Crimeatorium
Part 1: The State of Florida vs Laurie Shaver | The Murder of Michael Shaver
Mon, 16 Dec 2024
Part 1: Laurie Shaver was a Florida woman whose seemingly ordinary life unraveled when authorities uncovered the body of her husband, Michael Shaver, buried in their backyard beneath a concrete slab. Michael, born in New York and just 33 years old at the time, was a Disney employee who disappeared in 2015. For years, Laurie claimed he had simply walked away from their marriage. However, suspicions grew when family and friends reported him missing in 2018, leading investigators to uncover the truth. Laurie Shaver was charged with second-degree murder in connection with her husband's death. This episode presents a condensed version of her trial, edited for clarity and length.The prosecution opening statement begins at about 30 seconds in.Contact:[email protected] Blog for updates and insights:https://crimeatorium.com/blogSupport:Donations are appreciated, if you would like to help support the show, use the link below and buy me a burrito and a Diet Pepsi:http://Ko-fi.com/crimeatoriumFor $3 a month, you can support this show on Patreon, in return you will receive ad free, early, and bonus episodeshttps://www.patreon.com/crimeatoriumIf you like the podcast, please share it on social media and with friends, and take a minute to leave a review for Crimeatorium on Spotify, Podchaser or Apple Podcasts.Music:CO.AG Musichttps://www.youtube.com/@co.agmusic1823Thank you for listening!Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/crimeatorium9009/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
Welcome to Crimatorium. Laurie Shaver was a Florida woman whose seemingly ordinary life unraveled when authorities uncovered the body of her husband, Michael Shaver, buried in the backyard beneath a concrete slab. Michael, born in New York and just 33 years old at the time, was a Disney employee who disappeared in 2015. For years, Larry claimed he had simply walked away from their marriage.
However, suspicions grew when family and friends reported him missing in 2018, leading investigators to uncover the truth. Laurie Shaver was charged with second-degree murder in connection with her husband's death. This episode presents a condensed version of her trial, edited for clarity and length. The opening statement from the prosecution begins at after 30 seconds of progress.
They both were sent to work on November 10th of 2015. They worked the night shift, which was 7 p.m. to 7 and 4 a.m. Tuesday, November 10, 2015, throw it around. Michael Shaver didn't show up for work. He didn't show up. He didn't call saying, hey, I'm not coming in. This was unusual for Michael Shaver not to show up for work and not to call saying, hey, I can't make it for whatever reason.
November 11, 2015, Wednesday, came along. Michael Shaver was supposed to work that day as well. Mr. Shaver didn't show up. He'd call in and say, hey, what's going on? I can't make it to work. So now that he has not shown up for work for two straight days and not called anyone letting him know, Michael Shaver's boss, John Borglum, gets involved.
John Borglum tried to reach out to Mr. Shaver to find out what's going on. He did so, and John Borglum got a text from Michael Shaver's phone indicating he's not coming to work. that he was having issues at home, that he was in Georgia, and to go ahead and fire him. The evidence will show, ladies and gentlemen, that Michael Shaver was not in Georgia. Michael Shaver was dead.
After not showing up for work for several days, after knowing that Michael Shaver had not shown up to work for several days, Frank Merritt went to the Shaver residence and made contact with his wife, the defendant, Ms. Laurie Shaver. Frank Merritt asked about Michael. The defendant said Michael Shaver, her husband at the time, was in Georgia.
He said that a co-worker of Mike's, a guy named Robert Garcado, picked Mr. Shaver up and drove him to Georgia, and he was gone. The defendant said that Michael Shaver left because she and Mr. Shaver had an argument. Frank Barrett did notice that Michael Shaver's car was still on the Shaver residence property and it had a flat tire. Frank Merritt texted Michael Shaver here and there several times.
He got responses occasionally from Michael Shaver's phone, but never had the ability to speak directly with Michael Shaver to verify that Mr. Shaver was the one sending those messages. As I said, the evidence will show that Michael Shaver was dead. He was not the one responding to those text messages. I'm just going to show that the defendant gradually got rid of Michael Shaver's property.
She sold his four-wheelers, sold some expensive tools, sold guns. She knew Michael Shaver wasn't coming back. She knew Michael Shaver wasn't going to need those things because she knew Michael Shaver is dead. You're going to hear from Robert Mercado, the person that the defendant indicated taking Michael Shaver out of the drove into Georgia.
Robert Mercado also worked with Michael Shaver at Epcot, but they didn't work at the same ride. They worked at different rides, so they didn't see each other on a regular basis. Saw each other occasionally, but not all the time. Mr. Mercado will explain to you that there were plans for a work-type Thanksgiving get-together to happen at the Shaver residence.
So Mr. Mercado sent some text message to Michael Shaver several weeks before this get-together was supposed to happen to see, hey, are there plans still to go? Are we still doing this thing? He got no response. Mr. Mercado texted Michael Shaver several times, two or three times.
Eventually, Michael Shaver's phone responded to Robert Mercado and said, leave me alone, I'm working on my marriage and my family. Robert Mercado did not actually speak with Michael Shaver at that time. That communication was done by text-to-phone link. Again, the evidence would show Michael Shaver's design was dead. Most importantly, Robert Mercado will explain to you that in no time,
During the weekend or around the weekend of November 7th of 2015, did he go over to the Shaver residence? At no time did he load Michael Shaver up and said, that should be. And at no time did he take Michael Shaver to Georgia. Directly contradicting the statements that the defendant was making to various people about where Michael Shaver went.
You'll hear from Corey Letso, another friend and co-worker of Mr. Shaver. They also worked together on Spaceship Earth, and he was also supposed to go to this worked Thanksgiving get-together at the Shaver residence. Mr. Letso will tell you that after the weekend of November 7, 2015, he never saw or personally spoke to Michael Shaver. You'll hear from Michael Shaver's family.
You'll hear from his father, Duth Shaver, his brother, Brian Shaver, Christine Hort, his sister, Desiree Snyder, his niece, Stacey Turner, his sister. And they'll explain to you that they had contact with Michael Shaver over the years to varying degrees and varying frequencies. But following November of 2015, none of those family members ever saw or personally spoke to Michael Shaver.
They received some messages here and there, maybe by text or some Facebook messages, but never actually had any contact with Michael Schaefer to actually hear his voice and to verify he was alive. The MS will show that was because Michael Schaefer at that time was dead. He was not the one sending Facebook messages and text messages. You'll hear from a man named Scott Amatuccio.
He was a close friend of both the defendants and Michael Schaefer's, because they all grew up together. He'll tell you very similar information about not seeing or directly speaking with Michael Shaver after November of 2015. For a several year period of time between November of 2015 into 2018, Mr. Amatuchio eventually realized, I haven't heard from Mike recently.
I really haven't heard anything from him. started to get a little bit concerned. So Scott Amatuchio reached out to Michael Shaver's family, who knew him because, again, he grew up with Michael Shaver, and learned that nobody had directly spoken with him or seen him since November 2015. Scott Amatuchio also learned about a concrete slab that had been laid in the back of the Shaver residence.
And he became concerned. Because of this concern, Scott Amatuchio reached out to the Lake County Sheriff's Office and asked that they go to the Shaver residence, somebody from law enforcement, go to that Shaver residence and try to make contact with Michael Shaver if he was there, find out what's going on with Michael Shaver. I don't know his name.
I also asked him to take a look at that concrete slab in the back where there was now a fire pit, same place that duck pond was supposed to be. So based on the information received by Scott Antuccio, Lake County Sheriff's Office became involved.
On February 16th of now, 2018, Deputy Corey Anderson from the Lake County Sheriff's Office went out to the property and made contact with the defendant, Lori Shaver. Deputy Anderson asked about Michael Shaver, asked about, where's your husband? The defendant said that she and Michael Shaver were separated, that he picked up and left, and that she had no idea where he was.
Based on Scott Amachuccio's concerns about this concrete slab where the duck pond is going to be in the back, Deputy Corey Anderson asked permission to go and take a look around the property. The defendant allowed that. Deputy Anderson got to the area where this concrete slab was located, And he noticed something unusual about that slab.
He noticed that there was a depression in that concrete slab, the place where that slab was sagging into the ground. Deputy Anderson knew that when a body is buried and a body is decomposing, that decomposition process eventually leaves a void for where that body was located, which causes depression.
Seeing this depression in the concrete, combined with the concerns of Scott Amatuchio, and now thinking this could be a grave, Deputy Anderson became more suspicious. He actually took out his phone, took a couple pictures of this depression. He then went and provided this information to other detectives at the Lake County Sheriff's Office. He reported what you found in all this information.
On March 9th of 2018, law enforcement obtained a search warrant. And the search warrant is basically a document assigned by a judge that allows law enforcement to go to a location and search and collect certain evidence.
So based on the authority given by the search warrant, law enforcement, detectives, crime scene investigators went out to the Shaver residence to search for evidence related to the disappearance of Michael Shaver. Crime scene investigators trained in the collection of evidence and trained in the collection and excavation of human remains went out to the scene.
And with the use of some ground penetrating radar, their focus quickly turned to this concrete slab with a fire pit and where there was a depression in that concrete. Had some heavy equipment was brought in to dismantle that fireplace and to break up that concrete slab to give them access to the dirt beneath the concrete slab. And that excavation process began.
Cryo scene investigators began that slow and painstaking excavation process by digging up dirt, sifting that dirt, separating potential evidence. And that process went for a period of time. As they dug, and as they dug, and as they sifted, They eventually came across a humorous bone, which is a bone in an arm.
Because it was getting late at this point, and crime scene investigators realized that they have a lot more work to do and it's going to be getting dark pretty soon, they stopped the excavation process and put it on hold until the following morning when it became light out.
Law enforcement officers were stationed and posted in the area to make sure that nobody came onto the scene to disturb any of the evidence or do anything to the Shaver residents. The next morning, law enforcement officers, crime scene investigators, medical examiner investigators, and other people went to the Shaver residence to continue this excavation process.
As crime scene investigators continued to dig and continued to sift the dirt, they came across a blue tarp buried in the ground. Beneath that blue tarp, they found human remains. The bones and the human remains were clearly skeletonized,
Those human remains, there were socks on them, there was a pair of boxers and a pair of shorts on human remains, and a green ratchet-type strap was wrapped around those bones. Crime scene investigators carefully collected the bones out of the grave, placed them on a tarp, And those bones were transported to the medical examiner's office for an autopsy to be done.
While still on scene, one of the crime scene investigators, Jessica Holcomb, made contact with Mike DeShaver's father, Doug Shaver. Doug Shaver had come down from Georgia, down to Claremont, now that the Shaver residence. We learned that law enforcement was doing this investigation of what law enforcement had found the night before.
Crime scene investigator Jessica Holcomb collected a DNA sample from Doug Shaver, which took a swab and put it inside of his mouth and collected what's called a buccal swab as a known DNA standard for comparisons.
You'll hear that the femur bone collected from the grave, along with the DNA standards from Douglas Shaver, Michael Shaver's father, were sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for DNA analysis. The DNA analyst Edgar Perez compared the DNA from that femur bone found in the grave to the known DNA standard of Douglas Shaver and confirmed what at this point was known to everyone.
He determined that the DNA from the femur was consistent with coming from a bone of the biological child of Douglas Shaver. This confirmed Michael Shaver, who had been missing and not heard from since November of 2015, was in that grave, deceased. As I said, Michael Shaver's remains were collected and transported to the medical examiner's office for an autopsy to be done.
And that's where Dr. Kyle Shaw, one of the medical examiners there, performed an autopsy. When he examined the skull that was recovered, he found an obvious single gunshot wound to the back of the skull, all the way to the back of the skull, consisting of that of a gunshot wound. He found a bullet or a projectile inside the skull.
An analysis later determined that that bullet was of a .38 caliber class, meaning that bullet could have been fired from a .38, a .380, a .357, or a 9-millimeter. That .38 caliber class can be fired of any of those types of caliber guns because the size is varied.
So, there was no exit wound to the skull, indicating a single entrance wound, hence the projectile being found inside the skull when it recovered. Dr. Shaw examined the skull, found no other injuries or no other trauma. He examined all of the other bones collected. He found no other signs of trauma or injuries, no chips or breaks, no tongue or whatsoever in any of the other bones.
Based on his analysis, Dr. Shaw determined that the cause of death was the single gunshot wound to the back of the head and deferring this to be a homicide. Michael Shaver's remains were then sent to a laboratory associated with the University of Florida. It's a laboratory called the Pound Lab, and they specialize in the analysis and examination of human remains.
Dr. Samantha Coberly examined the remains as well, determined that the remains were consistent with a young to middle-aged male, of which Michael Shaver was. And they were consistent with having been in the ground for several months to several years. She also examined the skull, saw that single gunshot wound, and confirmed in her opinion that was the result of a single gunshot wound.
She also determined, she also examined the skull and the bones and found no other signs of trauma or damage or injury to any other part of the skull or any of the other bones recovered. And almost the entire skeleton was recovered.
She also removed some bullet fragments from the inside of the skull, packaged those up, and sent the bullet fragments, all the bones, back to the medical examiner's office. Law enforcement continued to investigate this crime. During the investigation, detectives spoke with a man named Robert Seha. He was a neighbor of the defendants, and I'll show you a resonance of the nearby.
Robert Sehaw is going to tell you that about a month or two before law enforcement came to the Shaver residence to do this well-being check, which led to the unerbening of Michael Shaver's body, the defendant approached Mr. Sehaw and offered to sell him a pink and black .38 caliber handgun.
The defendant indicated she needed the money to pay some bills, and Robert Sehaw bought this .38 caliber pink and black handgun from the defendant. Now law enforcement took this gun because of the .38 caliber and the projectile found inside Michael Shaver's skull was of a .38 caliber class.
So the gun, that .38 caliber gun that the defendant sold to Mr. Sayhoff was sent along with the projectile recovered from Mr. Shaver's skull to the Ford Department of Law Enforcement for firearms analysis. Firearms analyst Megan Cleek examined that .38 caliber firearm and found it to be in working order. It was functional. It could be fired.
She fired some test fires from that gun to then be able to take those test fire projectiles, scientifically and microscopically try to compare to the projectile found in Michael Shaver's skull to see if they were fired from the same gun. And she'll explain to you that Every gun, when it fires a projectile, leaves impressions on the projectile.
And some of those impressions, if they're clear enough, they're unique. And then in certain situations, not always, but sometimes, she can microscopically examine the projectile and say, this projectile was fired by this gun because the microscopic impressions left match.
Though the projectile found in Michael Shaver's skull, that .38 caliber class projectile was capable of being fired from the gun, the impressions and the markings on the projectile were not clear enough for her to make any other determinations. Nothing indicated that the projectile found in Michael Shaver's skull could not have been fired from the gun.
For instance, that projectile wasn't excluded as being fired from the gun. There was just not enough detail in the projectile for her to say, definitively, this bullet found in the skull was fired from this bullet. Now remember, we talked about Michael Shaver's friends and family had no direct, either seeing him or speaking to him, hearing this voice. No direct contact with Michael Shaver.
after that weekend of November 7th, 2015. You'll hear that in December of 2015, a man named Travis Filmer came into the picture, came into the defendant's life. Travis Filmer was a man that the defendant met at a gym around December of 2015, and the defendant and Travis Filmer began to date, and shortly thereafter, Travis Filmer moved into the Shaver residence.
the same residence that Michael Shaver's body was found in the backyard. You'll hear that around the end of April of 2016, a posting to the defendant's Facebook account showed a large number of concrete bags in the bed of a pickup truck. Since Michael Shaver's body was found under a concrete slab, law enforcement obviously became interested in this information.
So after Michael Shaver's body was found, Law enforcement obtained the Facebook records from both Michael Shaver's Facebook account and the defendant's Facebook account. And they looked into trying to determine, that's how they found that picture of the concrete in the vetted pickup truck. And they started looking to determine when did that concrete slab before get there.
Detectives discovered a receipt from Home Depot, dated September 12, 2016, that Travis Filmer rented a concrete mixer. And you'll hear that Travis Filmer and his twin brother, Austin Filmer, poured that concrete slab and laid that concrete slab with that concrete mixer that Travis Filmer rented from Home Depot.
That was about 10 months after the November time period when nobody had ever seen Mr. Schaefer, Michael Schaefer. As law enforcement officers continued to investigate this case, they received a couple of names from defendant's defense lawyer, Mr. Williams, as people who potentially have been involved in this homicide. Those names were James Ballew and Jeremy Townsend.
Doing their due diligence, law enforcement went and made contact with those two people. You'll hear from James Ballew. He'll tell you that he met the defendant in about 2014 when he was working at Don Neely Chevrolet and sold her a truck. Though James Ballew was married at the time, Mr. Ballew began a romantic relationship with the defendant in 2014.
The defendant wanted a more serious relationship than what Mr. Ballou wanted. Mr. Ballou was not interested in that kind of a serious relationship with the defendant. That relationship lasted only a few months when Mr. Ballou ended it around the middle of 2014 in order to go try to work things out with his wife. From that point on, James Ballou had no contact with Lori Scherer.
So at that time when James Ballou ended the contact, Mike Scherer was clearly still alive as people had seen him. Law enforcement also tracked down Jeremy Townsend. You'll hear from both Jeremy Townsend and his wife, Vanessa Townsend.
Jeremy Townsend will tell you that he met the defendant in a park around September or October of 2015, about one or two months before Michael Shaver dropped on the face of the earth. Jeremy would take his and his wife's child to the park where he would meet up and where he met Lori Shaver, who was there at the park with her child.
Jeremy and his wife Vanessa were going through marital problems at the time. And Jeremy and the defendant began an affair. That affair started around December of 2015, about a month after Michael Shaver was last ever seen or heard from. Mr. Townsend would go to the Shaver residence during the defendant's lunch hour. He and the defendant would meet up sexually.
And Jeremy Townsend will explain to you that he never met Michael Shaver. And the defendant told him that she and Michael Shaver were divorced. The defendant told Jeremy Townsend the same story that she's told other people that Michael Shaver, someone came and picked up Michael Shaver, took him to Georgia, and she hasn't seen from him since.
The same story that Robert Mercado, the person she says picked Michael Shaver up, says it never happened. Around February of 2016, the affair between Jeremy Townsend and the defendant basically started falling apart. The defendant wanted more out of the relationship than it was.
Jeremy Townsend saw this relationship as more of a sexual fling type relationship, didn't want to get serious, but the defendant did. The defendant wanted Jeremy Townsend to file for divorce from his wife and wanted Jeremy Townsend to move in with her into the Shaver residence, same residence Michael Shaver's body was found buried behind.
Jeremy Townsend didn't want that, didn't want to divorce his wife, didn't want to get that serious, and decided that he wanted to work things out for his own wife. Jeremy Townsend and the defendant argued about the status of their relationship together. The defendant started giving Jeremy Townsend the ultimatum. You get rid of your wife, come be with me.
Or she was going to expose the affair to Jeremy Townsend's wife. A few months after this fight, between Jeremy Townsend and the defendant about exposing the affair, Jeremy Townsend's wife, Vanessa Townsend, received flowers. A few months after this fight between the defendant and Jeremy Townsend, where the defendant threatened to expose this affair, Jeremy would be his wife and come meet with her.
Jeremy Townsend's wife, Vanessa Townsend, received some flowers at the school where she worked as a teacher, and it was a message with those flowers. The message indicated, check your Facebook account. So Vanessa Townsend checked her Facebook account, and she noticed that she received a message from Facebook the same day she received these flowers from somebody reporting to be Michael.
Remember, this is about six months after anybody had seen or ever saw Michael Shaver. The message says, on November of 2015, and this is April of 2016. Vanessa Towson received this Facebook message from someone claiming to be Michael Shaver, which said that she'll be getting a special delivery. There was also a phone number associated with the delivery of those flowers in that Facebook message.
She accepted this friend request from the person supposedly being Michael Shaver and noticed that there were previous messages to her from this same person claiming to be Michael Shaver over the preceding months. She had not seen those Facebook messages beforehand because she wasn't a friend of Michael Shaver and didn't notice that they were there.
So when she looked at those messages sent purportedly from Michael Shaver's Facebook account, she noticed those messages included screenshots of conversation between Jeremy Townsend and the defendant. They included photographs of Jeremy Townsend and the defendant together. They were evidence and proof of the affair that the defendant was having with Jeremy Townsend.
And these messages coincidentally started very shortly after the fight between Jeremy Townsend and the defendant, where the defendant was giving Jeremy Townsend an ultimatum, told you your wife or I'll expose the affair.
The evidence will show that these messages, these Facebook messages and photos and flowers were clearly an effort to expose the affair, drive a wedge between Jeremy Townsend and Vanessa Townsend and drive Jeremy back to the defendant. It didn't work. After much work with their marriage, Jeremy Townsend and Vanessa Townsend got back together and they were being married.
Law enforcement obviously wanted to investigate the source of these flowers with another campaign from Michael Shaver. Michael Shaver did. They obtained search warrants. They obtained a search warrant, like I said, for the defendant's Facebook account and Michael Shaver's Facebook account.
They found those Facebook messages from Michael Shaver's account to Vanessa Townsend's account talking about the affair, photos, and the flowers, and the delivery, and things like that. They issued subpoenas for the defendant's bank records, for the victim's bank records, and you're going to see that the defendant and Michael Shaver have separate bank accounts.
Detectives issued a subpoena for the defendant's cell phone records for Michael Shaver's. And eventually law enforcement officers received all of these records and started to pour through them when they came in.
They found that Michael Shaver's cell phone had no outgoing calls after November 7th of 2015, which coincides with the last time anyone had ever seen or directed this post from Michael Shaver. The defendant's cell phone records didn't show any phone calls or texts to Michael Shaver's number.
Detectives looked at the defendant's bank records and you'll hear that they traced the purchase of those flowers that were sent to Vanessa Townsend as coming out of the defendant's bank account. Further evidence that the defendant was the one that was responsible for sending those flowers and sending the Facebook messages acting as if she was Michael Schaefer to Vanessa Townsend.
Remember I said that there was a phone number associated with that Facebook message that I sent to Vanessa Townsend? Well, they traced, they looked into that phone number and determined that phone number was associated also with the defendant. Further evidence said the defendant was the one portraying herself to be Michael Shaver, after Michael Shaver died.
Because there were a variety of sources indicating that they received text messages or Facebook messages from Michael Shaver after that November 7th, 2015 weekend, detectives dove deeper into the records and deeper especially into those Facebook records to see if they could find evidence that someone was logging into Michael Shaver's Facebook records and portraying himself to be Michael Shaver.
But Michael Shaver was dead. And the detectives found such evidence. detectives investigated the internet protocol addresses provided by Facebook for the accounts of both the defendant and Michael Shaver's Facebook accounts. And for those of you who are not IT directors, an internet protocol, you'll hear that an internet protocol address or an IT address is kind of like a physical address.
It is assigned to a particular location through the internet provider like Spectrum, Verizon, Cox, whatever it is that provides internet service to a house or a business. So for example, when I am home, my home is assigned a unique IP address to my house through my internet provider, which just happens to be Spectrum. That IP address is what gives my home access to the internet.
That IP address is unique to my house. It's going to be different than my neighbor's. It's going to be different than Starbucks. It's unique to me or to my house. Also on my home or as a business, a business is a device called a router. A router is a device that allows multiple devices inside the house.
to connect to the internet at the same time, such as if I'm on my phone, if I'm on my laptop, if my wife is on her phone and her laptop, they all can be used together and access the internet. The router sends out a signal to those devices. All of us and all those devices will share the same IP address because that IP address is unique to my house.
So if I log into Facebook with my phone and I post a photo or I post a message or I do something to my account, Facebook, the organization of Facebook keeps those records and they keep the IP addresses associated with the device that activated Facebook. Often the internet provider will change IP addresses, but ultimately they are unique to the house.
So if I'm at home, I'm logging onto Facebook, and Mr. D'Amusio decides to come over to my house, and he logs into my network, we're going to be sharing the same ID address at that same time, because we're in the same general location, the same house, using the same network and the same ID address.
Detectives received those Facebook records from the defendant's account and Michael Shaver's account from November of 2015 up through about November of 2017.
When the detectives got those IP addresses from Facebook, unfortunately they were not able to determine the physical address that that IP address was assigned to because those records were too old and they had been purged by the internet service provider. They shouldn't exist anymore.
But what they were able to determine is that during that three-year period of time, from around November 2015 to November 2017, Michael Shaver's Facebook remained active despite the fact that he did. There were postings during that period of time. There were photos posted. There were funny little memes posted on his account. His profile picture had changed. His account had been deactivated.
There was activity. Some of the activity on Michael Shaver's Facebook account actually occurred after that concrete slab under which his body was found was actually poured. So we know Michael Shaver couldn't have been doing it back then.
When they examined the IP addresses associated with Michael Shaver and the defendant's Facebook account during that time period, detectives noticed that the same IP address was used by both the defendant's and Michael Shaver's Facebook accounts. Sometimes those Facebook accounts were accessed using the same IP address with the evidence of each other.
The evidence will show that because those accounts share that same IP address within sometimes minutes of activity on each of the accounts, that's consistent with those devices. Accessing accounts, people appear in the same.
The evidence will show that such activity, combined with common sense and all of the other circumstances in this case, is consistent with the defendant logging in to Michael Shaver's Facebook account and posting things portraying herself to be Michael Shaver or acting as if she was Michael Shaver. The evidence will show that she did this to carry on the facade that Michael Shaver was still alive.
To carry on the facade and alleviate the concerns of his friends or family members who may inquire. To alleviate the concerns of law enforcement who may be asked to go look into where Michael Shaver is. Done to torment Vanessa Townsend by sending her message portraying herself as Michael Shaver who exposed the affair between the defendant and Jeremy Townsend. All of this done after Michael Shaver.
Ladies and gentlemen, as I said, this is a case about common sense. When you look at all the evidence, you listen to the testimony of all the witnesses, you examine all the circumstances, not the least of which is Michael Shaver's body was found buried under a concrete slab in the backyard of the defendant's residence.
There can only be one common sense conclusion, and that is the defendant is guilty beyond any reasonable doubt.
Yes, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, we've heard the states open, and we've heard one repeated statement. Common sense. Just use your common sense. It's all about common sense. Now, the judge is going to give you instructions, and he's going to give you boundaries under the law. And it's not going to say, just find the defendant guilty by common sense. That's the state stand.
The facts are far different from what the state is pronounced here today. And let me tell you, really, how this case originated, what was done and what was not done by the state and the states. Lori Shaver, who lived with Michael Shaver, got married to these young kids. while he showed up. And it was a tumultuous barrage. Went on for years and years.
So it was a lot of physical violence that turned out in this sentence. A lot. You'll see that there were injunctions imposed, that Michael was unannounced, he was unannounced. It was all going wrong. And the shavers had some children. This was not a pleasant answer. Mr. Shaver, you'll hear, was very possessive. He was very combative. He was very destructive.
He opposed fear in his family over and over again. And Ms. Shaver did not want to be with Mr. Shaver. That was clear. But Ms. Shaver did not resort to violence at any time, in any form, in any manner. What happened was Mr. Shaver was corrected to be out of the residence. And as the state announced, yes, she began to date other people. One, Mr. and another guy, Jeremy Townsend.
The state didn't know about Jeremy Townsend until we told them about Jeremy Townsend. What happened was Mr. Townsend had been in a military. I think he was in Special Forces and trained for Special Forces. And he began to take more. This relationship was not as the state would suggest, some might think. This went on for months and months.
And all we have to think is Mr. Townsend was confronted because his tune changed. Mr. Townsend, even after these charges were filed, was still following Mrs. Hsieh. Still here. Still stalking her. This was a man that was infatuated with Morris Hsieh. Now, they did live on Anchorage, and there was, as the state suggests, an intent to build this stockpile. It was going to be a family affair.
kids were out there helping them trying to build it and it settles like what I understand they kind of got wore down with the project so they kind of abandoned their little project during the sire at that stage but leaving some ground partially exposed that was the
it was not designed by Lori Shaver to bury Mr. Shaver for the carry out some nefarious intent in the future that's how that came about though now what happened was Mr. Shaver Mr. Townsend was having this affair with Lori And Mr. Shaver was not supposed to be at the residence. Morning arrives. Mr. Shaver arrives on the scene. Begins battering Lori Shaver. He wants her back.
She was chattel chattel, just like a car or a piece of fire. And she informs him, I'm not going. We're not doing that. We're not doing that. And she starts giving the dead he's been in. I heard this. Isabel, Isabel Shade. The state didn't know about Isabel. We advised the state about Isabel. Only be turned away. Only be turned away from their office. Because they formulated a plan.
They formulated a design. This is how it happened, but we don't want to hear another story. So when we sit in line. But Isabel, I'll tell you what happens. Isabel has her own attorney appointed by Fowler Johnson. We did not want any appearance, any discussions with Isabel. That were unguided, inappropriate, but would look inappropriate. So Ms. Johnson came on to represent. So Ms.
Johnson has advised her of the dangers of taking the stand. What could happen to her if she were to take the stand? But Isabel says she's going to tell the truth, not going to tell you what happened. And as she relays, she's at the residence with her father. And then walks by, carrying on. He starts to battle his wife. And Isabel fears filling up. She hears a lot of commotion.
She hears someone attacking. Leave me alone, leave me alone. She walks in the room to testify. Poor old Michael is sitting in a chair with his foot on Lori Shaver's head as Lori's gassed. And Michael is sitting there threatening to kill her. And this young girl, in desperation and in fear, runs and betrays a firearm. That she believes she shot, why, she thinks she did. She says she found she had.
She believes she had. But almost simultaneously, in walks Jay. He sees what's going on. Lori is still on for it. Lori has not even got to her deal. And Jay walks in, picks her gun from this about. Shoots Michael Schaefer in the head. Says, Ori, get these kids out of here. I'll take care of this. Anybody says a thing about this, I'll kill you too. Ori said, we were like deer in headlights.
Got into the car. I took the kids to a school. Ismael said, this was so routine, the violence in this household. I was just not, but we didn't shoot. And mom, as a stake would want you to believe, is so infatuated with Jay, broke it off right there. We don't want to see you. Now, Lori assumes Jay has done something with the body. Beyond her knowledge, it's whereabouts, right? It's just not.
Michael's been the biggest nightmare in her life, but all she could do is bury her thoughts. That's it. Yes, the police come knocking, the police come inquiring, the police come looking around, the police get a warrant, and yes, the body of Michael is shaping us down. Unbeknownst to Lori, Mr. Townsend had put me on that ground being prepared
originally for the duck park now the state keeps using words like common sense just rely on common sense because they don't have really any evidence no real evidence to glory shaver kill her sure you are not going to hear any technician don't fdla person say you know we found maury shaver's friends ain't on that park We found Lori Shaver's DNA on that turret.
We found, we didn't find any whereabouts or knowledge or connection between that turret, that gun, that socket wrench, hand wrench, with Lori Shaver. Nothing. What we spoke about more in our life about this. So there's no connective link between Lori and the death. of having this attorney.
And regrettably, Isabel was placed in the posture, you know, event you come up here and tell y'all what happened. Nobody wanted to talk to Isabel. Nobody wanted to look at what truly happened in this case. So here we are. The state's case, as we say it, is really a case of conjecture. It's a case of emotion, something we're supposed to fight for.
Something to try to pull at your heart if you're sorry for Michael Sheen. So what do they think we're going to do? We're going to get some digital data and say it came from Michael Sheen? That digital data came from Rory Shaver? You ask yourself this, how does this digital data prove that Lori Shaver killed Michael Shaver? It doesn't.
Now, the state and their bravery has not even listed in their information that she needed an assistant in covering up the crime. Why? Because they do with Susan. And they didn't want to have to deal with that. So Davidson should. They don't want to look at everything, but they should have looked at it. You see? The state was going on about this digital data.
Richard Conner will be called by the defense. He's a digital data guy. One of our jurors. and he'll talk about the exploration of IP registrations, that they expire in time and then at a certain point they don't link an IP address to a device, to an individual, or a location. But the Stang thinks we could pull this out of the ether of space, out of nowhere, and say, well here's some digital data
Throw it at you. And then we're going to assume, and you assume, on top of that, Lori Shamer killed Michael Shamer when there's no connective link. It's a big step to make an allegation like this. It's a huge step. It's a huge step for you to try to lead to the conclusion they want to say it's going to put before you that Lori Shamer killed Michael Shamer.
Instead, what Isabel says is what happened. There's nobody to refute Isabel Shea. Now, we didn't contrive this witness. We went to the city early on and said, let's level it. Think they're going to go after Jeremy. Look at what the cause was. But now they fixed the position, formulated a plan,
despite the powers and the responsibilities they have, they're not seeking justice, they're seeking a fine. And the two are two opposite goals. They're not seeking justice, they're seeking a fine. We'll keep that in mind. Now, Lori is likewise charged with this crime of accessory.
The state has no information, no data, no communications that anybody was given any particular assistance after this events. The most the state can do, the very most the state can do is try to say, well, she lied this day, or maybe she lied that day, or maybe she lied that day. Okay? Lori Shaver is not here on trial for lying or making a misrepresentation. That's not evidence of a burden.
That's evidence to evoke a motion to try to anger them into a judgment about justice. But she never thinks. Now, the state carries the burden of proof, as we've discussed all the way through the case. Orin Shaver is not required because she may. But you will hear from Mr. Compton. You will hear from Ms. Powell. You will hear that. Okay? And you will hear Jeremy Townsend.
Well, that's just Jeremy Townsend. Well, guys are going to watch it. You will not watch it. But Jeremy Townsend has spoken with the state. He's dealt with the state. This man's not going to get up on the stand. He's both himself. Okay? So we could probably inform Mr. Gasson that something negotiated has to be done with the state.
Objection, Your Honor. Maybe a motion?
You will see no witness confirmation that Warren Shaver killed Michael Shaver. At the end of the case, the state is going to play out that motion. and say, was this maybe a statement, or that a statement, or this direction here, or this direction there. It's made to the conclusion, she killed my children. That's not what cases are about. They're about real evidence.
We ask that you listen to the evidence, the real evidence, those that you can draw logical conclusions from. I'll speculate in imaginary conclusions that those are as if somebody murdered another person. And when we listen to them, we believe that more than one reasonable doubt exists. Multiple reasonable doubts by lack of evidence, the conflict in evidence, and the fact.
And without a good feeling, we will not be standing. We'll waver and vacillate. And based on that direction, because the judge killed them, on the defendant's liability in this case. Mr. Farrakhan, please introduce yourself to the jury.
Hello, my name is Frank Farrakhan. I'm the vice chair of the jury. And can you go off and spell your last name, please? M-V-R-R-I-T-T. How long did you know my bishop? About a year. When you're talking about a year for a year, that then became a year from his disappearance in November 2015. Yes, I was in November 2014 through 2015.
Did you ever go over to his house that he shared with the point of Lori Shainer to visit or socialize? Yes, I did. And would you socialize with them at other locations as well? Yes, we did. How long did you know Lori Shainer?
Probably half that time.
And do you recognize her? Do you see her on the booklet there? Yes. Now, where did you first meet up with Mr. Shainer?
In the world.
And where was that?
We went for a lot of Disneyland.
What kind of work do you, back then, did you do for Disney? And what kind of work did Michael Schafer do for Disney? Are you aware he went through apprenticeship in order to get this job with Disney? And because of the fact he went through their apprenticeship program, did Disney furnish him with tools that he would need?
Once that apprenticeship was completed, were those tools still the property of Disney, or was he basically given those tools by Disney?
They were his once he completed them.
Now, were you aware of marital issues between Michael Shaver and Laurie Shaver over the course of the time you've been there?
Yes.
And did there come a time where he was living at a Warburg's tenor? Yes. And when was that in relation to when you first met him?
Probably through the middle of the summer of 2015.
And during that time that he was separated, was there a period of time where you knew Michael was dating someone else?
Yes.
Who was that? You remember her last name? Now, at some point, did that relationship end and Michael went back for a little bit at the hole with his wife to try to wreck his views? Why would he always go back to that situation?
I don't think he wanted to make their first games.
Now, after the time frame that he returns to live at the Merrill home, were there times that you went over to stay in the shape of residence or in a house then?
Yes, sort of. I didn't stay there. I went to Mr. Merrill's house.
Okay. And what time frame was that for him?
Oh, it was in the morning room.
Okay, but one for me talking about how close it was to his disappearance.
One time in October and another time on vacation.
Where were Michael and Lori Shaver when you would go over to check on their house?
One time they were in Reno, one time they were up in North America somewhere.
Now I want to take you back to November 15th, specifically November 7th of 2015, which was a Saturday. Were you and Mike working together that day?
No.
Did you see him at that?
Yes.
And where did you see him?
And when you say your families, who from the Shapers was there? What about Torben?
What was your wife saying at that time?
Now, At the point that you were going over there, was this in the time frame that Mike was looking back at his home?
Yes.
And how long were you all at this event together?
Probably 10 o'clock in the morning until about 1 o'clock in the evening.
Did Mike and Lori, with their children, leave before we're founding it? Yes. And it is that 1 o'clock approximately when they left? Yes, sir. Was this the last time you actually saw or spoke with Michael Shaker?
Yes.
The following day, November 8th, did you try to contact him?
Yes.
And why were you trying to contact him?
He was working on something like guns, and he had some problems to work with, and so I asked if I had gotten the correct items.
And this item that you got, what was it?
It was a gun balloon kit.
And did he specifically tell you to get that particular type of balloon kit?
No, that's why I was touching to ask him if I had gotten what he wanted.
And did he ever respond?
No.
And was that unusual that you would reach out to him and that he wouldn't respond?
Correct.
Now the following day, Monday, November 9, 2015, did you try to contact him?
Yes.
And how did you try to contact him that day?
Through text.
And did you receive a response?
Yes.
Was that response, were you still asking about his
How he was doing with the gun, or what was the, what were you... No, his only response to me was he needed to quit his job to save his marriage.
Okay. But you and Mike worked the same shifts? Yes. What was the next day that Michael Shaver was scheduled to work?
June 8th, June 9th.
All right, would that be November 10th?
Yes.
All right. What was the shift that you both worked?
11 at 9, but except there he didn't work.
Is that referred to as the third shift? Yes. Did Michael Schaefer appear at work that day?
Yeah.
The next day that he was scheduled, was that the following day, November 11? Yes. Once again, third shift?
Correct.
And did he come to work that day?
No.
November 12, were you both scheduled to work?
Yes.
And did he come in on November 12? Some point during this time where Michael is not coming from work and his manager, John Borglum, pranks you to try to get some information from you. Yes. And what type of information was he trying to get?
He was looking for a phone number to make sure he had the correct number to call.
After he did not come to work for those three days, did you take any other efforts to try to check in on Mr. Shaver and check on his whereabouts? Yes. What did you do?
I went to the family home early morning after work.
And while you were there, did you see Mr. Shaver?
No.
Did you make contact with Laurie?
Yes.
Did you ask him about Michael? Yes. And what did she tell you?
She said she lives in Georgia.
And why did she say that she thought he was an importer?
She had sent his sister-in-law, Judge, from Jackson. Sent a signboard. Thank you.
And where are you?
North McConnell.
Another person that you all work with?
I didn't work with him. He worked with Mike through the apprenticeship.
Let me ask a better question. Did Roderick Mercado also work in Dissing? Yes. When Michael would go to work, did he drive his own vehicle?
Yes.
And have you seen that vehicle? Yes. Was that vehicle present at the Schaefer residence while you were there? Yes. And did it have a flat tire? Yes. But was this the same vehicle that Vitae took to work the previous week? Yes. Now, while you were there, did Lori Shaver describe any sort of arguments that she had had with Michael before she claims you up? Yes. And what was that already about?
Yeah, it was about, uh, she had the, um, Kendall's phone number inside of his phone, and he had already erased it.
Now, after this interaction at Michael's home, did you try to contact him? Yes. How did you try to contact him?
I tried to go through the textbooks.
Did you also try physically calling him? Yes. When you would call him, did anyone ever answer that number? And when you would text, were you getting any sort of response? Sometimes. During the time frame that the responses that you got in text, was the tone and the way those texts were sent to you that different than messages you had received from Mr. Schaefer in the past? Yes, sir.
How so? I stole a word and it was in his joking self.
Now, between the time you last saw Michael Schaefer in November and mid-December of 2013, did you have any other contact before?
Yes.
And did she tell you about various items of mites that she had sold? Yes. What items of mites had she sold at that point?
She had sold his activities, his tools, his everything. Okay.
And when you talk about his tools, were you talking about the tools at CISI or tools that he had at the home? Tools he had at home. And did she tell you how much she got for these items? Yes. And how much was that? And did you ask her if she was going to send any of that money to Mike? No. Did you ask her if she was sending any of the money? No.
Did she mention any other property of Mike's that she was trying to sell?
Yes.
What was that?
She said that Michael had contacted her and wanted her to sell one of his rifles to somebody he knew.
Were you familiar with his various firearms? So. How were you familiar with the firearms?
Him and I looked at them mostly when we had some conversation.
After she told you that these firearms were going to be for sale, did she ask you, do I need the firearms?
She asked me to go into the house and make sure all the chambers were clear. And did you do that?
$4,500.
Were you interested in buying them?
I wanted to buy them.
Mr. Merritt, please get closer to the microphone. Electronic court reporting is having some difficulty picking you up, so please get as close as you can and speak up to the best of your ability. Yes, sir.
Why were you interested in purchasing these firearms?
I'm a firearm enthusiast, and I wanted to hold them in case Mike came back and wanted them. I could sell them back to him.
Were you planning on selling them back to him at the price that you paid?
Yeah, he could just pay me back. It'd be fine. $2,000. Did she accept that? No.
Did she ever contact you about the guns again?
Yes.
When was this?
Nearing Christmas, probably a week or two before Christmas that same year.
Did she tell you anything about her efforts to dispose of those guns?
Yeah, she said she sold them for $4,300 and that she got to keep two.
While this is going on, are you trying to reach out and get in touch with Michael Shaver about these firearms?
Yes.
And did you receive any responses from the number previously associated with this?
Eventually, yes.
What response did you get from Mike about these firearms?
He had told me that he thought I was trying to steal his guns.
And did he reference anything about the price that Fenton Morgan had sold the guns for?
No.
Now, the tools that you had at Disney, whatever happened to those?
I have them in my possession.
And why do you hold on to that?
Well, they're tools.
I'm a tool junkie, so... Before Mr. Schaber's body was discovered, was there a purpose of you taking possession?
Yeah, if you ever come back and need his tools, he's a mechanic by trade.
Now, had you ever socialized at the Shaver residence itself? Yes. When was the last time you were over at that residence, November of 2015, being the time that Mr. Shaver was in here?
It had been Labor Day weekend that year.
At that point, was there any sort of fire pit in the backyard?
No.
What was back there?
A duck pond.
When you talk about the duck pond, what was going on back there?
They had some pet ducks, and they were digging a pond so that they could concrete it and have the ducks a place to swim.
Had the excavation and digging of that duck pond already started?
It was some done, yes. The outside perimeter was dug so you could see the outside shape, and that was about it.
No further questions at this point?
All right, thank you, Mr. Wiggs.
Yes, please record.
Yes, sir.
Sir, Maury, has your testimony told you that Mike went to his mom's house? No. What's it tell you?
He went to his sister's house. Sister's house, and where was that?
She said it was somewhere in Georgia. Somewhere in Georgia. That's your... Explicit recall, correct? Okay. And you likewise had an explicit recall moment when you said it was probably sometime in the summer that he was living at the airport, correct? Correct. Okay. So you would agree with me. You're not really clear as to the detail about all the conversations and everything that took place.
Pretty clear. Pretty clear? Okay. When you say you got these writings, okay, Could you show us how you could clarify this one came from Lori Shaven, this one came from Michael, this one came from this location, this came from Michael. Do you know how you could do that?
I can't do that. I just know it comes from his phone.
You're not capable of doing that, but you speak, you've spoken on your direct examination as if these things were represented to you. And in fact, you don't know who or where they came from, correct? Came from Michael's number. Michael's number. But you don't know who sent those, do you? No. Okay. Let's be clear on that. Now, you said that you had this relationship with Michael.
How often would y'all get together off work? Every couple weeks. Every couple weeks? Okay. How often did you do that every couple weeks?
Two or three times. Two or three times? Yeah, maybe once a week, maybe once every couple weeks.
Two or three times?
Yeah.
For how long?
After I had finally met Lori, we started doing things as a family that way.
Give me a date.
I can't give you a date?
You can't give me a date, okay? Now, between 11-7 in 2015 and 9-15 in 2016, how many times were you at the Shaver residence? A couple times that I went and seen Lori. Okay. That's the date of the information. You witnessed no homicide, did you? No. Okay. You don't know specifically who sent you certain information, do you? No. How well did you know the kids, the children in this relationship?
Not very well. Okay. Do you know of any health issues of any of the children? No. Okay. Okay. You spoke about, you went to some truck show? Tractor show. Tractor show? Yes, sir. Okay.
And how long were you there? I was there from around 10 o'clock in the morning to 1 o'clock in the afternoon.
Okay.
Was that a productive relationship? Did it go south, so to speak? What?
I can only tell you what he told me, but yeah, eventually it ended.
It ended, right. Did it ever occur to you some of those emails may have been from Kendall or somebody else? No. Okay, that never occurred to you? No. Okay. You don't know who murdered Michael Shaver, do you?
No.
But you've taken the stand, and you said that Lori Shaver sold some guns, right? Yes. Did you have that on you?
No.
I don't know. Does it prove anything? No. Very well. Now, would Mike sometimes drive to work Lori's white truck? Yes. Okay. So we're talking about a truck at the residence that was observed, correct? Yes. But you know Michael was driving Lori's white truck as well, correct? Yes. And any tools that were sold? Do you have any idea how that may be tied to the death of Michael Jaden? No.
Do you have any knowledge whether or not... Laura, you needed any money when she phoned us?
Okay.
Then we'll thank Sasswood and I, then got them ready to be sold for monetary reasons. Sure. Thank you, sir.
Can you direct? Yes, sir. No e-mails. No e-mails. When you went over there and saw Michael Shaver's vehicle at his residence, when you went and checked on him on November 12th, was Lori Shaver's truck also there? Yes.
Thank you. All right. And may the witness be excused from his subpoena?
Yes, sir.
All right. Thank you, sir. You're excused from further testimony. Have a good day. I think this would be an appropriate time to break for the day. It's 5.01 p.m.