NEWS

Muncie man sentenced in cleaver attack

Douglas Walker
The Star Press

MUNCIE – A Muncie man who brutally attacked his ex-girlfriend, apparently with a meat cleaver, was sentenced Monday to nine years in prison.

Justin Charles Culverhouse, now 24, had pleaded guilty to aggravated battery, a Level 3 felony carrying up to 16 years in prison.

He was arrested on Sept. 15, 2014, after police were called to his apartment in the 800 block of West University Avenue.

The victim had fled from Culverhouse’s apartment to another building screaming for help, and was bleeding from head wounds, according to an arrest affidavit.

She reported Culverhouse had struck her head “multiple times (with) a blunt object,” and twice choked her almost to the point of unconsciousness.

Officers found a blood-covered meat cleaver in Culverhouse’s apartment, along with an aluminum baseball bat.

Also recovered was a butcher knife that investigators said Culverhouse had used to cut his wrist. Both the Muncie man and his victim were taken to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital.

At Monday’s sentencing hearing, Delaware Circuit Court 1 Judge Marianne Vorhees said Culverhouse’s actions could have resulted in the woman’s death, and also caused severe emotional damage.

The judge said Culverhouse was “suffering from a mental condition that contributed to his offense,” but noted he had failed to seek help for his mental health issues.

She recommended the defendant be placed in a state Department of Correction facility where he can receive mental health treatment.

Under the terms of a plea agreement, a strangulation charge was dismissed. Culverhouse was granted credit for 155 days already served in the Delaware County jail.

Contact news reporter Douglas Walker at (765) 213-5851. You can also follow him on Twitter @DouglasWalkerSP.