By John Estridge
There has been some action in the case of the man charged with the March 28, 1986, death of Denise Pflum of Fayette County.
Shawn McClung’s trial date has been changed from Friday, Oct. 2, to Monday, Oct. 5, at 9 a.m.
Also, Brookville attorney Jud McMillin made an appearance to represent McClung during McClung’s initial hearing on Thursday, July 9. At the initial hearing, McClung pleaded not guilty.
However, five days later in a hearing before Fayette Circuit Court Judge Hubert Branstetter, McClung was declared indigent. Following that ruling, Branstetter appointed McMillin to represent McClung. Thus, McMillin will be paid by Fayette County taxpayers to represent McClung as his pauper attorney.
McClung was charged with Manslaughter, as a Class B Felony.
According to the Affidavit of 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.
“This action taken by McClung has concealed the crime since its commission,” the Affidavit for Probable Cause reads. In the Information, it states “On or about March 28, 1986, in Fayette County, State of Indiana, Shawn McClung did knowingly kill another human being, to-wit: Denise Pflum while acting under a sudden heat and did knowingly or intentionally conceal evidence and/or information, to wit: maintained that Denise Plum was alive and that he had communicated with her subsequent to 1986 …”