Daniel Belling, a 51 year-old German national also holding Irish citizenship and currently residing in the Republic, is expected to challenge his guilty verdict for his wife’s murder committed on an Italian cruise ship in 2017. As of now, there have been no initiatives to extradite him to commence his jail term.
Belling had been living in Dublin with his offspring for a considerable amount of time, and was handed down a 26-year sentence by an Italian court just last week. He was convicted of murdering his wife, Xiang Lei Li, who was 38 at the time, and was accused of throwing her body into the sea. However, her remains and the exact cause of her death remain unknown.
In 2017, Ms Xiang disappeared during a 10-day cruise across the Mediterranean, and Belling has always denied his involvement in her demise. Luigi Conti, confirming the forthcoming appeal, clarifies that it would not be directed towards the Court of Cassation, a distinct higher court of appeal in Italy’s judicial system.
Furthermore, there has been no extradition request from Italy, as far as Mr Conti is informed. Belling, who presently resides in both Dublin and Cork, fathered two children during his marriage to his Chinese spouse, who is now missing and presumed by Italian officials to be a victim of murder.
Born and raised in Germany, Belling moved to Ireland over 10 years ago, where his children were born. A proficient IT professional and an Irish citizen, he was found guilty in an Irish court two years ago, of fraudulently persuading the Bank of Ireland to grant him a mortgage loan of €112,500 on March 13th, 2014.
The Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard that Belling fabricated documents five times between 1st July 2013 and 27th January 2015 to try to secure loans. Belling was sentenced to a fully suspended prison term of 3-and-a-half years in July 2022, with Judge Martin Nolan labelling Belling’s actions as a typical example of white-collar crime.
Belling’s spouse vanished during a 10-day voyage around the Mediterranean Sea that began and ended in the port of Civitavecchia, located to the north of the Italian capital. The husband and wife, together with their two children then aged 6 and 4, disembarked from the MSC Magnifica in February 2017 as it reached Civitavecchia.
Suspicions were raised when the ship’s personnel noted that the number of passengers disembarking was less than the number documented as having come onboard. After further investigation, it was established that Ms. Belling had gotten on the ship on the 10th of February, but had failed to disembark ten days later. No crew member could verify her presence before her disappearance was noted.
Belling was apprehended by the police at Rome’s Ciampino airport just as he was about to depart for Dublin with his two children. He was subsequently taken to Regina Coeli prison in Rome and charged. He then spent 14 months in custody in Italy before being set free and resuming residence in Ireland.
Recently, he was found guilty in Italy, in his absence, of the murder of his wife which took place over seven years from his arrest, and was sentenced to 26 years of prison. The prosecution team claimed that he murdered his wife, then disposed her body by attaching it to a shopping trolley and tossing it into the sea.