The grand jury convened on Tuesday, May 24, 2005, to consider the charges against Wendi Davidson. They did not have the full autopsy report to review, but they did know the toxicology results. When reporters asked prosecutor Alison Palmer why she didn’t wait until that report was in, she explained, “The grand jury’s term was nearing a close. We did need to finish.”
The panel confirmed the two tampering with evidence charges and added one more. They wrote in their homicide indictment that Wendi Mae Davidson had
intentionally and knowingly caused the death of an individual, namely Michael Severance by introducing toxic levels of a substance or substances into the body of Michael Severance.
Wendi surrendered herself to Sergeant Ron Sanders at the Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office the next day at 1:06 in the afternoon. She was booked and presented with an order to provide handwriting exemplars. Sanders collected two samples. A little after 2, Palmer arrived with a Texas Department of Safety Laboratory Handwriting Specimen form. Wendi complied with the document’s instructions, writing out the list of letters and words provided, as well as additional words dictated by Palmer.
While she was being processed, Wendi started a conversation with Lillie Lucio, arrested on a misdemeanor marijuana charge. Lillie told the Bangor Daily News that Wendi seemed disassociated with what was happening and declared her innocence several times. “It did not seem like she was going down for murder. I asked her about her husband’s body being dumped in the pond, and she’s like, ‘Yeah, me, I’m supposed to move this body myself.’ She said it sarcastically. She’s like, ‘Come on now. I would not be able to move him because he’s so heavy.’ She freaked me out. I did not expect to hear that coming from her.”
Wendi was released on bond that same day. She went home to her parents’ house and stirred up additional outrage in Maine. Leslie Severance told the Bangor Daily News: “I cannot for the life of me understand how come he [Michael’s son Shane] can be allowed to stay in the same house as her. I just don’t see how that can be allowed to happen. We’re trying to get Shane—that’s my main focus. Nothing is going to bring Michael back. So there’s Shane. I don’t believe he should be where he’s at.”
Leslie’s custody attorney Thomas Goff, the former county attorney from 1992 through 2000, echoed his client’s sentiments. “It’s a tragic, tragic situation. He wants custody of the child. It’s his son that was killed. I’m a grandparent. I would want custody of my grandchild in that situation.”
Judy and Lloyd Davidson wouldn’t comment on Shane’s living situation. When Leslie requested to visit his grandson, they told him he could see Shane for an hour at a local McDonald’s if he came to Texas.
Goff responded to that offer bluntly. “That was cold. This is his deceased son’s only child.”
Leslie told the Bangor Daily News: “That was totally ridiculous, but I was not surprised. It was actually probably more than I figured they would say. I feel temporary custody was given to Judy Davidson, but that doesn’t make her lord and master. She’s a grandparent just like I am.”
Despite the brevity of the promised visit, Leslie vowed to make the trip to Texas if he could scrape together the money to do so. “I told people we come from a logging family. My grandfather was a woodsman, my father was a woodsman. It’s like being in the cut. You’re in the cut and there’s no stopping. It’s just a straight-ahead battle. There’s no time to grieve or sit back and feel sorry for yourself ’cause you’re still in the cut. You’re still busy. You still have work to do. You just have to keep working.”
The newspaper asked the San Angelo Police Department why they were not doing anything. Lieutenant Milbourn said, “Unless there is a reason to believe the child is in danger, then we would have no reason to act. The murder charge against Davidson gives police little legal grounds to believe she is a threat to her son.”
On May 28, a frustrated Texas Ranger Palmer composed a letter to the Air Force OSI headquarters at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, complaining about his difficulties in getting information from Special Agent McCormick:
I fully support the task force or team concept when conducting major criminal investigations. This allows numerous resources and numerous years of experience to be utilized to get the job done. This is helpful in both the investigation phase and the prosecution phase of a criminal case. For me, this investigation continues and the prosecution phase has begun. The problem with the task force or team concept is that it involves various individuals and there is sometimes conflict. We as professionals must overcome that conflict and remember what is important in these investigations and that is bringing justice to the victim. I suspect that delicate egos and personality conflicts have already affected the investigative phase of this case. My goal is to prevent these problems from now affecting the prosecution phase of this case.
Any assistance you can provide in resolving this matter would be greatly appreciated . . . I am not in the habit of contacting an investigator’s supervisor to resolve matters that arise during an investigation. The problem is that this particular situation has gotten out of hand.
It was not clear if McCormick was simply a poor communicator or if he deliberately delayed the delivery of information to Palmer, but the Ranger was clearly frustrated with the Air Force investigator.
The OSI office responded, placing the blame on the San Angelo Police Department. They wrote that
the friction arose primarily because our agents perceived a lack of enthusiasm and cooperation from other law enforcement personnel in pursuing this investigation . . . Their perception was that there did not seem to be a sense of urgency by others to help locate an active duty Air Force member who was missing under suspicious circumstances.
The airman’s body had been found. His wife was charged with his murder. Now, the task force needed to pull together to help the prosecution team secure justice for the family of Michael Severance.