SAN ANGELO, Texas (AP) – A veterinarian charged with killing her airman husband with drugs used to euthanize animals pleaded no contest Monday, then was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
The plea agreement stipulated that Wendi Mae Davidson will be sentenced to 25 years on the murder charge and 10 years on each of the two evidence-tampering charges in the death of Dyess Air Force Base Staff Sgt. Michael Leslie Severance, 24, a native of Lee, Maine.
The agreement states that the sentences will run concurrently, making her eligible for parole in about 13 years, the San Angelo Standard-Times reported in its online edition Monday.
She had faced a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted by a jury.
Severance’s body, which had been stabbed 41 times after he died, was found in March 2005 in a Tom Green County stock pond. It had been weighted down with more than 145 pounds of objects that included a boat anchor, brake drum, cinder block and wheel rim.
An autopsy report showed Severance died from acute drug intoxication caused by pentobarbital and phenobarbital, drugs commonly used to euthanize animals.
Two months earlier Davidson had reported him missing, then filed for divorce the next day.
But the night before the body was found, Davidson was arrested on a charge of tampering with evidence after her brother told San Angelo police that she said she had dumped Severance’s body in the stock tank. She allegedly told her brother that she found her husband dead in bed and thought a relative had killed him, so she dumped the body, authorities said.
Davidson’s attorneys had sought to suppress all of the state’s evidence, saying the Air Force found Severance’s body after illegally placing a tracking device on her car last year.
State District Judge Tom Gossett rejected the defense motion Monday before jury selection was to begin, setting the stage for Davidson’s no contest plea, in which a defendant does not admit guilt.
Gossett then considered the case against her, found her guilty and sentenced her.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.