LAKE COUNTY, FLA. – It was a tough day for Laurie Shaver’s husband in court Wednesday when he said he didn’t question her when her first husband’s body was found buried in the back yard.
“At that time did you ask Ms. Shaver how that body got there?” Assistant State Attorney Nick Camuccio asked.
“I did not.”
“So, this person you are in a committed relationship with, who you had been told that her husband left and had no contact about the kids, there’s a body found in the back yard, and you don’t ask a single question?”
Shaver is charged with second-degree murder and accessory after the fact.
Filmer said she called him at work sobbing and saying sheriff’s deputies were asking about Michael Shaver, who was last seen in public on Nov. 7, 2015.
He said he was questioned by a detective before he could get in the house and shown a picture of Michael.
“It looks like something serious is going on; you need to get a lawyer,” he recalled telling her.
Filmer was also questioned by the prosecutor about a statement he made to a man he worked for: “It’s not that he’s missing, he’s no longer walking this earth.”
He said he made that statement after he learned about the law enforcement investigation but before the body was discovered.
“I did not make that statement, not exactly as you are saying.”
The probable cause affidavit includes this statement: “Laurie told her boyfriend (Travis) that Michael wasn’t missing, he was no longer walking this earth and that there was a body on the property.”
Filmer testified he never had such a conversation with her.
He said he started dating Shaver in late April 2016 but did not discuss whether she had been married. Later, she said she was divorced, “that he didn’t know where he was, and he was not around.”
On Dec. 31 of that year, he said he and Laurie held a “commitment ceremony.”
Assistant State Attorney Nick Camuccio challenged his account, showing him a photo of Laurie wearing a white dress in the back yard ceremony and asking him if people thought it was an actual marriage ceremony.
His twin brother, Austin, would later testify that it he was convinced it was a wedding.
Asked why they didn’t get married, he said, “It was due to extreme trauma, and she did not want to sign a contract with any man giving him the right to treat her like property.”
But he did not state that as a reason in his deposition, Camuccio pointed out. He had cited financial reasons.
After a friend called the Lake Sheriff’s Office requesting a well-being check on Michael, she told a deputy on Feb. 16, 2018 that she and Travis had an unofficial ceremony, “due to her and Mr. Shaver still being married,” according to an investigative report.
She never filed for divorce, reported him missing or sought child support. Travis reportedly told investigators they would find the Shavers’ divorce papers in court records, but no such record exists, according to the affidavit.
He and Laurie were officially married in 2020 and have two children together.
Camuccio also asked him if Laurie had ever used his phone to text his brother, Austin.
“Not to my knowledge.” But Austin would later testify that she had.
That allegation would appear to be unimportant, but there would be lots of testimony about Shaver pretending to be Michael after he was dead, sending texts and Facebook messages to friends and family.
One of those receiving fake messages was Vanessa Townsend. She was unaware of that her husband, Jereme, was having an affair with Laurie in early 2016.
She was still emotional while recalling the betrayal. She testified about receiving flowers at work one day. Included with the flowers was a card: “Roses are red, violets are blue, my wife is a whore, your husband is too (sorry about that). Check your Facebook messages, we need to talk, Mike.”
She received numerous texts, including suggesting she hire a divorce attorney. Townsend told authorities that Laurie was much more serious about the relationship.
Defense attorney Jeffrey Wiggs alleged in his opening statement that the Shavers’ 7-year-old daughter, Isabelle, fired a shot at Michael to protect her mother. He said Jereme grabbed the gun and fired the fatal shot. Townsend then threatened to kill Laurie if she told anyone and disposed of the body without telling her where it was, according to Wiggs.
Vanessa said she and her husband salvaged their marriage.
Another witness, a financial officer testified her company was tricked into extending a loan for Michael after he was dead. Others testified about her selling Michael’s tools, vehicle, and guns.
One of those weapons was a pink, snub-nose handgun which fires a .38-caliber bullet similar to the one fired into the back of Michael’s head, forensic experts testified. The bullet recovered from the skull was too badly damaged to make a positive identification.
Shaver’s body was found buried beneath a fire pit and concrete slab in the back yard. Travis said he constructed the slab with Laurie. Asked if anyone else helped, he said no. Later Wednesday, Austin said he helped pour the slab.
A sheriff’s detective testified that fake texts and messages from Michael were linked to Laurie’s computer IP address.