TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Court TV) — On day one of her murder trial, prosecutors painted Donna Adelson as a manipulative mastermind who not only arranged Dan Markel’s 2014 killing but also tried to bribe fellow inmates to testify falsely in her defense.
In her opening statement, assistant state attorney Sarah Kathryn Dugan told jurors that, according to law enforcement, Adelson urged a fellow inmate she allegedly referred to as her “jail daughter” to provide false testimony on her behalf.
At one point, Dugan told the jury that according to law enforcement, Adelson implored a fellow inmate to provide false testimony on her behalf. Donna apparently referred to the woman as her “jail daughter.”
Donna Adelson is pictured during jury selection at the Leon County Courthouse in Tallahassee on Aug. 21, 2025. (Court TV)
The unnamed jailhouse informant, however, snitched. She told authorities that Adelson had offered multiple women at the jail bribes such as money, housing, veneers, and prescription drugs if they’d be willing to testify under oath that Katherine Magbanua “told them a completely different story about the crime than the one that she would be testifying to.”
MORE | FL v. Donna Adelson: Matriarch Mastermind Murder Trial
Magbanua is one of four people in prison for the murder of Markel, an FSU law professor and former son-in-law of Adelson. Magbanua, who’s set to serve as a witness for the prosecution, is expected to testify that she was the link between the Adelson family and the hitmen who gunned Markel down in his garage.
Dugan displayed a handwritten note on the courtroom monitor that one of the informants brought to law enforcement. She said it was a script, written by Adelson, for a question-and-answer session that was to take place at trial. Adelson was making plans for the informant to serve as a witness and was apparently telling her what to say when called to the stand. Donna wanted the informant to memorize that script and commit perjury by reciting it on the witness stand.
Dugan did not identify the women Adelson allegedly tried to bribe; however, the details are similar to events that transpired during a last-minute hearing back in February. At that impromptu hearing, Adelson testified that two fellow inmates told her they’d spoken to Magbanua, who said she was going to “set up” the Adelsons in exchange for a reduced sentence.
A handwritten script that prosecutors say Donna Adelson gave a fellow inmate whom she tried to bribe into lying for her. (Court TV)
MORE | Donna Adelson says fellow inmates can help prove she was blackmailed
According to Donna, Magbanua also said, “Wait until I come back. I’m going to take care of that family. Wait until they see what they’re going to get, and I’m going to get a reduced sentence.” Donna also told the court at that February hearing that one of the women informed her that Magbanua confided in her that, had her plan worked, she’d be sitting pretty in Hawaii drinking a fancy drink.
At that hearing, the defense made a request which was ultimately denied. They wanted the two women deposed then, rather than at trial, because they feared they would be unreachable once the case got underway.
Whether the jailhouse informants will be called to testify has yet to be seen. It is not yet clear if the “jail daughter” and other women who reported being offered bribes are the same women Adelson was referring to back in February.
