Florida State University law professor Dan Markel has been gone for five years—gunned down in the driveway of his Tallahassee home on July 19, 2014, in an apparent hit.

But he's not forgotten. Far from it.

The bizarre circumstances of Markel's death and the swirling intrigue around who is behind it have made the case a staple of the true-crime genre. It was the subject of episodes of “Dateline,” “20/20,” and “People Magazine Investigates.” This spring, Markel's death and the ongoing legal case were chronicled in a six-part season of the podcast “Over My Dead Body,” which shot to the top of iTunes' podcast charts.

Much of the media and true-crime interest stems from the belief of investigators that the wealthy family of Markel's ex-wife—Wendi Adelson—set the murder in motion. (No members of the Adelson family have been charged in connection to Markel's killing and their lawyers deny any involvement. However, prosecutors believe that her brother Charlie Adelson hired two Miami men to drive to Tallahassee and slay him. They also believe that the mother of Wendi and Charlie, Donna Adelson, was in on the plan.)

It's not hard to see why the case has garnered so much attention, said Florida International University law professor Howard Wasserman, who was a friend of Markel's and co-author of PrawfsBlawg, the legal blog the slain professor founded.

“It's a juicy story, and if it weren't real and somebody tried to write it, the author would be accused of not being believable,” Wasserman said. “So many of the details are, I think, irresistible to the people who are interested in true crime.”

In an unsealed probable-cause affidavit in 2016, police said that “a desperate desire” by Wendi Adelson's family to move the couple's two children from Tallahassee to Miami amid a bitter custody battle was the motive of the murder. Charlie Adelson's attorney, David Markus, on Thursday again rejected the notion that his client was involved.

“For five years, the state (and the true-crime world) has picked through every piece of Charlie's life—every phone call, every email message, every text, every relationship, every possible witness—looking for any excuse to charge him,” Markus said.  “But there is nothing there.”

Some of Markel's friends and colleagues have mixed emotions about the intense public interest in the case. In addition to the many true-crime treatments, the local media in Tallahassee follows each twist on the ongoing legal proceedings against the two accused hitmen and the woman investigators believe helped facilitate their connection with Charlie Adelson.

The media attention is part of a deliberate strategy by Markel's family to keep his case in the spotlight and put pressure of those responsible, said Fordham University law professor Ethan Leib, who also worked closely with Markel on scholarly articles and on PrawfsBlawg. His parents—Ruth and Phil Markel—have participated in many of the television shows and other coverage.

“It's hard to relive it over and over again when we see this stuff on TV and other media platforms,” Leib said. “On the other hand, the hope is that it brings enough attention to the matter that it continues to put pressure on whoever thinks this story just might go away and they won't have to deal with it.”

It's also strange to see Markel portrayed in a different light than the man he knew, Wasserman added. While his friend occasionally mentioned his contentious divorce from Wendi Adelson, Wasserman did not understand just how hostile the legal proceedings and custody battle had become until he saw the situation picked apart on television.

Orin Snyder, a partner with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher who is representing Markel's parents, issued a statement July 18 noting that his friends and family are still awaiting justice five years on. Moreover, the couple hasn't seen their two grandchildren in more than three years, it says. (The boys live in South Florida with Wendi Adelson.)

“The Markels used to travel to Tallahassee to visit Dan and the boys at home—to visit their preschool, to attend music programs, and to play in the park together,” Snyder's statement reads. “Now, as they prepare to return to Tallahassee for the trial of some of Dan's alleged killers, they will be forced to re-live the nightmare of Dan's murder all over again.”

Two of the people who investigators believe were involved in the killing—Katherine Magbanua and Sigfredo Garcia—are scheduled to face trial in September, following more than two years of delays. Prosecutors believe Magbanua, who once dated Charlie Adelson, connected him to Garcia—one of the two accused hitmen and the father of Magbanua's two children. Garcia is also due to stand trial in September.

The second accused hitman, a high-ranking member of the Latin Kings named Luis Rivera, pleaded guilty in October of 2017 and received a seven-year sentence in addition to a 12-year sentence he's currently serving for an unrelated crime. He implicated both Garcia and Magbanua.

Leib speculated that prosecutors may be waiting for Magbanua and Garcia to be found guilty before potentially bringing charges against more people.

While the legal case grinds on, Markel's legacy continues to be felt throughout the academy, where he was known for his bright legal mind and penchant for helping fledgling scholars launch their careers. Markel founded PrawfsBlawgs in 2005, the same year he was hired as an assistant law professor at Florida State. The blog, which Markel ran with a roster of co-authors, quickly became a destination for sharp legal commentary and information about the academic market—particularly geared toward professors in the early stages of their careers.

Markel had a knack for assisting new and aspiring academics, and helping them forge connections, Wasserman recalled. Many professors carry on that mission today, though perhaps none are as good at it as Markel was, he said.

And PrawfsBlawg continues to thrive in Markel's absence, with Wasserman and 11 other co-authors and a rotating series of guests continuing the work Markel began. The blog's longevity is a testament to Markel coming up with a format that works with content that people want, Wasserman said.

But the remaining PrawfsBlawg authors decided early on that the blog was not the right place to track news of the murder and subsequent legal case.

“If and when we get some sort of resolution, we probably will mention that,” Wasserman said. “We consider ourselves a site for legal scholarship and sharing of information and ideas among legal scholars and people interested in getting into legal academia. We didn't want to get caught up in what everybody recognized pretty quickly was going to become a salacious story.”