A Florida woman has been found guilty of fatally shooting her husband in the head, burying him under a concrete slab in their backyard, and impersonating him on Facebook to deceive friends and family.
Florida woman convicted of shooting husband
On Friday, Laurie Leigh Shaver, 41, was convicted of second-degree murder with a firearm in the death of her 36-year-old husband, Michael Shaver, nearly a decade ago.
Authorities believe Michael was murdered between Nov. 7 and Nov. 10, 2015, which was the first instance he missed a day at work.
His murder wasn’t even on the radar until February 2018, when a friend contacted the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, to inform authorities that neither the victim had not been seen since 2015, and requested a welfare check.
When police arrived at the Clermont home he shared with Laurie, she informed deputies she hadn’t heard from her husband since 2015 and permitted them to search the house.
Laurie put herself on the cop’s suspicious person list, when she stopped cooperating during the search and requested a lawyer.
On March 9, 2018, investigators discovered Michael Shaver’s skeletal remains wrapped in a blue tarp under a fire pit in the home’s backyard. He had been shot in the back of the head.
The remains were found after an investigator noticed an odd depression in a cement slab.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office Corporal Cory Anderson testified that the depression measured six by eight feet and was eight inches deep, resembling the shape of a body.
Shaver impersonated husband to cover disappearance
After murdering her husband, Laurie Shaver took to Facebook, pretending to be him. She told his boss at Walt Disney World that he was resigning to move to Georgia, and instructed family and other associates to “leave me alone.”
When his mother fell ill and was hospitalized, Michael was unreachable, according to his brother. A former co-worker testified that the murdered man halted all communication and said that “he wanted to be left alone.”
Over time Laurie sold off Michael’s tools, guns, and his other personal belongings, then went on to marry another man.
She told her new beau that she was divorced and that Michael had abandoned their family. Laurie ended up having him pour the concrete slab that she used to hid her victim’s body under.
Laurie took the stand in her own defense and claimed that she was assaulted by Michael after he learned she was pregnant.
Her teenage daughter, who was a seven-year-old child at the time of the murder, testified that she had actually shot her father in defense of her mother.
Laurie also testified that an ex-boyfriend, Jeremy Townsend, shot Michael again and helped her get rid of the body.
However, Townsend testified that he had never met the victim, and there was only physical evidence that he was shot once.
The trial lasted a week, but it took jurors less than six hours to convict Laurie of second-degree murder.
Laurie Shaver is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 25, and is looking at a minimum of 25 years in prison.
Florida woman shot husband while kids were home
In another case, a 45-year-old Florida woman killed her cheating husband following a heated argument after going shopping for a Labor Day barbecue.
The Coral Springs Police Department reported that a 14-year-old boy called 911 in the early evening of Aug. 31, stating his father had been shot but was still breathing.
Officers arrived at the home within five minutes, shouting commands for the occupants to exit. The boy and his twin were safely extracted, but Denise Nicole Malcolm, the suspect, would not leave the house.
Moments later, a gunshot was heard, believed to be the one that killed 52-year-old Rohan Malcolm.
After Denise Malcolm was detained, officers found Rohan lying on his back in a bedroom with multiple gunshot wounds and blood pooling underneath him. Officers checked for a pulse but found none.
The teen who called 911 told investigators he was eating Chinese food and listening to music when he heard two or three loud bangs. He ran out of his room and saw his mother holding a handgun and his father shot in the shoulder.
His twin brother, who was on the couch, ran into the garage when he heard the gunshots.
While in police custody, Denise allegedly told officers that her husband had been unfaithful for the past two years.
The couple slept in separate bedrooms and frequently argued about his involvement with other women.
The argument turned deadly when Rohan announced he was leaving to go to Port Saint Lucie with friends, which Denise believed was a ruse to see another woman.
After a 45-minute argument, Denise allegedly retrieved a gun from her bedroom closet and shot her husband multiple times as she stood in his bedroom doorway.
Broward County Jail records show that Denise Malcolm remains in custody without bond, facing a premeditated murder charge.
