The wife of a former Laurens man was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for his murder.
Orlando, Florida television station WESH 2 reported Tuesday that Laurie Shaver, 42, was sentenced in Lake County Court. She was convicted in September of second-degree murder in a weeklong trial more than six years after her husband’s body was found under a concrete slab at the property the couple had once shared.
The victim Michael Shaver, 36, had been missing since 2015 from his home in Clermont, Florida. He attended Laurens Central School and moved to Florida with his family, according to previous accounts.
In June of 2018, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that remains found on Shaver property were of Michael Shaver, according to Daily Star archives. Authorities had conducted tests on the remains, which were found in March of that year, buried underneath a concrete slab on the property in Clermont.
According to WESH 2 reporting, the discovery came about a month after a friend told deputies he had not heard from Michael Shaver since 2015. Officials said they believed Laurie was responsible for Michael’s death and assumed his identity over text and Facebook after he was gone.
While Laurie Shaver was found guilty of second-degree murder at her trial, she was found not guilty of accessory after the fact to a life felony.
During the trial, WESH 2 reported, the woman’s defense attorney maintained that Michael was an abusive husband and claimed Laurie was not the one who killed him.
Instead, the defense said two other people were responsible for the man’s death — including the couple’s daughter. On one of the last days in court, the 15-year-old girl took the stand, testifying that she shot Michael while he was beating Laurie.
The teen also said a family friend shot Michael after she did, but that witness took the stand to say they never met the man.
Physical evidence indicates that Michael was shot exactly one time, according to the story. The state questioned the 15-year-old daughter, who they said never shared that version of the story despite speaking to officials multiple times.
A news release posted on the website of the Office of The State Attorney for the Fifth Judicial Circuit of Florida gave some of the same details.
“We hope the defendant’s life sentence brings some measure of closure and peace to the victim’s loved ones,” said Bill Gladson, Fifth Judicial Circuit state attorney.
According to the release, Laurie Shaver was arrested in 2020 by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office after an investigation into Michael’s 2015 disappearance. When authorities conducted a welfare check, Laurie was evasive about his whereabouts and officials observed a newly poured concrete slab in the backyard.
Further investigation revealed suspicious social media activity on Michael’s accounts, which continued for nearly two years after his disappearance, despite no financial transactions since late 2015, the release stated. The LCSO obtained a search warrant for the Shaver residence, where they found human remains under the concrete slab. The medical examiner confirmed the remains were Michael’s and determined he died from a gunshot wound to the back of the head.