Kentucky - Judge killed, sheriff arrested in Letcher County courthouse shooting - Sep. 19, 2024 # 2

[chaz]

I noticed this from the link i posted above.

So LE doesn't know if Stines daughters phone number was saved in the judges phone contacts at this time. JMO.

https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/former-letcher-county-sheriff-accused-of-killing-judge-to-appear-in-court/?nxsparam=1

Isn't it seen on video what Stines did with the judge's phone? Like, tapping the screen, scroll en then tapping a contact. Or tapping a whole phone number? It's not in the part of video that we have seen is it?

 

[Seattle1]

He had only just been elected when he was already using this defense and even the judge who ruled on the lawsuit mentioned how Stines was quite peeved that Congleton had been speaking out against him. Idk, IMO, that deposition he had to give on Monday somehow plays a big ol’ role in this whole thing.

It was an accurate defense then and now -- KY has not banned qualified immunity against LE or elected officials. Furthermore, Stines prevailed in the civil lawsuit by disgruntled, former employee Congleton who was dismissed by Sheriff Webb, and who then filed a civil suit against Stines when he did not hire her after he was elected Sheriff.

Post in thread 'Kentucky - Judge killed, sheriff arrested in Letcher County courthouse shooting - Sep. 19, 2024'

Sep 24, 2024

Eeek -- what a stressful way written in the KY Commonwealth to run a County Sheriff's Office!

Stines looks forward to having full staff - The Mountain Eagle

A state-mandated tax settlement at the end of an outgoing sheriff ’s term coupled with late mineral tax bills issued by the state means Sheriff-elect Mickey Stines will be seriously shorthanded and seriously short on money when he takes office on January 7. Stines said the transition from...

www.themountaineagle.com

Take note that Stines was first elected Sheriff during the Nov 2018 election, and was sworn into office in January 2019.

Appending my earlier post about how "State law says an outgoing sheriff must make a settlement — pay off all bills and remit all collected taxes — at the end of his term," which resulted in the outgoing Sheriff Webb terminating three County staff members: Congleton, Sloan, and...

• Seattle1

• 
• 

 

[Curiousobserver]

If the Judge had the Sheriff’s daughter’s phone number STORED in his phone UNDER A FAKE NAME - to me it would most likely NOT be gor a legitimate/appropriate reason.

But if the Sheriff’s daughter’s phone number was stored in the Judge’s under her REAL NAME I wouldn’t be able to believe - beyond a reasonable doubt - that it was definitely for some nefarious reason. I live in a relatively small town - about 3,600 people, 2 Churches, 1 traffic light and most people know (or at least know of) almost everyone. My son just turned 21 y/o and we are good friends with his best friend since they were 4 y/o - they even dated twin sisters for about 3 yrs. I have the parents’ numbers in my phone along with my son’s friend & the friend’s older brother (who was in my daughter’s class & on the same co-ed winter indoor soccer team because we didn’t even have enough kids for a boys team a
nd a girls team. My point is, it could just be because the families had a good relationship. Maybe the daughter took care of pets, watered plants, brought in mail, etc if they were away and her number was in both the Judge’s phone AND his wife’s phone for purely innocent reasons. We just don’t know at this point.

I have chaperoned many school trips and I have the phone numbers of probably 25 or more students and their parents still on my phone. There are innocent reasons to have a minor's number on an adults phone, we don't know if any of those reasons apply here.

I personally doubt that the number being on the phone was the only piece of evidence the Sherriff had- after all he had must have had some reason to look at the phone in the first place. MOO he began to suspect something over the past couple of weeks and started doing what police officers do, ask questions and collect evidence. The phone was the nail in the coffin (pun intended). Whether it proves to be true that his suspicions were real or imagined we shall see. Sometimes the picture isn't what it seems to be and that might be what happened to the Sheriff.

The wild card here is his family, especially his daughter, sitting behind him in court. I cannot imagine any 17 year old showing her face in such a public way if it was now widely known she had been having a relationship with a married, middle aged man and her father shot him.

 

[nhmemorymaker]

I have chaperoned many school trips and I have the phone numbers of probably 25 or more students and their parents still on my phone. There are innocent reasons to have a minor's number on an adults phone, we don't know if any of those reasons apply here.

I personally doubt that the number being on the phone was the only piece of evidence the Sherriff had- after all he had must have had some reason to look at the phone in the first place. MOO he began to suspect something over the past couple of weeks and started doing what police officers do, ask questions and collect evidence. The phone was the nail in the coffin (pun intended). Whether it proves to be true that his suspicions were real or imagined we shall see. Sometimes the picture isn't what it seems to be and that might be what happened to the Sheriff.

The wild card here is his family, especially his daughter, sitting behind him in court. I cannot imagine any 17 year old showing her face in such a public way if it was now widely known she had been having a relationship with a married, middle aged man and her father shot him.

Your last paragraph.... those were my immediate thoughts as well.

And having the number on his phone... I feel it could be harmless as well. They have stated that they were good friends... I have many numbers of daughters and sons of my good friends. And we hardly ever delete them these days.... so if it was only for a super simple reason to take the number down at some point.... its still in my directory.

 

[Simply Southern]

I agree. I also think these families were close for years, maybe closer than some relatives? Also, maybe the children had a relationship? IDK. Stines called his daughter and she didn't answer, but she answered for the judge's number...
I think that phone call during the lunch from the employee (who's phone is in custody) is also pertinent.

The Judge had two daughter and three nephews.
Per obit

Kevin Russell Mullins - View Obituary & Service Information

Share Memories and Support the Family.

www.hallandjones.com

 

[Ontario Mom]

I must have missed an article or two. Can someone point me to the MSM article that states Stines' daughter did not answer his calls from his phone, but did answer the call from the judge's phone?

TIA

 

[bestill]

Snipped from @vls12345 earlier post. Something just occurred to me. How did the officers confirm this? I thought the phones were turned over to the forensics lab for their investigation. Would officers collecting evidence search the evidence before turning it over?

It was specified in the hearing. From @Allabouttrial's awesome transcript:

DEFENSE - And have officers confirmed that the Sheriff's daughter's phone number was on Judge Mullens' phone?

DETECTIVE - Yes.

DEFENSE - So that number had been called from Judge Mullens' phone?

DETECTIVE - Yes.

 

[tlcya]

Law & Crime did an interview with the defense attorneys yesterday. I haven’t seen it posted. Interview starts around 13 minutes.

after speaking about how they don't know what happens on the video leading up to the moments shared in court and they want to see that:

(mark 14:55 Defense atty says) "I don't know at this point - what um, what ultimately was on that phone. They're examining the phones. But we believe that based upon the statements that our client made just following arrest as well as the indication that there was this exchange of phones/reviewing of phones that something in that moment made our client feel that there was no other choice than to do what he did."

Shouldn't their client have been able to shed some light on these things? Has Stines not given them his side of the story? Because this sounds as if his attorneys are just as in the dark as we are? Based upon the statements made (to others) during his arrest they believe there was an emotional upset that left their client thinking there was no other choice? To me that suggests their client hasn't told them WHAT made him do it. JMO MOO

 

[tlcya]

per the defense attorney this is textbook extreme emotional disturbance - and yet he appears not to know what caused his client's extreme emotional disturbance. But it is textbook. Got it. sigh.

 

[sunshineray]

IANAL- nor do I have anything to base this on-

But hypothetically if there were some unsavory things going on in the county, which involved multiple layers of law enforcement, perhaps even a judge and deputies, and if there was perhaps an open secret about what those things might be, and if a sheriff got pushed too far and took matters into his own hand…

AND if someone wanted to make it just GO AWAY, protect certain innocent or not so innocent people and keep things private, letting mountain justice take care of it, and had the power to do it…

I could imagine a scenario where a person might be over charged, leave a lot of unanswered questions during an investigation, not allow for a lesser charge to be considered by the Grand Jury, and then have the GJ either fail to return an indictment for murder one, and or set things up so that getting acquitted is likely at trial -

Not suggesting that’s what happened or is happening, or that it’s a good idea-

just thinking of scenarios that account for the totality of the ODD data/information available about the events that have occurred to date

In my experience rural small town Deep South and Appalachia (and FL/TX) have different ways of handling things sometimes- and I could see a scenario where the “outsiders” might not ever get the details … MOO

I been wondering along the lines of what poster Seattle1 was supposing in their above post. If the Sheriff was going through problems in his home life on top of the deposition coming up for the lawsuit, that's a lot of stress coming to a head, on his head. He was losing weight rapidly and getting paranoid about his SM being used against him somehow.

The judge was the one who set up the meeting in chambers so it seems like he knew the Sheriff had to vent in some way and whatever the subject matter was (family, lawsuit or both), best done behind closed doors.

I don't know if those things jive with the way he shot and killed his long-time good friend? The video played at his recently hearing showed him shooting in 3 separate spurts, so stopping and starting over and over and over again. The judge was heard to call out for help and we don't know what else, maybe pleading with his friend? The Sheriff just came back to shoot again, that sounds like blind rage, MO

I still cannot understand why the judge had the daughter's number on his phone unless he was like a very close uncle figure to her and her Dad was unapproachable at the time? If their families were very close you'd think she reach out to the judge's wife instead...but then maybe not.

Like the other poster said, very tragic. The above is AJMO.

 

[bestill]

DBM