A trial date was set for a Hopkinsville man charged in connection to the death of Stanley Bussell in December of 2021.
Bobby Spikes, who also had an address listed in Princeton, is charged with murder after a state police investigation that began in Trigg County when a deputy sheriff found the body of 34-year old Candice Marcel in a car on Cerulean Road in December 2021. The investigation led state police to Marcel’s Hopkinsville home on Clearman Court where they found the body of Bussell.
State police reported that Marcel lured Bussell to her Hopkinsville residence, where her boyfriend Spikes, who was known to frequent the residence, allegedly shot Bussell in the head.
A pretrial conference in Christian County Circuit Court Wednesday morning started off with Spikes stating to Judge John Atkins that public defender, Doug Moore is not representing him.
click to download audioHis argument that Moore is not his attorney was a continuance from his last pretrial conference in March when Spikes informed Judge Atkins that he had filed a complaint against Moore and didn’t want him as his attorney. At that time, Judge Atkins explained to Spikes that he, as judge, had to follow the rules and regulations set by the Administrative Court, which did not allow another public defender to be assigned to the case.
Following Spikes comments Wednesday morning, the special prosecutor assigned to the case, Kathryn Senter said she needed time to review the case file.
click to download audioMoore pointed out that since she was just assigned to the case Senter may not be aware there is a question about two or three cell phones that will need to be examined.
click to download audioSenter said she has a copy of an email between Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Bolen at that time and an investigating officer regarding the cell phones and they are still working on those. In addition, she said there are some DNA samples sent to the lab in January of 2023 that she anticipates will take a while to get any results from Kentucky State Police.
click to download audioAfter some more discussion, Judge Atkins set a trial date for the week of August 28th, and another hearing on May 10th to hear a bond motion that Moore said he would be filing on behalf of Spikes.