Charlie Adelson's Extortion Defense Died in Three Hours Flat
About this episode
The episode discusses the rapid collapse of Charlie Adelson's extortion defense during his murder trial.
Some defenses fall apart in the courtroom. This one basically fell apart the second the prosecutor opened her mouth. "Do extortionists send a girlfriend of the victim to get the money?" That's the question Georgia Cappleman asked a jury after Charlie Adelson took the stand and swore, under oath, that he'd been shaken down by hitmen — and had simply been making the payments ever since. The payment plan itself deserves its own hall of fame. Three thousand dollars a month, funneled through the family dental office, in checks his mother signed, funded by cash she allegedly laundered before it changed hands. This from a periodontist sitting on more than eight million dollars in family accounts. The man had the money to make this go away outright. Instead, jurors were asked to believe he ran his alleged extortion payments like a dental financing plan — steady installments, paper trail included, because nothing says "criminal enterprise" like meticulous bookkeeping. The jury needed three hours to see through it. Guilty — murder, conspiracy, solicitation, the full set. Charlie mouthed "No" and put his head down on the defense table. Judge Everett handed him life without parole, plus…
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