Judge sets $5 million bond for man accused in high-profile Eastern Kentucky murder
A man accused in a brutal slaying in Eastern Kentucky will have to post $5 million to be released from jail before trial.
Circuit Judge Eddy Coleman set the bond for Michael K. McKinney III, 24, at a hearing Wednesday in Prestonsburg, where McKinney pleaded not guilty to the charge that he stabbed Amber Spradlin to death in June 2023.
Coleman set a $250,000 cash bond for McKinney’s father, Michael K. McKinney II, 56, who allegedly tried to help conceal evidence that his son committed the murder, and a bond of $100,000 for a third man charged in the case, Josh “Square” Mullins, 23.
A grand jury in Floyd County indicted the three men this week in connection with the murder of Spradlin, who was stabbed at least 11 times at the home of McKinney II near Martin.
All three men pleaded not guilty.
Charges in the death of Amber Spradlin
McKinney III is charged alone in the murder. All three men are charged with seven counts of complicity to tamper with physical evidence.
The grand jury charged that they got rid of the handle of the knife used in the slaying; cleaned up blood at the house; got rid of McKinney III’s clothes; and removed, concealed or destroyed surveillance and computer equipment that would have have images of the murder.
Police have not released many details of the investigation, but the prosecutor, Commonwealth’s Attorney Brent Turner, included some additional information this week in a motion seeking high cash bonds for the three men.
The motion says Spradlin was stabbed on a couch in the living room of McKinney II’s house, and that the blade broke off in her neck.
The nature of the injuries “suggest an act of extreme rage, and the person who did this is unstable and dangerous.”
Turner alleged in the motion that authorities have other information suggesting McKinney III has a history of violent outbursts and mental instability that make him a flight risk and a potential danger to the public.
The motion also says authorities have evidence suggesting that McKinney II helped clean up the house after the murder and then got his son out of the house and “all the way to Morehead” before calling 9-1-1 to report the homicide.
Michael K. McKinney II posts bond
Turner sought a bond of $1 million each for McKinney II and Mullins.
Coleman set lower amounts but imposed a condition of home incarceration with electronic monitoring on all three men if they are released.
McKinney II, a dentist, posted bond Thursday.
Police have not commented publicly on an alleged motive for the murder.
A lawsuit filed earlier this year alleged that McKinney III killed Spradlin after he’d been drinking heavily.
Spradlin’s murder has been one focus in a controversy over the local 9-1-1 system because of an allegation that the dispatch center didn’t respond properly to a call from McKinney II’s home before she was killed.
McKinney III placed a call asking for help with an emergency, but his father got on the line and said no response was needed, according to the lawsuit.
The dispatch center should have sent an officer anyway, the lawsuit argues.
Spradlin was alive at the time of the call. Her family believes if police had gone to the house they could have intervened in whatever was going on so that Spradlin wouldn’t have been killed later.
Dentist’s license gets suspended
The Kentucky Board of Dentistry issued a temporary suspension of McKinney II’s license to practice dentistry in both his locations, one in Prestonsburg and other at Minnie, as a result of the charges.
“We felt like it was serious enough to require the suspension,” Jeffrey Allen executive director of the board, said of the charges.
McKinney has 30 days to request a hearing on the suspension.
If he does, the matter ultimately will go before a hearing officer for arguments on whether to let McKinney resume practicing. It could be several months before a resolution, Allen said.
This story was originally published August 2, 2024 at 9:49 AM.
