Amber Spradlin // 513
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What is going on, true crime fans? I'm your host, Heath. And I'm your host, Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Hello, everybody. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We have a super suspicious, kind of more recent Kentucky case for you guys today that continues to make headlines.

and was sent in by Mark and Laurel. So thank you both so much for recommending this one. Yeah, and thankfully in today's case, there has been a lot of recent movement. So it seems like justice is right around the corner. So, so true. Totally agree. Well, before we dive in, we just want to remind you guys, even though you probably already know, Heath and I Going Less is going on tour this September. And tickets actually, as of today, when this episode comes out...

As of 10 a.m. local time for each show, tickets will be on sale. So buy them. We really hope this sells out. We're seeing a ton of comments from you guys about coming to other cities, and we really, really want to. So let's make this happen. Yeah, hopefully if this one goes off without a hitch, then we'll be able to expand and come to your city. But as of now, we are going to be in Denver, Dallas, Boston, Atlanta, and Chicago.

So we only have five dates thus far, but hope to see you guys there. It is going to be a fucking blast. It's seriously going to be so much fun. We have so much up our sleeves. So head on over to goingwestpod.com slash tour and get your tickets while they last.

All right, guys, without further ado, let us dive in. All right, guys, this is episode 513 of Going West, so let's get into it. ♪♪♪

In June of 2023, a 38-year-old woman was found dead in a rural Kentucky home after a night out with a group of men. What followed was a gruesome murder mystery marred by finger-pointing and the failure of local law enforcement. ♪

With few clues and no clear motive, investigators were left to piece together her final moments, sifting through potential corruption and abuse of power. This is the murder of Amber Spradlin. Woo! Woo! Woo!

Amber Spradlin was born on October 7th, 1984 to parents Sharon and John Thomas or Tom. And she spent her entire life in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, which is a very small city in the foothills of Appalachia on the eastern side of the state. And she grew up alongside multiple half and step siblings from her parents' past relationships. Amber Spradlin was born on October 7th, 1984 to parents Sharon and John Thomas or Tom.

Little on Amber, she loved animals and is described as gentle, kind, and a good friend to all who were fortunate enough to know her. But despite her, you know, generally sunny disposition and her positive outlook on life, she had definitely seen her fair share of tragedy from a very young age. Like when Amber was only four years old.

Her mom, Sharon, died suddenly in a very, very strange accident. Yeah, I mean, this is so weird. It's so weird. So here's what happened. On the evening of Wednesday, December 14th, 1988, again, when Amber was four, her mom, Sharon, was at the Wildcat Lounge, which is this bar and club in Prestonsburg. Now, the actual events of her evening at the club are unknown, like

why exactly she was there, if she was alone. You know, it's likely that she was just a customer that night. But the bar owner said that they checked each of the bathrooms before closing down the lounge and locking up and leaving between 12.15 and 12.20 a.m. So they weren't sure how someone could have evaded them, but they did because Sharon was still inside the bar when they left.

As far as the bartender was aware, Sharon had consumed only two beers that night. But somehow, she found herself locked inside the lounge after it closed around midnight. And in an attempt to free herself, she stood atop a metal folding chair and tried to climb out of the window. But when the chair collapsed beneath her, Sharon got stuck in the narrow window. And she was basically trapped between the frame and the outside.

And she died of positional asphyxia between 2 and 3 a.m., but her body wasn't discovered until around 8.30 a.m. that morning. So this was just a horrific and totally strange and avoidable death. Yeah, like just a horrible freak accident. Yeah, like definition, freak accident. And

Of course, we can imagine that this deeply impacted Amber when she was old enough to learn those weird details. But after her mother's death, Amber was taken in by her mom's parents, Margie and James, and lived with them for many happy years. So we're not sure exactly why she didn't just live with her dad. But luckily, she went to a fantastic home within her own family.

But still, sadly, the tragedies in Amber's life persisted because in 1996, her older half-sister Angela Spradlin was killed in a car crash. On September 26th of that year, at the age of just 23 years old, Angela was the front seat passenger in the car with a friend named Mary Allen cruising along Kentucky Route 80.

And around 2 a.m. that night, their car collided with a rock that had fallen into the road during a rock slide, causing Angela to die from her injuries. Freak accidents scare me so much, but for two in one family... I know, like, what is going on? And we haven't even gotten to what's gonna happen to Amber or her dad passing away. Like, it's so creepy. Yeah, seriously. I mean, actually, speaking of her dad, in April of 2007, Amber's father, Tom...

He died suddenly as well, but like your question, Daphne, about why Amber didn't live with her dad, we don't really have the details of her father's death either.

But yeah, lots of devastating and disturbing things happening in this family, all before Amber even hits the age of 23. And maybe in part as a result of all the trauma that she faced, Amber was plagued with reoccurring health issues. And especially in her teen years, she dealt with anxiety and just various mental health struggles.

So she was shuffled around to a few different schools during her childhood before finally settling at an alternative high school. And that's the one that she wound up graduating from. And after doing so, she was also able to complete a few college courses.

As her grandparents grew older, she became their full-time in-home caregiver to kind of give back to them in a way. And after her grandfather James passed in 2022, which actually came after her grandmother passed as well, Amber used the money from her grandparents to help herself buy a home right there in Prestonsburg. She maintained a very strict daily schedule, which included plenty of time with her friends and her two cats, Sadie and Twinkles.

But due to her health complications and general anxious nature, she just really struggled to hold down a traditional job and was without one for a time being. Though once she did settle into this new home of hers, she found work as the hostess of a popular area restaurant called The Brick House and actually loved the freedom and flexibility that it gave her.

She started there in mid-May of 2023 at the age of 38, and she worked part-time, which was just enough to keep herself afloat, but not so much that she would grow overwhelmed from it. And another thing that she loved about this job was that she got to meet and mingle with locals, and she also made friends with a lot of her co-workers. On Sunday, June 18th, 2023, Amber was working a closing shift at the Brick House,

And her older cousin, Dr. Debbie Hall, texted her that night, just making sure that she got home safely. And Amber texted her that she was actually still working. And this was the last time that she would speak to her family.

Now, Debbie kind of functioned as somewhat of an older sister figure to Amber throughout her life and has also taken on the role of being Amber's advocate even after her death, really to help secure justice for her and help tell her story, as we will talk a little bit more about later. But back then on that night...

Debbie told Amber to be careful getting home, and not like cryptically, but more so routinely. Yeah, just to make sure everything's good. Yeah, just like your normal, oh, get home safe kind of text. And she didn't hear any updates after that. And like Heath just said, Amber thrived under a regimented schedule, but she had actually made social plans for herself after work that night, despite the somewhat kind of later hour changes.

she was closing that night, but on Sundays, according to their website now, the Brick House closes at 7 on Sundays, for example, whereas they close on Saturdays at 11 p.m., so I

I assume if this was the case back then that she would close or she'd be off, sorry, by like 730 or eight. Yeah. So not like super late, just in time to really kind of go out and have some fun. But I wish we did. I'm sure eventually this will come out once the trials happen. But I wonder because of how late we're going to get into how late she was out. So it's kind of surprising, honestly.

It would surprise me, I guess, if she did get off at 7.30 or 8 because that's early compared to how late she was out. But anyway, you guys will see. So according to an old friend of Amber's named Roy, quote, normal day for me and she was working. She had messaged me a couple of times throughout the day. Did I want to go out to Seasons, which by the way is a restaurant attached to a motel, after she got off work. Then she finally convinced me to and then she came and picked me up.

And in case you're wondering, by Roy Kidd's account, he had been friends with Amber for nine years. So, you know, they kind of went back a bit. After Amber closed down the restaurant, the two headed to the Seasons Inn Motel and Restaurant. And while there...

They ran into Dr. Michael McKinney II and his son, Michael McKinney III, or MK. We're going to call him MK. Yeah, that's what a lot of people call him. So we're going to say Michael and MK. So just remember, Michael is the dad, MK is the son. Now, Michael McKinney is a well-known and respected dentist in this area who happened to co-own the restaurant that Amber worked at, you know, the Brick House restaurant.

He and his brother Chris McKinney also owned and operated the now-defunct Seasons Inn, hence why he was there that night. So he owns a lot of spots in the area. Now, regarding his dental practice, Michael had been practicing dentistry in Floyd County, Kentucky, which is this county, since 1994. And alongside his sister, Dr. Veronica McKinney, he operated a practice called Floyd County Smiles. So...

you know, kind of a big shot in town. I will say though that this town is not very big. There's only like, there's less than 4,000 people in the town. Yeah. So if you're picturing like, you know, this being like Mr. Moneybags, not really. He owns three different places in this town. But again, it's very small. Yeah. So maybe like,

For Prestonsburg, he's Mr. Moneybags, but he's not super, super hotshot. This is still a small rural area. So Michael's son, again, MK, who at the time was 23, still lived at home with his parents, Michael and LaDonna. Remember that.

And that night, 38-year-old Amber, 55-year-old Michael, 23-year-old MK, and Roy Kidd enjoyed drinking and chatting at the bar until it closed down at 2 a.m. Roy remembered, quote, So that's what I mean is like if she got off at 8 a.m.,

Staying out till 4 is very late, especially because she didn't really do that. Yeah, and that's a long time of drinking. And I also imagine the reason why they were able to, you know, stay until 4 a.m. is because Michael owned the place. Yeah, absolutely. So they could very much stay there afterwards until, you know, 4-ish, allegedly. And then after this, Michael invited the group over to his house about 20 minutes south of Prestonsburg.

near Martin, Kentucky. Now, I want to talk about his home for a second, but we can't do that very well because his house is not on like Zillow or Realtor.com or anything like that. So I'm assuming maybe he built it. But we will post a photo of it and a street view so you can see it. It's definitely a bit out there. It's a large property that backs against vast woodland and such with some other homes scattered along the same highway. But this is not like...

suburban neighborhood at all. No, definitely not. It's more where people go to buy a property. Yeah, like I'm saying, there are other homes nearby, but it's not like... It's like everybody has...

larger plots of land in this area, but you know, it's very beautiful. There's so many trees. There's a Creek right out front of his house, tons of grass, like the type of house I would imagine honestly would feel super creepy at night because it's very rural. There's no street lamps, but especially because of what is going to happen at this house that night. Most of you guys that live in rural areas, you know exactly what we're talking about. It's not super populated. It's,

You're kind of out there in the sticks, but not too far out there in the sticks. Exactly. Well, let's get into who was present that night at Michael's house, because we know that there were at least five people present, including a man named Josh Mullins and Josh's girlfriend, as well as Roy, Michael, MK, and Amber. Now, according to witnesses who spotted MK out the night before going back to his dad's house,

He was drinking very heavy. And even Roy himself admits that he consumed between 10 and 14 drinks that night. Lots of alcohol being poured. I mean, yeah, they were drinking for hours upon hours. Yeah, and then they kept the party going by going back to Michael's house. Exactly. Well, a few hours after the group arrived at the home of dentist and restaurant owner Michael, a 911 call was made by a source who has not been identified publicly.

However, according to Roy, the 911 call was about him. Roy later explained to police that he had fallen down multiple times thanks to all those drinks and that his chin was bleeding, but that he mopped the blood up with his shirt and put himself to bed in Michael's home. There you go. Yeah, so he's like, all right, I've had enough of falling on my face. Mop that blood up with your shirt. Gonna go to bed.

Well, between 5 and 5.30 a.m., someone called 911 to report this incident, alleging that an attendee of this house party had been injured, though the details that they offered were very limited. The call alleged that a man was drunk and bleeding profusely, stumbling around the house, and that he had maybe even suffered a fall. The person who reported this alleged that Roy's behavior was "...unmanageable and dangerous."

But then, supposedly, 55-year-old Michael commandeered that phone call to report that there was actually not a disturbance and that law enforcement didn't need to report to the scene. I want to know so badly who made this phone call because for somebody to even do that, somebody, we know that Roy fell and he was bleeding. So if this is about Roy, it's interesting that somebody in the house would have even called the police at all. Yeah.

You know, like, that means somebody's alert enough to say, hey, shit's going down over here and we need outside assistance. But who? Yeah, definitely. And with what we're going to get into, it almost feels like this might have been almost like a false flag call. Like somebody may have been calling about something else. And then, you know, well, we're going to get into that. Yeah, I wonder. According to the transcript of the 911 call, since the audio has not been released,

Michael said, quote,

Law enforcement did not stop by the house, nor did they follow up with the caller as it seemed to have been taken care of just based on what Michael had said. Like Heath said, that audio has not been released, but at Debbie's request, remember that's Amber's cousin who's like her older sister, law enforcement did permit her to listen to both calls made to 911 from Michael's house on June 18th, 2023.

And yes, there was a second call. But first, regarding that first call, Debbie explained publicly, quote,

The phone call was not about Amber and it was not made by Amber, but it was still information in that phone call that I feel like had it been anywhere else, there would have been a response. Someone would have at least made a welfare check. The possible link between the first and second call has not been shared with the public either, but both the first and second calls were described as, quote, chilling.

About five hours after that first call came in, around 10.30 a.m. on June 18th, 2023, Michael called the police himself. So this is the second call.

to report that his employee, 38-year-old Amber Spradlin, had been found deceased on his couch. Roy claims that the last time he saw her alive was around 6 a.m., so obviously over four hours earlier, explaining, quote,

Initially on that call, Michael said that when he found Amber's body, she looked like she may have been sleeping, like she was slumped over on a couch upstairs in the home, and her neck, where she had reportedly sustained the most injuries, was covered.

Strangely, before Michael reported his discovery to 911, he placed an eight-minute call, eight minutes, that's pretty significant, to Randy Woods, who was the chief of police in Prestonsburg, who, of course, was a close personal friend of his. Just never, never looks good in situations like this. Yeah, because this really makes it seem like he found Amber's body or...

knew about it, not to spoil, and called his buddy, chief of police, and then made that official 911 call. It is just, it's suspicious. Well, later, according to the subsequent court filing, the police chief, so Randy Woods, reported that he, quote, would only say that he told Michael McKinney to call 911, which proves to us that Michael told Randy

about what he found or what happened. Yeah, absolutely. And now Randy is saying that, oh yeah, no, I only advised him to just call 911, but there was an eight minute phone call. Like I said, like for something like this, that's pretty significant. That's eight whole minutes of speaking back and forth. So let's kind of get into this second call a little bit more. I'm sure you guys are wondering exactly what he said, because again, the audio has not been released. So Michael explained allegedly calmly, quote,

He went on to say, quote, The operator confirmed his address and Michael replied, quote,

When the operator asked, quote, do you know who the female is? He said, quote, Roy, what's her name? What's her name? I know it's Amber, but what's... And then in the background, Roy says Amber Spradlin. And then Michael repeats her name into the phone. He says Amber Spradlin.

When asked what he thought the cause of death was, Michael said candidly, quote, Dude, it looks like somebody came into the house and fucking murdered her. Her fucking throat slit. There's blood everywhere.

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That's goldbelly.com, promo code GIFT. So after that 911 call from Michael, police finally arrived at the scene. Amber's body was removed from the home and the autopsy was ordered as it looked clear that she had been murdered, just like Michael had said. Because get this,

38-year-old Amber Spradlin had been stabbed 11 times in the torso, head, and neck, and had lost a significant amount of blood. There was no evidence of sexual assault, so the motive and the circumstances behind the murder kind of remain a mystery here, especially with there being multiple people in that house that night. Amber's cousin Debbie said sadly, quote,

It means to me that she fought. It means to me that her last few minutes of her life were sheer terror, with a monster on top of her, stabbing and stabbing. I'm sure that she was yelling, and I know that she fought, and it's horrific. There's really no justice in this type of thing, but this is the best we can do.

Debbie and a handful of other friends and family members vowed to fight for Amber, especially since her death had been in the company of a wealthy, prominent, and influential member of her community, and kind of seemed like they were trying to sweep it under the rug. I mean, especially when we talk about the fact that he's friends with the chief of police. You're right, like he...

He really is looked at as this bigger dog in the community. And poor Amber needs... Her family needs answers. Well, and to make matters, like, even more suspicious, Randy Woods, again, the chief of the Prestonsburg police, actually resigned on June 23rd, 2023. So just...

five days after Amber's murder. And he got that call in the early morning from his buddy about her death. It's just, it's a little funky. Yeah, and honestly, a reason for his resignation was not immediately offered, but he did reference a shooting event from the summer prior in his public statement. So, I mean, obviously, who knows, but it is awfully suspicious.

But we'll tell you about that incident really quick. So basically, it happened on June 30th, 2022.

and claimed the lives of three police officers after a standoff with a man named Lance Storrs in Allen, Kentucky, who had lured them to his home during a domestic violence altercation. So he's basically telling people that the reason why he resigned is because of this event, but obviously the timing is really weird here. Yeah, and honestly, that event is horrific for a man to lure police to his home.

and kill them is very scary, but that happened a year earlier. Like, yeah, like you're saying, the timing is, doesn't make sense. So why are you resigning just now, right? Well, this is the statement that Randy issued to the public. It said, quote, it has been an honor and privilege to serve with the men and women at Prestonsburg, and I appreciate the opportunity to serve the citizens of Prestonsburg.

This decision did not come lightly and has weighed heavily on me and my family since the horrific events of June 30th, 2022. And after much consideration and prayer, I made the decision to move on and into the next chapter. Well, going back to Roy's recollection of Amber's discovery, he said, quote, Once I woke up, I went through the house. I was trying to, because I was looking for my phone, trying to call somebody to come get me.

I yelled her name twice and I touched her shoulders and I yelled her name twice and then I went straight because Mike's bedroom door is probably about eight or ten feet from where she was sitting. I beat on his door. I said, something's happened. And he came to the door and said, what?

Then he seen her and then he went back into his room. I said, call 911. And he went back in his room and made a couple of calls. It was silence. Everybody was just sitting there with their heads down. I was just in shock.

And what a horrifically real, like almost real game of Clue, you know, to if Roy doesn't really know anything and he's suddenly looking at his friend that he came to this house with and she is murdered, like violently murdered, stabbed 11 times and everybody's just sitting around and you don't know who the killer is. Yeah, I mean, it's terrifying, honestly. And just the fact that like,

You know, obviously he knows that this is Michael's house, so he needs to consult Michael first...

Because, you know, he's responsible for whatever happens within his home. Well, just for anybody wondering as well, by this time, it's not... Everybody's sitting around, right? But it was very clear that by this point she was deceased. So nobody's trying to revive her because there was, like, dried blood. There was just no chance. Yeah, it was, like, past that point. So Roy also said, quote, Just by the appearance of her face and I took her shoulders and then I...

the dried blood. And I was like, oh, my professional opinion, I would have thought it would be she was gone. Sorry, I know that was a weird quote, but that is what he said. Well, authorities have declined to offer up many details about the crime. And it's actually Amber's community who have fought to keep her case active and alive.

Her cousin Debbie started a Facebook group to raise awareness and her family invested in multiple billboards put up around Prestonsburg that read, "'Justice for Amber.'"

However, despite their best efforts, the case really stalled. But in the meantime, her family busied themselves filing a civil suit with the Prestonsburg Police Department, among others. So essentially, the lawsuit explains that on December 21st, 2022, so six months before Amber's murder, at a Floyd County Fiscal Court meeting, it said, quote,

Floyd County Judge Executive Robbie Williams introduced and announced that the 911 emergency dispatch services for Floyd County were being transferred from Kentucky State Police Post 9 in Pikeville to City of Prestonsburg Police Department. So it seems that this was done, you know, maybe to save money, but may have wound up actually costing Amber her life. Because if an officer had shown up earlier when they were first called, the

The whole ordeal could have been avoided and the party may have been broken up before her death. And it's actually really terrifying because the Prestonsburg Police Department did not have enough resources to pay officers to be dispatched throughout the county when 911 calls came in between the hours of 12 and 6 a.m. So...

If you called, you had an emergency between 12 and 6? In the middle of the night? Ain't nobody coming. That's really scary, honestly. And so this is a big reason why this is in the lawsuit, because even if Michael didn't get on the phone and say, hey, actually, everything's fine, if that didn't happen, somebody from a different area would have had, or police from a different area would have had to be dispatched, and it would have taken a long time anyway. So...

Like, not a good situation all around. Well, just on top of that shitshow, the Prestonsburg Police Department also chose not to pass the call on to another office. Nor did they even call back to assess the situation further, so it didn't really seem like they were doing their due diligence here. Floyd County Judge Executive Robbie Williams defended their emergency reporting system by saying, quote,

Prestonsburg has the most up-to-date center in eastern Kentucky. It would have made no difference if Kentucky State Police answered the call. The civil lawsuit also implicates the city of Prestonsburg, Randy Woods, again, the former chief of police, the Floyd County Fiscal Court, the mayor of Prestonsburg...

That's a lot of negligence. Yeah. Well, as you guys can imagine, with all this fuckery and so many people being in particular positions of power...

the investigation was really slow and very meticulous, to the frustration of Amber's loved ones and her supporters. Roy Kidd actually seemed to be the most forthcoming person in attendance that night, and was even the only person who consented to a polygraph examination.

But, I will say, that deception was detected when he answered the following questions: And he answered all of these negatively, but investigators, they just weren't so sure.

Though Roy was regarded as the essential witness from that evening, you know, based on his willingness to talk, he would grow defensive when asked about how often his stories would change. Now, Amber's family believe that he's innocent, though he definitely may know more than he's willing to share.

I mean, it seems like he knew Amber. He probably cared about her. They were friends for almost a decade. And with what else we're going to say, I don't know if I believe that he's necessarily involved. Also, polygraph tests are notoriously finicky. So it's possible that those questions made him nervous because he didn't want to be wrongfully accused.

But of course, like I said, because of that almost very real game of Clue going on in the house, it is hard to know who was involved and who wasn't. This is all very strange and very confusing because you also have to wonder why anybody in that house would want Amber dead or kind of how this could have happened when there were so many people present or at least under the same roof. It's just, it's all hard to fathom.

So naturally, her cousin Debbie Hall said that she couldn't understand who would have wanted to hurt her cousin and why. Saying, quote, Amber was 4'11 and she was just very friendly. She was naive and she just wanted to fit in and she would have been the last person I would have ever thought anything like that would have happened to. I just, I can't imagine what kind of terror she went through that night with that attack.

I mean, this is brutal. Someone who did something very brutal has been walking around in public for the last year. And she says that because it took over 13 months for strides to be made in Amber's case. But finally, on July 30th, 2024, three arrests were made in connection with her murder.

According to the arrest indictments, MK, who remember, that's Michael's, at the time, 23-year-old son, was believed to have murdered Amber for an unknown reason. And Michael and Josh spent hours helping clean it up or at least get rid of evidence that would prove MK was responsible. Like, they even wound up planting a knife that was not the actual murder weapon in order to throw off the investigation.

At 24 years old, MK was charged with murder and seven counts of evidence tampering. And family friend Josh Mullins, who was 23, was also charged with seven counts of evidence tampering. Then MK's 56-year-old father, Michael, who was arrested in his own restaurant, by the way,

was also charged with seven counts of evidence tampering. So all three had those seven counts of evidence tampering, but MK additionally was charged with murder. The lawsuit against them alleges that Michael himself, the dad, oversaw the cleanup of the murder.

Allegedly, this included disposing of the bloody clothing that MK was believed to be wearing that night, cleaning up bloodstains throughout the house, mopping up blood in the kitchen and laundry room, disposing of the handle of the knife believed to be the murder weapon, and even erasing security camera footage that may have shown Amber arriving at the house or possibly even shown her murder.

Which is, it makes it so strange that he called the police at all. I mean, even if maybe Randy Woods did say you have to call the police and report it. But the fact that he literally said that it looked like a murder, those were his words. Why would you say that? If you, if you, I'm not saying that he wasn't a part of it, but if he was, what a freaking dummy.

for saying, dude, honestly, it looked like somebody murdered her. Yeah. If you know your son did. Well, here's the thing. They were trying multiple different things to get away with this. And he was obviously trying to protect his son from being arrested. So it's like,

He did all this work to try and clean up the blood and then eventually called police and told them, oh, I think somebody just came into my house and killed this woman randomly. Like, okay, that's no. Well, that would also explain why, you know, Roy said the last time I saw Amber was around 6 a.m. And it wasn't until like 10 or 10.30 that the 911 call was made by Michael, which just means that if she was murdered around or after 6 a.m.,

they would have had hours to clean this up because get this also, a hard drive, which is believed to contain the videotape that I was just talking about, was also discarded from the scene. So it really does seem like they spent a significant amount of time trying to get rid of evidence and act like this did not happen in the McKinney household. Yeah.

And then lastly, Michael even waited until his son, MK, was in Moorhead, Kentucky, which is an hour and a half away from Martin, which is the area they lived in. And where, of course, the crime was committed before calling police. So it's almost like he's trying to say, hey, get out of here. Yeah, I'll deal with the rest. Exactly. He's definitely trying to protect his son. He's like, just go as far as you can and then I'll make the call. So creepy. Yeah.

Well, the bond for Josh Mullins, the family friend, was set at $100,000, which his attorney immediately disputed with a filing in an attempt to reduce it by 5%. But the motion hoped to make the amount, quote, "...large enough to make it hurt."

His attorney maintains that he has no criminal history and, quote, humble financial resources, and that punishing him financially is unconstitutional. You know what's unconstitutional? Helping clean up a murder scene. Yeah. But Josh remains in custody awaiting trial to this day, which is coming up later this year or possibly next.

Michael, on the other hand, was held on a $250,000 bond, but he posted this immediately, of course, you know, he's this big business guy. And he was sent back home where his wife was waiting for him.

Later on August 14th of 2024, each defendant was charged with an additional count of evidence tampering. They're finding some stuff. Yes, they absolutely are. Well, MK, rightfully so, suffered the most severe consequences, being held on a $5 million bond, which his defense attorney Steve Romines unsuccessfully worked to get reduced.

According to reports from the aftermath of Amber's death, MK was seen with scratches on his arm, which were believed to be wounds from Amber fighting back. And we will definitely post a photo so that you guys can see those. They look pretty superficial. Like, it's nothing shocking, but it is interesting that we have...

Well, but MK and his defense attorney, Steve Romines, argued that he had sustained the scratches days before the murder took place. Though I do want to say, DNA found under Amber's fingernails matched MK and his father Michael only, and not Josh Mullen's Roy kid or anyone else she had come into contact with that evening.

And obviously their DNA being under her fingernails is very suspicious, especially when you consider the scratches. And I don't know that Michael's DNA would get under her fingernails if he only helped clean up the scene. Just saying. Yeah, because I mean, when you're a big detail. Yeah. When you're dead, you're not going to be fighting back and scratching someone to get them off of you. Absolutely. Yeah.

Well, five days after the indictment was released, a bond hearing was held wherein Steve argued that he had made arrangements for MK to be on house arrest away from his father and co-defendant due to concerns for his mental health. Oh, quit it. Yeah, I mean, they're really trying to play this up. He was charged with murder and you're like, ah, give the kid house arrest. Yeah, well, Steve argued that if he was a true danger to the community...

he would have run during the 13-month period it took him to be arrested for the heinous crime. Saying, quote, That's it.

But this was not enough assurance for the court. Obviously, they're like, that's fucking dumb and bullshit. And they said that MK was ordered to await his trial in jail. I mean, it's a ridiculous thing to say. Again, he's being accused of murder. So to act like being 25 years old is practically being a child. I know I just said kid, but that was in mocking of his type of tone acting like, oh, he's just 25 years old. No, that's an adult. You can rent a car. Yeah.

And saying that, oh, well, he's only had a speeding ticket on his record means he's not dangerous. Like, that's insane. Not running doesn't mean you're innocent, and it surely doesn't mean you're a good guy. Well, it seems like the courts agreed with you because they were like, yeah, we're not doing that. We're not going to let him out on house arrest. He's going to be in jail until his trial. Well, get this. According to Roy Kidd, MK confided in him that night, that very night in question, that

that he was suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, so OCD, and that he was hearing, quote, "'dark voices who told him to do bad things.'"

Roy later alleged, quote, I was trying to help him because he always felt alone and nobody would talk to him about anything. MK's attorney, Steve, vehemently denies this claim, of course, alleging that another person present that morning actually committed the crime, leaving behind a knife that is believed to have been planted at the scene. Debbie, on the other hand, believes that given the opportunity, he will kill again.

MK's trial was initially set for February or March of 2026, so next year, but Steve has pushed for a quicker timeline, stating that MK has been held in isolation unjustly. He explained, quote,

Michael was placed on house arrest after he was bonded out because, like Heath said, he made the $250,000 bail, obviously. And although he was initially permitted to go to work, his license to practice dentistry was suspended by the Kentucky Board of Dentistry on July 31st, 2023, which, as we know, is shortly after Amber's murder.

Now, the board even announced that they were launching their own investigation into his business practices and competency.

But a judge, for whatever fucking reason, took pity on Michael and ruled that he could train a protege in his place in an attempt to maintain his dental office. Like they're saying, we're not going to rip away your livelihood even though you're an accomplice in murder. So you can train somebody to take your place and still have your business. Yeah. What the hell? So he was also ordered to stay away from Brick House or The Brick House. Remember, that's where Amber worked. And it's a business that Michael also owned.

except when his presence was absolutely necessary for business matters. So this really doesn't mean a whole lot. It's like,

He's probably only really there to deal with business stuff. Yeah, they're like, you can work there, but you can't chill there. But this is what Floyd County Commonwealth's attorney Brent Turner said about this decision. Quote,

Which, obviously, I agree with as well. Like...

You know, Amber's family doesn't want to have to go into that business. Not like they probably ever will go back in there. Yeah, they're not going to support it anyway. Yeah, but even if they did, they don't want to see Michael in there just hanging out and drinking and, you know, shooting the shit with his buddies. MK's attorney filed a motion against the Commonwealth of Kentucky to reassert his right to a speedy trial on April 11th, 2025.

Steve Romines wrote that, quote, "...such prejudice is particularly intense in the matter at hand. The Commonwealth theory of the case is that M.K., who had a little personal history with Amber Spradlin, simply snapped and killed her because he has dark thoughts and is cuckoo."

Regardless of the truth of these allegations at the time someone killed Amber, worsening the defendant's mental health before trial is massively prejudicial. MK has already spent many months in isolation without access to basic distractions like books or television for a crime of which he is still presumed innocent. If the Commonwealth's theory is insanity, it helps them to drive the defendant insane first.

As the Commonwealth's case on Point states, lengthy exposure to the conditions of pretrial detention has a destructive effect on human character. Steve also requested to move the trial to a neighboring county because he was concerned that his client wouldn't receive a fair trial among his peers in the small community.

At this time, M.K. McKinney, Michael McKinney, and Josh Mullins have all pleaded not guilty. And Michael and Josh await a trial date after M.K.'s, which is tentatively set for December 1st of this year. ♪♪

Thank you so much, everybody, for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode. Like we said in the beginning, justice is right around the corner. Those trials are coming up. And hopefully Amber's friends and family will get the justice that they deserve. Yeah, it feels like the theory is that, you know, that MK kind of quote unquote snapped.

and killed Amber for whatever reason, whether it was random in a fit of rage on his own, whether he had some specific encounter with Amber herself. It's just so hard to know. We really don't have a lot of information, but it seems like the police do it. It does seem like there is quite an investigation going on behind the scenes. So we will stay up to date with everything on that and hopefully do an update episode later this year. So thank you guys so much for tuning into this one.

Check out the photos on our socials. And remember today, as of today, tickets go on sale for our tour. We're heading on the road, coming to you live, Denver, Dallas, Atlanta, Boston, and Chicago in September with our gals over at Love Murder. It's going to be so much fun. Get your tickets, goingwestpod.com slash tour. Yes, we're going to be talking about some true crime stories.

And then we're going to be playing some interactive games with audience members. You guys, hopefully, if you show up. But yeah, go get tickets. Go to goingwestpod.com slash tour and pick up those tickets today. All right, guys, we will see you on Tuesday. All right. So for everybody. Keep taking your all right, guys. All right, guys. So for everybody out there in the world. Don't be a stranger.

♪♪♪

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