DeCoste said. “Isn’t this you evolving your story to make up for the mistakes?
“It’s the same answer I gave since Day One. You’re not going to sit there and confuse me,” Rivera replied. “I’m not wrong. Everything I said is nothing but the truth.”
8:30 a.m. | Luis Rivera returns to the stand
Luis Rivera, a convicted gang member who pleaded guilty to his role in Dan Markel’s murder, will face more intense questioning from Katherine Magbanua’s attorneys this morning.
Chris DeCoste left off Thursday questioning Rivera about inconsistencies in the 11 times he’s spoken in court or to investigators and what motive he may have to wrongfully accuse his client.
Prosecutors say Rivera’s statements are key to proving Magbanua’s involvement in the murder-for-hire plot.
They point to Rivera’s testimony in which he said he heard Magbanua and Dan Markel gunman Sigfredo Garcia discussing the murder while the two men drove from Tallahassee after killing him. He says he was paid in stapled $100 bills delivered by Magbanua the day afterwards.
Rivera told jurors he learned from Garcia they were travelling to Tallahassee to commit a murder after they were about halfway to town from Miami.
But DeCoste has pointed to times he’s said otherwise.
Thursday, he played an Oct. 2016 interview with investigators in which Rivera said he and Garcia discussed the murder at his house before leaving Miami.
DeCoste also contends Rivera already had the names and basic information about investigator’s theory of the murder from court records he reviewed when he was arrested months before Magbanua was arrested.
Rivera is a cooperating witness who took a plea agreement in which he received a 19-year sentence to run concurrent with a federal prison sentence in another case for pleading guilty to second-degree murder.
“You had to advance their theory to get time off. You agreed to government facts,” DeCoste said.
Rivera agreed.
Later, he questioned whether Rivera knew just enough about phone calls in the hours after Markel was murdered to implicate Magbanua.
“You didn’t have to make all this up, all the communication; you just had to pepper in some small details so you could get the deal,” DeCoste said. “That’s why your story doesn’t fit the evidence. Because you made it up to fit the details. Garcia came to you to commit this murder, but he didn’t mention Katie.”
He pressed Rivera, a former Latin Kings gang leader, about how he was hired to participate in the murder and whether he was mad enough about a blunder by Garcia, which allowed prosecutors to zero in on the suspects, to give prosecutors Magbanua.
Rivera earlier testified that cooperating with police was the number one violation in the gang he was in. Doing so meant the crosshairs were on you and your family.
“He wronged you by getting you caught and you were able to justify taking him down and his family,” DeCoste said. “That’s the code you live by.”
“Yes sir,” Rivera replied.
Still, Rivera insisted time and time again insisted he was telling the truth.
“Katie been involved the whole time, dog,” he said. “She’s guilty just like all three of us.”
Contact Karl Etters at ketters@tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter.
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