Overview

• On May 29, 2025, the Rome Appeal Court overturned Belling’s conviction, applying the formula “because the fact does not exist” to both murder and corpse destruction charges.
• Belling had been sentenced to 26 years by the Rome Assize Court after being found guilty of killing his wife and disposing of her body aboard a Mediterranean cruise ship.
• Prosecutors had requested confirmation of the original verdict, arguing that the charges were supported by a coherent reconstruction of events based on indirect proof.
• Xiang Lei Lì vanished in 2017 during a family cruise with Belling and their two young children, and her remains have never been located.
• Defense attorneys Luigi Conti and Laura Camomilla welcomed the acquittal, asserting that the first-instance ruling lacked any substantive logical or juridical basis.