Your IP: In January 2005, Davidson reported her husband, Air Force Staff Sgt. Davidson denied killing him but said she moved his remains to a remote Texas pond. But Davidson has continued to adamantly maintain her innocence. is the true, shocking story of a war hero and a marriage that ended in cold-blooded murder. : After Severance's body was discovered, Davidson was arrested and taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder and two counts of tampering with evidence. Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. Davidson claimed that the pressure of family and his work was getting to him, including driving three hours round trip to Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas. While I firmly stand with the victim and the grief of his family in losing him, wouldn't we all love to know why this happened other than just "Wendi is evil". But alas, in January 2005, when he was around 3-years-old, and his younger brother Shane 5 months, they both lost him for good Michael went missing, only to be found dead in a pond in March. Now she said she is ready to tell her side of the story. The seemingly suspicious behavior was worth checking out, and the detectives questioned Wendi about the ranch. Michael Severance, missing. I mean I might have had crazy reasons in my head, but there's no excuse.". if(document.querySelector("#adunit")){ The latest is CHAIN REACTION. To the outside world, they were perceived to be a normal family until Severance went missing in 2005 and shocked the community. }); ASIN It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness. But I still didn't kill him,"Davidson told the 20/20 host. Why? In January 2005, Davidson reported her husband, Air Force Staff Sgt. The show will air Friday, Mar. After all, their son was only a few weeks old when they tied the knot at a Texas courthouse before moving into an apartment behind Wendis veterinary clinic in San Angelo. According to what Wendi told her family, she had found Michael dead in her bed and believed one of her family members was responsible. Email us atexclusive@the-sun.comor call212 416 4552. WENDI Mae Davidson is serving a 25-year sentence for murdering her husband in 2005. Please try your request again later. Please try again. Please try again. eventAction: 'click_adunit' eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), Severancewas on leave at the time, however,and an official OSI inquiry couldnotbegin until he was due back on base. Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2020. At the time, Davidson told police that she had seen her husband the day prior, adding that he was worried about deployment. Lesliethenreached out to the Air Force Office of SpecialInvestigations(OSI), which he likens to a mini-CIA. Davidson was subsequently charged with first-degree murder and two counts of tampering with evidence, according to theAssociated Press. },false) They seized her work computer's hard drive and sent it to a lab for analysis. Hes a minor, meaning hes still under the guardianship of his maternal grandparents, but both Leslie and Frank Severances Facebook accounts make it clear that he often visits them in Maine as well. Their reasoning was that if Davidson was claiming Severance may be a deserter, then there would be a possibility she was helping him hide out. Copyright 2023 ABC News Internet Ventures. document.querySelector("#adunit").addEventListener('click',function(){ Davidson is known as a San Angelo, Texas, native who was accused of murdering her husband in 2005. : He was a surprise, according to his paternal uncle Frank on Oxygens Snapped, but one that was embraced with sheer joy, especially by his father, who was definitely excited to be a dad as he really loved kids.. 4 Wendi Mae Davidson is serving a 25-year sentence after pleading no contest to the death of her husband, Michael Severance Credit: ABC 4 A Poisoned Passion: A Young Mother, her War Hero Husband, and the Marriage that Ended in Murder (St. Martin's True Crime Library). , Print length The newlyweds moved into an apartment in the back of a San Angelo veterinary clinic that Davidson had recently purchased. 20/20: Dead Man Talking takes the viewer through the gruesome murder and follows the police investigation that eventually accused Wendi of the crime. I am an experienced non-fiction, fiction and commercial writer. MEAWW brings you the best content from its global team of When the police confronted Davidson with the information, she said she had researched it because during that time volunteer searchers were searching for Severance. This is a rivoting story that kept me glued to the facts to the very end. Greg calls me back, he saidto me, verymatter-of-factly, I think somethings up, Leslie told Snapped.. Davidson said she does not think she is a "victim. At the time of Michaels disappearance, Wendi resided with her husband and their son in San Angelo, Texas. In September2004, mere weeks after the birth of their son,Severanceand Davidson were married at a Texas courthouse. It had also been stabbed forty-one times with a knife. Learn more. Now she said she is ready to tell her side of the story. Duringcollege, Davidson became pregnant and gave birth to a son. S27 E9 05/10/20. Former Texas veterinarian and mother of two Wendi Mae Davidson is currently serving 25 years in prison for murdering her husband in 2005. Now she said she is ready to tell her side of the story. , Sticky notes She claimed, however, that she did not kill Severance shesaid shefound him deceased and moved his remains to the pond. When he was a few weeks old, his parents Wendi Mae Davidson and Michael Severance tied the knot at a Texas courthouse and eventually moved to an apartment behind Wendi's veterinary clinic. } Former Texas veterinarian and mother of two Wendi Mae Davidson is currently serving 25 years in prison for murdering her husband in 2005. Severance and Davidson were planning a trip back east to Maine in early 2005. Wendi told the police that she had last seen her husband the day before, sometime during the afternoon. Davidsons parents currently have custody of her two sons. During an interview, she "got kind of defensive," according to court documents, raising suspicions further. It had also been stabbed forty-one times with a knife. In the force, Severance rose through the ranks quickly, becoming a crew chief on a C-130 military transport aircraft and getting promoted to the rank of staff sergeant. Performance & security by Cloudflare. Former Texas veterinarian and mother of two Wendi Mae Davidson is currently serving 25 years in prison for murdering her husband in 2005. For the first time, she's speaking about the murder and her life in prison. That evening,Davidsons brothercontacted the San Angelo Police Department. In September 2004, just a few weeks after the birth of their son, they tied the knot at a Texas courthouse. Their reasoning for the tracking device was that if Davidson was claiming Severance may be a deserter, then there would be a possibility she would help him hide. His wife, veterinarian Wendi Mae Davidson, was arrested and eventually found guilty of murder. When a small-town airman holding the post of Sergeant was assigned to the Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas, following a series of tours to Iraq and Afghanistan, no one ever imagined that hed lose his life. They seized her work computer's hard drive and sent it to a lab for analysis. But his life back at home, in Texas, would prove a lot more dangerousIn the winter of 2005, Mike's wife, a veterinarian named Wendi Mae Davidson, reported him missing. : Michaels father, Leslie, wanted full custody of Shane Michael Severance, but in the end, not only did a judge grant joint custody to the two families, but they also mandated supervised visits between Shane and his mother. Diane Fanning is an accomplished TC writer! Grandmother with dementia died from face wound neglected by staff for days. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold. Following an analysis of Davidson's work computer's hard drive, authorities also found suspicious searches on the computer, including "decomposition of a body in water.". Since the OSI is an arm of the U.S. military, they operate under different constraints than local police and were able to get permission and approval to place a tracking device in Davidson's car. We had a little wedding reception-type thing planned for them. The San Angelo Police Department, the Texas Rangers and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) began investigating Severance's disappearance. : , St. Martin's True Crime; 1st edition (August 12, 2009), Publication date To this day,Davidson maintains her innocence. Nothing Here! When asked about the pond, officers said shegot kind of defensive, according tocourt documents. }) Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2013. eventAction: 'render' : It comes to the brink of it several times, such as Wendi's parents' seemingly odd behaviors and then drops off short of solutions--every time. Davidson said she does not think she is a "victim. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Investigation Discoverys Tranquilized By Love delves into Michael Severances brutal slaying and how a lengthy investigation led the authorities to his wife, Wendi Mae Davidson. Former Texas veterinarian and mother of two Wendi Mae Davidson is currently serving 25 years in prison for murdering her husband in 2005. All Rights Reserved. According to reports, she had made quite a name for herself as a veterinary doctor and even started her own clinic shortly before the tragedy. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Brandon Duran's Mother Looks Back on His Life. Crime News is your destination for true crime stories from around the world, breaking crime news, and information about Oxygen's original true crime shows and documentaries. Excuse me??? How climate change and forest management make wildfires harder to contain, Disparity in police response: Black Lives Matter protests and Capitol riot. This book is terrible. Her ex-fiance is facing a murder charge. By September 2004, she was married to Severance, whom she had met the year prior, and the couple soon welcomed two children together. It is hard to understand the killer's motivation as it doesn't seem she had an understandable motive to kill him after 5 months of marriage. When her mother goes away on a trip and enlists family friend Latanya Lavallais to watch Jennifer, Jennifer sneaks several friends into the house for a party . In 2003, he metWendi Mae Davidson, whogrew up on a ranch in San Angelo, Texasand came from a tight-knit family. Also, the book starts out incredibly choppy. However, at the time he went missing, Severance was on leave and an official OSI inquiry could not begin until after he was expected to be back on base. "I want my side of the story, what happened. He had been stabbed 41 times and was weighed down with more than 140 pounds of car parts, tires, and cinder blocks so his body wound not float to the surface. wendi mae davidson mother. Davidson then tried to paint her husband as an alcoholic, ABC reports, however, there was never any evidence to suggest that Severance had a problem with drugs or alcohol. After Davidson was released from jail on bond, a toxicology report revealed that Severance had been poisoned by animal tranquilizers that Davidson would have had access to in her clinic. Investigators learned that they had only been married for four months when she murdered him. After Davidson was charged, her defense team quickly filed a motion to suppress the evidence gained from the tracking device in her car -- claiming it was illegally obtained -- since, by law, officers need to get a court order to allow them to attach a tracker to a person's vehicle. She lives in New Braunfels, Texas. IN 2005, Air Force Staff Sgt. I want at least one why. She pleaded no contest to murder and two evidence tampering charges, and was sentenced to 25. Wendi and her mother insisted that Mike had . The only thing that I noticed that changed with Mike was he was having a very hard time driving back and forth to Abilene every day. She claimed he had been drinking a lot because he was being deployed to Afghanistan once again and might have run away. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), She claimedSeverancehad been drinking a lot because he was beingdeployedto Afghanistan and that he may haverun away. Wanting to protect them, she moved the body to the pond. Severanceand Davidson were a study in contraststhe energetic and outgoing Texan,and the stoic Northeastern military manbut things moved fast for the couple. Eventually Mike's body turned up in a stock pond on a private ranch. When OSI took over, they were able to operate under different constraints than local police and had been given permission to place a tracking device in Davidson's car, according to ABC. However, sources mention that she soon called up her brother, a game warden, and revealed how she discovered her husband dead in the living room. The couple had given birth to their first child. 'Very open to the idea': Julia Wandelt takes DNA test to verify if she is missing Swiss girl Livia Schepp, Kayla Lemieux: Teacher with prosthetic Z-cup breasts suspended WITH PAY after pics show her dressed as man, 'We have lots to reveal': Madeleine McCann lookalike Julia Wandelt posts footage of meeting with PI probing claims, Lindsay Clancy case: Psychologist reveals psychosis red flags family members could have spotted, Horror at Larchwood Care! His wife, veterinarian Wendi Mae Davidson, was arrested and eventually found guilty of murder. After several years overseas, he was assigned to Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas. For the work I began with THROUGH THE WINDOW, I received the "Defender of Innocence" award from the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project. The family dynamics are bizarre and remind me a lot of the Casey Anthony family. Michael Severance was reported missing by his wife, Wendi Mae Davidson, in January 2005; law enforcement officers hoped for his safe return. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. As an arm of the U.S. military, the OSIisunconstrained by the same laws as local police and put a GPS tracker on Davidsons car. Prosecutors argued that since officers thought Severance was AWOL at the time, OSI gained the necessary permissions and approval to utilize tracking devices. "I want my side of the story, what happened. Davidson has maintained her innocence, later telling ABC's Matt Gutman in 2021 that she did not kill her husband. Additional gift options are available when buying one eBook at a time. There is no reason for his murder in this account and the writer arrogantly asks the reader to just "believe me because I'm an author". "I think Mike's family are victims.". Yet, instead of calling the police, she panicked, carried Michael to the remote ranch, and stabbed him multiple times, hoping it would help the body drown. Wendi told police that Mike had been acting erraticallyvisiting local clubs, staying out late, sometimes not coming home at all. If found guilty in trial, Davidson faced nine to 99 years in prison. : Special Agent Greg McCormick contactedSeverances superiors at Dyess Air Force Base who insisted he wasnt the deserting type. "He was all concerned about -- he didn't want to be deployed, because he was afraid that something bad was going to happen," Davidson told police in 2005. , Screen Reader , Text-to-Speech Wendi gave birth to her first child in October 2001. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. 103.30.145.169 But I still didn't kill him," Davidson said. But an autopsy report told a different story: That the cause of death was exposure to pentobarbital and phenobarbital, drugs commonly used in veterinary medicine. window.googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotOnload', function(event) { Wendi Mae Davidson continues to maintain her innocence. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Now she said she is ready to tell her side of the story. Great job Diane Fanning. The next morning,Severance's body was found in the bottom of the pond. She said she has not seen her kids since they were two and five-years-old. I am the author of fourteen true crime books published by St. Martin's Press and Berkley Books including the Edgar Award nominated WRITTEN IN BLOOD and the best-selling MOMMY'S LITTLE GIRL. : Investigators described a corpse that was weighted down with two cinder blocks, a rock, a boat anchor, and other equipment. James Harden surprises fan paralyzed in MSU shooting with FaceTime call and donation, 2 million air fryers recalled due to fire and burn hazards, Students speak out about bullying after fellow student dies by suicide, 'GMA' Deals & Steals on women-owned businesses, MORE: Mother convicted of poisoning her family maintains her innocence, MORE: Lead prosecutor shares courtroom strategy that took down Robert Durst. I earned more than seventy Addy Awards in the twenty years I wrote for radio, television and print. Justa fewmonths into their relationship,Davidsonbecame pregnant. How we can build a clean and renewable future. So now, if you wish to know more about their then-toddler son, including how he was affected by the tragic ordeal and his current standing, weve got the details for you. They were due to arrive on Jan.16, 2005, butDavidson calledSeverances family and said hehad disappeared. When Severance didn't show up for work, he became AWOL, and the OSI was able to take the lead in a deserter investigation. After denying the charges for a year, she pleaded no contest to the charges in October 2006 and was sentenced 25 years to prison, but has continued to maintain her innocence. She will be eligible to apply again in 2024. In 2019, Davidson was denied parole and is now scheduled to be released from Gatesville Correctional Facility in 2031, ABC adds. It's more localized. Watch Snapped highlight 'Wendi Mae Davidson' on NBC.com. "I was busy, I was in the middle of trying to run this clinic I had just opened, taking care of two little babies. Wendi Mae Davidson v. Judy Kay Davidson and Robert Lloyd Davidson Appeal from 340th District Court of Tom Green County :: 2021 :: Texas Court of Appeals, Third District Decisions :: Texas Case Law :: Texas Law :: US Law :: Justia "My parents drove up, and me and my brother were telling them everything that happened, which was that I had found him dead and dumped his body in the pond.". Never will." Authorities ruled out her mother after documents were found that were forged by Wendi in relation to hiding the horse tranquilizer. eventAction: 'load' }); At the time of his disappearance, Severance had already deployed five times to the Middle East and was preparing for his sixth tour. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. In January 2005, Davidson reported her husband missing. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. She said that Michael had gotten increasingly unsatisfied with his job and thought about deserting and going to Canada. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! I have been featured on 48 Hours, 20/20, The Today Show, Biography, Forensic Files, Deadly Women,Behind Mansion Walls, Deadly Sins, On the Case with Paula Zahn, Justice with Judge Jeanine, MSNBC News, Court TV, Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell, the Discovery Channel and local TV channels and have been interviewed on dozens of radio stations coast to coast. , Word Wise Wendi Mae Davidson - Snapped (Season 27, Episode 10) | Apple TV When an airman from Lee, Maine vanishes only four months into his marriage to a country girl from West Texas, it triggers a multi-agency investigation Additionally, I have written ten mystery novels including five in the Lucinda Pierce series from Severn House. Davidson said that her brother said he'd call an attorney, but instead he called investigators and told them what Davidson had told him. Furthermore, while records at her clinic claimed a dog was administered phenobarbital, the animals owner denied that. ANGELO, TEXAS Dr. Wendi Mae Davidson, 28, was sentenced to 25 years in prison last month after pleading no contest to charges she murdered her husband, Dyess Air Force Base Staff Sgt. In an interview with the San Angelo Police Department, Davidson said she had last seen Severance on the morning of January 15 and that he had left behind both his car and his cell phone. It just could have been presented in a more thoughtful and objective way. ", "I think my husband was a victim, I think my children were victims," she said. "I had to take these weights, and I'm trying to tie them onto this body, and of course it's the middle of the night, you know, can't hardly see," said Davidson, who said she stabbed the body because she was afraid it would float to the surface. Davidson had a son from a previous relationship. ABC Wendi Mae Davidson details what she did after discovering husband's body By Matt Lombardi, Cari Strassberg, Haley Yamada Share Former Texas veterinarian and mother of two Wendi Mae Davidson is currently serving 25 years in prison for murdering her husband in 2005.