By John Estridge
Shawn McClung is going to have a hearing on a change of venue motion in Fayette Circuit Court on Friday, September 18, at 1:30 p.m.
McClung is charged with Voluntary Manslaughter (in sudden heat and without a deadly weapon) in the death of Denise Pflum on March 28, 1986. It is a class B felony. McClung could receive a sentence of six to 20 years in prison if he is found guilty of the charge.
McClung was charged on July 9 in Fayette Circuit Court in front of Fayette Circuit Court Judge Hubert Branstetter. At his initial hearing, McClung pleaded not guilty.
According to the Affidavit for Probable Cause, McClung previously told police he assisted Pflum in leaving the state in 1986, and she was still alive and living in another state. He also allegedly told police in the past, that he had communicated with her subsequent to 1986. However, in July 2020, police said McClung admitted to killing Pflum.
Initially, Brookville attorney Jud McMillin was McClung’s attorney. Later, McClung was declared indigent after a hearing in front of Branstetter, and Branstetter appointed McMillin as McClung’s public defender.
If Branstetter rules in favor of moving the trial to another venue, it can be moved to an adjoining county or farther away than that. Ostensibly, the jury trial has been set for 9 a.m., Friday, Oct. 9.