Former Princeton and Hopkinsville resident Bobby Spikes was officially sentenced to back-to-back life sentences without parole in Christian County Circuit Court Wednesday morning, for the December 2021 double murders of Candace Marcel and Stanley Bussell.

Judge John Atkins closed the book.

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Atkins denied a motion to deviate from the recommended sentencing, but did recognize that Spikes is acquitted of kidnapping charges attached to Marcel.

Marcel’s father, Clifton Douglas Locklear, said a piece of him has been gone since his daughter’s untimely death — a senseless act, he noted, for which “there is no understanding.”

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Bussell’s sister, Yvonne Darrow, spoke on the behalf of several of his remaining family members — who together noted that “to know Stanley was to love Stanley,” because he “had a big heart.”

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And like many others, she misses her brother.

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Spikes spoke for himself, and wanted to clear the record on a previous comment made in passing on the day his guilt was rendered.

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Spikes said he loved Marcel and Bussell, would never be disrespectful to them, or their families, and maintains his innocence. At this time, it is believed his counsel will pursue appeal of the verdict.