Les Severance has turned over his grandson and was on his way back to Maine on Monday after a Texas civil court judge mostly dismissed his petition to gain custody of the 11-month-old boy until the murder trial of the boy’s mother is finished.

Severance transferred custody to Judi and Lloyd Davidson, parents of murder suspect Wendi Mae Davidson, at 8 p.m. Sunday, Brinda Leighton, Severance’s girlfriend, said.

She described Severance as devastated by the judge’s decision.

“We both are,” Leighton said Monday. “We both had a rough weekend.”

Severance, who shares custody of Shane with the elder Davidsons, was due to arrive late Monday at Bangor International Airport, Leighton said. She declined further comment.

San Angelo Judge Jay Weatherby rejected the Maine man’s attempt to gain custody of Shane Michael from Dec. 1 until Davidson’s murder trial, according to a published report. Jury selection for that trial begins March 20, 2006.

The court file has been sealed, according to a San Angelo civil court clerk.

The custody battle began in the wake of veterinarian Wendi Davidson, Shane’s mother, being charged March 5 with tampering with evidence after she allegedly admitted to dumping the body of Michael Leslie Severance, 24, her husband and son of Les Severance, in a Texas pond because she feared that members of her family had killed him.

A grand jury later indicted her on a murder charge and two counts of tampering with evidence after a coroner determined that Severance’s body was stabbed 41 times after being poisoned with drugs commonly used by veterinarians to euthanize animals. Davidson remains free on bail.

The Severance family will get to see Shane for four days over Christmas, according to Weatherby’s ruling.

Les Severance and his attorney, Thomas Goff of San Angelo, declined to comment after Friday’s proceedings. Attorneys for Davidson and her parents, Judi and Lloyd Davidson, who now share custody of Shane, have steadfastly refused to comment.

The curtain of silence that has suddenly descended over the highly volatile civil court battle came after attorneys Amy Hennington and Tim Edwards accused Severance of using Shane Michael for money and publicity, particularly in Maine, according to an article in the San Angelo Standard-Times.

They also questioned his motives for wanting to keep Shane in Maine and mentioned that he had set up a Web site, www.keepshaneinmaine.com.

“You used [Shane] as a fundraising mechanism, did you not?” Edwards said, according to the article.

He continued: “Through the use and possible manipulation of the news media, you were able to increase the interest in Shane.”

Severance denied this, saying that he was approached by media first and that the Web site had raised $500 since its inception, the newspaper reported.

The Severance family began doing fundraisers in March so that Les Severance, a Lincoln millworker, could afford to travel to Texas to see his grandson, talk to police and other authorities about his son’s homicide case and initiate the custody battle, Severance has said.

Besides using the Web site, the family has held dances, potluck suppers, yard sales, a candlelight vigil and a picnic.

Les Severance has said that it would be difficult for him to visit Texas or fight the custody battle without the community support and lamented in early March not being able to travel to Texas sooner.

Weatherby allowed Wendi Davidson supervised visits twice a week at her parents’ home. Severance can visit Shane in San Angelo as many as three weekends per month, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, according to the published report.

Severance had wanted Davidson to be held to a June court ruling that allowed her only two-hour, weekly supervised visits at her parent’s home.

“They’re going to get to have him on his first birthday,” Severance was quoted as saying. “They’re going to hear his first words, see him take his first steps. I won’t get to enjoy any of that. … I lost my son. I should at least be allowed to enjoy my grandson for Christmas.”