For nearly four years, families have been waiting for justice to arrive in the murders of Hopkinsville’s Candace Marcel and Stanley Bussell.
Such a toll came late Thursday night in Christian County Circuit Court, when the fourth day of Commonwealth v. Bobby Spikes lasted more than 12 hours, and ended with him being rendered guilty for their slayings, guilty of robbing them, guilty of tampering with the evidence, guilty for owning a gun as a convicted felon — but not guilty in the matter of kidnapping Marcel.
In total, a unanimous jury recommended Spikes serve two life sentences concurrently with no parole, and a final hearing has been scheduled for Judge John Atkins’ court at 8:30 AM November 5.
As Spikes was escorted out of the courtroom, an eligible official told Atkins that he looked at the grieving family and friends and muttered: “18 months, I’ll be back.”
“Dreaming,” Atkins said.
And yet, the nightmare remains. Four children are without their mother. Two children are without their father. Three families broken.
Thursday morning brought a new detail into the mix, when FBI specialist Melissa Pitts confirmed to both special prosecutor Blake Chambers and defense attorney Jason McGee that Spikes and his son, Kendall, did more than just travel to Hopkinsville, Bowling Green and Clarksville after dropping off Bussell’s car — and subsequently Marcel’s body — along Cerulean Road in Trigg County.
They also went to Princeton, while on the way to Bowling Green — something that had not been revealed to officials until now.
McGee, again, questioned Kendall — noting that this was now the fourth time he had changed or altered the night’s timeline in some way since he was first interviewed by the Hopkinsville Police Department nearly 48 months ago.
Chambers’ final question during testimony was familial, and directed to Kendall.
Bobby didn’t take the stand, and McGee opted not to call a witness — instead relying on Chambers and the Commonwealth to provide the entire burden of proof, while pointing out that most of the case was predicated on circumstantial evidence, generalities and notions, rather than hard fact.
Chambers spent nearly an hour with his closing statements, before jurors went into deliberations at 2:33 PM and emerged with a verdict two hours later.
Kendall, facing 10 years’ probation, has another hearing scheduled for 8 AM Friday.
