Inmate who escaped will represent himself at trial

IONIA, Mich. (AP) - A convicted murderer who escaped from a Michigan prison will represent himself at trial on escape, carjacking and kidnapping charges. Ionia County Judge David Hoort granted Michael Elliot's request during a court hearing Tuesday. A trial date wasn't set. Attorney Randy Norton will serve as stand-by counsel. Elliot was captured Feb. 3 in LaPorte County, Indiana. It was a day after he escaped from a prison in Ionia, 35 miles east of Grand Rapids. The 41-year-old Elliot is serving a no-parole life sentence for first-degree murder in the fatal shootings of four people in Gladwin County in 1993. Published: Thu, Jun 26, 2014