Dateline NBC
Kentucky prosecutor wants trial of dentist's son delayed. Cal Harris sues cops. Plus, rental scams.
13 Nov 2025
Chapter 1: What happened in the Amber Spradlin murder case?
They said on the Today Show that there were snowflakes on the plaza. It's the start of another workday here at Dateline headquarters. It certainly was cold enough for a little snowflake. Our producers are catching up on breaking crime news. The husband is speaking out saying it had nothing to do with it.
There was no date for the retrial, right? She wrote in her diary that if I end up dead, then my husband did it.
Welcome to Dateline True Crime Weekly. I'm Andrea Canning. It's November 13th, and here's what's on our docket. In upstate New York, a man who stood trial four times for his wife's murder and was acquitted takes the investigators to court.
From his perspective, they put him through hell, four trials, three years behind bars, and many years of separation from his children.
In Dateline Roundup, updates on the case of Kata Scott, the murdered aspiring beauty queen, and former baseball pitcher and convicted killer Dan Serafini pushes for a new trial.
Serafini's defense attorney questioned the juror in front of the judge about how she used computer tools to review evidence during the case.
Plus, rental scams on social media are on the rise. NBC News chief consumer investigative correspondent Vicky Nguyen tells us what to watch out for.
They rip off a bunch of people and disappear.
Before all that, we're heading to a small town in eastern Kentucky where the son of a local dentist is behind bars awaiting trial for murder. His dad has been charged, too, with helping him cover it up. In June 2023, Amber Spradlin, a 38-year-old restaurant hostess in Prestonsburg, Kentucky, was found stabbed to death in the home of Dr. Michael McKinney, the town dentist.
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Chapter 2: What evidence links the dentist's son to the murder?
The defense is alleging that Roy had been, quote, intoxicated to the point of belligerence that night. Okay, so we should say Roy Kidd has not been charged with anything, and the prosecutor says he's been fully cooperative with investigators. So the judge set MK's bond at $5 million, and he's been in jail for more than a year. His father, the dentist, and the family friend got out on bond.
Blaine, what exactly are they accused of doing with these allegations that they helped cover up this crime? Andrea, the prosecutor alleges that MK, his dad, and that friend, a guy named Josh Mullins, got rid of evidence, including MK's clothes from that night, a home security camera, a computer hard drive, and a knife handle, all in an attempt to cover up what happened.
Now, it's important to note that they have all denied those allegations. So fast forward to last week. Trial was supposed to start on December 1st, but at the last minute, the prosecution filed a motion asking to postpone. What is their grounds for this possible postponement? Well, the prosecutor has said that he's still awaiting results from the state crime lab.
Now, he mentioned DNA testing that's been done on blood that was found on Amber's clothing, as well as blood on the couch where Amber's body was found, and blood on Dr. McKinney's bedroom door. The prosecutor said that there also appeared to be blood in the sink traps of the house. And finally, he mentioned that he'd like to test what appeared to be hairs on Amber's clothes.
Okay, so do we know why this is all taking so long? Well, the prosecutor explained that, quite frankly, there's a backlog in Kentucky crime labs. He said that the lab has been pushing ahead, just moving as quickly as they can, but it still takes time.
I think the public and everybody has this idea that they got some big assembly line of DNA people like on CSI that's getting it done. They don't do that. They don't have the resources to do that. I wish they did.
The judge asked the prosecution why they even needed this evidence, and the prosecutor said it was a big deal. Why does he think it's a big deal? Well, the prosecutor pointed out that Roy Kidd had been bleeding that night, too. He had cut himself at some point during that party. The prosecutor said that they needed to do the testing to know exactly whose blood was where throughout the house.
The defense told the judge enough is enough, that MK has been asking for a speedy trial since the get-go, and it's time to go to trial. So his attorney suggested that the state wants this extra testing because, in the defense's words, their case against MK is weak. He also asked the judge to modify MK's bond so that he could get out of jail.
They can't say we're not ready for trial because our case isn't strong enough. but say simultaneously, our case is so strong, he's got to be held in jail on a $5 million bond. You can't do it. You can't have your cake and eat it too.
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Chapter 3: Why is the trial of the dentist's son being postponed?
Yeah, it really is.
So now, Sue, the roles are reversed, right? Cal Harris is the accuser, and the investigators are the defendants. Did you ever expect Harris to make a move like this?
You know, Andrea, I am not surprised. Cal Harris made it clear in our Dateline interview years ago that he felt law enforcement had treated him unfairly from day one. From his perspective, they put him through hell, four trials, three years behind bars, and many years of separation from his children.
So let's give people who might not know the story the basics of what happened. 35-year-old Michelle Harris disappeared on the night of September 11, 2001. What did investigators know in those early hours?
Michelle's van was found abandoned at the bottom of the driveway of the home she and Cal shared with their four children. The keys were still in the ignition of that van, but there was no sign of Michelle. And remember, Andrea, it was 9-11, and the rest of the world was looking elsewhere.
The New York State Police launched a massive search operation, teams on foot. They had dogs, but they didn't find anything, right?
No, no, they didn't, Andrea.
Michelle's body has never been found. So one thing we know, Sue, is that when the husband or the boyfriend or the significant other doesn't show up to searches, it always raises red flags. And this was no different. Cal Harris was not participating in the searches for his wife.
No. He was not. Now, Kyle will tell you, and he did tell us, that he didn't go out searching because there were plenty of other searchers, and he wanted to be with his children. He is a dedicated dad. But also, the 11-year marriage between Kyle and Michelle was on the rocks, and the two of them were in the process of getting divorced.
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Chapter 4: What are the details of Cal Harris's lawsuit against investigators?
So Harris was convicted at his first trial, and that was in 2007, just as he was about to be sentenced. The judge threw out the verdict because of a witness who suddenly came forward at that hearing, and he was a local farmer, this witness. He said he was out hauling hay early, early, and he said he saw Michelle at the end of the driveway.
She was crying, he said, and he said she was with a brown-haired man. He later identified that person as being someone Michelle knew from the restaurant where she worked. So Harris got a new trial, and he was convicted again at trial number two. He went to prison, but that verdict was then overturned on appeal. The appellate court said the judge had made mistakes in jury selection.
Then trial number three ended in a hung jury, so a mistrial was declared. Trial number four, Cal Harris opted to have a judge hear the case against him. And the judge acquitted him. Incredible.
So, Sue, that brings us to present day. Harris filed his federal lawsuit in 2017. By the time it got into a courtroom just last month, there were three defendants, two of the investigators and the family babysitter. So what did the attorney say the investigators had done wrong? How?
Kyle Harris accused the New York State investigators of pressuring the prosecutor to bring charges, fabricating evidence, and grooming witnesses to get the result they wanted. He said that Steve Anderson, one of the investigators who found the blood, had doctored photos of the bloodstains. And then Kyle accused the family babysitter of working with investigators.
She changed her story, he said, at their direction to make him look guilty. All right. So what are they all saying to this? Well, they denied there had been any conspiracy and definitely nothing malicious. The lead investigator, Sue Mulvey, testified that her investigation had been exhaustive and that the prosecutor, not her, called the shots about filing charges.
Steve Anderson denied doctoring any photos, and he stood by his blood analysis. And the babysitter denied working for investigators or lying for them.
So the jury got to hear from Cal Harris and his youngest son, Tanner.
According to reporters in the courtroom, Tanner's testimony was very emotional. He described what it was like as a little kid to visit his dad when he was in prison, how hard those visits were. And what I remember, Andrea, he said every time they turned around to drive home, how silent it was in the car. Okay, so what did the jury decide? Well, the jury decided against Kyle Harris.
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Chapter 5: How many trials did Cal Harris face for his wife's murder?
Right. King had actually been charged earlier this year in another case involving strangulation and kidnapping. But those charges were ultimately dropped when the victim didn't show up to court. Now, the DA's office has reopened the case, but many in the Philly community are outraged that King was ever even let back onto the streets.
In fact, Philadelphia council members are taking a closer look at how the system handles cases like this. So where do the King charges stand now? So prosecutors have upped the charges against King, adding robbery, theft, violation of the Uniform Firearms Act, tampering with evidence. He's still being held on a $2.5 million bill as prosecutors continue to build their case.
We should also say that we've reached out to King's attorney for comment but have not received a response. Such a heartbreaking outcome for Kata's family.
Yeah, extremely. A public funeral was held for her this past Saturday. Hundreds packed a Philadelphia church, including her family, friends, activists, and Philadelphia Mayor Sherelle Parker.
What do we do to ensure that her legacy truly lives on? We're going to formally institutionalize the Kata Scott internship in the city of Philadelphia.
And Andrea, if you were there, you'd notice this wasn't typical funeral attire. Everyone was wearing pink, Kata's favorite color.
Yeah, you can really tell that Kata was very loved. And our thoughts are, of course, with her family. Alex, for our next story, we've got an update on a familiar case to our podcast. Dan Serafini, the former Major League Baseball pitcher convicted in July of shooting his in-laws back in June 2021. He is asking for a new trial. What is the latest with that?
Right, so juror number six is at the center of Serafini's push for a new trial, and she was back in the courtroom on Monday. Serafini's defense attorney questioned the juror in front of the judge about how she used computer tools to review evidence during the case. She testified that she used the snipping tool to grab screenshots from two surveillance videos shown at trial,
One showing Serafini in a hotel lobby the day before the shootings and the other showing a masked hooded figure outside the victim's home on the day of the murders.
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Chapter 6: What are the allegations against the investigators in Harris's case?
Vicky is joining us now with some things to think about before you send off that application fee. Hey, Vicki.
Hey, Andrea. Great to be with you.
Yeah. So tell us about what's popping up on social media and what are these scammers doing exactly in this arena?
This is a new frontier and a really wild one, Andrea. So a lot of younger generations go not on just Craigslist or StreetEasy to look for apartments and rental homes these days. They're looking for them on TikTok and Instagram.
And while there are legitimate accounts, scammers have found a way to rip off tons of videos from real real estate agents and realtors, make new bogus imposter accounts, and they post the same apartment for a fraction of the cost. It's too good to be true, but...
If you are new to an area or you're a first-time renter, you might not know that this apartment for $1,500 actually goes for $15,000 in New York City, right? Because $1,500 still seems like a lot of money. So what they do is they take these videos and they attract people. And once they get them on the hook, they're like, hey, this apartment's going to go really fast.
I'm going to need you to send a fully refundable deposit. but you need to do this and act quickly. So there's a couple of red flags, right? The price is too good to be true and you need to act fast. There's a sense of urgency. And so they'll ask you for two, three, $400, which a lot of people in hot rental markets think that's reasonable. And then they find out the account has ghosted them.
Once they've zelled or PayPal or Venmo the money over, that person cuts off all communication.
Can these people just take all their brains that they're putting into this and, you know, have real jobs or start a business? Because it sounds like they're actually kind of smart.
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