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WHITESBURG, Ky. (FOX 56) — Multiple witnesses reportedly judge the erstwhile Letcher County sheriff was experiencing psychosis during the fatal shooting of Judge Kevin Mullins astir a twelvemonth ago.
Shots rang retired wrong the Letcher County courthouse connected Sept. 19, 2024, sidesplitting the 54-year-old territory judge. Kentucky State Police said erstwhile sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines is the 1 who pulled the trigger. The full speech was captured by information cameras.
For astir a year, questions person loomed regarding wherefore the sheriff decided to bash what he's accused of. His lawyer Jeremey Bartley has continuously pointed to a civilian lawsuit involving sheriff's deputies, the judge's chambers, and a reported enactment for favors scheme.
"It’s similar they were moving a brothel retired of that courtroom," Attorney Ned Pillersdorf said.
But the grade of Mullins' engagement has agelong been questioned. Since the shooting, 3 women person travel retired stating they witnessed the justice participating, oregon were 1 of his alleged victims.
“I’ve had enactment with him successful the chambers,” Tya Adams said. “I was portion of it. I was 1 of them.”
Stines was deposed 3 days earlier the shooting successful narration to the sex-for-favors reports aft having to terminate 1 of his deputies for his engagement that dated backmost to 2021.
According to tribunal documents, investigators interviewed Attorney Daniel Dotson the time aft the shooting. Dotson reportedly testified that helium urged Stines to question help.
"Dotson besides told the KSP that helium spoke to Kevin Mullins and told him that Mickey was 'losing it' and 'couldn’t instrumentality this benignant of pressure' successful notation to the Civil suit involving 'some ace whore wanting money,'" Bartley wrote.
The brace had reportedly spoken the nighttime earlier Mullins' death, and Dotson recalled telling his woman that "that lad of a [expletive] has mislaid his mind," referencing Stines.
Christine Bolling, a Letcher County Sheriff's Office unit member, was acrophobic astir his "very unusual behavior." Specifically, besides connected Sept. 18, tribunal documents authorities that Stines told Bolling that "Daniel Dotson had told him to springiness him wealth and termination himself oregon 'they' were going to kill," Stines' woman and daughter.
The sheriff past insisted that helium went location to cheque connected his family, made her get his bulletproof vest on, and had idiosyncratic telephone to cheque connected his daughter, per tribunal documents. This is each reportedly captured connected Ring camera footage.
Witnesses said that helium was besides making telephone calls connected the time of the shooting to cheque connected household members who had been deceased for years.
FOX 56 antecedently reported that successful the information camera footage of the shooting, conscionable moments earlier pulling the trigger, Stines uses his and the judge's compartment telephone to marque calls to his daughter. Moments aft the calls were made, the video shows the sheriff lasting from his seat and proceeding to constituent a weapon astatine the judge, shooting Mullins respective times.
Why Stines called his girl has agelong been questioned. Bartley affirms that the sheriff was successful fearfulness for the lives of his woman and daughter.
It's unclear if determination is immoderate merit to Dotson's alleged threat.
Body camera footage obtained by FOX News Digital shows Stines appearing paranoid, pleading not to beryllium changeable and killed soon aft helium was taken into custody. His legs are trembling arsenic helium scans the country astir him.
“I permission this building, I won’t instrumentality different breath,” Stines pleaded.
Bartley noted that aesculapian records amusement evaluations that observed signs of "active psychosis."
Despite this, detectives testified to a Letcher County expansive assemblage that it's believed Stines was sane astatine the clip of the shooting, and that Mullins had nary engagement successful the civilian lawsuit to their knowledge.
Mullins was ne'er criminally charged successful transportation with the acts that reportedly occurred wrong his chambers.
Bartley hopes that the indictment against his lawsuit volition beryllium dismissed based connected accusation reportedly withheld from the expansive jurors. It's lone 1 of the galore motions filed connected Sept. 2.
Among them were arguments against a alteration of venue, unsealing his intelligence evaluation, and mounting bond.
Prosecutors judge that the proceedings should beryllium moved from Letcher County to guarantee the securing of an impartial jury.
“This lawsuit is unsocial successful that the country of the transgression happens to beryllium the courthouse successful which the Defendant is reporting for pretrial conferences, presumption hearings, and could perchance beryllium tried in,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Jackie Steele wrote.
But Bartley argued that Letcher County, oregon its surrounding areas, would beryllium the lone mode to accurately bespeak a assemblage of his peers, and owed to widespread, worldwide coverage, moving the proceedings would taint his close to a just and impartial jury.
A justice hasn't issued an bid connected the motions astatine this time. Bartley hopes that the motions volition beryllium heard astatine an evidentiary hearing. A day has yet to beryllium set.
