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Today, the jury in the trail of two of the suspects in the 2014 murder-for-hire of Florida State law professor Dan Markel convicted Sigfredo Garcia, one of the two hired hitmen - of first degree murder, but deadlocked in the case of Katie Magbanua, who prosecutors believe was the conduit between the hired guns and the family of Dan's ex-wife Wendi Adelson (who wanted Dan out of the way so that Wendi could get sole custody of their two boys).

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Here are some thoughts:

1. The failure to convict Magbanua is a setback for efforts to prosecute the Adelsons, because the state needs her testimony in order to be sure of conviction. However, they plan to retry Magbanua.

2. Garcia now faces the death penalty, or at least life imprisonment. This might well give him an incentive to turn on Magbanua, thus in turn leading to her conviction in a retrial and/or forcing her to make a deal in which SHE turns on the Adelsons.

3. During her testimony at the current trial, Magbanua admitted she was seeing both Garcia and Wendi's brother Charlie Adelson at the same time, and it seems clear she was the only known connection between the two men (both of whom also knew she was dating the other). The idea that Garcia and Luis Rivera (the second hitman, who testified for the state at this trial, because he made a deal earlier) were hired by the Adelsons WITHOUT using Magbanua as a go-between seems implausible. Or, at least, there is no evidence to support it.

4. Testimony at the trial indicates that Garcia was still in love with Magbanua (with whom he had two children) at the time of the murder, and was trying to get back into an exclusive relationship with her. If he's still in love with her now, that might lead him to hesitate to testify against her, even with the threat of the death penalty or life imprisonment on the table.

5. If Magbanua does make a deal and turn on the Adelsons, she may well have a credibility problem, as during her own trial, she insisted she knew nothing about the murder (though she also opined that she thinks Charlie Adelson organised it, just without any involvement by Magbanua).

6. At trial, the prosecution several times suggested they think Wendi Adelson was in on the plot to kill Dan. Up till now, most who follow the case have thought that she was not involved, only her mother and brother. Whether the state plans to come after Wendi now, remains to be seen.

7. The one thing that’s certain is that this saga will go on for some time yet, perhaps for many months or even years. That will prolong the pain of Dan's family and friends, and especially his parents, who in the meantime have been denied contact with their grandchildren by Wendi (who has also changed their last names from Markel to Adelson).