The matriarch of a wealthy South Florida family was scolded in court after she was found guilty of plotting the murder of her former son-in-law.
The jury returned a guilty verdict for Donna Adelson, 75, on charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation in the death of Daniel Markel - a prominent law professor who was locked in a bitter custody battle with her daughter.
Markel, a law professor at Florida State University, was gunned down in 2014. The murder case had riveted the local public's attention for more than a decade amid sordid details of a messy divorce, tensions with wealthy in-laws and custody fights.
When the judge announced that the jury had convicted Adelson of first-degree murder, the defendant exclaimed, 'Oh! My God' and started shaking and crying.
The jury was then taken out of the courtroom and Florida Second Judicial Circuit Judge Stephen Everett gave Adelson a two-minute break to collect herself.
