Mother hopes to get justice for murdered daughter in retrial in Dominican Republic

Shirley Firth holds a photograph of daughter Lindsay, whom she says was ‘clever, thoughtful, kind and generous in every way’. Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian View image in fullscreen Shirley Firth holds a photograph of daughter Lindsay, whom she says was ‘clever, thoughtful, kind and generous in every way’. Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian Mother hopes to get justice for murdered daughter in retrial in Dominican Republic Shirley Firth is hoping those responsible for Lindsay de Feliz’s death in 2019 will finally be convicted A Cambridgeshire mother in her 90s is hoping to finally see justice for her murdered daughter when a retrial into her death is due to open in the Dominican Republic this week. The body of Lindsay de Feliz, 64, a successful author, was found in a shallow grave, close to her home in the north-west of the Dominican Republic, in December 2019. Her mother, Shirley Firth, who will be 94 next month and lives in a small village in Huntingdon, is hoping that those responsible for her daughter’s death will finally be convicted. “We are astonished and very pleased this has happened and hoping that new vital evidence will be presented this time,” said Firth. “Lindsay was clever, thoughtful, kind and generous in every way.” Firth, who is still active and follows developments in her daughter’s case closely, was until recently a parish councillor. She continues to be in contact with some of her daughter’s friends on Facebook. They have shared information with her that de Feliz feared for her life towards the end of it. “I am in contact with people on Facebook but don’t use TikTok or Instagram,” said Firth. De Feliz’s husband of 14 years, Danilo Feliz Torres, his two sons and a fourth man were acquitted in a previous trial after charges connected to her murder. View image in fullscreen Lindsay De Feliz’s husband, Danilo Feliz Torres, his two sons and a fourth man were acquitted in a previous trial. Photograph: Fabio De Paola/The Guardian The acquittal was appealed to the country’s supreme court and now there has been a ruling that there should be a new trial in front of three different judges. De Feliz led a successful life in the UK, working as a marketing manager for various firms in the City. She longed for something different and in 2002 decided to leave her husband, job and life in the UK to follow her passion for scuba diving. After spending some time in the Maldives she settled in the Dominican Republic where she worked as a scuba-diving instructor and married a local man in 2005. After she was shot in the throat during a robbery in 2006, de Feliz could no longer work as a diving instructor. She began writing blogs about her life in the Dominican Republic and published two memoirs – What About Your Saucepans? and Life After My Saucepans. The titles were references to a comment by her mother who had bought her a set of saucepans for Christmas that de Feliz did not take with her to the Dominican Republic. Her first book re