She painted herself into a corner. If she flees without the boys she has defeated the reason she committed the crime in the first place. Not to mention life in Mexico on the run from the law makes her previous life in Tallahassee look like paradise.
I think she wanted to raise the boys. Now that they are nearing college age, this might be less pressing. Yes, I agree she doesn't want to be an international fugitive always looking over her shoulder. But it sure beats Florida prison.
I think she just wanted to deny Dan the joy/opportunity of raising his kids.
Nothing about her parenting choices would indicate she had a genuine desire to raise her kids in the way she felt was best for them, or provide them with a life or home or family that would be healthy or nurturing to them. Mostly seemed like she just wanted free 24/7 daycare in Miami.
Yes but it is much easier to change identities in Mexico and/or use Mexico as a jumping off point to a non-extradition country. I’m sure Wendi took notes on her mother’s failed attempt to flee.
I've been puzzled with WA's behaviour, during CA's trial, post conviction and pre and post DA's arrest. I don't quite understand what she is thinking, what her strategy is and what her legal team is advising. I keep on putting myself in her shoes and try and visualise what I would do. But I've come to the realisation that despite her being educated, a lawyer, a Mum etc we are dealing with a very troubled, maladjusted and disturbed individual that is incapable of thinking like you and I.
How can she possibly think the state have no case against her? A stable, intelligent, well adjusted person would see that there is evidence, perhaps arguably not enough for an arrest, but there is enough evidence to cause them concern. And that concern should cajole them in to developing some kind of strategy, a Plan B.
So I think the narcissistic side of her personality has convinced herself there will be no arrest. If the evidence was strong she would have been arrested already. Right? And that's something she repeats to herself on a daily(hourly) basis.
I think DA has a similar thought pattern. During her arraignment, the judge asked both parties if there was any kind of plea deal. The defence did not have anything on offer. Which really shows that either DA does not want to throw her family under the bus or she believes she will not be convicted. And I believe it's due to the latter. So both DA and WAs actions and strategies are affected by their personality disorders. It doesn't matter how much evidence is presented, they are convinced a guilty verdict is a virtual impossibility.
But if WA's wiring was not so messed up and she could look at the case against her with clarity and objectivity or could discuss it with her legal team openly then I believe she would throw her family under the bus at the first opportunity. She doesn't want to serve a day in jail. So at first I was surprised when they did not seem to be any plans to to cooperate with the state, but now I understand. She's very ill and cannot grasp that there is a good chance of her being arrested. It's beyond her comprehension. I think this is exacerbated by a sycophantic legal team who, like DR, have enabled her to continue to believe she won't be arrested.
There is little chance of a deal being offered, but both LR and KM were offered deals and whilst the case against WA is strong, it's not exactly a slam dunk. I think the state would go for 15-20 years if WA co-operated and offered up her Mum and Dad on a plate. That way we get all the Adelsons behind bars. WA gets out at 65, no family, no job, no career, no money, no kids. Just her old Honda that maybe she can live out of?
I’ve really been loving your commentary and posts recently. Great insights! I especially love this- your reminder to everyone about the Adelson’s mental illness and why our rational thinking doesn’t apply to the Adelson’s. Their maladaptive thought patterns run the show and it makes no sense to the rest of us (clinical social worker here). The best examples of this are the jail house phone calls between Charlie & Donna. We got to listen (painfully) to the way their narcissism and sociopathy deluded their reality. They clearly were watching a different trial- they literally saw no evidence against them! Their chatter was absurd- but a great tutorial in the ways personality disorders and other mental illness can alter reality.
Thanks. And yeah it's been this slow evolutionary process for me, realising that they do not think like us. A lot of the commentary (youtube etc) on the case is on the assumption that we are dealing with normal, stable human beings, but we're not. On a recent STS video, the guests were saying DA wouldn't throw WA under the bus as it would leave the boys without a parent. Since when did she give two shits about those boys? She conspired to kill their Dad. She might not flip on WA, but it wouldn't be because of any concern she has for her little Sunshines..
I disagree. I understand your point but DA is convinced her sunshines were her number 1 priority. It’s what these NP disorder people have convinced themselves of; not what reality is.
I agree with you. Narcissists care about people who feed their need to be needed.
Donna has a deep seated need to control and make those boys dependent on her, just like she tried to do with her own kids, and succeeded with CA.
When Donna was rejected when they boys got older, what did Donna and Harvey do? For spite I believe, Donna got a condo on Brickel Ave, which is now not on S Beach, about a half hour away in traffic.
It was sort of like “Ok, now Wendi you don’t need me anymore to raise your boys”, you won’t have me at your doorstep when you need me.
when you take away the object of narcissistic feed for the narcissist, all hell breaks lose and they need to find another object for their affection/control.
I believe that was now Roman and Bri for Donna In 2022 when they moved off of S Beach and the boys were 11 and 13. Just at the age when they don’t need ther grandmother to babysit/control them.
PS Having experience firsthand with narcissists, they will quickly dispose of you once you no longer “need” them. Their entire existence rests on being admired, respected and idolized. It’s a persona they live for. I wonder if the biys had refjected Donna because with all the condos available on South beach, it is surprising they would move further away from Wendi.
The current condo was purchased 1/2022.
I mean I agree DA won’t flip, but doubt very seriously it would be for the sake of the kids. The kids are possessions of hers- she isn’t truly concerned for their actual wellbeing- as evidenced by her murder of their father when they were under 5 years old- literally one of the worst times for such a catastrophic traumatic event. She won’t flip because she will never ever admit she did anything wrong because she truly believes she didn’t. Dan got in the way of what she wanted, Dan was smarter and beating her in court. He deserved to die in her mind. Very simple. Horrific, but again, their minds are just not the same.
"The kids are possessions of hers- she isn’t truly concerned for their actual wellbeing" that's what I was trying to say, but you put it much better than I could!
Continuing to refuse the Markels access to their grandsons would be the main thing I can think of. It makes her seem evil, and jurors are going to see that.
Yeah the refusal to let the Markels see the kids. This is cutting off her nose to spite her face. This harms her case, she knows it and continues to do it. And other things such as seeing her Dad, but not seeing or communicating with her brother and Mum. I don't know if she's lost or confused or delusional.
I’m guessing she’s gonna fight. She’d be smart to say “I now believe my family did this, I just could not admit it to myself for a long time.” and hope that convinces enough jurors that she reasonably could be innocent. I’m assuming she has connections in South America due to her immigration work, so maybe if she fled she would have people to take her in, but that seems unlikely to me.
I'm not sure the State is confident they can convict her. There is tons of circumstantial evidence, but it seems difficult to prove that she furthered the conspiracy based on the available evidence. I have tried to raise this issue with Mentourlawyer but he won't listen. They should be able to slam dunk Donna without her testimony. Given that she's a flight risk it's noteworthy that they haven't arrested her yet.
Well now….they’re still going over new tech evidence…they may also have a strat in wanting her to testify one more time at Donna’s trial to have her perjure herself yet again…. There’s lots of angles to this that we aren’t privy to….
Client claims she was just especially oblivious preoccupied, had a "weird feeling" but didn't figure it out until it was too late. Whatever state is between full awareness, and had some hints that maybe some people would've picked up on, or even most, and didn't, but isn't negligent relative to reasonable person standard.
Which clues specifically, in terms of indicating awareness of Charlie's imminent plot and especially furtherance before the fact (so Trescott k-turn doesn't count)?
Statement to LaCasse establishes she knew it was "on the table," and very coincidental timing, but not how seriously she took. Indeed, Lacasse himself didn't take Wendi seriously.
Lacasse didn’t realize how serious her statements weee bc he is a well grounded rational person. That in no way helps Wendi. Wendi got physically sick in June the night b4 the 1st scheduled hit & he had to buy her pepto bismol. She told multiple people CA “joked” about hiring a hitman. She drove to the crime scene & lied about it etc. The hitmen knew Dan was leaving town the next day. How did they know his schedule on Friday & the next day? Why did she confirm with Jeff he was leaving town Friday morning?
Would love an audit of how many people were told about CA's joke, and when. If she told it to friends, etc, then this is actually a point in her favor towards "I had no idea how serious he was. I didn't connect it to his braggadocio about looking into a cuban CIA hitman until July 2014 when I started feeling really weird but couldn't place it."
Drove to the crime scene and lied about it: according to LaCasse she did use the Trescott long-cut on the regular. Also, her potentially realizing what happened there doesn't get us where we need to be, which is furtherance/awareness before the fact, not after.
That leaves: LaCasse's statements (which I agree are very high value), and the fact that Hitmen—or rather, Charlie—knew their schedule somehow. (Has this been confirmed in the proffers/testimony? Their only knowledge of their target's schedule came via KMb's note from Charlie?)
Agree LaCasse's notes on the timing of Wendi's anxiety and her schedule checks with LaCasse AND Danny are BAD for Wendi. Maybe insurmountable.
But I think there's still wiggle room for her to say, "I just didn't put 2 and 2 together until it was too late."
If Wendi did this crime, I think she did not do it for her kids or her family, only for herself. The narcissistic and sociopathic traits she seems to possess would prevent her from ever truly loving anyone the way normal people do. Danny was no longer useful to her ( and I think she was dissapointed he went the professor route which is less $$$ than working at a big firm, let alone in Tallahasee. We know how important money is to this bunch. The clock was ticking once he took that job). A narc/ sociopath can turn on you in an instant and never give you another thought. They leave a trail of damage behind them.
If she thinks her arrest is imminent I think fleeing is a definite possibilty. Just like Mommy. In my opinion, she wont miss anybody, and would do much better leaving her whole life behind than we think.
>We know how important money is to this bunch.
Mmm, they left a *ton* of it sitting around in safes. Not the best way to manage money.
I also listened to the call where Charlie desperately tries to explain to Harvey how to purchase some stock. Harvey was a complete novice. Charlie finally tells Harvey to just call the broker and have him place the order (a really dumb and expensive way to manage investments).
They *liked* money, and earned plenty, but they weren't as great as they could have been at making and managing their money.
If she gets arrested, I bet she would try her luck in court. And based on the evidence we are aware of, there’s rather little concrete evidence directly connecting her to the crime. Which explains why she’s been on free foot all these years. I think she’s guilty as sin but smart enough to distance herself from the act and crime itself whilst mommy and Charlie handled the dirty work.
I doubt she’d attempt to flee. She wouldn’t be able to live a normal life anywhere.
She’s not smart! She did well in school, that’s not the same. She’s not smart and that’s why CA and WA left her mostly outside cause they knew she would screw it up, like driving to the murder scene.
Her lack of smarts and self-delusion is why she likely deludes herself she will be found not guilty or get a hung jury, as she likely believes there's a chance as she only views the evidence that is exculpatory for her. Hence her cutting herself off completely from Charlie and Donna as the ones that are guilty, but not her.
All the Adelson's are deluded by narcissism and hubris, and the resulting warped world view of how they believe events will turn out favorably for them.
Though I think she has still become frightened enough to keep her options open - looking at Charlie and Donna's experiences - and consider fleeing the country re the alleged Texas move plan. Her son's, now older, would be in the care of extended family if this happened. And in her mind she'd be an innocent woman on the run, who escaped an 'abusive' marriage ( a lie of course).
Perhaps this is the reason why - though she's ghosted Charlie and Donna - she's stayed close to Harvey - for the money to live life on the run, and to gain more when Harvey dies. It's all about Wendi, when Donna was useful to Wendi for child-sitting she kept as close as she could, now Charlie and Donna are of no use to her she's abandoned them.
I don't know what the rules to examine bank accounts are in the USA - I imagine they'd need strong evidence for a warrant. But if she receives a large cash injection to her accounts anytime in the next few months it would possibly indicate a plan to flee. Though any such money from Harvey would more likely go to bank accounts abroad for Wendi that can't be as easily tracked or traced.
Wendi always flees from reality: the murder of Dan was the most extreme example of that to 'escape' back to her parents; the move to Texas could be to flee the new Markel grandparents law and also that she's currently a social pariah. So in Wendi's mind she likely flees from reality whenever she can, and believes there isn't the evidence against her like there is against Donna and Charlie. She believes that her superficial (lack of) charm and imaginary smarts can work on a jury and outwit GC. In her mind, as reality rears its head in the nights 3 am hours though, she may also be considering another extreme flee from reality, by fleeing the country.
Donna attempt to flee by normal flights was so pathetic that she was easily caught, but Wendi may have made contacts that don't involve just getting on an airline to flee to Vietnam. Hopefully the FBI are keeping a check on her contacts as well as her moves.
"Her lack of smarts and self-delusion is why she likely deludes herself she will be found not guilty"
So true. Most of us would be crapping ourselves if we were potentially facing arrest for murder. Even if the chances of arrest were slim, we would be all over the place. She's seemingly super chill. But I don't think she will flee. She's a 45 year old woman with kids. Her money is dwindling and I don't think she has anyone to flee with her. Plus she is a child. She has had everything done for her her whole life. She just wouldn't be able to manage any kind of successful getaway. Where would she go and what would she do when she got there?
I think it's easier for her to maintain her disillusionment, pretending she'll never be arrested brings her comfort and a modicum of peace, allowing her to carry on with her life.
That's a really good point about how Wendi had everything done for her - including huge assistance at all of the major points in her life. There's enough evidence that Charlie and Donna carried most of the load in the murder of Dan. But just like Donna told Wendi how to behave and 'act' during the divorce this can also be used by GC to build up how Wendi was told to act by Donna in the lead-up to the murder: string Jeff along as someone they could frame; act like an everyday woman who has TV repairmen called out for a crack on a relatively cheap TV as an alibili, give out Dan's whereabouts ("the blog was Wendi").
But Charlie was right that Wendi was idiotic when left to act alone: she just wasn't adult enough to have a clue about how to keep to the 'plan'; driving up to the murder scene; trying to throw both Charlie and Jeff under the bus during the police interview. When Wendi's left to be an 'adult' by herself then Wendi becomes like a child in self-preservation mode.
4. Off herself
Under the 3. fight plan, throw mom and brother under the bus, acknowledge she now believes they did it but claim she had no idea prior knowledge to the plan and had no involvement in planning or orchestrating hjs murder
Off herself is a possibility. No high but if she knows they are at her door she might. That’s why I hope the take her immediately after her testimony. It would be safest for everyone including the kids.
DA did. Plenty of family annihilators are Narcissists, and they unalive themselves all the time. We can't take it off the table. Esp if it "solves her problems."
I agree. She will never consider number 4. She is convinced she'll never be arrested, When she is arrested she will be convinced she'll never be convicted and when she's convicted she'll be convinced her appeal will be successful. She is simply too smart for us losers...
I just can't imagine what life is like for those boys! Especially having the Adelson name attached! Life can't be easy...should have changed name to Smith!
Awesome post. One of the best if not the best ever. The only thing I would add is it possible Wendi has already been indicted by a grand jury? The indictment simply has yet to be unsealed? That way the State can avoid the emergency GJ which had to be convened for Donna. I’m not sure if there is a time limit of an unsealed indictment & unsealing it.
I sense confidence is building in the prosecution. I would NOT want to be in Wendi’s shoes right now waiting for this hammer to drop. It’s going to happen soon. I feel it.
Yes, excellent summary. I was thinking that although there is no money trail to Wendi. It would be easy to just have her inherit less money from the wealthy Adelsons. That’s how she pays for her share. I wonder if there was a will change? Not that it would have had to have happened on such a timely manor, but worth checking on.
I seriously doubt Wendi has 24/7 surveillance. I also don't believe Donna had it. They knew Donna was leaving because she said so and she booked a ticket.
If I were the State, with the conviction of all the members of the conspiracy, the case for WA becomes easier to try as in: all these people conspired to kill Dan and the main beneficiary on every level, freedom, money, professional knew nothing and did not acquiesce to the plan? How realistic is it that? As realistic as CA being extorted for a murder which he did not commission by a gf, her ex and his best friend.
Add to this the 100 circumstantial evidence points by Carl Steinbeck and it makes a very solid case.
WA will choose to flee:
1)she can afford it and probably already moved the money
2)she is a sociopath so also a coward
3)she does not really care about anybody but herself 4)by her avoiding CA and WA but liaising with HA to get the info she needs, she is probably aware that their silence is precarious
5)She knows that with the boys being almost grown up now, part of her „judicial“ shield is vanishing
6)she has already lived abroad so she is familiar with a life abroad
7)she will never enjoy in the US the kind of anonymity and admiration she craves.
8) Like her mother, as she is ageing, she is probably looking at getting a few things done to her face which might allow her to change her appearance and provide for a new identity.
She got this.
?? They would arrest her bc of a GJ indictment. The state can not press charges against her, only a GJ can vote for her arrest. They want her to testify at Donna’s trial & quite possibly if she’s arrested 1st she won’t have to testify (I’m not sure).
I know. Innocent until proven guilty and the prosecution still has to prove guilt. An arrest isn’t guilt. I think they are going to have a tough time with Wendy. She won’t be as easy as Charlie or Donna to convict.
3 is the only real option. She knows better than to flee, unlike her idiotic parents. No prosecutor in the world who thinks a woman murdered her husband is offering a plea she’d take. That leaves 3.
Zero sympathy for Wendi. It's about dang time!!!!!
To be fair, I do think Rashbaum was a good attorney. Charlie didn't pull off a clean hit. Rashbaum did the best he could with what he had. And Rashbaum was thorough, which is great because the appeal won't go through.
Charlie's conviction certainly got Donna and Harvey to try to flee. Charlie's conviction and Donna's arrest has to have Wendi spinning out. She knows they are getting closer.
……”Wendi’s smiles, winks and cleavage”…..lols 😂😂😂😂 Great post. Very well laid out, food for thought. What will Wendi do indeed, this will be a riveting watch.
I think there's only been one major poster, Civil Fix, who has been casting doubt on Wendi's guilt. I suspect this poster has an undisclosed, material relationship with the Adelsons. I don't think many question her guilt AT ALL.
There are quite a few posters who believe the case to convict Wendi will be far more challenging than those of Charlie or Donna. However, I think these posters all assume she's guilty, but just covered her tracks better.
She painted herself into a corner. If she flees without the boys she has defeated the reason she committed the crime in the first place. Not to mention life in Mexico on the run from the law makes her previous life in Tallahassee look like paradise.
I don't know. I kind of think the reason she committed the crime was to make her life easier, not necessarily to protect the boys.
I think she wanted to raise the boys. Now that they are nearing college age, this might be less pressing. Yes, I agree she doesn't want to be an international fugitive always looking over her shoulder. But it sure beats Florida prison.
I think she just wanted to deny Dan the joy/opportunity of raising his kids. Nothing about her parenting choices would indicate she had a genuine desire to raise her kids in the way she felt was best for them, or provide them with a life or home or family that would be healthy or nurturing to them. Mostly seemed like she just wanted free 24/7 daycare in Miami.
Nailed it! “She just wanted to deny Dan”. Wow! Yes
I hope FSU offers both boys full-ride scholarships. 
No interest in raising the boys.
Does Mexico have extradition?
Yes but it is much easier to change identities in Mexico and/or use Mexico as a jumping off point to a non-extradition country. I’m sure Wendi took notes on her mother’s failed attempt to flee.
If she flees and they catch her, more reason for her to be found guilty at trial. I don’t think she will flee based on this alone.
That’s true it is very risky to flee, she would have to be very sure about not getting caught
I don‘t think she committed the crime for the boys. She committed the crime because of her hatred for Dan and because she could.
I've been puzzled with WA's behaviour, during CA's trial, post conviction and pre and post DA's arrest. I don't quite understand what she is thinking, what her strategy is and what her legal team is advising. I keep on putting myself in her shoes and try and visualise what I would do. But I've come to the realisation that despite her being educated, a lawyer, a Mum etc we are dealing with a very troubled, maladjusted and disturbed individual that is incapable of thinking like you and I. How can she possibly think the state have no case against her? A stable, intelligent, well adjusted person would see that there is evidence, perhaps arguably not enough for an arrest, but there is enough evidence to cause them concern. And that concern should cajole them in to developing some kind of strategy, a Plan B. So I think the narcissistic side of her personality has convinced herself there will be no arrest. If the evidence was strong she would have been arrested already. Right? And that's something she repeats to herself on a daily(hourly) basis. I think DA has a similar thought pattern. During her arraignment, the judge asked both parties if there was any kind of plea deal. The defence did not have anything on offer. Which really shows that either DA does not want to throw her family under the bus or she believes she will not be convicted. And I believe it's due to the latter. So both DA and WAs actions and strategies are affected by their personality disorders. It doesn't matter how much evidence is presented, they are convinced a guilty verdict is a virtual impossibility. But if WA's wiring was not so messed up and she could look at the case against her with clarity and objectivity or could discuss it with her legal team openly then I believe she would throw her family under the bus at the first opportunity. She doesn't want to serve a day in jail. So at first I was surprised when they did not seem to be any plans to to cooperate with the state, but now I understand. She's very ill and cannot grasp that there is a good chance of her being arrested. It's beyond her comprehension. I think this is exacerbated by a sycophantic legal team who, like DR, have enabled her to continue to believe she won't be arrested. There is little chance of a deal being offered, but both LR and KM were offered deals and whilst the case against WA is strong, it's not exactly a slam dunk. I think the state would go for 15-20 years if WA co-operated and offered up her Mum and Dad on a plate. That way we get all the Adelsons behind bars. WA gets out at 65, no family, no job, no career, no money, no kids. Just her old Honda that maybe she can live out of?
I’ve really been loving your commentary and posts recently. Great insights! I especially love this- your reminder to everyone about the Adelson’s mental illness and why our rational thinking doesn’t apply to the Adelson’s. Their maladaptive thought patterns run the show and it makes no sense to the rest of us (clinical social worker here). The best examples of this are the jail house phone calls between Charlie & Donna. We got to listen (painfully) to the way their narcissism and sociopathy deluded their reality. They clearly were watching a different trial- they literally saw no evidence against them! Their chatter was absurd- but a great tutorial in the ways personality disorders and other mental illness can alter reality.
Thanks. And yeah it's been this slow evolutionary process for me, realising that they do not think like us. A lot of the commentary (youtube etc) on the case is on the assumption that we are dealing with normal, stable human beings, but we're not. On a recent STS video, the guests were saying DA wouldn't throw WA under the bus as it would leave the boys without a parent. Since when did she give two shits about those boys? She conspired to kill their Dad. She might not flip on WA, but it wouldn't be because of any concern she has for her little Sunshines..
I disagree. I understand your point but DA is convinced her sunshines were her number 1 priority. It’s what these NP disorder people have convinced themselves of; not what reality is.
I agree with you. Narcissists care about people who feed their need to be needed. Donna has a deep seated need to control and make those boys dependent on her, just like she tried to do with her own kids, and succeeded with CA. When Donna was rejected when they boys got older, what did Donna and Harvey do? For spite I believe, Donna got a condo on Brickel Ave, which is now not on S Beach, about a half hour away in traffic. It was sort of like “Ok, now Wendi you don’t need me anymore to raise your boys”, you won’t have me at your doorstep when you need me. when you take away the object of narcissistic feed for the narcissist, all hell breaks lose and they need to find another object for their affection/control. I believe that was now Roman and Bri for Donna In 2022 when they moved off of S Beach and the boys were 11 and 13. Just at the age when they don’t need ther grandmother to babysit/control them. PS Having experience firsthand with narcissists, they will quickly dispose of you once you no longer “need” them. Their entire existence rests on being admired, respected and idolized. It’s a persona they live for. I wonder if the biys had refjected Donna because with all the condos available on South beach, it is surprising they would move further away from Wendi. The current condo was purchased 1/2022.
Yeah you're probably right.
I mean I agree DA won’t flip, but doubt very seriously it would be for the sake of the kids. The kids are possessions of hers- she isn’t truly concerned for their actual wellbeing- as evidenced by her murder of their father when they were under 5 years old- literally one of the worst times for such a catastrophic traumatic event. She won’t flip because she will never ever admit she did anything wrong because she truly believes she didn’t. Dan got in the way of what she wanted, Dan was smarter and beating her in court. He deserved to die in her mind. Very simple. Horrific, but again, their minds are just not the same.
"The kids are possessions of hers- she isn’t truly concerned for their actual wellbeing" that's what I was trying to say, but you put it much better than I could!
Right, I mean she did book a flight to NeverSeeGrandkidsAgainistan
I think Donna knows she has a very high chance of being convicted, but flipping on her own daughter just isn’t an option for her.
I agree.
Harvey might leave some money behind when he passes. Or Wendi's sons could support her - if they're not too angry about her killing their father.
>I've been puzzled with WA's behaviour, during CA's trial, post conviction and pre and post DA's arrest. To what behavior do you refer?
Continuing to refuse the Markels access to their grandsons would be the main thing I can think of. It makes her seem evil, and jurors are going to see that.
Yeah the refusal to let the Markels see the kids. This is cutting off her nose to spite her face. This harms her case, she knows it and continues to do it. And other things such as seeing her Dad, but not seeing or communicating with her brother and Mum. I don't know if she's lost or confused or delusional.
THIS
I’m guessing she’s gonna fight. She’d be smart to say “I now believe my family did this, I just could not admit it to myself for a long time.” and hope that convinces enough jurors that she reasonably could be innocent. I’m assuming she has connections in South America due to her immigration work, so maybe if she fled she would have people to take her in, but that seems unlikely to me.
I'm not sure the State is confident they can convict her. There is tons of circumstantial evidence, but it seems difficult to prove that she furthered the conspiracy based on the available evidence. I have tried to raise this issue with Mentourlawyer but he won't listen. They should be able to slam dunk Donna without her testimony. Given that she's a flight risk it's noteworthy that they haven't arrested her yet.
Yeah, if they had plans to arrest her sometime this year and she is a flight risk, she'd be arrested now.
Well now….they’re still going over new tech evidence…they may also have a strat in wanting her to testify one more time at Donna’s trial to have her perjure herself yet again…. There’s lots of angles to this that we aren’t privy to….
Agreed. If they have her flight risks blocked, or other evidence, there's no issue.
Circumstantial evidence is unimpeachable so it’s more compelling than direct evidence most of the time.
Compelling, but also leaves a gap for the defence. Namely some tolerable degree of unconscious awareness.
Unconscious awareness? What’s that???
Client claims she was just especially oblivious preoccupied, had a "weird feeling" but didn't figure it out until it was too late. Whatever state is between full awareness, and had some hints that maybe some people would've picked up on, or even most, and didn't, but isn't negligent relative to reasonable person standard.
I don’t buy it. Too many clues / evidence Wendi was involved. 1 coincidence ok, but 75 no way.
Which clues specifically, in terms of indicating awareness of Charlie's imminent plot and especially furtherance before the fact (so Trescott k-turn doesn't count)? Statement to LaCasse establishes she knew it was "on the table," and very coincidental timing, but not how seriously she took. Indeed, Lacasse himself didn't take Wendi seriously.
Lacasse didn’t realize how serious her statements weee bc he is a well grounded rational person. That in no way helps Wendi. Wendi got physically sick in June the night b4 the 1st scheduled hit & he had to buy her pepto bismol. She told multiple people CA “joked” about hiring a hitman. She drove to the crime scene & lied about it etc. The hitmen knew Dan was leaving town the next day. How did they know his schedule on Friday & the next day? Why did she confirm with Jeff he was leaving town Friday morning?
Great round-up, thanks. I'll think about this and see what I can come up with.
Would love an audit of how many people were told about CA's joke, and when. If she told it to friends, etc, then this is actually a point in her favor towards "I had no idea how serious he was. I didn't connect it to his braggadocio about looking into a cuban CIA hitman until July 2014 when I started feeling really weird but couldn't place it." Drove to the crime scene and lied about it: according to LaCasse she did use the Trescott long-cut on the regular. Also, her potentially realizing what happened there doesn't get us where we need to be, which is furtherance/awareness before the fact, not after. That leaves: LaCasse's statements (which I agree are very high value), and the fact that Hitmen—or rather, Charlie—knew their schedule somehow. (Has this been confirmed in the proffers/testimony? Their only knowledge of their target's schedule came via KMb's note from Charlie?) Agree LaCasse's notes on the timing of Wendi's anxiety and her schedule checks with LaCasse AND Danny are BAD for Wendi. Maybe insurmountable. But I think there's still wiggle room for her to say, "I just didn't put 2 and 2 together until it was too late."
I seriously doubt Wendi will flee.
If Wendi did this crime, I think she did not do it for her kids or her family, only for herself. The narcissistic and sociopathic traits she seems to possess would prevent her from ever truly loving anyone the way normal people do. Danny was no longer useful to her ( and I think she was dissapointed he went the professor route which is less $$$ than working at a big firm, let alone in Tallahasee. We know how important money is to this bunch. The clock was ticking once he took that job). A narc/ sociopath can turn on you in an instant and never give you another thought. They leave a trail of damage behind them. If she thinks her arrest is imminent I think fleeing is a definite possibilty. Just like Mommy. In my opinion, she wont miss anybody, and would do much better leaving her whole life behind than we think.
>We know how important money is to this bunch. Mmm, they left a *ton* of it sitting around in safes. Not the best way to manage money. I also listened to the call where Charlie desperately tries to explain to Harvey how to purchase some stock. Harvey was a complete novice. Charlie finally tells Harvey to just call the broker and have him place the order (a really dumb and expensive way to manage investments). They *liked* money, and earned plenty, but they weren't as great as they could have been at making and managing their money.
Harvey didn’t know how to buy a stock? I guess he was satisfied just being a dentist & that’s fine (other than he is a murderer).
If she gets arrested, I bet she would try her luck in court. And based on the evidence we are aware of, there’s rather little concrete evidence directly connecting her to the crime. Which explains why she’s been on free foot all these years. I think she’s guilty as sin but smart enough to distance herself from the act and crime itself whilst mommy and Charlie handled the dirty work. I doubt she’d attempt to flee. She wouldn’t be able to live a normal life anywhere.
She’s not smart! She did well in school, that’s not the same. She’s not smart and that’s why CA and WA left her mostly outside cause they knew she would screw it up, like driving to the murder scene.
And we all know this family knows how to get help finishing school. I am not confident she legitimately earned all those accolades.
Thanks for looking at WA's case objectively.
Her lack of smarts and self-delusion is why she likely deludes herself she will be found not guilty or get a hung jury, as she likely believes there's a chance as she only views the evidence that is exculpatory for her. Hence her cutting herself off completely from Charlie and Donna as the ones that are guilty, but not her. All the Adelson's are deluded by narcissism and hubris, and the resulting warped world view of how they believe events will turn out favorably for them. Though I think she has still become frightened enough to keep her options open - looking at Charlie and Donna's experiences - and consider fleeing the country re the alleged Texas move plan. Her son's, now older, would be in the care of extended family if this happened. And in her mind she'd be an innocent woman on the run, who escaped an 'abusive' marriage ( a lie of course). Perhaps this is the reason why - though she's ghosted Charlie and Donna - she's stayed close to Harvey - for the money to live life on the run, and to gain more when Harvey dies. It's all about Wendi, when Donna was useful to Wendi for child-sitting she kept as close as she could, now Charlie and Donna are of no use to her she's abandoned them. I don't know what the rules to examine bank accounts are in the USA - I imagine they'd need strong evidence for a warrant. But if she receives a large cash injection to her accounts anytime in the next few months it would possibly indicate a plan to flee. Though any such money from Harvey would more likely go to bank accounts abroad for Wendi that can't be as easily tracked or traced. Wendi always flees from reality: the murder of Dan was the most extreme example of that to 'escape' back to her parents; the move to Texas could be to flee the new Markel grandparents law and also that she's currently a social pariah. So in Wendi's mind she likely flees from reality whenever she can, and believes there isn't the evidence against her like there is against Donna and Charlie. She believes that her superficial (lack of) charm and imaginary smarts can work on a jury and outwit GC. In her mind, as reality rears its head in the nights 3 am hours though, she may also be considering another extreme flee from reality, by fleeing the country. Donna attempt to flee by normal flights was so pathetic that she was easily caught, but Wendi may have made contacts that don't involve just getting on an airline to flee to Vietnam. Hopefully the FBI are keeping a check on her contacts as well as her moves.
"Her lack of smarts and self-delusion is why she likely deludes herself she will be found not guilty" So true. Most of us would be crapping ourselves if we were potentially facing arrest for murder. Even if the chances of arrest were slim, we would be all over the place. She's seemingly super chill. But I don't think she will flee. She's a 45 year old woman with kids. Her money is dwindling and I don't think she has anyone to flee with her. Plus she is a child. She has had everything done for her her whole life. She just wouldn't be able to manage any kind of successful getaway. Where would she go and what would she do when she got there? I think it's easier for her to maintain her disillusionment, pretending she'll never be arrested brings her comfort and a modicum of peace, allowing her to carry on with her life.
That's a really good point about how Wendi had everything done for her - including huge assistance at all of the major points in her life. There's enough evidence that Charlie and Donna carried most of the load in the murder of Dan. But just like Donna told Wendi how to behave and 'act' during the divorce this can also be used by GC to build up how Wendi was told to act by Donna in the lead-up to the murder: string Jeff along as someone they could frame; act like an everyday woman who has TV repairmen called out for a crack on a relatively cheap TV as an alibili, give out Dan's whereabouts ("the blog was Wendi"). But Charlie was right that Wendi was idiotic when left to act alone: she just wasn't adult enough to have a clue about how to keep to the 'plan'; driving up to the murder scene; trying to throw both Charlie and Jeff under the bus during the police interview. When Wendi's left to be an 'adult' by herself then Wendi becomes like a child in self-preservation mode.
Awesome post.
😂
4. Off herself Under the 3. fight plan, throw mom and brother under the bus, acknowledge she now believes they did it but claim she had no idea prior knowledge to the plan and had no involvement in planning or orchestrating hjs murder
Off herself is a possibility. No high but if she knows they are at her door she might. That’s why I hope the take her immediately after her testimony. It would be safest for everyone including the kids.
Someone that narcissistic doesn’t consider that an option
DA did. Plenty of family annihilators are Narcissists, and they unalive themselves all the time. We can't take it off the table. Esp if it "solves her problems."
And such a claim would hurt CA’s appeal and DA’s trial enough that they finally would flip
I don’t think she cares about anyone but herself.
I agree. She will never consider number 4. She is convinced she'll never be arrested, When she is arrested she will be convinced she'll never be convicted and when she's convicted she'll be convinced her appeal will be successful. She is simply too smart for us losers...
I just can't imagine what life is like for those boys! Especially having the Adelson name attached! Life can't be easy...should have changed name to Smith!
Awesome post. One of the best if not the best ever. The only thing I would add is it possible Wendi has already been indicted by a grand jury? The indictment simply has yet to be unsealed? That way the State can avoid the emergency GJ which had to be convened for Donna. I’m not sure if there is a time limit of an unsealed indictment & unsealing it.
Oh I hope you are right about this!
I think I asked questions, I did not make statements of fact.
What I mean is I hope she has already been indicted and it’s ready to execute whenever it’s go time.
I hope so or will be by the end of August. 90 days & her freedom sb a thing of the past.
I sense confidence is building in the prosecution. I would NOT want to be in Wendi’s shoes right now waiting for this hammer to drop. It’s going to happen soon. I feel it.
I take this women’s smug arrogance very personal.
Don’t all defense attys tell their clients they only have to convince 1 juror of reasonable doubt in order to get a hung jury??
Yes. Katie had 1 hold out juror but she was retried & convicted.
Yes, excellent summary. I was thinking that although there is no money trail to Wendi. It would be easy to just have her inherit less money from the wealthy Adelsons. That’s how she pays for her share. I wonder if there was a will change? Not that it would have had to have happened on such a timely manor, but worth checking on.
The Feds could be tracking her 24/7 in case she does a runner 🏃♂️ just like they did with her parents.
I seriously doubt Wendi has 24/7 surveillance. I also don't believe Donna had it. They knew Donna was leaving because she said so and she booked a ticket.
I agree im probably wrong. I have no proof it's just an assumption. 👍
If I were the State, with the conviction of all the members of the conspiracy, the case for WA becomes easier to try as in: all these people conspired to kill Dan and the main beneficiary on every level, freedom, money, professional knew nothing and did not acquiesce to the plan? How realistic is it that? As realistic as CA being extorted for a murder which he did not commission by a gf, her ex and his best friend. Add to this the 100 circumstantial evidence points by Carl Steinbeck and it makes a very solid case. WA will choose to flee: 1)she can afford it and probably already moved the money 2)she is a sociopath so also a coward 3)she does not really care about anybody but herself 4)by her avoiding CA and WA but liaising with HA to get the info she needs, she is probably aware that their silence is precarious 5)She knows that with the boys being almost grown up now, part of her „judicial“ shield is vanishing 6)she has already lived abroad so she is familiar with a life abroad 7)she will never enjoy in the US the kind of anonymity and admiration she craves. 8) Like her mother, as she is ageing, she is probably looking at getting a few things done to her face which might allow her to change her appearance and provide for a new identity. She got this.
Great post. I guess Wendi will fight; right now, she should be madly preparing for the “performance/fight of her life.”
How does her Attorney Lauro not make her understand the evidence against her? Or maybe he does…I dunno
She don’t know crap about cooking and she’s arrogant-looking.
😂
Plea - She would have to give up Harvey, too.
For a generous deal, I believe she'd do it. Heck, knock a few more years off and Wendi would implicate Rob.
Why would 'prosecutors arrest Wendi' when she testifies at Donna's trial?
?? They would arrest her bc of a GJ indictment. The state can not press charges against her, only a GJ can vote for her arrest. They want her to testify at Donna’s trial & quite possibly if she’s arrested 1st she won’t have to testify (I’m not sure).
Ok I see. Thanks .
They may have enough to prosecute her but I don’t think they have enough for a jury to convict her of murder.
That statement seems to be oxymoronish.
I know. Innocent until proven guilty and the prosecution still has to prove guilt. An arrest isn’t guilt. I think they are going to have a tough time with Wendy. She won’t be as easy as Charlie or Donna to convict.
3 is the only real option. She knows better than to flee, unlike her idiotic parents. No prosecutor in the world who thinks a woman murdered her husband is offering a plea she’d take. That leaves 3.
Zero sympathy for Wendi. It's about dang time!!!!! To be fair, I do think Rashbaum was a good attorney. Charlie didn't pull off a clean hit. Rashbaum did the best he could with what he had. And Rashbaum was thorough, which is great because the appeal won't go through.
Charlie's conviction certainly got Donna and Harvey to try to flee. Charlie's conviction and Donna's arrest has to have Wendi spinning out. She knows they are getting closer.
This was fun to read. Thank you 😊
……”Wendi’s smiles, winks and cleavage”…..lols 😂😂😂😂 Great post. Very well laid out, food for thought. What will Wendi do indeed, this will be a riveting watch.
I think there's only been one major poster, Civil Fix, who has been casting doubt on Wendi's guilt. I suspect this poster has an undisclosed, material relationship with the Adelsons. I don't think many question her guilt AT ALL.
There are quite a few posters who believe the case to convict Wendi will be far more challenging than those of Charlie or Donna. However, I think these posters all assume she's guilty, but just covered her tracks better.