Murder-for-hire suspect Lindsay Shiver can return to US for Christmas
Lindsay Shiver is charged in the Bahamas over a murder-for-hire plot to kill her former football player husband Robert Shiver
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A Georgia mother-of-three who allegedly tried to hire a hitman to kill her former football player husband will be allowed to return to the US for Christmas.
Lindsay Shiver, 36, has been held in the Bahamas since July after she was arrested on suspicion of scheming with her 28-year-old lover and a 29-year-old purported hitman to have her husband Robert Shiver killed.
Now, five months later, Ms Shiver has been granted a request by a judge to leave the island and return to the US to be with her children while she awaits her murder-for-hire trial starting in March.
Under the terms of the court order, she will be allowed to return to her parent’s home in the US but must wear an ankle monitor and cannot travel to Georgia, where she lived with Mr Shiver.
The 36-year-old has been apart from her children since her arrest and her defence attorneys had asked for her to be returned to the US, citing concerns for her “mental and physical safety”, Court TV reported.
However, Mr Shiver, a former Auburn University football player, had been opposed to her returning to the US, saying in a recent Zoom court hearing that he was more concerned “for the safety of myself” than the woman who allegedly sought to have him killed.
He told the judge that he was “thankful to be alive” after the alleged attempt on his life.
“After reviewing the indictment, this was a situation close to happening… I’m concerned for the safety of myself,” he said.
Ms Shiver was released from prison in the Bahamas in August on a $100,000 bond but had to remain on the island.
Her attorneys told the court that she had been living there with “no source of income,” and was surviving on money given to her by her parents.
She moved out of her apartment and into a hotel, claiming she felt unsafe after a recent robbery, but this meant she had accumulated thousands of pounds in expenses and sought to move home to lessen the financial burden, Bahamian news outlet Eyewitness News reported.
Her attorney Owen C.B. Wells told Court TV that Ms Shiver is thankful to the court for letting her return and see her children.
“Her attorneys will continue to prepare for trial, and we look forward to vigorously defending Lindsay because she is innocent,” Mr Wells added.
Ms Shiver was arrested alongside her two alleged accomplices – her purported lover Terrance Bethel and the supposed hitman Faron Newbold – in the Abaco Islands, where the Shivers had a second home together.
Bahamas investigators happened to stumble upon the alleged murder-for-hire plot when they found WhatsApp messages on the suspect’s phone while investigating an unrelated break-in at a local bar.
The messages showed Ms Shiver sending photos of her husband to Mr Newbold along with the message “kill him,” according to authorities.
The motive for the alleged plot is unclear, but Mr Shiver had filed for divorce in April for “adulterous conduct” in April. She then filed a counterclaim for “physical and mental cruel treatment” and accused him of cutting her off financially.
While her alleged lover, Mr Bethel, told The Daily Mail her texts were sent “out of frustration”, the three were arrested and charged over the plot. All three have since been released on bail.
Ms Shiver will have to return to the Bahamas for future court appearances.