German-born Irish resident acquitted of murder of wife on Italian cruise ship

Irish Daily Mirror

30-05-2025

A German man living in Ireland who was accused of killing his wife on a cruise ship has been acquitted of murder.
Daniel Belling, 49, who has been living in Ireland for years, was convicted in Italy of the murder missing wife Xing-Li, 38, while they were on a Mediterranean cruise in February 2017.
Belling, who did not travel to Italy and was convicted in his absence, had been sentenced to 26 years in prison - but the charge has now been thrown out in Rome's Court of Appeal.
Mr Belling himself first informed the Irish Mirror of the bombshell decision, and told us of his delight that he is once again a free man.
'I was just acquitted in Italy. The lawyer said they have it today but in Italy the process of having it written out comes later.
'I'm very happy, yes. Oh it's great, I am still a bit muted. I cannot yet express how I feel,' he said.
'Hopefully it stays that way and the other side doesn't challenge it and it goes to a third round of back and forth.'
Mr Belling admitted to this paper that he has been having difficulty in getting a job in Ireland - but believes his acquittal will now end his challenges.
'Now I can finally get a job I guess. It was a risk for them, how could they hire someone when this person was in danger of going away somewhere or whatever,' he said.
Asked if he knew what had happened to his wife - who seemingly vanished from the cruise ship, Mr Belling said he didn't know.
Telling us he was 'cloudy in the mind,' he said 'I don't know, I don't know,' as we asked what he thought might have happened to her, or if he believed she may still be alive.
On Thursday, Judges of the Court of Appeal in Rome acquitted Mr Belling after his lawyer Lugigi Conti argued it was a 'trial based on feelings' and said there was no element to support his guilt. It comes after Mr Belling previously told us that he believed his wife was probably dead.
'She would not have left the children like this. Why would she not come back? It doesn't make any sense,' he said.
Mr Belling, Ms Xing and their two children boarded cruise ship MSC Magnifica in the Italian port of Civitavecchia on February 9, 2017 - but later crew members noticed that she was missing when they did a head count.
Mr Belling, who previously spent 14 months on remand in an Italian prison before he was released and returned to Ireland in 2018, said he believes his wife could have been killed because she had information someone didn't want out.
'I think (someone) may have killed her. Maybe she knew something.
'I don't know, she just said on the cruise 'I will be back, I need to do some business. She had said that to me earlier before too so I was just like ok.
'That was the day before,' he said.
But later in our conversation, Mr Belling suggested his wife had psychological issues - and this could have played a part.
'I think she was depressive in her anger management issues so I think it's something psychological also,' he said.
'I don't know why she wouldn't come back. Like, is she in a coma maybe?'
Asked how he was coping with the disappearance of his wife and if he was upset, Mr Belling said he was, but is no longer.
'It was (upsetting). But not anymore,' he said.
Italian prosecutors alleged that Mr Belling killed his wife and disposed of her body at sea.
Asked if he was a killer Mr Belling responded to us: 'No I am not.'
He also said that he doesn't know how to respond to those who may believe he murdered his wife.
'I don't know what to say to that,' he said.
But he said people cannot make their own judgement when he says the full facts of what happened are not out there.
'One cannot have an opinion about any court case where one is not involved."
Mr Belling was previously spared a jail sentence when he appeared before Dublin's Circuit Court and had pleaded guilty to one count of dishonestly inducing the Bank of Ireland to providing a mortgage loan of €112,500 on 13 March 2014.
On five other occasions, Belling used false documents on dates between July 1, 2013 and January 27, 2015 to attempt to apply for loans.
Mr Belling claimed in court that his wife was behind the scheme - though presiding judge Martin Nolan said he would take that explanation 'with a pinch of salt'.
Speaking to the Irish Mirror, Mr Belling insisted that he was telling the truth - though he admits he cannot prove it, given the fact that his wife is missing.
Mr Belling previously told an Italian judge that he and his wife had fought and that she wanted to "quit the trip".
According to reports, he claimed his wife left the ship when he and the children joined a shore excursion. Speaking in Italy after his release in 2018, Mr Belling at the time said he believed she had arranged her disappearance.
He described her as a "cruel person" for allowing him to spend 14 months in jail for a crime "I did not commit".