Some background on this case:
Vigil to be held tonight in Lee for slain husband
Wednesday, July 20, 2005 - Bangor Daily News
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LEE - Family and friends of murder victim Michael Leslie Severance will meet tonight at Lee Academy to celebrate what would have been his 25th birthday.
The candlelight vigil will occur on the academy's front lawn at 8 p.m., Michael's brother, Frank Severance, said. As many as 100 people are expected. The public is invited.
"This will help us to remember Mike on his birthday," Severance said Tuesday, "to remember him for who he was. We'll remember all the good times and take a moment to reflect."
The vigil is part of "Keep Shane in Maine Day," an effort by Severance's stepsister, Nicole Leighton, and her friends to raise money to pay legal fees and travel expenses incurred by Leslie Severance in his Texas civil court fight to attain custody of his grandson, 10-month-old Shane Michael Severance, the son of Michael Severance.
As part of that effort, the Maine for Shane Committee is asking businesses or individuals to contribute $5 for or from their employees to the "Keep Shane in Maine Fund," c/o Key Bank, 57 W. Broadway, Lincoln, 04457.
"We're just trying to get everyone involved to help us with expenses," Leighton said. "The expenses are going to be pretty bad."
On June 24, a San Angelo, Texas, civil court awarded Leslie Severance 60-day custody of Shane and appointed him the boy's joint managing conservator. The ruling restricted Shane's mother, murder suspect Wendi Mae Davidson, to two-hour, weekly, court-supervised visits.
On March 5, San Angelo police charged her with fatally poisoning Michael Severance, stabbing his body 41 times and dumping it into a San Angelo pond owned by Davidson family friend Terrell Sheen.
The body of the Air Force staff sergeant, who was posted at Abilene's Dyess Air Force Base, was found March 6.
Davidson is free on $50,000 bail. Her trial is due to begin next spring. Her attorney, Tom Davidson - no relation - has said that she will plead innocent and that she has passed a lie detector test indicating that she didn't kill Severance.
Leslie Severance is grateful for the support he has received.
Several local businesses have hung "Welcome Home Shane" signs. People stop Severance to congratulate him on his efforts or offer condolences.
"I have never asked anyone for anything, and I don't feel bad about it now because the community is behind me 100 percent," said Severance, a lead shipper at Lincoln Paper and Tissue in Lincoln. "People have been wonderful."
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