RECAP: Donna Adelson Trial: Part 3 Financials, Cell Data & Texts

The last witnesses talk about everyone's financials and we end with cell phone data, GPS, emails and texts leading up to the 1st attempt in June.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What you know alibiers. Welcome to another episode of Pretty
Lies and Alibis. I'm Jigi. Good to have you here.
It's still Tuesday, August twenty sixth, day three of the
Donna Adelson trial. In the books done, we're going to
move on to Mary Hull. She is a financial investigator
with the Department of Financial Services in the Office of

(00:21):
Fiscal Integrity. In this case, she looked at all the
bank records to analyze and detail what was going on
in everybody's accounts. She also looked through iCloud emails and
text messages between all the parties to determine the financial
relationship between them and money and gift transfers, as well
as how the Adelson Institute received or kept cash. She

(00:44):
made graphs with information showing her work, and we're starting
off with DMV records for Rivera. After the murder, he
acquired a two thousand and three Suzuki motorcycle. He bought
that July twenty eighth, twenty fourteen, and then on July
thirty first, he bought a nineteen ninety six Toyota Camery.
Rivera's bank account from Chase from May twenty fourteen to

(01:06):
November of twenty fifteen, his work checks were direct deposited
that was around five to six hundred dollars weekly from
Coastal Masonry. His banking habits changed after the murder. All
of his paychecks would be deposited, but then he would
go and withdraw virtually all of it. He had preset
auto drafts that would come in, but those would bounce

(01:29):
because he didn't have the money in his accounts, which
left him with a lot of overdraft charges. Right after
the murder, he left money in the account with no
overdrafts for about four months. His last big withdrawal before
the murder was on July fifteenth, and the next time
he overdrafted was November one, twenty fourteen. Between April twenty

(01:51):
second and July sixteenth, his average balance in his bank
account was sixty five dollars and thirty cents and he
had twenty one overdraft charges. Three months after the murder,
Between July seventeenth and September thirtieth, his average balance was
two hundred and forty nine dollars and ninety four cents.
There were no overdrafts. This is the timeframe when he

(02:13):
acquired the motorcycle and the car and She said this
is also an indication of another source of cash at
the time three to six months after the murder. Between
October first and December thirty first, his average balance was
one hundred and sixty four dollars in eighty eight cents
with six overdraft penalties for Sigfredo. After the murder, he

(02:34):
purchased a nineteen ninety seven Honda Racer motorcycle on July
twenty sixth, a nineteen eighty four Monte Carlo on August
twenty second, and then the Nissan Maxima on October seventeenth.
She couldn't find a bank account that was before or
shortly after the murder. He had won from July fifteenth
to around July sixteenth of twenty fifteen, he was getting

(02:57):
paychecks at rapid capital funding and around the time of
the murder his employment record with Coastal Masonry was very sporadic.
He would work a few months, leave for a while,
come back, rinse, and repeat. As far as Katie, she
owned a car at the time of the murder, and
it was a Mazda. When reviewing records in the case,
she found that Charlie helped her financially in twenty fourteen

(03:20):
with her car. They bring in a text from November eighteenth,
where Katie says she has to take it back tomorrow
and the parts alone are expensive for both, so I
need a loan. Buddy. Imagine if I took it to
another mechanic. Charlie says, LOL, You'll be fine. I got you.
I just texted Sully my credit card. Katie says, stop

(03:41):
paying for crap on your card. May of twenty fifteen,
they're still discussing her car repairs. Charlie tells her she
needs to have her belt changed and to take the
car to Mazda and then he will take care of
it for her. Katie texts back and says it came
out to one thy, six hundred and twenty dollars in
seventy seven sins, and Katie responds, thanks again, I'll pay

(04:03):
you back. She looked at Charlie's American Express card and
found that payment, and at the end of twenty fifteen,
Katie got a different car. DMV records shows it was
purchased and messages between Charlie and Katie confirm it. Charlie
said he needed to cancel his insurance. Katie said she
would get to it later right now. She has her kids,

(04:23):
and Charlie said he would just pay for it. He
texts her back and said, just spoke to mom. She's
paying the insurance now, just please go this Saturday. And
then Charlie says, just paid it. They'll pro orate it
back to us. Katie says, I'll take care of it.
Don't worry. Charlie says, already paid it five minutes ago.
Just chill, you're still the best. DMV records show the

(04:46):
title transfer between Harvey and Katie took place on January
twenty third, twenty sixteen. This was for a two thousand
and one black four door Lexus. The title indicates it
was sold for seventeen hundred dollars. She never could find
any payment record from Katie to any of the Adelson's.
There was also no cash withdraw that correlated and no

(05:08):
deposit into any of the Adelson's account for that amount.
There was also no drop in payments to Katie from
the Adelson Institute to indicate that she was paying for it.
They talk about how you can't ensure a vehicle without
a title transfer. You have to put a sales price
or list it as a gift. But if you list
a lower price, obviously, that makes your registration fees less.

(05:31):
They talk about other finances between Charlie and Katie. Charlie
on his American Express on March six, twenty fifteen, he
bought airline tickets for Katie for a flight to Santa
Domingo that was nine hundred and seventy dollars and seventy
four cents. In a text October nineteenth, twenty fifteen, Katie
asks if he has a hookup for plane tickets. She

(05:53):
wants to leave for Thanksgiving and take her mom away
for her mom's sixtieth birthday. She says, I have a guy,
but I know what he wants. Charlie says he doesn't
have any hookups. Katie said she wanted to do something
nice for her mom and maybe she'll rent an RV
and just drive across country. Charlie asked where do you
want to take your mom and ask if she wants

(06:13):
him to get a cruise for them. Katie said she
was thinking about a cruise too. Charlie says, perfect, they
have really nice ones that you guys can leave on
Friday and go to two ports and come back Monday
and you won't miss work. Charlie said, I think it
would be super cool for you and mom to go
on a Norwegian cruise. Let's look at dates may have
twenty fifteen another message, Katie says she has a lot

(06:36):
to pay for and she needs a little help because
of her kid's tuition, and also she had to quit
her weekend job, and she says, I hate asking. Charlie says,
I'll lend you whatever you need. Bank Record Show on
May twentieth, an ATM cash deposit for one thy four
hundred into Katie's account, which is a large amount for

(06:57):
her to deposit. He would also give her teeth whiteing meal, plans,
rides in fancy cars, or let her borrow one of
his fancy cars from him throughout these years. On October eighteenth,
twenty fourteen, Katie had her boob job. The total for
that was four thousand, six hundred and eight dollars. The
record show was paid in cash for four thousand, four

(07:19):
hundred dollars, which is ninety six percent of the charge.
There was a one hundred and ninety five dollars charge
on Katie's debit card to cover that balance, but there
were no withdrawals from Katie's account. From January of twenty
fourteen to October, she'd only withdrawn a little over two thousand.
On Katie's bank records we see other employment deposits, but

(07:41):
starting October seventh, twenty fourteen, she got two thousand, six
hundred and forty nine dollars and twenty seven cents from
the Adelson Institute. In twenty fifteen twenty sixteen, she got
ten thousand, one hundred and eighty nine dollars and fifty cents.
Her last payment was May seventeenth, of twousand sixteen, and
up to that date she had received four thousand, eight

(08:04):
hundred and ninety dollars and ninety six cents. The total
she got from the Adelson Institute in that timeframe seventeen thy,
seven hundred and twenty nine dollars, And remember she never
worked there. Before the murder, Katie was working at Sophie's
Dental Care and her last check from there was July
twenty fourteen, the month of the murder. There is no

(08:25):
record of employment for her after the murder. She said
the Adelson Institute was successful. Between twenty twelve and twenty sixteen,
Donna had signing authority for the Adelson Institute meeting she
could move money around without approval. June twenty fourth, twenty fourteen,
not long before the murder, there is an iCloud reference
of Katie starting to get checks from the Adelson Institute.

(08:49):
There is a iCloud reference about the Adelson Institute on
Katie's iCloud she said she needs help on employment. To
send a DCF to show she's working for him so
that she can get health insurance for her kids and
a place to live. Charlie says, no problem, you have
to show employment for these. At the time, Charlie was

(09:10):
also getting money from traveling around doing work for other
dental practices, and she said he was very successful. As
far as the checks from the Adelson Institute to Katie,
they were deposited in her checking account mostly, but a
couple of times she did put some in her savings.
There were forty four checks total to Katie from the
Adelson Institute. Each check was signed by Donna, and they

(09:32):
show a few examples of these. We didn't see him
on screen. As far as Donna's involvement in Charlie's life,
she would book his travel, such as his plane tickets
in his hotel she would remind him to pay certain
bills or transfer money from here to there. She ran
his life in helping him keep up with his day
to day needs. Now, the first check that Katie got

(09:54):
from the Adelson Institute was October eight, twenty fourteen, but
the date on the check was September seventeenth, twenty fourteen,
which is almost two months from the day that Dan
was murdered and three months after she asked Charlie to
list her as an employee. Katie got two checks a
month for almost two years. They are all in the

(10:15):
same amount, except that first check was half. She was
paid for one week that was two hundred and three
dollars and seventy nine cents. The rest of the time,
her normal pay every two weeks was four hundred and
seven dollars and fifty eight cents. Katie was still getting
checks when she got her boob job. She looked for
any indication they were taking money out of her payments,

(10:38):
but there was nothing there to indicate that she had
any time off post surgery or a reduction in pay.
They go through a lot of the Adelson Institute records,
and I go on that deep because y'all, I have
a bad math learning disability. It wasn't caught until college.
But you guys throw a bunch of numbers at me.
In my ears, you could probably see smoke coming out
of them. A year before the murder, Kate Eady's cash

(11:00):
deposits totaled thirteen thousand and thirty five dollars. The year
of the murder twenty fourteen, her cash deposits went from
thirteen thousand to forty six thousand, eight hundred and twenty dollars.
Twenty fifteen, cash deposits were twenty six thousand, five hundred
and twenty three dollars and seventy seven cents. They move

(11:21):
on to the house Wendy was looking to purchase, which
was listed for three hundred and seventy one thousand dollars,
and the witness said Wendy did have the means in
her account to pay a down payment comfortably. She looked
back and found that Wendy also had the means to
pay that million dollar bribe they were floating around. They
had the money in twenty fourteen to pay Katie and

(11:42):
the hitmen, and Charlie had the money to give Katie
cash and gifts, which doesn't include cash on hand that
nobody would know about. She said. The Adelson Institute preferred
cash payments. There were lots of messages they found discussing
giving discounts for cash. There were messages in the US
the Adelson family records discussing having cash and how they

(12:03):
store it. These messages were from twenty eleven. In other messages,
they talk about cash being in the safe or impiles
in the safe. Donna would move money between the Adelson
family accounts, and the safe is where Donna would have
had access to it or control over it. On cross
what credit card statements did you review for Donna and Harvey,

(12:23):
she said there were only two, an American Express and
a Capital One. The car that Katie had that could
have been a cash transaction. It was a fifteen year
old car with between one hundred and forty and one
hundred and sixty thousand miles on it, and the witness
says yes. The defense asked if the cash discount offered
at the Adelson Institute is equal to the same amount

(12:43):
that someone would be charged if they paid by credit
card meeting they just took off the fee, but the
witness can't say on a redirect they talk about the
cash discounts that are referenced in texts being for Charlie's
work while he's traveling, but she points out there are
also messages sent from the Adelson Institute. Yes, the last
witness of the day with Sergeant Corbett from the Tallahassee

(13:05):
Police Department. He goes over to call detailed records. He
talks about how cell phone towers work, as well as Celebrate,
which is the extraction software we hear about pretty much
at every trial. And he also talks about how they
take the forensic reports from Celebrate and put them into
graphics that make it easier for somebody to follow, like
at trial, So they looked at most frequent contacts with everybody.

(13:30):
Sigfredo's was Katie, Katie's was Charlie, and Charlie was Donna's.
So in a context of you've got the shooter, you've
got the hit men going to Katie, Katie going to Charlie,
Charlie going to Donna, and they're just showing that order
where parties don't co mingle, but you have a clear
line of communication between both sides, and it really it

(13:50):
just leads back to Donna. He talks about how video
GPS and cell towers are kind of like the trifecta
of evidence because they can be verified independently, but when
put together, it's pretty solid proof. Regarding Dan's movements the
morning of the murder, we know he went from home
to the preschool, to the gym, and then back home.

(14:11):
The TALLAHASSEPD believed whoever shot Dan was possibly at the
same locations following him that morning. They knew they had
the prius, so they did what they call a tower dump,
which is they get all the transactions from certain cell
sites that service particular areas in very specific timeframes, and
they look at the locations to see if there are

(14:33):
any common phone numbers in the same location as Dan
that morning. They did get cell phones present at these
locations and times for them to look at and compare.
He said. They often will use software to crunch the numbers,
but it gives them numbers that match what they're looking for,
and they found a common number was around the gym

(14:53):
in the call detail records at the same time as Dan. Now,
not one number alone peinked every location, but one call
was kind of a big clue, which was a thirty
second voicemail from Sigfredo's cell phone to Harvey Adelson on
July first, twenty fourteen. He mistakenly called Harvey thinking he

(15:14):
was calling Charlie after they had that confrontation in the
street where Sigfredo blocked the road after seeing Charlie with
Katie and he yelled at them. Katie earlier had testified
that she thinks maybe he just googled the Adelson Institute
thinking he would get Charlie bud he got Harvey. Can
you imagine when Harvey listened to that, y'all. Now we
know that the call was thirty seven seconds and it

(15:36):
was a voicemail. That thirty seven seconds does not include
how long the phone rang and it was routed to voicemail,
and there were no other communications between those two phones
at all. As far as Garcia's phone, it showed he
was in Tallahassee along with Dan's phone at the time
Dan was being followed. They used surveillance from the gym

(15:56):
that showed the prius, which verified the GPS w rerecords
from the prius that they were there. Tower records and
GPS show the rental Prius at the gym while Dan
was there. And you also have surveillance showing the Prius
waiting for him to leave. The GPS then shows the
Prius following Dan towards his home and not long after

(16:18):
he was shot dead. They also bring in some iCloud
records from July second, at nine to twelve am, the
day after Sigfredo col Harvey, and it shows Katie and
Charlie making fun of Sigfredo. They call him some derogatory names.
Katie apologizes to Charlie and says it's childish, but whatever.
They look to see if there was anything of interest
from the beginning of twenty thirteen leading up to Dan's murder.

(16:41):
They move into some Gmail accounts and he explains the
display name can differ from the email, So in the
Harvey Donna at Gmail, obviously that's a Gmail account, and
he explains you can go in and change your display name. Also,
if you're checking your Gmail on a native iPhone app,
you can do the same, So their joint email could

(17:01):
change names based on what device they were using. They
bring in some emails from Donna. She tells Wendy that
Dan is a major effort and I hope your attorney
is the shark that is her reputation. It also says
Dad was told by Gary yesterday and they use this
as an example to show this can give context as
to who is sending emails well. Saying Dad would indicate

(17:25):
this was likely Donna who sent this email. May twenty first,
twenty thirteen. Donna to Wendy, She says, Wow, he is
such a royal jackass. How smart you are to get
rid of this piece of crap? Signed love you Mom.
The email showed Donna's strong interest in getting Wendy and
the boys back to Miami. She tells Wendy in an email,

(17:46):
relocation is the most important part of the divorce, and
I hope your attorney knows this is your non negotiable.
Donna tells Wendy to tell her attorney things like their
practice has suffered, They've had loss of income, and it
affects Charlie too. At the end, it says, my brother
is unmarried and a wonderful uncle to the boys, and

(18:07):
if I'm able to relocate, they will have an incredibly
warm and loving family as an integral part of their
lives and not just an occasional two day weekend trip.
At one point, Donna says she is just too angry
to write anymore. They bring in an email after relocation
was denied, where Donna encourages Wendy to never never give
up time for action, take control of your life, and

(18:30):
don't let him think he's one by having you remain
in Tallahassee. Donna says their lives will all be affected
by how well Wendy can perform in the next few
weeks and reminds her she is a strong family behind her.
They bring in the email where Donna suggests posing the
boys in front of a church and getting them baptized
in all that. They also bring in the one million

(18:51):
dollar offer email October twelfth, twenty thirteen. They showed that
an email that was sent by Dan was forwarded from
Wendy to Donna, then Donna to Charlie. Donna then says
to Charlie, Dan was absolutely crazy and impossible. This effort
is sending this to your sister on a regular basis,
and this is two weeks before Halloween when Charlie first

(19:14):
approached Katie about do you know somebody that could hurt someone?
They bring in a text October thirteenth, twenty thirteen, horrible
evening for your sister and for us. Dad finally had
to walk outside to lower his blood pressure. Just awful.
Can't even explain. Oh, By the way back to Wendy's
house with only one of the boys, Charlie says, I

(19:36):
bet let's talk this week. They move on to October thirtieth.
The day before, Charlie asked Katie if she knows a guy.
Donna to Charlie, just got a text from Wendy casually
mentioning that she's moving ahead with the purchase of the
house that she liked. I guess she wants to do
it before November seventh, when she leaves for England. This

(19:56):
morning was her last day with the boys for a while.
How is Charlie replies, she never told me that. Same day,
one day before him inquiring, Charlie texts, Wendy, call you
in ten minutes. Wendy responds she's in court and she
can talk at four. On October thirty first, the day
Charlie approaches Katie, Charlie text Wendy, how are you feeling today?

(20:19):
There's a funny saying if it flies, floats or f's
rent it? I love you. Same day, Charlie to Donna
spoke to Wendy, I think I've made some headway. Hope
you're having an awesome time in Israel. Have a good night.
From October thirty first into November first, Charlie spoke to
Wendy for twenty minutes last night. She texted me today

(20:40):
that she pulled the plug on the house. Donna. Wow, Charlie,
thank you again. Why did you accomplish that you're a
miracle worker? October thirty first, Hi, honey, how are you today?
Just got back from dinner and ready to go to bed.
It's eleven fifteen pm now in Jerusalem. So a cute
video today of the boys in their Halloween costumes that

(21:02):
Danny sent to us since he had them for the holiday,
and she puts holiday in quotes. We put our good
wishes for you in the western wall today. Love you
and look forward to speaking to you soon. Hugs, Mom
and Dad. I'm reading this verbatim. Don't know what Charlie
was saying, but November one, twenty thirteen, Charlie to Donna
for starters, Danny would have loot use any deposit Wendy

(21:24):
put on a house as leverage. First thing she needs
to do is get permission from him. In the course
before she even thinks about anything. And I've had about
five other really good reasons why this would have been
the dumbest mistake of her life, second dumbest life. Later on, Charlie,
it took about fifteen minutes of talking to her. I
basically told her owning a house is like getting married

(21:46):
and renting is like dating. Why the f would you
want to get married again? Moving on February fifteenth, twenty fourteen,
Donna to Charlie, Wendy's totally stressed out. Yesterday was a
rough one. She will probably have to go through another
depot outrageous. Her attorney will claim he is abusing the
justice system by filing repetitive motions on issues that have

(22:08):
been resolved previously. And oh, by the way, the half
million dollar account is the same fifty thousand he tried
to get his hands on last time, but it was
always in Wendy's name. Same day, total waste of the
court's time. Yesterday, he sent Wendy a text he saw
her leaving the school in our car at two oh
seven pm. He is stalking her. She spoke to a

(22:30):
friend who's an attorney about filing a protective order very
hard to do that unless there is a previous history
of threats or abuse. I still think she should let
the judge know that he's stalking her, and Charlie says.
He agrees. Dona to Charlie, she told Wendy that this
lady is a crazy judge. She sees two cases per
day compared to most judges who stands five to ten

(22:52):
cases per day. That's why she's waited five months for
this hearing. Charlie responds her six hundred dollars an hour attorney.
He needs to give a refund or a letter of
complaint to the bar. Is Wendy mad at her attorney yet?
Donna says yes, but don't get jet worked up about it.
She's too stressed about it. Let's just keep conversation with

(23:13):
her light and not to add to what she's dealing with.
Let her just get through Monday with positive family support.
Nothing's stressful, Trust me on this. Two days later, February seventeenth,
twenty fourteen, are you at work or home today? I
hope you're feeling better. Just left the courthouse. Charlie responds,
he is at work same day. How did it go?

(23:34):
Donna says, okay, we'll talk later later on. On February seventeenth,
twenty fourteen, Donna to Charlie the judge was really pissed
at him for not paying Wendy, but she will allow
them to depot her with very strict limitations on the questions.
Then Wendy wants the parenting coordinator question because she hates
Danny and will ask the court to have him court

(23:55):
appointed psychological testing. Two days later, February ninetheh if you
speak to Wendy today, tread lightley, don't ask questions about
the depot her lawyer, etc. Tough time and she's really
stressed out. The A hole showed up at soccer yesterday
and when she tried to leave with the boys, he said, no,
stay here and play with Aba. She to the boys

(24:17):
that Abba had to leave and he said, no, I don't.
Of course, she woke up to another email from him
telling her that she is lying to the boys about
their father's whereabouts and that this will be brought up
before the court. Such an effort. It was Wendy's day.
He is allowed to attend the children's activity, but that's
where it ends. Fast forward to March fourth, twenty fourteen,

(24:40):
Donna text Charlie, thirty seven miles to Gainesville. I can't
talk now, but i'll text you before we stop in Gainesville,
where I can go to the bathroom and have a
moment of privacy. Then i'll call. Please pick up because
I will have very limited alone time today. Erase this
text after you read a little bit later. Donna to Charlie.

(25:02):
We'll stop at about five minutes and I can speak
to you privately about Dad's birthday gift when I'm out
of the car. I have some good ideas and she
puts the little kissy face emoji. Charlie says great. Little
time passes. Charlie says if you don't pick up, I'll
call you back in thirty seconds, and Donna responds, don't
call yet. I need five minutes till we get to

(25:23):
Panera Bread. May thirtieth, twenty fourteen. This is just before
said Fredo and Rivera make that first trip to Tallahassee.
Donna to Charlie, it's at eight dollars and eighty two cents.
What did you buy it at? Wendy is at Tallahassee Airport,
headed horrible morning with Danny. She was traveling to Portland

(25:44):
with Tova. Tough conversation with her, and that's where we
ended for the day. That is it. Don't forget to
come watch the live stream with us tomorrow and again
I will recap likely intwo episodes tomorrow morning and then
later tomorrow afternoon. All right, that's it, have a good one.
We will see you soon.