PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — The judge presiding over the Amber Spradlin murder trial has granted a request by prosecutors to delay the trial.

Special Judge Eddy Coleman issued an order Friday evening canceling the Dec. 1 trial date and ordering attorneys to appear that day for a pretrial conference instead.

In his order, Coleman noted that the untested DNA evidence was too important to ignore. He cited precedent for his decision in the case in Manning vs. Commonwealth of Kentucky, in which the Kentucky Supreme Court granted a fourth delay in a complicity to murder and robbery case, even though that pushed the trial to more than two years after the indictment.

Coleman quoted a passage from that decision in his ruling: “[T]he importance of DNA evidence in modern criminal prosecutions cannot be overstated; the absence of available DNA evidence is the equivalent to having a missing witness. We accordingly cannot fault the trial court for ensuring this evidence was available, despite the incredible length of delay it caused …”

Coleman has not yet set a new date for trial.

Spradlin’s body was found June 18, 2023, at the Arkansas Creek home of Prestonsburg dentist Michael McKinney. McKinney’s son, M.K. McKinney, has been charged with her murder, while both McKinneys and family friend Josh Mullins are charged with multiple counts of evidence tampering for allegedly trying to cover up the crime.

A copy of the judge’s ruling follows: