Video shows the moment a Kentucky judge was shot to death
Former Letcher County Ky. Sheriff Shawn "Mickey" Stines looks over at the prosecutors during his arraignment at the Morgan County Courthouse in West Liberty, Ky., on Tuesday. Stines is accused of murdering District Judge Kevin Mullins. Timothy D. Easley/AP hide caption
toggle caption Timothy D. Easley/APA Kentucky sheriff shot and killed a local judge last month after dialing his teenage daughter’s number on the judge’s phone, according to testimony in a preliminary hearing on Tuesday.
Police say Letcher County Sheriff Mickey Stines dialed his daughter’s number from District Judge Kevin Mullins’ phone, then pulled his gun and shot Mullins repeatedly inside his own chambers in the city of Whitesburg on Sept. 19.
Kentucky State Police later clarified that they have no evidence the daughter’s phone number was on the judge’s phone before the sheriff dialed it, despite court testimony that suggested that. Trooper Matt Gayheart, a state police spokesman, attributed the confusion to what he called a “misleading” exchange during the preliminary hearing.
Sponsor Message“It was very confusing,” Gayheart said. “I was even confused watching it.”
It’s not clear why the sheriff called his daughter from the judge’s phone. Gayheart says Stines’ daughter did not answer.
Graphic video played at the hearing appears to show Stines, a hulking man who stands 6’4” and weighs more than 300 pounds, firing on Mullins as he sits at his desk with his left hand up. After Mullins collapses to the floor, Stines is seen leaning over the desk to fire again. As Stines prepares to leave, the video shows him closing in from another angle, firing his final shots from about two feet away.
Inside the courtroom, members of the audience wailed and wept as they watched the brief clip. There was no audio. Stines, wearing handcuffs and a blue tunic, stared down at the defense table while his daughter, who sat behind him, looked at one of the walls.Stines resigned as sheriff and has pleaded not guilty to murder.
Tuesday’s testimony and video are the latest turn in an extraordinary case in which a law officer has allegedly killed a judge. Killings of this sort are extremely rare.
In 1988, a judge in Grand Rapids, Mich., was killed by her estranged husband, a veteran police officer. The same year, a retired New York City police officer shot and killed a judge in Westchester County, after the judge dismissed a suit filed by the officer’s daughter.
Sponsor MessageThe killing in Kentucky has gripped and baffled the people of Letcher, a county of about 21,000 in the state’s southeastern coalfields, about 150 miles from Lexington.
Stines, 43, and Mullins, 54, were well known throughout the community. Police said they had shared lunch together with others at a restaurant near the courthouse hours before the shooting.
Kentucky State Police are investigating the case but have not disclosed a possible motive.
Det. Clayton Stamper, the chief investigator, said the full video showed Stines trying to call his daughter from his phone and then from the judge’s phone. After that, the sheriff opened fire.
Stamper also testified that as he was taken into custody, Stines told officers, “They are trying to kidnap my wife and kid.”
Stamper didn’t elaborate on just what the sheriff might have meant. He did say, though, that he had heard the judge and sheriff were at odds over a recent lawsuit.
Several days before Stines allegedly killed the judge, he was interviewed for hours in a deposition in a suit that names Stines in his capacity as sheriff. The lawsuit claimed that Stines knew or should’ve known that a now-former deputy had coerced a female drug defendant into having sex in exchange for freeing her from house arrest. The defendant said Deputy Ben Fields had forced her to have sex with him in Judge Mullins’ chambers after hours in exchange for Fields taking off her ankle monitor.
Fields, who also served as the judge’s bailiff, pleaded guilty to rape charges last year. Both Mullins and Stines denied knowing anything about Fields' crimes.
In the wake of the shooting, some in Letcher County have focused on the sheriff’s state of mind.
The plaintiff and her two attorneys said Stines seemed agitated during the deposition, often turning to his attorney for guidance and asking for frequent breaks. The day after the deposition, Stines — who usually returned press calls promptly — took many hours to get back to a reporter about a fatal accident, according to The Mountain Eagle, Letcher’s weekly newspaper. Stines told the newspaper that he’d “told everyone at the sheriff’s office not to say anything to anyone until he returned.”
Sponsor MessageStines also told the newspaper that he had lost 40 pounds in the past two weeks and did not know why.
The first-degree murder case against Stines now heads to a grand jury.
NPR member station WEKU contributed to this report.
Kentucky-
Indian startup launches country's first privately built rocketCSU Chancellor-Select Reflects On How COVID-19 Will Effect His New RoleVirginia Military Institute Removes Statue Of Confederate Gen. 'Stonewall' JacksonBiden Picks Connecticut Schools Chief Miguel Cardona As Education SecretaryChina's lockdown protests and rising COVID leave Xi Jinping with '2 bad options'Biden Picks Connecticut Schools Chief Miguel Cardona As Education SecretaryAre The Risks Of Reopening Schools Exaggerated?Biden Wants To Help Pay Some Student Loans, But There's Pressure To Go Further3 reasons why China may become more assertive — and what that means for the U.S.A Georgia Boy Started Reading At 6 Months Old. Now 12, He's In College
- ·Why Western leaders are warily watching the German leader's trip to China
- ·NPR's Student Podcast Challenge Opens For College Students!
- ·More Kids Are Getting COVID-19, Kentucky Pediatrician Says
- ·A Rising Number Of U.S. Children Have The Option Of In-Person School
- ·A South Korean man is sentenced to 40 years in a stalking and murder case
- ·The College Buyout Boom
- ·'A Family Affair': Others Often Chip In To Help Pay Off Student Loans
- ·Stanford University Appears To Distance Itself From Scott Atlas After 'Rise Up' Tweet
- ·North Korea declares itself a nuclear weapons state
- ·A College Student Is Coming Home. Should The Whole Family Wear Masks?
- ·'A Family Affair': Others Often Chip In To Help Pay Off Student Loans
- ·NPR's Student Podcast Challenge Opens For Middle And High School Students
- ·Biden and China's Xi met for three hours. Here's what they talked about
- ·Announcing The 3rd Annual NPR Student Podcast Challenge
- ·Lessons From Europe, Where Cases Are Rising But Schools Are Open
- ·DeVos Resigns As Education Secretary, Says, 'Impressionable Children Are Watching'
- ·Harris is traveling near the South China Sea. Here's why that matters
- ·With Fall Graduation Off, But Football Still On, Students Question College Priorities
- ·Amid Rising Coronavirus Cases, New York City Shuts Its Schools — Again
- ·Amid Rising Coronavirus Cases, New York City Shuts Its Schools — Again
- ·North Korea conducts 4th round of missile tests in 1 week
- ·Education Pick Miguel Cardona On Biden's Promise To Reopen Schools
- ·Santiago Potes Is 1st Latino DACA Recipient To Be Awarded Rhodes Scholarship
- ·The Tricky Business Of Coronavirus Testing On College Campuses
- ·Pakistan names a new military chief amid bitter political feuding
- ·Op-Ed Urging Jill Biden To Drop The 'Dr.' Sparks Outrage Online
- ·London says no to a big Chinese Embassy, in a blow to Beijing ties
- ·Chicago Said Teachers Needed To Return In Person. The Teachers Voted No
- ·San Francisco May Rename Schools Named After Washington, Lincoln And Others
- ·San Francisco May Rename Schools Named After Washington, Lincoln And Others
- ·Japan's atomic bomb survivors hope G-7 firms up support for nuclear disarmament
- ·Virtual Charter Schools Are Booming, Despite A Checkered Reputation
- ·In 2020, Gubernatorial Elections Are All About COVID-19
- ·Virginia Military Institute Removes Statue Of Confederate Gen. 'Stonewall' Jackson
- ·Japan's plan to boost its birthrate raises doubt. But one city has reason for hope
- ·Kids Are Anxious And Scared During The Pandemic. Here's How Parents Can Help