SERIALously - 91: Donna Adelson Arrested, A California Man Dismembered Wife, A Serial Predator, & A Heinous Robbery Turned Murder in Michigan

Episode Date: November 16, 2023

Season 2 Merch OUT NOW! https://www.shop10tolife.com Annie discusses the latest news and cases in the headlines this week, including major bombshells in the murder of Dan Markel, an arrest of the son of a prominent Hollywood couple for murder, and more disturbing cases. Follow the podcast on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@serialouslypodcast Follow the podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/serialouslypod/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/annieelise All Social Media Links: https://www.flowcode.com/page/annieelise_ SERIALously FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/SERIALouslyAnnieElise/ About Me: https://annieelise.com/ For Business Inquiries: [e-mail] Sources: CNN Law & Crime Audio Credits: GMA Law & Crime

Hey true crime besties, welcome back to an all new episode of Serialistly. Hey everybody, welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialistly with me, Annie Elise. And today is Headline Highlights, our series where we talk about everything going on this week in the true crime world. We talk about old cases, new cases, ongoing cases, updates in cases, everything kind of in between. So welcome back to this week's episode. Now, Monday of this week started off with the one-year mark since the horrific murders of Ethan, Kaylee, Zanna, and Maddie in Moscow, Idaho. And honestly, it's really crazy to think that it has already been a year. Now, we're not going to talk about that case in this episode, but whenever you're listening to this, please just send some good vibes, some positive thoughts, send a prayer, whatever you can so that the victim's family and friends are really just preyed upon and thought about in this time, because I truly cannot imagine what they are still continuing to go through.

today's episode, we're going to talk about some of the recent happenings in the true crime world this week. And today is actually really interesting because I'm touching on a lot of cases that have actually been requested that I haven't fully covered before, and also talking on some cases that didn't have enough information on them yet to where I had been able to cover them in a big, large way. This includes the murder for hire hitman plot in Florida and the trial of Charlie Adelson, and also major, major bombshells that are happening in that case. We also are going to talk about the son of prominent Hollywood parents who was arrested for murder after a torso was found. We're also going to talk about two other cases that I came upon that completely outraged

me to my core. cases that I came upon that completely outraged me to my core. So I want to start by talking about a serial rapist's disgusting lack of remorse. That is like the best way to tee it up and to describe it. Now this story has a trigger warning because of the nature of the case involved, but also because of how triggering this loser serial rapist's comments were at his sentencing, triggering this loser serial rapist's comments were at his sentencing, which just took place this week. In September, Jonathan Fitzgerald Lockett, who is a 42-year-old man and also goes by the name Master Lockett, was convicted on 12 felony charges for sexually assaulting five women over the course of several years. He was originally arrested in November of 2020 and charged with counts of attempted rape, sodomy, and kidnapping, all in the first degree. This was for attacking two women in

separate incidents that same month and in December of 2019. Over time, investigators connected him to numerous other sexual assaults, and he was indicted on over 30 offenses. While the state claimed he sexually assaulted, raped, kidnapped, and tortured over a dozen women, he was only tried on 12 separate offenses. He was found guilty on all counts, including five counts of sodomy, four counts of robbery, and one count each of rape, sexual torture, and theft. Prosecutors said that Jonathan targeted his victims by using escort websites and also social media dating apps, and apparently he promised them money before sexually assaulting them. In one instance, he repeatedly raped a woman who worked as a dancer before she started doing sex work, and she started doing the sex work to keep up with the cost of living. After he raped her, he stole her handgun and then used the gun to rape a different woman.

Now, of course, this absolute piece of shit had the audacity to take the stand during his trial. He testified that he did nothing wrong, that all of the sex he had with each of the women was consensual, and he said that he filmed the encounters to prove it, which, are you freaking kidding me? You proved these assaults to prove that it was consensual? No, no, no, no, no, my friend. Now, on cross-examination, prosecutors asked him if he would stop if a woman asked him to. And he said that he would. And then they showed a video right after that where he raped a woman while she cried

out in pain and said, please, please, please, no, no, no. He was convicted on all counts back in September, and his sentencing was absolutely unbelievable. He told the court that he forgives the women that he raped and that he did nothing wrong, saying, and slammed him, absolutely, saying, For you to say you forgive them? That's a slap in the face. The evidence was overwhelming against you. As these victims came up and testified, one after the other, it was very clear to see that although the work they did was not a noble profession, it was clear to see that they were all very credible. These were easy convictions. The jury believed every last one of them. I hope you will atone for your sickness and your sins. She also reminded him that the state had offered him a 20-year sentence if

he took a plea deal, and repeated her words back then that he should consider a plea deal to avoid trial, since the case was so clearly stacked against him, and that the prosecutor should be fired if the state lost. Which personally, I'm glad that he did not take that deal, because instead, he was now sentenced to 776 years in prison. So the only way he's leaving is in a body bag, which good riddance, you are absolutely disgusting. Going into the next case, this is a case about a man named Sam Haskell and the dismembered torso that I mentioned. In Los Angeles County, California, Samuel Bond Haskell, who is a 35-year-old man and the son of a prominent Hollywood couple, was arrested on suspicion of murder and then later

charged with three counts of murder relating to the deaths of his wife, Maylee Haskell, who is 37 years old, and both of her parents. The investigation began when a dismembered female torso was found in a dumpster at a strip mall in Encino. Officers suspected that it belonged to May Lee. And then following this discovery, the focus turned to Sam Haskell's home in Tarzana, where he had allegedly hired four day laborers to remove heavy trash bags. Some of the workers spoke to the media anonymously and said that Sam had hired them to move those trash bags. They were apparently paid $500, and initially they took three large trash bags from the garage. Sam told them that there were rocks in there, but they felt like it was meat inside of them.

The bags were soft and soggy, each of them weighing in at about 50 pounds. So becoming suspicious, they decided to open the bags and see what was inside. One worker said, I started seeing body parts, a belly button. I was astonished. Of course I felt bad. We had been tricked. Sam told the workers that those weren't real body parts and were actually Halloween props, but the workers gave him his money back and left the trash bags there. Well, later on, Sam was captured on surveillance camera dumping a large trash bag at a dumpster, that same dumpster where the torso was later found. So after finding the torso at the dumpster and seeing the surveillance video, they got a search warrant for Sam's house. And there

they found, and I quote, evidence of a crime scene and some blood evidence. But other than that, police have not elaborated any further. Now, what's even weirder in all of this is that Sam has a TikTok account called Tragic Streets, streets with a Z, which let me just say you're a loser for that name. But on this account, he has posted a slew of bizarre selfie videos of himself, all himself ranting, talking about celebrities like he knows them and kind of just being a lunatic, often even tagging Brad Pitt in them. So epic, it's like an epic vampire move, like pull up in an Escalade outside Paul Wesley's crib. Kids are like, dad, where's mom going? What's mom doing?

And she's like, oh, she's just going to go chill with Brad Pitt. She's going to go chill with Brad Pitt for a while, maybe go to a concert. So interview with the vampire going out with my man, Paul Wesley's wife, ex-wife, ex-fiance, something or other. Shouts out to my man,ul wesley for just keeping it 100 just like keeping his head held high yo real quick what's good like what's up with brad pitt trying to like come for paul wesley's wife like even though they broke up but still like yo on a side note a little bit of controversy right now brad pitt trying to drag my man paul

wesley's wife brad pitt dragging paul wesley's wife ex-wife slash slash ex-fiance here's a sick idea for a writer's workshop a paul wesley thriller and the the premise is Paul has no idea whether or not the shit happening to him is real or not. You want to ask if I want a glass of wine? Like, ew, what? To the left, like, no. But also, like, kind of down. Like, correction, I'm not so much interested in like whole body health like this

is not hey what's up you guys yo real quick i just want to say shout out to the homies at ushi me too holding me down since day one consistently follow them asap yo and shout out to the homie aki too dog just being a chill homie. 100. People in the comments have said things like, what in the Luca Magnata is this? Which is a reference to the Don't Fuck With Cats documentary, which if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. It's an insane story. But basically, Luca is this like creepo guy

who's doing all these selfie videos, ranting and raving, saying things to the cameras. It also, not to say that this guy's an incel, Sam's obviously not, that we know of, but also kind of gave Elliot Rodger vibes with like the constant like documentary style of them talking to the camera as though they had an audience. Just weird, weird stuff. So this case has drawn a lot of attention, mainly because Sam's father is a former A-list talent agent and also an Emmy-winning producer known for his work with celebrities like Dolly

Parton and even George Clooney. Sam also has an old Instagram account where he posted his lavish lifestyle under the hashtag, hashtag rich kids, which I gotta say is just like ultimate cringe. So as the investigation continues, police are still searching for two missing vehicles that are connected to the case, a white Volkswagen SUV and a white 2014 Nissan Pathfinder. Sam's arraignment is currently set for December 8th. Now, as I said, other than the quote on the evidence that was found, police haven't really elaborated further, so they're keeping pretty tight-lipped. But the fact that he's being charged with murder for not only his wife, the parents, all this stuff, it makes me wonder what really happened.

What could the motive have been? Was there trouble in the marriage? I just feel like we're going to get a lot more information in the coming weeks on this case. So more than likely, guys, I will be doing a deep dive on this case in the future, whether that is over here on Serial or if that's over on 10 to Life on YouTube. It's just a very, very fascinating case. Now, shifting gears a little bit into robbery. This next case is about a robber who strangles a woman to death with a shoelace, all inside her own home. Then the robber takes her body on a joyride in her own truck. So, in Roseville, Michigan, a series of chilling events unfolded involving 20-year-old Stephen Lee Freeman. On October 27, 2022, what began as what seemed like a minor incident, a traffic crash involving a blue pickup truck, quickly took a turn when the driver, later identified as Stephen, fled the scene.

About 30 minutes after the crash, a horrifying discovery was made. Investigators opened the trunk tailgate and they saw what looked like a comforter in the back. They pulled back the blanket and the first thing they saw was a human leg. The body was later identified as 62-year-old Gabrielle Seitz. Initially, Stephen was charged with concealing the death of an individual and receiving and concealing a stolen motor vehicle. However, recently, more charges have been filed against Stephen, and the details are absolutely heinous. Gabrielle and Stephen didn't even know each other,

and prosecutors believe that Stephen broke into Gabrielle's home through a window while she was gone. When she later got back home, they think that there was an altercation, that she was killed, and then Stephen drove off with her truck and her body inside of it, likely trying to dump her body. Then Stephen was involved in a fender bender and fled. When Gabrielle was discovered, she had a shoelace around her neck and showed clear signs of strangulation. There hasn't been any information released about the sexual assault other than prosecutors saying it did take place. And this case is absolutely disgusting, and Gabrielle's family has absolutely, of course, been devastated and, frankly, horrified

after what has happened to her, which how could they not be? This is the kind of case that you hear about and you think, like, what the fuck? What the fuck is wrong with people? Why are they so sick? What has absolutely happened in the world? Why have things gone so sideways? It's so unbelievably senseless, cruel, and just sickening. Now, Stephen's attorney has said that he struggles with a drug addiction, which could make sense for maybe the robbery part, but then strangling a 62-year-old innocent woman with a shoelace, raping her, and then taking a joyride in her truck with her body inside the truck bed. It's just absolutely heinous, callous, disgusting. And unfortunately, there are so many stories that are similar to this that I came across when researching. Unfortunately, not all of them had enough information for me to cover fully,

but the amount of sick and twisted people in the world cannot be stressed enough, guys. Unfortunately, you can't protect yourself from everything, but it is a reminder to manage things that you can control to keep yourself safe and your family safe, whether it's getting an alarm system, surveillance cameras, carrying pepper spray, things like that. So while we're waiting on more information to come out of that case, let's talk about Donna Adelson. So recently, the trial for Dan Markell's murder has been all over the media. I haven't covered this case, but it is a pretty crazy case, and there have been some twists and turns over the years. And now, a major bombshell has been dropped this week. So here's the backstory. In July of 2014, in Tallahassee, Florida, renowned criminal law professor Dan Markle, a respected figure at Florida State University,

was murdered, shot in the head, in his garage. A neighbor had heard loud bangs and called the police, who quickly responded to Dan's home. Police found him critically injured, but there wasn't any sign of robbery or burglary. Dan was rushed to the hospital, but unfortunately later died from his injuries. Police believed that this was a targeted homicide, but they didn't know why. Anyone in Dan's neighborhood between at the time he was killed was urged to come forward, and Dan's death was not only a loss to his family, but also a shock to his students and colleagues. And again, the biggest question was remaining, who would want to hurt Dan? So as police started to investigate, they quickly

realized that at the time of his death, Dan was involved in a very nasty divorce and custody battle with his wife. His wife's name is Wendy Adelson, and she was also an FSU law professor at the time. So fast forward to now. People have been charged and convicted with conspiracy to kill Dan. Prosecutors believe that Dan's murder was the result of a murder-for- hire plot involving several people, including Charlie Adelson, which is Wendy's brother, and Wendy, remember, is the wife, Catherine Magbana, who was his girlfriend at the time, and then carried out by two hitmen that Catherine apparently knew. The hitmen's names are Luis Rivera and Sigfredo Garcia. So Catherine,

Luis, and Sigfredo have already been convicted for their role in Dan's murder. However, Charlie, a wealthy Florida dentist, just went to trial. Charlie's trial was broadcasted and got a lot of media attention. During the trial, so much damning evidence came out, and not only that, but it became apparent that this murder plot was way bigger than just the three people already serving time in prison and Charlie. And I mean bigger by none other than Charlie and Wendy's mother, Donna Adelson, and possibly even Wendy. In Charlie's trial, multiple text messages and phone calls were played after investigators had wiretapped Charlie's phones. And I wouldn't want to talk to her like that. I wouldn't want to talk to her at all. And I'm not going to lie, especially because, especially because I know who it is.

So let me call someone and take care of it now, okay? Take your time. All right. There were multiple instances, just like the one that I played, where it blatantly is obvious that Donna and Charlie were talking in some sort of type of code, but essentially talking about things that made no sense other than a plot to kill Dan and how they attempted to cover their tracks in the aftermath. Charlie was ultimately convicted on all charges, murder, conspiracy, and solicitation.

After the verdict, Assistant State Attorney Georgia Kappelman said that the investigation into Dan's death is ongoing, and she didn't comment any further on whether any other members of the Adelson family could possibly face charges in the future. Well, that came sooner than later on Tuesday, when news broke that Donna, the mother, was arrested on Monday night at an airport, allegedly trying to flee the country. So Donna, who is 73 years old and the matriarch of her very wealthy family, was at a Miami International Airport with her husband Harvey. She was about to board a one-way flight to Vietnam, a country without an extradition treaty back to the U.S. And that is when she was arrested.

Donna Adelson was arrested right here at Miami International Airport on the jetway as she was getting ready to board a one-way flight to Vietnam. That's a country without extradition to the United States. Now she's in custody in Miami, waiting to be transferred to Tallahassee. States. Now she's in custody in Miami, waiting to be transferred to Tallahassee. Nearly a decade after a prominent FSU law professor was shot and killed in a murder-for-hire plot, this morning, a shocking new development. Ma'am, you were arrested on a warrant from Leon County, Florida. Dan Markell's former mother-in-law, Donna Adelson, now facing murder charges. The 73-year-old

arrested at Miami International Airport Monday night after attempting to board a one-way flight to Vietnam. She was apprehended on the jetway getting on that plane. She had literally checked in and was walking into the plane. 41-year-old Markel was gunned down in the driveway of his Tallahassee home in 2014 while in a bitter custody battle with his ex-wife, Wendy Adelson, who wanted to relocate their two boys to South Florida to be closer to her family. But Markell refused. That's why prosecutors say the Adelson family took matters into their own hands. So who did appear have motive to want Dan Markell dead? His own family. Just last week, Wendy's brother, Charles

Adelson, was convicted for Markell's murder. The Florida dentist also found guilty of soliciting and conspiring with two hitmen to carry it out. Now prosecutors say their mother, Donna, helped arrange that murder plot too. In this police surveillance video, an undercover FBI agent confronts Adelson and demands more money after the murder. Investigators say she later made this call to her son. According to the probable cause affidavit obtained by ABC News, Donna spoke to Charles in multiple jail calls over the past week where she told him she was

getting things in order, creating trust and making sure her grandchildren are taken care of. She even discussed plans for suicide or fleeing to a non-extradition country. Soon after, prosecutors claimed she booked that one-way flight to Vietnam with the layover in Dubai. When we found that she was leaving the country, extradition would have been an issue. And that was when the decision was made that we needed to kind of expedite. Adelson appearing before a Miami judge Tuesday morning, being held without bond. The Markell family not commenting on her arrest, but telling ABC News in September how relieved they were after Charles was arrested. Because it's taken so long.

We want the people that are involved to pay the price. wrong want the people that are involved to pay the price both donna and her daughter wendy markel's ex have previously denied any involvement in the crime wendy has never been charged guys all right victor thank you for your reporting so this is pretty egregious and just flat out moronic if you ask me but you know we love when criminals are this stupid because why on earth would Donna think that she could just talk to Charlie on a recorded jail call, tell him that she was getting her affairs in order, thinking of suicide, or possibly going to a non-extradition country after Charlie just went through a trial where Donna was implicated in many ways. And not to

mention, was convicted because of how strong the evidence was. Literally recorded phone calls between Charlie and his mother of wiretaps from back then. And then she thinks that she still isn't being monitored in general? Or ignores the fact that the beginning of jail calls are always recorded and it says verbatim that all conversations are recorded and reviewed by jail staff. It's just beyond me. Now, I said it before, I love it when criminals are this stupid and I don't want to give them a playbook for how to be smart, but like, honestly, I feel like that could probably be a, you know, a New York Times bestseller, like crimes for dummies or not how to

get away with murder, but you get what I'm saying? Like, don't put it in your Google history. Don't bring your phone to a crime scene. Don't get a big life insurance policy two days before you kill your spouse. Like, all these stupid things that people do and think, like, they're not going to get caught. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to make the math math in those situations. So people online are speculating that Wendy may now be implicated, and there has always been a suspicion around her that she knew more. She testified in Charlie's trial and the trials of Catherine and the two hitmen, and there were times on the stand where, at least in my opinion, she was definitely dodging the truth,

and honestly, not doing that bad of a job since, after all, she's a lawyer. Some of the evidence that suggests Wendy knew what was happening is the fact that she drove by Dan's house right after the murder took place, when she had absolutely no reason to even be in the area. And then other phone calls and communications that were done with her mom and brother, which happened right before the murder took place. Now, again, that's just the Cliff Notes version of what happened so far in this case, and there is so, so, so, so much more evidence and information that I could squeeze into this episode.

But before I do all of that, I do want to know if this is a case that you guys are interested in. So leave a comment on Spotify or even do a quick review on Apple and leave that in the review section if this is a case that you're interested in and want to hear more about. I actually also will put a poll on Spotify and you can vote on that and tell me if this is a case that you're interested in and want to hear more about. I actually also will put a poll on Spotify and you can vote on that and tell me if this is one that you want me to do a deep dive on. Because like I said, there's a lot of evidence, a lot of recordings. I mean, we could be talking about this for a while. And I feel like all cases where it has like family, wealth, hitman, murder for hire plots, they're really fascinating. Because to me, it's like you

want to get into that person's mind, into into their psyche figure out what the heck is going on so that is it for this week's episode of headline highlights i hope you enjoyed the coverage of all the cases today don't forget leave your feedback below in the comments over on spotify or in the review section and other than that i will see you bright and early monday morning with a brand new true crime case. And spoiler alert, if you are hearing this Thursday morning, season two merch has officially launched. If we're sold out already, I apologize. We will try to get more on there, but we did very, very limited quantities this time around. We did some holiday giftables, some new merch,

some make it make sense, math ain't math and all of the things. So you can find all of that at shop10tolife.com, and I will also put it in the show notes below. All right, thanks so much for tuning in, guys, and I will talk with you again very, very soon. Stay safe. Bye. Thank you.