WEST LIBERTY, Ky. — Video showing a Kentucky judge being gunned down in his chambers was played Tuesday during a court hearing for the ex-sheriff who is charged in the killing that stunned their Appalachian community.
The short video clip was presented by prosecutors during the preliminary hearing for Shawn “Mickey” Stines. He was sheriff of Letcher County when police say he walked into District Judge Kevin Mullins’ chambers and opened fire on Sept. 19.
Mullins, 54, who held the judgeship for 15 years, died at the scene, and Stines, 43, surrendered without incident. Stines stepped down as sheriff Monday.
The video, with no audio, showed a man identified by police as Stines pulling out a gun and shooting the judge as he sat at his desk. The man walked around the desk, pointed the gun at the judge - who had fallen to the floor - and fired again, it showed. Some people in the courtroom gallery sobbed as the video was played, while Stines looked down.
Mullins died from multiple gunshot wounds, Kentucky State Police Detective Clayton Stamper testified Tuesday. Stines pleaded not guilty to murder last week and is being held in another Kentucky county.
Police have given no motive for the shooting involving two prominent members of the county near the Virginia border, but Stines’ defense team delved into what occurred beforehand - first when Stines and Mullins met for lunch that day and then in the moments before the gunfire.
Stamper, the lead police investigator in the case, said he reviewed video that showed Mullins’ chambers right before the shooting - a segment not played at the hearing.
Asked to describe what he saw, Stamper replied: “Sheriff Stines uses his telephone to make some phone calls. He then borrows Judge Mullins’ cellphone and appears to make a call on that.”
Stamper said he was told Stines had tried to call his daughter on his phone and the judge’s phone. He said police confirmed Stines’ daughter’s phone number was on the judge’s phone.
As for Stines’ reaction when he looked at the judge’s cellphone, Stamper said Stines’ face wasn’t shown in the video. The judge’s phone was found later on his desk and Stines’ phone was with him when he was arrested, Stamper said.
Investigators have found nothing to indicate the shooting was planned, the detective testified.
“It occurred after a phone call was made,” Stamper said later. “I don’t know what was said.”
Asked if the shooting was the result of recent content found on the phone, Stamper replied: “It could be, but I don’t know that for a fact.”
Both phones are being downloaded at a police forensics lab, he said.
When asked if he was aware of any prior issues, personal or professional, between the ex-sheriff and the judge, Stamper said he “heard things” regarding a lawsuit involving the sheriff’s office.
Stines had been deposed in a lawsuit filed by two women, one of whom alleged a deputy sheriff forced her to have sex inside Mullins’ chambers for six months in exchange for staying out of jail. The suit accuses the now-former sheriff of “deliberate indifference in failing to adequately train and supervise” the deputy.
The now-former deputy sheriff pleaded guilty to raping the female prisoner while she was on home incarceration. Stines fired the deputy for “conduct unbecoming” after the suit was filed in 2022, the Courier Journal has reported.
Other details about the events before and after the judge’s shooting death emerged during the hearing.
Police investigators found no weapon on Mullins or in his chambers, Stamper said.
On the day of the shooting, Mullins and Stines met for lunch with several other people at a restaurant near the courthouse in Whitesburg, the detective said.
“I was told that the judge made a statement to Mickey about, ‘Do we need to meet private in my chambers?’” Stamper said, adding that he didn’t know what it was about.
A handful of people were in a room next to Mullins’ chambers when the shots rang out. Stines was in custody by the time he arrived at the courthouse, Stamper said.
“He was mostly calm, I thought,” Stamper said. “I talked to him but he didn’t say nothing about why this had happened. But he was calm. … Basically all he said was ‘treat me fair.’”
At the end of the hearing, Judge Rupert Wilhoit III determined probable cause exists to believe Stines committed the crime, allowing the case to go to a grand jury to decide whether to indict Stines.
Stines’ defense team said they left the hearing with more questions than answers and said they are conducting their own “parallel investigation” of the case.
If convicted of murder, Stines could serve 20 years to life in prison. Since he’s accused of killing a public official, he could potentially face the death penalty.
• Schreiner reported from Frankfort, Kentucky.
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