LAKE COUNTY, FLA. – The death toll from Hurricane Milton climbed to 3 in Lake County with the discovery of a couple in Tavares that died of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator at their home. The bodies of Perry Leintz, 67, and Constance Albrecht, 85, were discovered Tuesday afternoon at 24 Holly Drive…
Category: Uncategorized
‘Say ‘cheese’ security cameras, odd sweatshirt leads to murder arrests
LEESBURG, FLA. – A suspect’s unusual fashion statement and a series of security cameras has led to his and a codefendant’s arrest for the murder of an 87-year-old man at a gas station. Police have arrested Kenneth D. Bailey and Craig A. Stevenson Jr., both 22, in the slaying of Clarence H. Ervin on Sept….
87-year-old robbery victim dies, police arrest 2 men
LEESBURG, FLA. – The 87-year-old man who was robbed and shot at a gas station on Sept. 28 has died, and two of the three suspects have been arrested, police announced Monday. Clarence Ervin died Sunday of his injuries in the brazen daytime attack at 2101 W. Main St. Kenneth D. Bailey, 22,…
Three men sought in shooting of elderly man at gas station
LEESBURG, FLA. — Police are searching for three men in the shooting of an elderly man at a gas station Sept. 28. Officers responded at 2:40 p.m. at 2101 W. Main St. to find the victim unconscious in his automobile. Cell phone video collected by investigators show that there was a confrontation, possibly an attempted…
Women charged with exploiting elderly widow
LEESBURG, FLA. – Police have arrested three women on charges that they were defrauding an elderly woman in a scheme that that robbed her of $350,000. Kimberly Bitting,56, Lara Larsen, 57, and Ashton Silvis, 35, were arrested by Leesburg police. “Bitting, who had obtained power of attorney over the senior widow, abused this authority to…
What does it mean to be a Southerner?
How great is it to be a Southerner? It is not just about being native-born. Some people, like me, were hatched in the Midwest or other places but have spent years feeling the red clay of Georgia or the sand of Florida squeeze up between our toes. So, what is it, exactly? It is barbecue,…
Murder victim buried under concrete slab not a first
Last week’s conviction of a Laurie Shaver, who killed her husband and buried him under a concrete slab in the back yard was shocking but not a first for Lake County, Fla. “Fast cars, ‘stash houses’ filled with marijuana and cocaine, thick wads of money, hired guns and bullet-riddled bodies were the hallmarks of one…
Jury finds Shaver guilty of murder, burying husband in back yard
LAKE COUNTY, FLA. – laurie Shaver is guilty of murdering her husband, Michael, and burying him in the back yard, jurors decided Friday. She was convicted of second-degree murder. Circuit Judge Cary Rada ordered a presentence investigation. The six-member panel had barely retired to the jury room when they asked to again hear the recorded…
Mom, daughter testify in buried-in-backyard case
LAKE COUNTY, FLA. — It was a sometimes emotional but resilient 15-year-old Isabelle Shaver who testified Thursday about shooting her father to protect her mother when she was 7 years old on Nov. 7, 2015. She testified that the atmosphere in the house was “very combative, a lot of tension,” when Michael was in the…
New husband doesn’t question wife about body buried in back yard
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…