New trial date scheduled for Clearman Court murder suspect

A new trial date has been set and a special prosecutor has been appointed for Bobby Spikes, the suspect in the December 2021 fatal shooting of Stanley Bussell on Clearman Court.

The special prosecutor is Hopkins County Commonwealth’s Attorney Kathy Center, who was recently appointed due to a conflict in the local office.

Spikes spoke up during Wednesday morning’s hearing again asking to be allowed to fire public defender Doug Moore, but Moore says his complaint was received by the Department of Public Advocacy and they did not grant him a new lawyer.

Judge John Atkins notes Spikes could attempt to hire private counsel if he’s displeased with his representation.

Center says three cell phones are still being processed, in addition to DNA evidence and said Spikes remains a suspect in the killing of 34-year old Candace Marcel of Hopkinsville in Trigg County, though he has not been indicted there.

Judge Atkins scheduled trial for August 28.

Hopkinsville police allege that on December 8, 2021 Spikes and his girlfriend called Bussell to a home on Clearman Court to work on a vehicle and that’s when he fatally shot him in the head.

Bussell’s body wasn’t discovered until Marcel was found dead in an abandoned vehicle on Cerulean Road in Trigg County and a search warrant was served at Marcel’s Clearman Court home.

Spikes and Marcel had been in some type of relationship and had once lived together, though they were no longer sharing a home, according a detective who testified at a hearing in December of 2021.