LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – Laurie Shaver took the stand in her murder trial Thursday in Lake County, telling a jury that her husband was often physically abusive, and her daughter took matters into her own hands.
“He’s just sitting in the chair as he’s smashing my face into the porch,” Shaver said.
Shaver was arrested in 2020, more than two years after her former husband — Michael Shaver, who hadn’t been seen since November 2015 — was reported missing. Preceding her arrest via a warrant on charges including second-degree murder, investigators searching Shaver’s property along Sandy Pines Road discovered human remains buried underneath a concrete slab which were later identified as Michael’s.
The years since have seen Laurie Shaver released on bond and her attorney claim that she and Michael’s daughter Isabelle, who would have been 7 at the time of his disappearance, had confessed to shooting Michael in order to purportedly protect Laurie from an act of domestic violence.
Laurie Shaver was on the stand for about two hours Thursday afternoon. She told the court that she did not stand up for herself against Michael Shaver, who was often physically abusive.
Shaver: “The next thing I see is — I can’t even say it — I see her, I more or less heard it, then I think I seen her.”
Attorney: “Now when you say her, who are you referring to?”
Shaver: “Isabelle.”
Attorney: “What’s Isabelle do?”
Shaver: “She fired a gunshot.”
Attorney: “Now after Isabelle fires this gunshot, could you see where it lodged in Michael?”
Shaver: “I could not.”
Attorney: “Where are you after Isabelle fires the gun?”
Shaver: “Still on the ground.”
Earlier in the day, Isabelle told the court that she had shot Michael Shaver.
Laurie and Michael were allegedly dating other people when he went missing. One of the men Laurie had been seeing took the stand on Thursday.
Jeremy Townsend described his relationship with her as, “friends with benefits and no strings attached.”
He denied having anything to do with the murder. He was asked several direct questions about the murder while on the stand.
Prosecution: “Any point where you were involved with an altercation with Michael Shaver?”
Townsend: “No.”
Prosecution: “At any point did you shoot or injure Michael Shaver?”
Townsend: “No.”
Prosecution: “At any point were you involved with the disposing of the body of Michael Shaver?
Townsend: “No.”
Prosecution: “After the affair was exposed, what happened with your affair with Laurie?”
Townsend: “I cut it off.”
An autopsy showed there Michael Shaver was only shot once.
A detective also testified on Thursday about Shaver’s social media posts that referred to the concrete slab and firepit she was putting in her backyard, where the body was found.
In one of the posts, he read aloud, “Newest project, built this firepit today, cut a portion of the fence for access, and I just need to pour in concrete and put in a new gate.”
During day three of the trial on Wednesday, 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.
[TIMELINE: Where things stand in the case of Laurie Shaver, accused of killing and burying husband]
Another man, Robert Proper, testified Wednesday 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.
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The state had three more witnesses to get through Thursday, and there may also be an appearance from Laurie Shaver’s daughter.
News 6 will stream the trial live at the top of this story.
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