An attorney representing Lindsay Shiver argues that she should not face prosecution due to serious legal issues with the evidence in her case. Shiver, a mother from Georgia and former beauty queen, faces accusations of plotting with her Bahamian lover, Adrien Bethel, to hire a hitman to kill her ex-husband, former NFL player Robert Shiver.
Her U.S. attorney, Craig Shirley, claims that Bahamian prosecutors lack the jurisdiction to charge Shiver with murder-for-hire. The alleged activities occurred while Shiver was in the United States. Shirley issued a statement to Fox News Digital asserting Shiver’s innocence.
“Lindsay Shiver is not guilty of the crimes alleged against her by the Bahamian Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Period,” stated Craig Shirley, Shiver’s attorney.
Shirley emphasized that the indictment incorrectly places Shiver in the Bahamas on July 16, 2023, when the alleged conspiracy took place. He argues that evidence from multiple sources shows Shiver was in the U.S. on that day. “The DPP must prove it. Meaning that, as a threshold requirement, the DPP is required to prove that Lindsay was in the Bahamas on July 16, 2023,” Shirley said. “It cannot.”
According to Shirley, this discrepancy highlights not only a factual inaccuracy but also a jurisdictional issue. This issue allegedly bars the Bahamian government from prosecuting Shiver under its penal code. “Lindsay cannot be prosecuted under the Bahamian Penal Code for an alleged act committed at a time when the undisputed evidence establishes that she was not in The Bahamas,” Shirley stated.
He called this a “legally fatal defect” in the prosecution’s case against Shiver. Shirley expressed his surprise and disappointment at the prosecution continuing against Shiver despite these issues. “Lindsay should never have been subjected to a prosecution that the Bahamian government lacked the legal authority to bring,” he said.
Shiver, Adrien Bethel, and the alleged hitman, Faron Newbold Jr., were arrested in the Bahamas in July 2023. They face charges of conspiracy to commit murder under Bahamian law, to which they have pleaded not guilty. The alleged plot was uncovered during a separate investigation into a break-in at a bar in Abaco, Bahamas. During the investigation, police found WhatsApp messages instructing “Kill him” alongside photos of Robert Shiver.
Defense attorneys argue that these messages were misconstrued. The case has drawn significant attention, spotlighting the legal complexities surrounding jurisdiction and evidence in international crimes.