Jun. 18—ANDERSON — An Anderson man has received permission to represent himself in an upcoming trial on a charge of attempted murder.

Michael McCune, 62, homeless, was arrested in January 2020 on a charge of attempted murder after allegedly stabbing a friend 13 times.

His trial is scheduled to start on July 13 in Madison Circuit Court Division 1.

"I've been here for 2 1/2 years and had two different attorneys," McCune told Judge Angela Warner-Sims Wednesday. "I've done my research. I understand the case.

"I'm behind the 8-ball right now," he added. "I'm taking the case over myself."

Sims granted his motion to represent himself.

McCune asked deputy prosecutor Alexandria Echeverria if he could plead guilty to a lesser charge like attempted voluntary manslaughter.

Echeverria said the state was ready to proceed to trial.

In 2020, while being housed at the Madison County Jail, McCune severed a portion of one of his fingers and mailed it to The Herald Bulletin to protest the conditions at the jail.

At the time he was on disciplinary lockdown in a cell by himself for stealing from the medical staff.

Court documents show the incident started at a birthday party that ended in a fight leaving Laverne Pflugh Jr. with 13 stab wounds.

Pflugh was treated at St. Vincent Anderson Hospital for stab wounds to the right hand, chest, groin, upper and lower back.

According to a probable cause affidavit, McCune was at a birthday party at a local bar. Afterward, those at the party went to a house in the 1900 block of East 49th Street where an argument started between McCune and Pflugh.

McCune returned later, a second fight started in the front yard and Pflugh was stabbed 13 times, according to the affidavit.

Police found signs of a struggle in the front yard and blood stains leading into the kitchen of the house.

McCune was stopped by police near the intersection of 53rd Street and Scatterfield Road. A knife was spotted on the front seat, police said. The knife reportedly had dried blood on a serrated blade.

Pflugh told Anderson Police Department officer Eric Holtzleiter that he has known McCune for five years and gave him a key to his house.

Pflugh said he was having a conversation with his girlfriend when McCune got involved and an argument started between the two men.

According to the affidavit, McCune was told to leave the house after he hit Pflugh in the mouth. A short time later McCune returned and was again told to leave. Pflugh told police he was stabbed when the fight broke out in the front yard.

McCune was convicted in 1985 in the stabbing death of Tony M. Pirtle on June 2, 1983.

The men were sitting next to each other in a waiting area at the Indiana Reformatory when McCune stabbed Pirtle with a knife, according to court records. McCune was on crutches and was not handcuffed; Pirtle's hands were cuffed behind his back, the records said.

A prison employee testified during the trial that the two men appeared to be conversing normally before McCune told Pirtle "never do or say" something again. The employee saw McCune pull Pirtle's head back and lunge into him with the knife.

At the time, McCune was serving a sentence in the reformatory on a 1980 robbery conviction in Madison County.

Follow Ken de la Bastide on Twitter @KendelaBastide, or call 765-640-4863.

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