LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – An ongoing murder trial in Lake County focuses on Laurie Shaver, 41, who is accused of killing her husband, Michael Shaver, and burying his remains in her backyard.
The following is a timeline of the case, now dating back nearly a decade:
November 2015
Investigators believe that Michael Shaver was killed sometime between Nov. 7 and Nov. 10, 2015.
Years would pass before law enforcement became involved as it relates to either a missing person or a murder case.
February 2018
A friend of Michael Shaver requested that the Lake County Sheriff’s Office perform a well-being check, stating neither he nor Michael’s family had seen or heard from him in years. Responding to Laurie Shaver’s Clermont property on Sandy Pines Road, she reportedly told deputies she hadn’t seen Michael since 2015.
After initially permitting investigators to look inside the residence, deputies said that she stopped cooperating and requested an attorney as the search continued outdoors. Michael Shaver had only recently been reported missing.
March 2018
One day after Laurie Shaver was named a person of interest in Michael’s disappearance — as well as about two weeks after the well-being check — investigators discovered articles of clothing and what was believed to be part of a human humerus underneath a shoddy concrete slab described by deputies as a fire pit.
A cadaver K9 brought in from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office alerted twice to the supposed human remains, and although law enforcement stated they did not want to get ahead of themselves and make assumptions, neighbors recalled what they saw as the discovery was made in real-time.
“(The K9) was jumping and digging and stuff like that. I saw the cops. They all stopped him and said, ‘Here boy, here,’” Jade Roop said. “Then he sat down on that spot and (they) started bringing a whole bunch of equipment and they started digging.”
“While they were digging, all of a sudden they stopped and backed up and looked and everyone got down and looked, and then it was, ‘Yes!’ and high-fiving and so, he’s there. He’s there. I knew he was there,” Wilma Nicholas said.
June 2018
Authorities identified the human remains found buried beneath the concrete slab as Michael Shaver. What caused his death was still unknown pending word from the Lake County Medical Examiner’s Office and a lieutenant with the sheriff’s office said that the investigation was still active.
September 2020
Laurie Shaver was arrested via warrant to face charges of second-degree murder in connection to the death of her husband and accessory after the fact to second-degree murder.
According to her arrest affidavit, Laurie Shaver had told Michael’s friends that he quit his job and left his family, yet his friends and co-workers found it odd that Michael would ever leave his two children, the affidavit states.
After his disappearance, co-workers, family, and friends reportedly continued to receive text messages from Michael’s number telling them to “leave me alone” or “don’t bother me.” Detectives believed these, along with Facebook messages, were sent by Laurie Shaver and could be traced back to her home’s IP address.
News 6 spoke to Michael Shaver’s family, who were not surprised by the arrest.
“Michael was a great guy, just a real great guy, real laid back,” father Doug Shaver told News 6. “Hopefully, we’re going to have closure. It’s going to be a long, drawn-out thing I’m sure.”
December 2020
A judge granted Laurie Shaver a $52,000 bond amount several months following her arrest in Michael Shaver’s death. Initially held without bond, Laurie Shaver would go on to post bail and be released from the Lake County Jail.
Laurie Shaver’s stories had begun to vary as the years passed. Detectives said she had told some people that Michael moved to Georgia and claimed to others that he was in New York and California. Records show her friends were told that Michael was stalking her. She had even allegedly told her new boyfriend’s mother that Michael was a pilot who was traveling and, further, told her supervisor at work that he was in jail for nonpayment of child support.
September 2021
A year had passed since Laurie Shaver was arrested in connection to her husband’s death.
News 6 spoke with Stacie Turner, Michael Shaver’s older sister, who said her family was still waiting for closure.
“It hasn’t been easy,” Turner said. “I honestly didn’t think it was this long, however, I do know that the police and the DA are still working diligently every single day. (...) I’ll always remember his last words to me were, ‘I love you, sis.’ I keep that with me every single day.”
Turner reiterated Michael’s family and friends had for several years received messages claiming to be from him, adding the messages were being sent leading up to when he was reported missing.
May 2023
Laurie Shaver’s attorneys claimed Michael Shaver’s daughter, who was 7 at the time of his disappearance, had confessed to shooting and killing her father.
Attorney Jeffrey Wiggs said that the girl got hold of a gun and shot Michael in order to protect Laurie from purported abuse. The attorney went on to say, too, that Laurie Shaver’s ex-boyfriend was also in the home and fired a second shot striking Michael.
“My client had come to me in this case and relayed clearly and with supporting evidence that she was not guilty of this crime,” Wiggs said in an interview with News 6. “We went to the state. We know who committed the crime. We know how the crime was committed. We were basically just pushed out the door.”
Wiggs went on to say the state didn’t “have too much concern” and instead was worried about “law enforcement’s pressure.”
September 2024
Laurie Shaver’s trial begins, with day one taking place Monday, Sept. 9, in Lake County court.
During day two on Tuesday, Sept. 10, the state called several witnesses, including coworkers, friends, and family members of Michael Shaver. Prosecutors said they had 15 more witnesses to call.
Investigators spoke to multiple witnesses who described the Shavers’ relationship as tumultuous and said the two had separated at one point, while both dating other people.
The last person besides his wife to see him alive was Michael Shaver’s co-worker at a tractor show on Nov. 7, 2015. The co-worker told investigators Michael and Laurie Shaver were there with their two children and did not appear to be getting along.
No person ever saw or verbally spoke to Michael Shaver after Nov. 7, 2015. Investigators said there is no evidence Michael Shaver existed anywhere after that date.
During day three of the trial on Wednesday, Sept. 11, Laurie Shaver’s new husband, Travis Filmer, spoke of what he knew about Laurie’s relationship with Michael and was asked why Michael’s disappearance didn’t raise more questions for him.
Another man, Robert Proper, testified that Filmer knew Michael Shaver was dead, saying Filmer said Michael “may no longer be walking this Earth.”
Filmer, however, said he didn’t mean it the way prosecutors were framing it.
The jury also heard from two people who said that Shaver sold them guns, as well as from a banker who said that a loan was taken out in Shaver’s name but was never able to be repaid.
Day four of the trial — held Thursday, Sept. 12 — has yet to begin at the time of this writing.
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