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To be continued... It's a criminal case that says as much about marriage and love as it does justice and revenge. Join in on the strange and unsettling journey through one of the most bizarre murder cases in Florida's history. You're about to listen to a clip of the first episode.
So, while you're listening, go search for Over My Dead Body wherever you're listening to this. The case is still developing, so be sure to subscribe to get the updates. You can also find the link in the show notes that will take you right to the show. Enjoy.
One morning, attorney David Latt was sitting in his apartment in D.C., flipping through the Sunday New York Times, when he arrived at his favorite part of the paper. I have to confess, I am a devoted reader of the New York Times wedding announcements. Latt loves the wedding section, even though the vast majority of couples are total strangers to him. They are looking for people with impressive pedigrees.
They are looking for people who are photogenic. But on that morning, he spotted a pair of familiar faces. They were both very impressive, accomplished young lawyers. They were a very nice-looking couple.
So, if anyone was going to make it into those pages, it was going to be Dan and Wendy. Latt began to read. Wendy Jill Adelson, the daughter of Donna Sue Adelson and Dr. Harvey J.
Adelson of Coral Springs, Florida, is to be married this evening to Dan Eric Markell, the son of Ruth Markell and Phil Markell of Toronto. The bride, 26, is keeping her name. I think it was the best wedding I've ever been to. Avery Kohlers was a high school buddy of Dan's.
He made the trip to Boca Raton for the celebration, as did hundreds of other friends and family members. The weather, perfect. The venue, extravagant. And at the center of all of it, the happy couple.
Dan and Wendy danced for hours with their guests. It just felt like it was overflowing with joy and love. I mean, that sounds so corny. I actually found an email I sent to Dan on March 4 of 2006.
Hi, Dan. Congratulations and best wishes to you and Wendy. I'm sitting at home reading the Sunday Times, and lo and behold, there you are. That's Dave.
And it's funny, Dan actually responded, because Dan was a very diligent email responder, even though he was on his honeymoon. Greetings from Club Med, he wrote. And then I responded, you're checking emailing your honeymoon. You truly are a cyber addict.
I thought I was bad. Don't respond to this email. I hope you're having a wonderful time. So what makes a good marriage, anyway?
I guess I would say that crucial to a good marriage is mutual respect. Love, of course, but also respect. But, as you can probably guess, this isn't a story about the happy ever afters, the lucky ones, the couples who grow more inseparable with age. Not even close.
I have to be a little circumspect here, because over the years, I've become very familiar with the libel laws of the United States. So, um, I don't think I'm going to get my personal view here. It's a story about the opposite. A bad marriage.
A worse breakup. A brutal divorce. And he stormed out. And did he say something like, I told you you should never be marrying her?
This is probably the biggest story I'll ever work on. Probably the biggest story in Val Assi ever, I would say. And everything that came after. Somebody else doesn't know something, because this shit would have not came up unless he sent someone else.
But there's nothing. I have never said to anyone that my mom is a dangerous person. What are you saying? That you think maybe one of your friends would have done that?
Let me do this. Baby, you're guilty. You've got your sins on your hands. Baby, you're crazy.
I'll never touch that hand. From Wondery, I'm Matthew Sher, and this is Over My Dead Body. I've been a magazine writer for about a decade now. And during that time, I've written some crazy stories.
I've written about an Orthodox rabbi who tortures husbands into granting divorces to their wives. And I've written about some colorful characters, too, like Stormy Daniels turning Michael Abinati. But I can say that this particular case is the single craziest story I've ever reported on. It says at least as much about marriage and love as it does about revenge and justice, and the lengths we'll go to to get even.
To listen to this story, search for Over My Dead Body wherever you're listening right now. Listen today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Pandora. And make sure you subscribe, because this is a developing story. We'll be giving you updates over the next several weeks.
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