Kentucky sheriff appears to shoot judge dead in courthouse on video
The fatal shooting of a Kentucky judge by a sheriff was apparently captured on security video — and the moments leading up to the alleged cold-blooded murder were played in open court this week.
Justice Kevin Mullins sat at his desk in his room at the Letcher County Courthouse in Whitesburg, Kentucky, on September 19, then sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines walks in and appears to pull a gun and shoot him multiple times, killing the judge.
Stines surrendered to authorities and was charged with Mullins’ murder. Investigators uncovered a possible motive, revealing that Stines allegedly found his daughter’s phone number on Mullins’ phone and called it — and a detective later confirmed that the sheriff’s daughter had been called from the judge’s phone before this incident.
A security camera captured the judge’s shooting and the clip was played during a preliminary hearing at the courthouse.
Look… Mullins is sitting in his office chair with his hands up, apparently trying to talk sense to Stines, who is standing a few feet away with a gun at his side.
Suddenly, Stines appears to point the gun at Mullins, who turns away in fear. Moments later, Stines allegedly pumps Mullins full of bullets, circles the desk and shoots the judge lying on the ground several times… in the lengthy video shown in the courtroom.
Given the video evidence, Stines certainly has an uphill battle convincing the jury that he’s innocent… but he still pleaded not guilty.
By the way, Stines is no longer the sheriff of Letcher County. No real surprise there.
