A Florida woman who murdered her husband, buried him in their backyard, and tried to blame it on her 7-year-old daughter has been sentenced to life in prison.
In September, Laurie Shaver, 41, was found guilty of second-degree murder in the 2015 death of Michael Shaver, 36.
Shaver appeared emotionless during Tuesday's sentencing, looking straight ahead and nodding as the judge handed down the life sentence.
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Laurie Shaver, 41, who tried to blame her husband's murder on her 7-year-old daughter, appeared emotionless during Tuesday's sentencing. (Fox35 Orlando)
Michael, a Disney World technician, was last seen in November 2015, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
His body was discovered on March 9, 2018, after a friend reported him missing, and police conducted a welfare check on the five-acre Shaver mansion in Claremont, west of Orlando. Authorities found Michael's body buried under a fireplace and concrete slabs in the backyard.
Authorities say Shaver began sending text messages and Facebook messages pretending to be Michael after he died.
Shaver also allegedly told a friend that Michael had left his family and moved to another state. She was arrested in 2020, five years after Michael's death.
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Michael Shaver, a former Disney World mechanic, disappeared in Florida in 2015. His body was found buried under a fireplace in the backyard three years later. (Lake County Sheriff)
During her trial, Shaver claimed that Michael was an abusive husband and that her 7-year-old daughter killed him.
Shaver's daughter, now 15, testified in her mother's defense during the trial: Fox35 reported.
“I shot him,” the boy said under oath.
“When you fired that gun, did you feel like you had to do it or he would have killed your mother?” Shaver's attorney asked.
“Yes, yes,” she said.
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Laurie Shaver, 41, who tried to blame her husband's murder on her 7-year-old daughter, was sentenced to life in prison. (Lake County Sheriff)
“Justice may bring some solace, but it will never heal the wounds,” Michael's brother Brian Shaver said during the sentencing, a local newspaper reported.
One of Michael's friends also wrote a petition to the judge asking that Shaver never be released.
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“Laurie's inhumane, callous, and barbaric actions, especially her complete lack of remorse, show that she will never change,” the letter said.
Shaver's lawyers appealed the ruling.
