An Ashford man involved in a case concerning the alleged strangulation of a Dothan pageant queen, and facing charges for a murder-for-hire scheme, has pleaded not guilty.

The indictment issued in April says that Dorsey Love, an Ashford resident, placed his hands around Lindsay Shiver’s neck, cutting off her airflow.

On Thursday, May 1, Love entered a not guilty plea.

Shiver filed a protection order against Love on July 29 last year, and Love was arrested six days later.

In the order, Shiver claims Love threw her onto a bed, tried to choke her, and suffocated her with a pillow in a house on North Cherokee Street.

Shiver also alleged Love abused her on a trip to Tampa, Florida, several weeks before, but she did not report it to the police.

For nearly two years, Shiver, formerly a National Peanut Festival pageant contestant, has been in the international spotlight. She was taken into custody in August 2023 after being accused by Bahamian officials of conspiring with her lover, Terrance Bethel, and his associate, Faron Newbold, to kill her husband, Robert Shiver. All three were detained simultaneously and subsequently released on bond.

Bahamian authorities claim Shiver had sent photos of her husband to Newbold Jr., along with the message “Kill him” on WhatsApp.

Her trial has been postponed multiple times since the charges were filed abroad. However, if Shiver is incarcerated in the Bahamas when Dorsey’s trial occurs, prosecutors might have to drop his charge, lacking Shiver’s testimony to proceed with the case.