TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Tallahassee police released a photo of a vehicle of interest Wednesday in connection with the death of Florida State University law school professor Daniel Markel, who, authorities say, was found shot in the head at his Tallahassee home last week. 
 
 Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo also asked Wednesday for anyone with surveillance in the area to contact police. 
 
 The car pictured in the photo appears to be a silver or light green Toyota Prius, though police will not confirm that. Authorities stressed that the vehicle is only a vehicle of interest, as it may have been a resident, passerby or delivery driver. They would not comment on where the vehicle was seen but did ask that anyone with information on the vehicle call police. 
 
 CBS News Detectives say Markel was shot in the head at his Tallahassee home in broad daylight on Friday, July 18. Authorities will not say whether the 41-year-old was shot from the front or back or whether he was found inside the house or outside. 
 
 But they have made on detail perfectly clear: Whoever did it wanted Markel dead. 
 
 The shooting of the popular lawyer has stunned his friends, colleagues and residents of his well-to-do community in Florida's state capital, who demanded to know whether Markel had surprised an armed burglar or robber. No, Police Chief DeLeo said - this was a premeditated murder. 
 
 Markel, 41, was born in Toronto, was the father of two boys and a 2001 graduate of Harvard Law School. He practiced white-collar criminal defense and civil litigation before joining the Florida State law school as a faculty member in 2005. He was tenured in 2010. 
 
 Bob Jarvis, a Nova Southeastern University law professor, said there are numerous reasons police withhold crime details from the public, even when seeking tips. Prosecutors worry about affecting the jury pool, and police are always concerned with false confessions and copycat criminals, he said. 
 
 "It's a way to test anybody who's either making a confession, who's trying to pin the blame on somebody else," Jarvis said. "It's a truth-telling test. 
 
 "You don't want confusion. If there's something unique about the killer or the killer's M.O., you'd like to keep that under wraps." 
 
 Markel finalized a contentious divorce from his ex-wife, Wendi Adelson, in 2013. The two had equally split custody of sons Benjamin and Lincoln, but they had follow-up litigation over money settlements. At one point, Adelson, who also teaches law at Florida State, hoped to move back to her hometown in South Florida. 
 
 "She's a basket case, she's totally, totally shocked over what happened," said Adelson's lawyer, Jimmy Judkins. "Gone from having children with two parents to children with one parent with no warning." 
 
 "She's scared to death for her children. She's scared to death for herself." 
 
 Judkins said Adelson has cooperated with police and has not been asked to remain in the area. 
 
 Tamara Demko met Markel at Harvard Law School, and the two had been friends ever since. She saw him regularly in Tallahassee and created a web page for the Dan Markel Memorial fund to raise money for his sons. The site collected more than $18,000 in the first day. 
 
 Demko sobbed as she remembered the way he gave everyone nicknames and how he doted on his sons. She described his love for academia and said he was devoted to his Jewish faith. 
 
 "My heart is just shattered," Demko said. "I just don't know what I'm going to do without him in my life. He's been a part of it for so long." 
 
 The family has also asked for donations to go to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada, Canadian Magen David Adom, the Shomrei Torah Synagogue or Harvard Hillel. 
 
 "He took joy in life and his friends," Demko said. "He loved sharing his life with all the people that he met along the way." 
 
 David Wilkins has been a Harvard Law School professor since 1986 and remained in contact with Markel over the years. Markel's death has been an ongoing topic in the law community - where he was well-known among other scholars for his writings in blogs and scholarly publications, several focused on crime and punishment. 
 
 "He loved people as much as he loved ideas," Wilkins said. "He loved talking about ideas to people. I think that's what drew a lot of people to him." 
 
 Anyone with information is asked to call a tip line set up by the Tallahassee Police Department at (850) 891-4462. All tips are confidential. 
 
 CrimeStoppers has increased a reward for information leading to an arrest from $1,000 to $3,000. ||||| ***This memorial fund has closed and no additional donations are being accepted. Thank you so much to all who donated. All donations are now with Danny's family and in formal trusts for the boys. This page remains available temporarily for Danny's family and friends to visit and to read tributes. In loving memory of our Danny <3 ***Dan Markel Memorial Fund To Benefit His Sons, Benjamin and Lincoln MarkelDanny Markel, our forever beloved friend, scholar, mensch, and Abba to Ben and Lincoln was taken from those he loved and those who loved him. He loved his students, his colleagues, his friends, his scholarly work, and helping all those in need. Most of all, he loved his faith and his family. Ben and Lincoln were his heart. Danny will live every day in our hearts, and we must work together to ensure his most beloved little bears know how much their Abba was loved and what a great, wise, amazing man and father he was...and how much he loved them.This fund is exclusively for the benefit of his children. Every donation will be accounted for, and Danny's family oversees the fund. Any subsequent funding mechanisms or formal trusts created will have all monies received here added to them in full.Please donate here online, or if you would like to donate without any online processing fees, please contact us through this page for information on sending checks or depositing directly at any Bank of America location.Also, this is not the only way to honor Danny's memory. Additional memorial donation options now include:-Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada, 1-800-387-1479,-Canadian Magen David Adom, 416-780- 0034, 1-800-731-2848,-Shomrei Torah Synagogue, 4858 Kerry Forest Parkway, Tallahassee, FL 32309, 1-850- 893-9674,-Harvard HillelPlease honor our Danny in any way that feels right to you.We send our love to all those grieving his senseless loss. We are forever changed by him. We are forever blessed by him.Baruch Dayan Emet ||||| A Harvard-educated, widely published criminal law professor likely knew his killer after cops found no forced entry at the 41-year-old’s Tallahassee home — where Dan Markel was found bleeding from a fatal close-range gunshot wound to the head Friday morning. 
 
 Cops on Wednesday released a grainy surveillance video still of a car of interest — what appears to be a light-colored Toyota Prius — that was seen in the area of Markel’s Betton Hills home around the time of his 11 a.m. murder. 
 
 “In this day and age, many of our citizens use cameras for home and personal protection. Our hope is one of those cameras could provide us with a piece of vital information to bring this terrible tragedy to a close for all of those involved,” Tallahassee Police Chief Michael DeLeo said in statement. 
 
 This car, which appears to be a Toyota Prius, was caught on camera in the area of the murder on Friday and is of interest to police. (City of Tallahassee Police Department) 
 
 The Florida State University professor, a Toronto native who graduated from Harvard Law School in 2001, was the intended target in the senseless crime, which showed no evidence of burglary or robbery, cops said. 
 
 The father of two boys, ages 3 and 5, was divorced a year ago from Wendi Adelson, a 35-year-old fellow FSU professor and mother of the children. 
 
 The two had a court squabble over the boys’ custody, and police interviewed the woman, who has been cooperating with investigators. 
 
 Markel likely let his killer into his home, which had no sign of forced entry, police said. (wctv) A mourner left flowers outside the 41-year-old’s home in Tallahassee, Fla. (wctv) 
 
 “She’s a basket case, she’s totally, totally shocked over what happened,” her lawyer, Jimmy Judkins, said. “Gone from having children with two parents to children with one parent with no warning. She’s scared to death for her children. She’s scared to death for herself.” 
 
 A police tip line has generated some 50 calls, cops said, while a $3,000 award has been offered for a tip leading to arrest in the crime. 
 
 ON A MOBILE DEVICE? CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO 
 
 With News Wire Services 
 
 sgoldstein@nydailynews.com 
 
 Sign up for BREAKING NEWS Emails privacy policy Thanks for subscribing!
– Police are seeking information on a "vehicle of interest" following the brazen murder of a professor in broad daylight. Dan Markel, a Harvard Law School grad who taught criminal law at Florida State University, was shot at close range in the side of the head at his Tallahassee home last week, ABC News reports. Police believe it's a case of premeditated murder and say the Toronto native, 41, likely knew his killer as there were no signs of forced entry. They've released a photo of what CBS News reports to be a silver or light green Toyota Prius, though police say it's not necessarily the suspect's vehicle and they won't say exactly where it was spotted. The New York Daily News reports Markel had two young sons, aged 3 and 5, with ex-wife Wendi Adelson, a fellow professor at Florida State with whom Markel was reportedly involved in a legal dispute over custody issues and finances. She is "totally, totally shocked over what happened," her lawyer says. "She's scared to death for her children. She's scared to death for herself." Police say Adelson has not been labeled a suspect, nor has anyone else. "We are speaking to everybody who has an affiliation with Mr. Markel," an officer says, adding that a tip line has already received some 50 calls. Meanwhile, a friend of Markel's has created a fund to raise money for his two boys, which has reached nearly $50,000 after just three days. (Read about three similar killings since 2003 in Virginia.)