Man charged with three felonies in machete attack
A Friday assault with a machete in Fillmore was not a random act.
Court records filed Monday revealed that a confrontation between 39-year-old Stephen Taplin, the accused attacker, and 50-year-old Matthew Kuchler, his alleged victim, had been brewing for several days.
Taplin, who is either from Colorado Springs, Colo., or Melbourne, Fla., was formally charged with three felonies in the case — Level 3 felony aggravated battery posing a substantial risk of death, Level 3 felony aggravated battery causing serious permanent disfigurement and Level 6 felony criminal recklessness.
Though court record indicate no life-threatening injuries to Kuchler, the “serious permanent disfigurement” springs from the nature of the attack, as Taplin is alleged to have struck Kuchler first in the knee with the “blade” side of the machete before slashing at his right cheek with the “hook” side of the weapon.
While interviewing Kuchler at Methodist Hospital, Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Detective Lt. Don Pettit observed a 4-to-5-inch gash across the man’s right cheek.
While the two men and one additional witness give slightly differing accounts of the incident, it seems that Taplin had been living in his van in the driveway of a Fillmore woman for nearly two weeks leading up to the Jan. 29 incident.
The woman told police that Taplin had been a friend of her brother’s, as both had been homeless, staying on the Colorado River near Colorado Springs.
Exactly what brought Taplin to Indiana wasn’t clear, but he had remained in Fillmore when he apparently ran out of money and gas.
Afterward, tensions began to brew between Taplin and Kuchler, who is either the woman’s boyfriend or ex-boyfriend.
Both men felt threatened by the other, with Kuchler repeatedly telling Taplin to leave and Taplin saying he feared for his life.
Each man seemed uncomfortable with the other’s proximity to the woman.
“The guy just wasn’t leaving me alone,” Taplin said in court. “I didn’t feel like I could leave my friend’s crying sister alone with the way he was treating her.”
Meanwhile, Kuchler told investigators that Taplin said, “I’m not going to (expletive) leave.”
Both men told Pettit they feared for their lives.
Kuchler admitted to having thrown a drywall hammer — which is a hammer on one side and a hatchet on the other — at Taplin the morning of the incident.
The two men soon came to blows, after which Taplin allegedly drew his machete and struck Kuchler.
Though he felt he was defending himself, Taplin told Pettit he had intended to do.
“To eliminate the threat,” Taplin said, “I meant to hook his face.”
After the incident, Kuchler fled to his home, while Taplin headed north on Main Street in Fillmore.
The woman, meanwhile, notified police.
That was when a hunt for Taplin and his Toyota minivan ensued, though police did not locate him until a traffic stop after 2 a.m. on Saturday. He was taken into custody without incident and booked in the Putnam County Jail at 3:14 a.m.
Appearing before Putnam Circuit Court Judge Matt Headley by videoconference, Taplin learned more of the nature of his charges.
Headley explained that a Level 3 felony is punishable by a sentence of between three and 16 years with an advisory sentence of nine years.
The judge also explained that if found guilty of both aggravated assault charges, they would not be separate sentences.
“If you’d happen to be convicted of both of those, I’m sure you’d have one of those merged into the other,” Headley said.
Deputy Prosecutor Austin Malayer confirmed this.
A Level 6 felony is punishable a by sentence between six months and 2.5 years, with an advisory of one year.
Headley went on to enter a not-guilty plea on Taplin’s behalf as well as assigning public defender Todd Meyer to the case.
In requesting that bond be set at $30,000, Malayer told the judge one factor was being unsure where to find Taplin should he get out on bail.
The defendant said he would be living with friends in Melbourne, but the judge granted the prosecution request.
“Given the level of the offense and being unsure of where he’s living, we’re requesting the bond schedule, which is $30,000,” Headley said.
The judge set a pre-trial conference date of April 8 at 9:30 a.m.