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Augustus Mendenhall is in seclusion in the medical wing of the Hamilton County jail after being booked on an attempted murder charge. In a jailhouse interview, Mendenhall admitted that he attacked DeLaney after luring him to a secluded street on the pretense of negotiating a real estate purchase.
"I explained to him that I was a representative of a Russian company and I implied that it was a front for Russian mafia," said Mendenhall as he met reporters in shackles. "I explained to him that they wanted to launder money through real estate here in Indiana."
Mendenhall's father, Burke Mendenhall, owned a building at 4266 West 38th Street on property of Lafayette Square Mall in the 1980s. Mendenhall leased that building to the operator of an adult bookstore. When then- Marion County Prosecutor Stephen Goldsmith moved to shut down the store, he seized Mendenhall's building. Mendenhall fought the seizure all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and prevailed, but, the legal battle bankrupted him. The sting of that legal fight and its outcome stayed with his son all these years. DeLaney's law firm represented the owner of Lafayette Square against Mendenhall.
"This is something that never left me. I'm the oldest son. It was my duty to at least try to right a wrong. Not hurt someone, but at least try to make something right."
Mendenhall admitted pulling a gun on DeLaney as the two sat in the lawyer's car.
"He grabbed the gun and things went out of my control from that situation on," said Mendenhall. "It was never my intent to do him physical harm. Only teach him a lesson."
During the struggle DeLaney suffered several broken ribs and bones in his face. His family said he is in pain but recovering.
"Mr. DeLaney's a powerful man. He has powerful friends," said Mendenhall. "Part of the reason I became an attorney was because of the situation Mr. DeLaney and his friends put my family in. We lost everything because of him and those around him."
"I explained to him that I was a representative of a Russian company and I implied that it was a front for Russian mafia," said Mendenhall as he met reporters in shackles. "I explained to him that they wanted to launder money through real estate here in Indiana."
Mendenhall's father, Burke Mendenhall, owned a building at 4266 West 38th Street on property of Lafayette Square Mall in the 1980s. Mendenhall leased that building to the operator of an adult bookstore. When then- Marion County Prosecutor Stephen Goldsmith moved to shut down the store, he seized Mendenhall's building. Mendenhall fought the seizure all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and prevailed, but, the legal battle bankrupted him. The sting of that legal fight and its outcome stayed with his son all these years. DeLaney's law firm represented the owner of Lafayette Square against Mendenhall.
"This is something that never left me. I'm the oldest son. It was my duty to at least try to right a wrong. Not hurt someone, but at least try to make something right."
Mendenhall admitted pulling a gun on DeLaney as the two sat in the lawyer's car.
"He grabbed the gun and things went out of my control from that situation on," said Mendenhall. "It was never my intent to do him physical harm. Only teach him a lesson."
During the struggle DeLaney suffered several broken ribs and bones in his face. His family said he is in pain but recovering.
"Mr. DeLaney's a powerful man. He has powerful friends," said Mendenhall. "Part of the reason I became an attorney was because of the situation Mr. DeLaney and his friends put my family in. We lost everything because of him and those around him."
