A private jet, a rocky divorce, and a two-word WhatsApp message have landed Lindsay Shiver, a former cheerleader and mother-of-three, at the centre of a chilling murder-for-hire case unfolding in the Bahamas.
It all kicked off after a blazing row over a private flight to the Bahamas last summer. Lindsay, 36, was reportedly furious after her estranged husband, Robert Shiver, refused to let her join him and their three sons on the family’s private jet. The destination? Their luxury holiday home in the Abaco Islands. Lindsay, it turns out, had plans to meet up with her boyfriend, Terrance Bethel, once they landed.
That very same day—16 July 2023—Lindsay sent a brief but deeply incriminating message to Bethel via WhatsApp: “Kill him.” According to Bahamian authorities, that message referred to Robert. It came along with a photo of him and another woman, and was allegedly part of a plot to have him killed. ABC News reports that the message was also sent to another man, Farron Newbold Jr., a friend of Bethel’s. All three—Lindsay, Bethel, and Newbold—were later arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
Robert, thankfully, was unharmed. He and Lindsay had been navigating a bitter divorce while still sharing a home with their kids in Thomasville, Georgia. Their marriage, which began in 2010 after meeting at Auburn University—he was a football player, she a cheerleader—had clearly unravelled behind the scenes.
Robert filed for divorce in April 2023, citing “adulterous conduct.” Lindsay, for her part, accused him of “cruel treatment” and claimed that her relationship with Bethel began during a period of separation and was actually known and accepted by Robert. The whole thing, as far as court documents suggest, was toxic on both sides.
Following the infamous July fight about the jet, Lindsay reportedly claimed Robert was acting “aggressively” and called 911. In bodycam footage from the scene, Robert calmly explained his reasons for keeping her off the flight: “You’re not getting on the airplane. That can mess with the kids’ heads. It’s just something we’re not going to do.”
After the arrest, Bethel went on Good Morning America, where he denied any real plot and insisted the message was being misinterpreted. “Kill him,” he said, was just a figure of speech. “Whenever she gets into an argument with [Robert] and she tells me about it, of course I’m livid about it,” he explained. “But planning to murder him? No.”
He added, “Nobody ever wanted Robert dead… I’m definitely not guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, and [Farron] is not guilty of being a hired hitman.”
Still, the Bahamian authorities weren’t buying that version of events. All three suspects have pleaded not guilty, and Lindsay’s trial is set for August. Following Bethel’s TV interview, a judge slapped a gag order on the case, banning further public comments.
As it stands, the world is left watching a story that sounds more like a Netflix script than real life.