FRANKFORT, Ky. — Attorney General Daniel Cameron has rejected a request by Floyd County Judge-Executive Robbie Williams to appoint a special prosecutor in the investigation into the murder of Amber Spradlin.
Spradlin was found brutally stabbed to death June 18. While the case has been actively investigated since that time, no arrests have yet been made.
On Friday, Williams requested that a special prosecutor be appointed in the case to rebuild public trust in the investigation. He said the case has been the subject of countless rumors and speculation that have left many local residents skeptical that an arrest is forthcoming.
But Williams’ request received pushback from Commonwealth’s Attorney Brent Turner, whose office would normally prosecute any case arising from the investigation, as well from Spradlin’s family, who communicated their desire to keep Turner at the helm of the prosecution through their attorney, Mark Wohlander. Those desires were pivotal in Cameron’s decision.
“On September 11 we received email correspondence from [Spradlin’s cousin] Dr. [Debra] Hall expressing the family’s confidence in the handling of the case by the Commonwealth’s Attorney for the 31st Judicial Circuit,” the letter notes.
The letter goes on to say that Williams has no authority to make such a request.
“The authority of the Office of the Attorney General to assume jurisdiction of a case or to appoint a special prosecutor is generally limited by KRS 15.200(1),” the letter says. “A county judge-executive is not one of the officials specified in the statute as someone with authority to request the appointment of a special prosecutor in a matter. The circumstances do not at present appear to call for a special prosecutor appointment, therefore the Office respectfully declines your request.”
Turner reacted positively to Cameron’s decision and used the occasion to again lambaste Williams.
“There was never any question that this request would be denied because Robbie Williams has no more authority to request a special prosecutor than the dog catcher does,” Turner said in a statement given to Mountain Top News. “Additionally, my office has no conflict and the family is adamant that they want my office to continue handling the case. The County Judge needs to worry about doing his own job. If we need a load of gravel, or if the toilet gets stopped up at the senior citizens center, we’ll call him. But when it comes to murder cases, he needs to leave that to the team of professional investigators and prosecutors to deal with.”
A full copy of Cameron’s letter follows:
