A Florida woman who tried to frame her own seven-year-old daughter for the murder of her husband has been sentenced to life in prison.
Laurie Shaver, 41, was found guilty of manslaughter in September after killing her husband in 2015 and burying him under a concrete slab in Claremont, just west of Orlando.
She remained emotionless and nodded Tuesday as a judge sentenced her to life in prison.
During her trial, Shaver took the stand, saying her husband was abusive and shockingly claiming it was her daughter Isabelle, who was seven at the time, who shot Michael dead.
Prosecutors said Laurie killed her husband in November 2015 at their home in Claremont, just west of Orlando, with a shot to the back of the head.
Michael’s body was not discovered until 2018, when officers were called to conduct a welfare check on the missing Walt Disney World employee. His remains were buried under a fire pit.
Officials also said Laurie took over Michael’s identity after he was dead and sent text and Facebook messages pretending to be him.
Laurie’s daughter, now 15, testified Thursday in her mother’s defense, claiming she shot her father to protect her mother. However, a jury did not believe the story.
Laurie Shaver remained emotionless Tuesday as a judge sentenced her to life in prison
Michael’s body was not discovered until 2018, when officers were called to conduct a welfare check on the missing Walt Disney World employee
Michael’s body was not discovered until 2018, when officers were called to conduct a welfare check and his remains were buried under a fire pit (pictured)
“And I grabbed her, and I grabbed her gun. And I went out again, and I went to the door. The door was already open. And he still had my mother on the floor. Still on the ground. I still kick her. And I shot him,” the daughter said.
Shaver had also claimed that a man she was having an affair with, Jeremy Townsend, shot Michael a second time and disposed of his body. However, physical evidence shows that Michael was shot only once.
Townsend testified for the prosecution and said he had never met Michael.
Michael’s family cried tears of joy as the guilty verdict came down on him nearly a decade after his murder.
‘Elation. Elation,” his sister Stacie Turner told local news media. ‘We were very happy. This has taken a long time.’
Michael Shaver was not reported missing until February 2018, after a friend contacted police, who conducted a welfare check at Shaver’s home in Claremont. Officers saw fresh concrete near a fire pit and asked to bring a cadaver dog.
Shaver told police she had not seen Michael since 2015.
Neighbor Curt Ruhl told Click Orlando that he often saw Michael working in the yard before he “suddenly disappeared.” Soon after, another man moved in with Laurie, the neighbor said.
Laurie Shaver (pictured) cried as she was convicted of her husband’s murder in 2015
Shaver was arrested in 2020 – five years after her husband was last seen
Although the couple never divorced, other neighbors told WFTV that Shaver remarried in a ceremony near where Michael’s body was later discovered.
Police say Shaver’s stories changed over the years, sometimes claiming in various ways that Michael had moved to another state, that he was in jail for failing to pay child support, and even that he was a pilot and traveled constantly for work.
Shaver was eventually arrested in September 2020.
After her conviction, her lawyer promised to appeal the verdict.