Aged 94, mother hopes for justice in retrial over murdered daughter in Dominican Republic

Shirley Firth, who turns 94 next month and lives in a small village in Huntingdon, is hoping that a retrial opening this week in the Dominican Republic will finally deliver justice for her daughter's murder. The body of Lindsay de Feliz, a 64-year-old successful author, was found in a shallow grave near her home in northwest Dominican Republic in December 2019.

Firth expressed astonishment and delight at the retrial, hoping that vital new evidence will be presented this time. She described her daughter as clever, thoughtful, kind, and generous. Firth, still active and closely following the case, was a parish councillor until recently. She remains in contact with some of her daughter's friends on Facebook, who shared that de Feliz feared for her life.

In the previous trial, de Feliz's husband of 14 years, Danilo Feliz Torres, his two sons, and a fourth man were acquitted. The acquittal was appealed to the country's Supreme Court, which ordered a new trial before three different judges.

De Feliz had a successful career in the UK as a marketing manager in the City of London. In 2002, she left her husband, job, and life in the UK to pursue her passion for scuba diving. After time in the Maldives, she settled in the Dominican Republic, worked as a diving instructor, and married a local man in 2005.

After being shot in the throat during a robbery in 2006, she could no longer work as an instructor. She began writing blogs about her life and published two memoirs, "What About Your Saucepans?" and "Life After My Saucepans." Her first book reached No. 1 on the Amazon Kindle travel books chart.

Firth said the family cannot have closure until the matter is resolved. She hopes for resolution and justice. A Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office spokesperson said they are supporting the family of the British woman who died in the Dominican Republic and are in contact with local authorities.