A Poisoned Passion
Page 18
“No reason at all?” Goff prodded.
Judy shook her head from side to side.
“Okay. Why did Wendi tell the police, or make the statement, that she knew members of her family hated him and that she believed a family member had killed him? What basis did she have to say that?”
“Because I very much so disliked Mike, and I told her that daily. And I’m sure, you know, that after a while it probably would get to you. I do not know. You would have to ask Wendi.”
“Did you have anything to do with Michael’s death?”
“No, sir, I did not.”
“So what family member do you think Wendi was talking about—that would have killed Mike?”
“I have no idea.”
“No idea. And you’ve never asked her?”
“No,” Judy said. “We don’t talk about that.”
Judy’s bitterness and lack of empathy became more apparent when Goff turned his questions to Mike’s family. She spoke of the care and protection she and her husband provided for Shane.
“And, Mr. Severance is concerned about Shane’s future,” Goff added.
“Mr. Severance doesn’t have to be concerned about Shane’s future. We have provided very well for our children, and we will provide very well for the next two if it has to be that way.”
“Well, what type of contact do you think is appropriate for Shane and his father’s family?”
“If Mr. Severance wants to see Shane, he can come to San Angelo.”
“He is coming to San Angelo tomorrow,” Goff informed her.
“Well, he can see him.”
“Okay. When?” Goff asked.
“What . . .” she began and then shifted, “After his deposition.”
“Well, he’ll be here this weekend. Can he see him this weekend?”
“He can see him after his deposition.”
“Why at the deposition? What good does that do?”
“It matters to me,” Judy insisted.
“Why?”
“Because you have put us through a lot, today, or me especially. And I think that Mr. Severance needs to have the hot seat as well. He has not been in the hot seat at all over any of this. We have nothing to do with any of this.”
“How should Mr. Severance be in the hot seat?”
“I don’t know. I just think that, you know, he should be aware of what’s going on also, not be calling names about anyone.”
“His son’s dead and your daughter is . . .”
Judy cut him off. “My daughter has been in jail. She has been scrutinized. We have been scrutinized by him as well as his family. So, you know, I think—And for him—You know, I just think he needs to answer some questions also.”
“What questions specifically do you have?”
“. . . I don’t have anything to say to Mr. Severance at this point. Our attorney will handle that.”
“So you are hostile to Mr. Severance?”
“No, sir, I am not hostile. I just . . .”
“Angry at him?”
“No, I’m not angry. I just—You know, right now I just think things need to be cleared, and maybe then after his deposition.”
Tim Edwards, the Davidsons’ custody attorney, interrupted the questioning to say that he would be available later to talk with Goff about the timing of Leslie’s visit with his grandson. Goff continued the interview, asking, “Do you feel that Mr. Severance shouldn’t see Shane for any reason?”
“Shane is at the age right now that he is very alert and wants to be with whom he knows. And putting Shane with Mr. Severance, whom he doesn’t know—He’s a total stranger. He has never been around him—Yeah, it’s going to be . . . very hard and very detrimental to Shane. So, yeah, I have some concerns.”
“You took Shane to a day care, is that right?”
“Yes,” Judy admitted.
“The people at the day care were total strangers?”
“No. I took Shane there and I took Tristan there and I stayed with them for hours and let them get acquainted with those people. They were my children’s day-care providers.”
“You understand that Mr. Severance is not wanting to take Shane back to Maine right now; he just wants to see him? . . . I’m really interested in your attitude about it and . . .”
“Well, I feel very bad for Mr. Severance; I do, in the fact that he’s lost his son. I feel empathy and sympathy, and I am so sorry. But at the same time, he needs to realize that Shane is a member of our family. He has been here with us since he was born. Shane doesn’t know him or his family at all.
“So that is going to be hard enough for me and Lloyd and Wendi to put him in the arms of someone that he doesn’t know and walk away, and he may cry. So, yes, sir, it’s going to be kind of hard.”
“. . . But you’re not opposed to Mr. Severance seeing the child while he’s here?”
“No,” Judy said, but then added, “A supervised visit.”
“. . . Why does it need to be supervised?”
“Because he doesn’t know the child, sir. The child doesn’t know him. So, therefore, it has to be someone that knows the child.”
“No, when I hear ‘supervised,’ it’s like there’s some problem with Mr. Severance or there’s some threat or danger,” Goff said. “You’re not saying that?”
“I’m not saying that, no. It’s just that he doesn’t know him, and Shane doesn’t know him. So why would we want to just let him have him and walk away?”
“You’re very protective of the children, is that right?” Goff asked.
“I’m very protective of my family. I am.”
“I’m getting the sense, and so I want to ask you if my opinion or what I’m hearing is correct, that you don’t think what Wendi’s admitted to, that is, dumping the body in the pond, is serious.”
“I did never,” Judy objected. “I’ve never said that, sir.”
“. . . So that’s why I’m asking you to clarify . . . Do you believe it’s serious?”
“I believe it’s very serious. I do. And nothing has ever happened in our family to traumatize a family like this.”
“Right.”
“So, I take it very seriously.”
“Okay . . . Do you believe, aside from who killed Mike, which will be determined later, do you believe that what Wendi did was wrong?”
“It was not right.”
“And I haven’t really asked this question. Do you think Mike was killed by another person, or do you think that there might be other possibilities?”
“There could be other possibilities,” Judy said.
“And what would those be?”
“Probably suicide. He could have done it to himself. He could have overdosed. I mean, there’s many other possibilities. I don’t know.”
“But you don’t know of any reason that Wendi had to hide his body, is that correct?”
“Not other than her really believing that maybe we did something, or I did something, and she was trying to protect her family.”
Goff deposed Lloyd, who repeated most of what Judy had already said without any real distinction until he came to the question of why Leslie Severance would have to have supervised visits with his grandson. Lloyd theorized that Les might be a “child molester or criminal.” Many in the room were shocked that such a vicious, unfounded and unnecessary comment was being made about a father who was still grieving the death of his son.
Judy and Lloyd made it clear that the family—their family—was of primary importance. How Wendi’s actions impacted the Severance family paled in comparison. They would stand behind their daughter, no matter what.
FORTY-ONE
The next day, Leslie and Frank Severance arrived in West Texas. On Saturday, June 18, Leslie got a one-hour visit with his grandson at McDonald’s. Nine-month-old Shane seemed to instinctively recognize his grandfather. Leslie noticed family traits: the thin, reddish-blonde hair that bleaches to a deeper color in the summer sun, the shy smile and the occasional mournful frown.
On Sunday, Father’s Day, Leslie got the pleasure of one more hour with Shane, this time in a local park. Throughout both visits, Judy hovered within inches of them. Leslie complained to reporters, “It would have been better if they had someone else bring the baby to me. I don’t want to see these people or be forced to look at them. The whole thing is so cruel. So cruel.”
That week, Les and Frank drove up to Abilene, meeting with a couple dozen members of Mike’s unit. They also went to the race track, where more than twenty cars carried a Severance memorial bumper sticker or wore No. 4, the number of Michael’s car. His parking space still sat vacant.
Both sides of the custody battle crowded into the courtroom of State District Judge Barbara Walther on June 24. Angela Voss with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services testified that her agency’s investigation found no evidence of abuse or neglect in Davidson’s home.
When criminal investigators testified to the possibility that Wendi had had the children with her when she disposed of Michael’s body, Leslie’s attorney Thomas Goff was visibly shocked. He told the judge, “It was significantly bad judgment” to allow Davidson to stay in the same house as her son. “Not just by the Davidsons, but by CPS.” In another case, Goff noted, CPS had removed four children from a parent’s custody on the suspicion that the parent was using drugs. “They can remove four children in that case, but see no danger for the children here?”
Goff grew increasingly frustrated that the relevance of the murder was not given weight in determining whether or not the child should be in the custody of Wendi’s parents. Davidson’s attorney, Tim Edwards, accused Goff of trying a murder case in custody court.
The judge rebuked Goff at one point, saying, “Just because someone has been indicted, this court has not reached any conclusions about guilt. In the state of Texas, we continue to engage in the presumption of innocence until guilt is proven, and you, as an attorney, should be aware of that.”
Other witnesses included a day-care worker and a pediatric nurse who said that Shane and his 3-year-old half-brother were close to each other, and to their grandparents, and were happy.
Lloyd testified that moving Shane to Maine would devastate the child. “It’s the only home he’s ever known. We love him, he loves us, he loves his brother. He’s part of our family.”
When Judy Davidson took the stand, Goff asked, “Do you hate Michael Severance?”
After a pause and an overruled objection from Edwards, Judy said, “Yes, I did.”
In his testimony, Leslie expressed his fear that the Davidsons were party to the homicide. “I came to Texas to protect my grandson and stop the lies about my son and family. I have been totally ignored by authorities since I came to San Angelo. I fear that with Wendi being charged with murder, she may commit a murder–suicide, harm the child, take off to Mexico, any of those things.”
He said that he had a deep bond with Shane, but on cross, admitted that he’d only spent about two weeks total with Shane since his son married Wendi in September.
In the end, Judge Walther awarded joint custody of Shane Severance to Wendi’s parents and Michael’s father, Leslie. The judge granted a sixty-day period for Leslie to take his grandson back to Maine.
She also restricted Wendi’s access to her son, allowing her only supervised visitations every Saturday for two hours at a neutral site. She ordered Wendi to move out of her parents’ home. Walther requested home studies by social workers of both homes, and psychological evaluations for both parties.
She ordered that an attorney be appointed to represent the child and allowed the Davidsons to retain their right to determine where Shane would ultimately live when sixty days had elapsed. The Davidsons were granted permission to visit Shane in Maine if they chose to do so during the time he was out of state.
Leslie wanted primary custody of his grandson, but he told reporters, “We’re thrilled. We’re thrilled with everything, pretty much. We’re on the right track and we’re making a little bit of headway, especially compared to everything we have been up against. It’s still a total nightmare, but we’re getting there.”
Judy and Lloyd Davidson said they would not appeal the ruling. Their attorney Tim Edwards spoke on their behalf: “That’s what the court decided, and we respect that and we’ll stand by it.”
At 6 P.M., Leslie and his son Frank took custody of Shane for the next sixty days. The next day, they went up to Abilene to the race track to spend time with Mike’s friends.
Diane Slater, one of Wendi’s clients, who had visited the clinic shortly after the custody hearing, told the San Angelo Standard-Times that Wendi’s pain had been obvious. Wendi, she said, was very distressed by the court’s decision. “I could tell by looking at her eyes. And her mother was devastated. Her parents’ attorney said that it would be better if Wendi didn’t go to the hearing.” Wendi, she said, was regretting that decision.
On June 27, Frank and Leslie flew back to Maine with Shane, landing at Bangor International Airport a little after 10 P.M. They were greeted at the airport by a large group of family and friends who smothered them all in hugs, kisses and cheers. They approached Leslie and Shane a few at a time in order not to frighten the little boy.
A weary Frank told reporters on the scene, “This has been a very long, mentally, physically tiring ten days. I’m kind of speechless. We knew there would be people here, but we didn’t expect this.”
They all formed a caravan to make the fifty-mile, late-night drive from Bangor to Lee. The next day, Shane was already making himself at home, crawling freely across the living room floor in his grandfather’s home, gravitating to the enlarged portrait of his late father propped on the floor. When Shane reached up and touched the picture of his dad’s face, the emotional impact of that gesture hit Leslie hard. He had to leave the room to avoid breaking down in tears. When Shane wasn’t exploring the environment down on all fours, he was relaxing in his grandfather’s arms.
That afternoon, the family took Shane out to the cemetery. Along the way, they spotted several stores in Lee and Lincoln sporting signs that read “Welcome home, Shane,” and neighbors out driving honked at them to draw their attention to the words “We love you, Shane,” written on the sides of their cars.
At the foot of Michael’s grave, Leslie held Shane and said, “I’ve got him, Michael.” The family stood behind Leslie, weeping.
As they left the cemetery, Leslie promised Shane, “Someday we’ll have a big long talk about this.”
FORTY-TWO
At some point, Wendi became less concerned about the Severance family taking Shane than she did that her parents might not allow her to have either of the children back after her legal troubles were over. She concealed a tape recorder when she went to her parents’ home, hoping to catch one of them in an ugly moment. She succeeded.
Lloyd badgered Wendi in front of Tristan. Lloyd played off the littlest member of his audience when he chanted, “ ’Cause you wanna be mean. ’Cause you wanna be mean.” He repeated the phrase ten more times, causing Tristan to giggle.
Egged on by his grandson’s amusement, Lloyd’s voice turned sing-song. “Her hates her family, She hates her family, Her hates her family, Her hates her whole family.” He repeated the last sentence six more times, then started singing to some unknown tune. “Her hates everybody in her family. She despises her mom, she wishes her dead. She hates her pa, she wishes him dead. She hates her brother, she wishes him dead. She hates Cissy [the nickname for Wendi’s Aunt Yvonne, her mother’s sister], she wishes her dead. Why does this girl hate her whole family and wishes her whole family dead? Her wishes her family dead. Why does this girl hate her whole family and wishes her whole family dead? She wishes her family dead. She wishes her mommy dead. She wishes her family dead, dead, dead. She wishes her family dead.”
After a
couple of minutes of additional repetition, Lloyd added: “And she hates her children, too. She wishes her children would get run over . . . flatten them flatter than a pancake, so she has no more children to worry with.
“She told me, she told me she hates everyone in the whole world, including her two children. She hates her whole family. She hates her kid, especially. She despises the ground her family walks on, even though they loved her through everything, thick and thin. But she loves Leslie, her first boyfriend. She’s in love with Leslie.” he sang mocking reference to Mike’s father, made in an attempt to bait Wendi into an angry response.
Wendi maintained her cool. This behavior was exactly what she’d wanted to capture on audiotape.
Tristan said, “I wanna go outside, Mommy.”
Wendi tried to soothe him, but ignored his wishes. She was too caught up in her personal mission to give any consideration to Tristan’s best interests.
Lloyd resumed a sing-song delivery more suitable for a school yard than a conversation with another adult and a child. “She’s in love with Leslie. She’s in love with Leslie. Leslie is her boyfriend. Wendi has a boyfriend. Wendi has a boyfriend. Wendi has a boyfriend,” he chanted and then broke again into song. “Wendy has a boyfriend and she’s in love. She also has a sugar daddy named Goff [a reference to Leslie’s custody attorney]. She has a sugar daddy.”
Throughout this melody, Wendi tried to ignore her father and talk to Tristan, but Lloyd’s voice drowned her out. Lloyd zeroed in on his grandson. “Your mommy’s got a boyfriend and a sugar daddy.” After droning on a bit more, he switched his focus back to his daughter. “So how’s your boyfriend doing? Did you give them plenty of hugs and kisses today?” he said, making kissy noises with his mouth. “Your lips got together. What I want to know is, since y’all are a—a trio, does Leslie and Goff smooch together, too, or do you just smooch them?”
He ragged on Wendi about that and then broke into a new song to the tune of the spiritual “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” “Wendi hates the whole world. Wendi hates the whole world. Wendi hates the whole world, even the little kids. Wendi hates her family. Wendi hates her brother. Wendy hates her Mom and Dad. Wendi hates Tristan. Wendi hates baby Shane. Wendy’s so full of hate. She’s so full of hate because all she loves is her sugar daddy and boyfriend.”