Double-murder suspect Bobby Spikes is set to go to trial next week—and in Christian Circuit Court Monday morning, a hearing was held to verify the existence of various Ring doorbell camera videos.
This comes after the defense has stated they’re unsure if all available video evidence has been turned over to them, after prior discussions with investigators on the existence of various videos. In court Monday morning, several Hopkinsville Police Department detectives and investigators testified to the existence of five separate Ring doorbell footage files, all of which they reported as turned over to the defense.
Defense attorney Jason McGee represents Spikes, and told the court they’d also like to be clear on what efforts HPD made to acquire those videos and any that might otherwise have been found, but special prosecutor Blake Chambers argued that’s a debate for trial.
Following some questioning, Detective Robert Stucki—the lead detective in this case—says that he saw no reason to acquire additional footage through Ring or Amazon, saying he was being given data from a cooperative witness at the time.
Ring doorbells tend to hold on to saved video clips or images for approximately 60 days, unless requested otherwise by the owner of the individual camera, before those images are removed from Ring’s records. The events that led to the deaths of Stanley Bussell and Candance Marcell happened in December of 2021—so it’s now well past the 60-day mark.
Ultimately, Judge John Atkins ruled that HPD and the prosecutor’s office had worked in good faith to provide all available video footage to the defense.
Now—it’s straight on to trial, with a jury to be seated starting Monday morning. Spikes charged with two counts of murder for the deaths of Bussell and, Marcel both of Hopkinsville, in December of 2021.