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Mauricio Padilla and Saam Zangeneh are representing Sigfredo Garcia

On Behalf of | Aug 23, 2023 | Firm News |

A November trial date was set for Sigfredo Garcia on Monday — the two-year anniversary of the murder he is accused of committing.Garcia will stand trial on charges of first-degree murder in the shooting of Florida State University law professor Dan Markel.Markel was found by a neighbor slumped over the wheel of his car inside his Betton Hills home’s garage after being shot twice in the head.The publicly released evidence against Garcia and a second suspect, 33-year-old Luis Rivera, centers around cell phone records, a rented metallic green Toyota Prius and a series of surveillance videos showing the two men trailing the 41-year-old legal scholar on the day he was killed.Both men were indicted on first-degree murder charges in June. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.Garcia has pleaded not guilty.His attorneys, Saam Zengeneh and Mauricio Padilla, were retained last week. Chief Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman said the November date was a quick turnaround, but she was ready for trial when Garcia was arrested.”I wouldn’t have filed the charges unless I was ready to proceed within speedy trial time limits,” Cappleman said. “It is a quick turnaround for a murder case, but they’re entitled to it. So if he wants to exercise his right, then I’m ready to give him his trial.”Investigators say more arrests are likely in the case but haven’t named additional suspects. Arresting documents for Garcia point to the involvement of family members of Markel’s ex-wife.Police say the motive for his killing stemmed from the couple’s acrimonious divorce battle that centered around their children but touched on all aspects of their lives.The push by relatives of the victim’s ex-wife Wendi Adelson to move their two young sons to South Florida is listed in court documents as a motive for the slaying. Those documents implicate Adelson’s mother Donna Adelson and brother Charlie Adelson as being involved in the murder-for-hire that Rivera and Garcia allegedly committed

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2016/07/18/november-trial-date-set-sigfredo-garcia/87244876/

http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2016/06/23/garcia-could-have-bond-set/86294438/