Spradlin Murder Trial Delayed Until Next Year

By Roberta Cantrell
BSN Editor

The trial of the high-profile murder case of Amber Spradlin was scheduled to begin (yesterday) Tuesday, May 12, however it has now been delayed until January of next year.

All three men charged in connection in the murder, MK McKinney, Dr. Michael McKinney, and Josh Mullins appeared in court Monday for a pretrial conference.

During that conference the court heard from KSP Forensic Lab Supervisor Davey McCann who was ordered by Judge Coleman, to appear and explain to the court why the testing has taken so long and where the lab stands in its evidence testing process.

According to McCann, the crime lab’s central lab received 145 submitted items- in this case, not including electronic submissions for the case.

He stated the regular policy for testing starts with batches of ten.

“We try to be efficient and limit the first ten submissions to the most prominent pieces,” he said.

McCann said the 145 items is more than the lab is capable of testing at one time. He said one person is assigned to testing to avoid cross contamination of the evidence and each piece is screened, pretested, and tested, one at a time, before it is submitted to reporting and peer review. Those protocols, he said, allow the lab to be accurate and careful in its work. 

“We like to take our time and make sure we’re doing everything we’re supposed to do,” said McCann “It’s the utmost importance they get it right.”

He stated at minimum the process usually takes up to eight months to complete for ten pieces of evidence in a submission. However, the Commonwealth has submitted five different submissions and most of those contained more than the usual amount of evidence. 

He reported the first submission for the Spradlin case has five pieces of evidence; the second contained 41 pieces of evidence; the third submission included 36 pieces of evidence; the fourth submission was 13 pieces of evidence; and the fifth submission included 50 pieces of evidence. 

He said there are two submissions awaiting completion, one of those is DNA that is in the review process and the other is DNA that has been analyzed. He estimated the first batch would “realistically” be complete by the end of May and the second would likely take until the end of September or early August. 

Though he said all homicides are considered high priority, this is “unfortunately” not the only murder case the lab is working on.

Attorney for MK Steven Romines asked whether the lab would be informed about who the suspects are ahead of their testing process. McCann said that information is not important and they work as an unbiased party to “represent the evidence.”

Romines also asked if McCann was aware of whether MK’s bodily fluids were found at the scene, but that question was redirected by Judge Coleman. The order requiring a testimony from the witness for the crime lab said the questioning would only pertain to matters “regarding all outstanding forensic testing, the expected date of completion of said testing, and to explain the delay.”

The possibility of separate trials was brought up during the hearing, with attorneys for Mullins and Dr. McKinney saying they still believed the outstanding evidence was crucial in a fair trial. 

Commonwealth’s Attorney Brent Turner said the tampering case could not go to trial without the information contained in the outstanding evidence tests. He claimed the tampering charges are based on the proposition that MK was the killer and the co-defendants tampered with the scene “to help hide that.” He said any evidence that would tie MK to the murder charge would also tie them to the tampering charges. 

Judge Coleman deliberated on the motion to continue, returning to the bench with a decision to push it back.

“Let’s cut to the chase. I appreciate the testimony,” Coleman said. “I really want to go to trial on somebody. Either all three of you or one of you. But the way everybody talks, I think it would be in the best interest of justice for me to continue the case.”

Coleman addressed the upcoming anniversaries in the case: June 18 will mark three years since Spradlin’s death and August 15 will be the two-year anniversary of the indictment. Spradlin’s body was found in the McKinney’s Arkansas Creek home in Floyd County, with 11 stab wounds in June of 2023. He also mentioned that he has at least one more murder trial he is preparing for that is older than this case.

“What I don’t want to do is what has occurred already, that we get a trial date and we’re not ready,” said Romines.

He said, he wants the next trial date to be the last, “come hell or high water.”

Coleman ruled the trial is now set to being Jan. 11, 2027.

Turner said the Commonwealth is pleased with the judge’s decision.

“It’s too big of an impact on too many people’s lives, including the defendants’ to risk going to trial where a jury would be asked to make such decisions of such tremendous weight without all of the evidence available to them,” said Turner. “I think the judge saw that and that’s his finding, that it would be in the interest of justice to continue the trial until that was done.”

Turner said he believes a part of the decision came from the testimony of the state crime lab.

“I think it was helpful for him, and really everyone, to see what they have done,” said Turner. “The tremendous amount of work that they’ve already completed and how close they are to finishing all of this.”

Romines said his team is prepared to defend MK in the case and stands by their multiple requests for a speedy trial. 

“We were ready for trial. The case has been set for trial twice and we’ve been ready both times. We were ready today,” “As I said two years ago, they said they had enough case to convict him. Let’s see what they got. Yet, here we are, still waiting.”

The defense attorneys all discussed motions to revisit the conditions of their clients’ bonds as the trial has now been pushed back further. Verbal motions were made to remove Mullins and Dr. McKinney from their home incarceration and drug testing restrictions. Romines said he and Randy O’Neal will file their motion regarding MK’s bond electronically.

Turner said the Commonwealth is in no place to argue against the bond for the co-defendants and would defer to the court’s decision, but he would oppose MK being released from home incarceration if that is included in the motion from his attorneys. 

“We’ll be asking for bond relief. You can’t just not ever be ready for trial and keep holding people on a $2 million bond, custody, all of those things,” Romines said. “We’ll be addressing that.”

A conflict of interest regarding the representation for Mullins and MK was also discussed. Judge Coleman said he filed an order for clarification because Whitney O’Neal and Randy O’Neal are from the same law firm, but representing two different clients. Whitney represents Mullins while her husband, Randy, is on MK’s legal team.

Coleman said he worries the Commonwealth could offer a deal, which one party is less likely to accept if another is involved in the case. However, both men said they have no concerns about their respective representation.

All three men are expected back in court for a pretrial conference September 17 at 2 p.m.