Naman Shrestha
In late 2015, Michael Shaver suddenly stopped showing up at his workplace and disappeared from the lives of his loved ones. However, no investigation was launched until early 2018 when he was reported missing by a friend. Some gruesome truths about his disappearance came to the surface when his remains were found buried in his Clermont, Florida, residence, with his wife Laurie Shaver at the heart of the case. At the time, she was also wedded to another man named Travis Filmer, who is one of the many individuals who feature in ABC’s ’20/20: The Lies Beneath.’
Travis Filmer Was Allegedly Shocked When Michael Shaver’s Body Was Discovered Buried on Her Wife’s Property
Born around 1989, Travis Filmer attended East Ridge High School, where he was an integral part of the East Ridge Varsity Football team. After passing out from high school in 2007, the athletic teenager pursued higher studies with dreams of achieving greater things in life. In 2016, while working for a building company, he reportedly crossed paths with Laurie Shaver, wife of Michael Shaver, a man missing since November 2015. Despite still being married, Laurie got romantically involved with Travis and by 2017, their relationship intensified to the point that they held an unofficial wedding ceremony in the backyard of the Shaver residence in Clermont, Florida. They even engraved their initials on the cement slab near the fire pit.
It turned out that the fire pit and Laurie held a dark secret, which surfaced in 2018 as the investigators found Michael’s remains buried underneath the fire pit. After the body was discovered on the property, he admittedly suggested her to get a lawyer for herself and be prepared. When asked about his marriage to Laurie, Travis told the authorities that there was a record of her divorce at the courthouse, which was never found. Soon, his wife was arrested under suspicion of the murder of her first husband. Claiming that she never told him about a buried body on the property, Travis said, “Yes, they’re saying that they found a body on the property. Yes, they’re saying that Laurie had some major involvement in this. There’s always two sides to a story. There’s no doubt in my mind…she didn’t kill Michael.”
Travis Filmer Testified in Favor of Laurie Shaver During Her Trial
At Laurie Shaver’s trial in September 2024, Travis Filmer was one of the witnesses for the defense. When brought to the stand, he stated, “She just told me they were divorced and that he wanted nothing to do with the family, did not know where he was, and he was not around.” The defendant listened as her current husband added, “She called me, sobbing, crying, I asked her what was wrong and she proceeded to tell me detectives showed up at the house, asking about Michael.”
However, things got difficult for him when the prosecution asked him why he did not ask more questions about Michael’s sudden disappearance from Laurie’s family. A mentor to Travis, Robert Proper, testified that Travis knew about Michael’s death and claimed that he had opened up about Michael’s disappearance to him and said something along the lines of: “It wasn’t a matter that he was missing, he was no longer walking the earth.” Even Travis’ brother testified that he did make a similar remark. In his defense, Laurie’s current husband admitted that he made that statement but claimed that it was not meant in the way the prosecution was trying to frame it. Despite his best efforts to save his wife from conviction, Laurie was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Read More: Laurie Shaver: Where is the Killer Wife Now?
