Insets, left to right: Michael Hogue (Boone County Sheriff’s Office), Kevin Nikel (Berna Funeral Homes), and Amanda Penny (BCSO). Background: The Boone County Sheriff’s Office (Google Maps).
In Arkansas, a woman and her boyfriend face serious charges after allegedly murdering her ex-husband just three days following the finalization of her divorce and a denial of custody of her child.
Amanda Penny, 40, and Michael Hogue, 51, were arrested this week. They are charged with first-degree murder and illegal firearm possession in connection with the death of Kevin Nikel, according to authorities.
Nikel, who was once a WWE wrestler known by the ring name Knuckles Madsen, met a tragic end.
The Benton County Sheriff’s Office reported that on July 11, deputies responded to a shooting incident on Highway 12 near Rogers. First responders discovered an adult male, later identified as Nikel, who had sustained a gunshot wound to his abdomen.
The U.S. Marshal Service (USMS) successfully located Hogue in Fort Smith and Penny in Rogers, subsequently arresting both individuals, as per the Sheriff’s Office’s news release.
Court records reveal that Nikel had been the primary caregiver for the couple’s son until the alleged murder. Hogue, described as Amanda Penny’s live-in romantic partner, is accused of committing the crime, according to legal documents filed by Nikel’s mother, who is seeking custody of the child.
In addition to revealing there was a court order prohibiting contact between Hogue and the child of Penny and Nikel, court documents also claimed that Nikel was to maintain primary custody of the boy until Penny was able to pass a hair follicle drug test, which she had not done as of July 11.
Nikel’s mother, Susan Kinderman, who earlier this year was awarded custody of her grandson, told Fort Smith CBS affiliate KFSM that even after the arrests, she still has many unanswered questions about why her son was killed.
“We still don’t know exactly what happened when he got shot. The detectives have been pretty close lipped on that, which is good, but we’d still like to know exactly what happened and who did what,” she told the station.
Kinderman was reportedly told that some kind of argument took place between the two men that led to Hogue shooting Nikel. The argument may have began via text messages.
“There was some kind of an argument. Maybe there was texting going back and forth,” she said. “I think they enticed Kevin to meet up with them. I was told by the detectives that there was some kind of altercation. Shots were fired, and Kevin was killed, and that’s all we really know.”
Nikel’s obituary says that his son was “his entire world” and that he will be missed “by everyone who knew him personally or attended one of his shows.”
Both of the defendants were being held in the Benton County Jail without bond as of Tuesday. It was not immediately clear when they were scheduled to make their initial court appearances.
