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

[fred&edna]

Was the KSP lead investigator asked if Stines' wife was interviewed?

 

[FromGermany1]

Crazy to me that this is where the sexual assaults were happening, too. Even the desk is tiny.

Physical contact was practically already predetermined. OMG.

 

[legalmomma]

Testimony on cross after the video was shown indicated that the Sheriff's daughter was interviewed with a parent present, and that the police did not obtain her phone, it is "possible" they will obtain her phone records but that "the call would be on the Judge's cell phone records too and that she has made statements about what occurred during those conversations"

 

[arielilane]

@cathyrusson

Prior to the shooting the sheriff's phone called his daughter AND the judge's phone called the sheriff's daughter. Defense confirms that the sheriff's daughter's phone number was in Judge Mullen's phone.


1:25 PM · Oct 1, 2024

 

[justtrish]

That would have been known by Stines. And in addition: babysitting daughters are at risk often, I think. If babysitting, Mullin's wife could have had the number. Why should it be the husband?

I have teenage daughters that babysit and I know several families where she has the phone numbers for both the husband and wife. This is for emergencies purposes and a few times the husband has arranged child care to surprise the wife. It isn't just the wife that plans dates and arranges childcare. Add in that this was a close family friend for 20 years and I don't know that it would be odd to have the phone number for both of them. I wouldn't question it if my girls had numbers for the fathers of those they baby sit for.

 

[Curiousobserver]

Well, I thought perhaps we might not find out how or why this happened but there you go...

 

[arielilane]

@paxton

We’re in the courtroom for Sheriff Mickey Stines’ preliminary hearing. Prosecution plays video surveillance footage of the incident in the courthouse chambers, showing Stines allegedly shooting, killing judge Kevin Mullins. Family of Mullins distraught as video plays.

Defense objected before the video was ultimately shown.


Detective confirmed Sheriff Stines’ daughter’s number was in Judge Mullins’ phone and the number had been called.


Detective testifies Sheriff Stines was “calm” after the shooting and all he asked was to be treated fairly.


Detective testifies there is no reason to believe anything other than the phone swap/call that would have led to the shooting.


Edit: proper order of X posts.

 

[vls12345]

@cathyrusson

Prior to the shooting the sheriff's phone called his daughter AND the judge's phone called the sheriff's daughter. Defense confirms that the sheriff's daughter's phone number was in Judge Mullen's phone.


1:25 PM · Oct 1, 2024

It was the middle of the day. Wouldn't the daughter have been in high school classes when MS attempted calling her from both his phone & Judge Mullins' phone? I can see why she wouldn't have answered either call, maybe didn't even realize that calls had come through depending on the rules in class. Imo.

 

[tlcya]

It was the middle of the day. Wouldn't the daughter have been in high school classes when MS attempted calling her from both his phone & Judge Mullins' phone? I can see why she wouldn't have answered either call, maybe didn't even realize that calls had come through depending on the rules in class. Imo.

good point. we don't really know what grade level she is in do we? She may have been in class, may have already graduated depending on where her birthday falls and whatnot.

 

[arielilane]

Jeremy Bartley, Sheriff Mickey Stines’ attorney, was asked after today’s preliminary hearing if he believes there was an “inappropriate relationship” between Judge Kevin Mullins and Stines’ daughter. Here’s his response:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1841176980731150427

 

[FromGermany1]

It was the middle of the day. Wouldn't the daughter have been in high school classes when MS attempted calling her from both his phone & Judge Mullins' phone? I can see why she wouldn't have answered either call, maybe didn't even realize that calls had come through depending on the rules in class. Imo.

Certainly it was important to MS, HOW the call would be answered, if it was coming from Mullins phone?

 

[worm]

I think manslaughter is already being mentioned because the defense knows the video will be unbeatable. Even tho lawyers can be quite creative with explanations I think this is over for Stines.

 

[vls12345]

My observation is that there were more people sitting in the benches behind the prosecution than behind the defense. It did look like MS's immediate family sat directly behind him. Imo.

 

[justtrish]

Yeah, there's no indication this was spontaneous, either. People have reported that he was troubled and even paranoid for weeks. He planned this. He chose a time and a place and a method, did it, then calmly turned himself in. There's nothing 'heat of the moment' about that.

And to be honest, I don't really care what his motivation was. More that just about anyone, he knew the legal avenues if he felt the judge had committed a crime or they had a personal grievance. He chose violence.

Unless it comes out that he had some kind of genuine psychiatric break, I see no mitigating factors here at this time.

MOO

I propose a differnt possibility..

Maybe the sheriff had something else going on that was creating this paranoia. If he was already amped up as was mentioned previously deleting the sheriff FB page, losing weight, not sleeping. Those things don't seem like actions a dad does if he thinks something is going on with his daughter. Seems like those actions could be because of something else.. maybe the court case, maybe something he was doing that he was worried would come out due to the court case... Then with all that paranoia he learned something about his daughter and the judge and that was it.. he confronted the judge and overreacted big time.. maybe what was bothering him for weeks had nothing to do with what actually was the final straw and then he took it out on the judge.

 

[fred&edna]

There's been an enormous amount of nasty, ugly and horrible happening in that courthouse for a long time, and I'm not feeling confident in how this case will be investigated.

Too many foxes (more aptly snakes) have been guarding the hen house for far too long.

Getting the whole truth and nothing but the truth from some courthouse employees borders on impossible.

Don't get me wrong, there are good, trustworthy, respectable people in that town that aren't stupid (despite how their accent makes them sound)... many who are still my friends. I wish they would/could make a difference at least for the future.

jmo

 

[FromGermany1]

Jeremy Bartley, Sheriff Mickey Stines’ attorney, was asked after today’s preliminary hearing if he believes there was an “inappropriate relationship” between Judge Kevin Mullins and Stines’ daughter. Here’s his response:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1841176980731150427

I just don't want to hear it. Can someone cite?

 

[Curiousobserver]

Its open-season on that rumor in the local press/media now.

The press is now openly asking these questions which before now have only been mentioned online.

 

[whitelilac]

Regarding there being an innocent reason for the daughter's phone # being on the judge's phone, I'd think that Stines would have considered that. Prior to the shooting, he wasn't his usual self for a few days. I'd think that he had already discovered something that was more than something appropriate, and it's possible that during the encounter where he actually looked at the judge's phone it proved to him it wasn't innocent at all. Words were probably exchanged as well but no-one knows what was said since there was no audio.

 

[vls12345]

I just don't want to hear it. Can someone cite?

Basically, he doesn't want to comment.

 

[Dotta]

Well,
considering that rumours re daughter appeared almost instantly after the shooting,
it shows again that there are no secrets in small communities.
Everybody knows what others are doing.
That was exactly a situation in my grandparents' village many years ago.
My Grandma knew everything what was happening in community.

JMO