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

[Angelcat13]

This was where my mind went when reading about placing the calls. That he manually typed in the number and when (and possibly what?) it popped up as a saved contact on the Judge's phone, the murder commenced.

If Mullins had the Sheriff’s daughter’s phone number saved as a contact under a name other than her own, that, IMO, would make me feel something was going on that shouldn’t be. I’m not saying this is what happened, but if it did, it would be concerning.

 

[Angelcat13]

Lip sync battle Challenge

Challenge accepted #lipsyncbattle Daddy and daughter style!!!! Letcher County Sheriff’s Department I do not own the rights to this music | By Mickey | Facebook

Challenge accepted #lipsyncbattle Daddy and daughter style!!!! Letcher County Sheriff’s Department I do not own the rights to this music

www.facebook.com

They seem to have such a great relationship. So sad that so many lives will never be the same.

 

[katydid23]

As I stated before... That case ruined 2 families. So.very.sad! (see story here:

)


However, now I am wondering since the "kidnap" statement... Did he actually think that the judge was maybe helping his wife and daughter "get away" from him? Possibly the judge was helping the wife to leave... Maybe there was trouble in their marriage and the daughter reached out to the judge for help... His being quiet/troubled for some time before this hints to me that there was possibly several issues at play here.

BINGO! That's exactly what I think happened.

We have seen how hot tempered Stine is. Cold Stone temper---ate a quiet lunch with him then shot his life long friend 8 times at close range, then calmly walked away.

What could make him so extremely angry?

What if his wife was trying to leave him but was afraid for her and her daughter's safety? She couldn't just call the police because that would be of no help. So she reached out to her family friend for help----got the Judge to sign a Protective Order and they all exchanged numbers in case of emergency, if they needed help. The judge could get LE to go help with his one phone call, where the wife or daughter might be ignored if they called about an abusive Sheriff.

If Stine found out about the alleged protective order and his wife's plan to leave, he'd be furious at his friend for siding with his wife and daughter.

[A protective order is issued during the court process to protect the alleged victim in domestic violence cases. While the case is pending, a judge will order you stay away from the victim and to stop contacting them.]

 

[Angelcat13]

I haven’t gotten to the end of all the post today but I am just going to throw this out there. Something inappropriate could have been happening but not between the daughter and the judge but between the daughter and father. She may have confided this to the judge and the sheriff was afraid of what action would be taken resulting in him loosing both his wife and daughter. It may have even been nothing inappropriate but illegal that the daughter had told the judge.

IMO, if Stines killed Mullins because he believed Mullins knew of something inappropriate between Stines and his (Stines’) daughter, Stines would have known that details would come out and he would likely have killed himself after killing Mullins.

Although none of us know what led up to this, I don’t see this as being likely.

 

[raja]

BINGO! That's exactly what I think happened.

We have seen how hot tempered Stine is. Cold Stone temper---ate a quiet lunch with him then shot his life long friend 8 times at close range, then calmly walked away.

What could make him so extremely angry?

What if his wife was trying to leave him but was afraid for her and her daughter's safety? She couldn't just call the police because that would be of no help. So she reached out to her family friend for help----got the Judge to sign a Protective Order and they all exchanged numbers in case of emergency, if they needed help. The judge could get LE to go help with his one phone call, where the wife or daughter might be ignored if they called about an abusive Sheriff.

If Stine found out about the alleged protective order and his wife's plan to leave, he'd be furious at his friend for siding with his wife and daughter.

[A protective order is issued during the court process to protect the alleged victim in domestic violence cases. While the case is pending, a judge will order you stay away from the victim and to stop contacting them.]

Yup I am starting to think this could be exactly what was happening.

 

[katydid23]

I think when the Sheriff called his daughter she didn't pick up but when he called with from the judge's phone, she picked up? IMO

If so, that could mean other things besides some kind of shady connection between them.

It could also corroborate my theory, that wife and daughter were afraid of Stine's bad temper and were trying to get away from him. And they asked Judge M for help doing so.

I think the wife was afraid of what would happen when she asked for a divorce and she was going to the judge for a protective order. He had both their numbers because they were in communication about the imminent separation.

When Stines found out that his good friend was siding with his wife and helping her , he was furious. IMO

 

[katydid23]

Right? I pictured the judges chamber to be dark wood, book shelves, Tiffany lamps. Not a janitorial closet.

That's exactly what it looked like---a janitorial closet.

 

[m00c0w]

BINGO! That's exactly what I think happened.

We have seen how hot tempered Stine is. Cold Stone temper---ate a quiet lunch with him then shot his life long friend 8 times at close range, then calmly walked away.

What could make him so extremely angry?

What if his wife was trying to leave him but was afraid for her and her daughter's safety? She couldn't just call the police because that would be of no help. So she reached out to her family friend for help----got the Judge to sign a Protective Order and they all exchanged numbers in case of emergency, if they needed help. The judge could get LE to go help with his one phone call, where the wife or daughter might be ignored if they called about an abusive Sheriff.

If Stine found out about the alleged protective order and his wife's plan to leave, he'd be furious at his friend for siding with his wife and daughter.

[A protective order is issued during the court process to protect the alleged victim in domestic violence cases. While the case is pending, a judge will order you stay away from the victim and to stop contacting them.]

That would be such a huge conflict of interest I don’t think any reasonable judge with any sense of ethics would touch that with a 10 foot pole. A judge isn’t going to issue ex-parte protective orders to family friends as a favor, at least not one with any common sense.

JMO

 

[detective.moon]

i really feel for the daughter, it must be hard knowing this was the last thing that happened before her father shot the judge. i hope she has good support.

 

[m00c0w]

With all due respect, they only have scope to investigate Mickey Stines at this point. They can seize the judge's phone because he is a dead victim. They can seize the sheriff's phone after arrest. But invading the privacy of a minor who is not suspected of a crime seems like a huge stretch and I doubt a judge would authorize a search warrant unless something from the searches of the judges or sheriff's phones turns up something to make a search of Lila's phone important (to prosecution or defense). The defense MAY be able to get a warrant for the daughter's and wife's phones for exculpatory information but I think that is a stretch as well.

I mentioned that I am FB friends with someone who is friends with the judge's sister. Can my phone be seized because that connections means they suspect I was in contact with the judge or maybe the underage daughter?

Things can only stretch so far!

Having "reason to believe" is not enough for a warrant

They would be investigating MS. “Reason to believe” in this instance would just be be probable cause. They could absolutely apply for a warrant to search the daughter’s phone if they have probable cause to suspect it contains evidence in the murder investigation. If you sneak over to your neighbor’s yard to bury a gun used in a homicide, you haven’t just completely foiled the police because the neighbor wasn’t involved in the crime. If they can establish probable cause that you did so, they can get a warrant to dig up the yard. Likewise, they can get a warrant to look at her phone if they have probable cause to believe there is relevant evidence.

As far as your hypothetical scenario, you simply saying you know someone related to the judge isn’t probable cause in any sense of the term. However, if the judge was sending you text messages immediately before the murder that appear on phone records but not in his phone, and you refused to provide consent to search, they absolutely could get a warrant if they were so motivated.

JMO

 

[Elley Mae]

Both Mullins’ and Stines’ phones were sent for forensic examination, but investigators have yet to receive the results. A woman reportedly employed by the Letcher County Sheriff’s Office also gave her phone to investigators to be examined. Stamper testified that she was one of Stines’ employees and believed she’d received text messages from Stines that detailed what occurred at lunch and ultimately led to the shooting.

https://fox56news.com/news/kentucky/former-letcher-county-sheriff-accused-of-killing-judge-to-appear-in-court/

 

[katydid23]

This is an interesting perspective - thank you for adding it.

Do you think his wife and daughter would’ve sat behind him in court today if this were the case though? If it relates to his wife trying to leave him or something, im not sure they’d show up to still support him? But everybody’s different. A few local groups I’m a part of have shared that they were there sitting behind him today.

This is just a screen grab from the livestream but those 3 look like the photos of him with his wife, son, and daughter that I’ve seen shared. JMO

I think they might have sat there, but not necessarily in support of him. It is the seating area for his family. They might have felt regretful/guilty that the way they tried to end the marriage/family situation ended up in a tragic murder. They could still end up testifying for the prosecution, but still have some pity for him because of how emotionally troubled he is. IMO

 

[AndrewM71]

"When he was taken into custody I was told by one of the other officers there that he said They are trying to kidnap my wife and kid"

He might be a paranoid conspiracy theory type.

 

[Inthedetails]

If so, that could mean other things besides some kind of shady connection between them.

It could also corroborate my theory, that wife and daughter were afraid of Stine's bad temper and were trying to get away from him. And they asked Judge M for help doing so.

I think the wife was afraid of what would happen when she asked for a divorce and she was going to the judge for a protective order. He had both their numbers because they were in communication about the imminent separation.

When Stines found out that his good friend was siding with his wife and helping her , he was furious. IMO

I think this might be getting closer to what happened, rather than an inappropriate intimate relationship with the daughter.

jmo

 

[Elley Mae]

Detective Stamper also testified that Mullins and Stines went to lunch at a restaurant near the courthouse the day of the shooting and that Mullins was heard asking Stines, “Do we need to meet private in my chambers?”

Video shown at preliminary hearing shows deadly shooting of Letcher County judge

Video shown at the preliminary hearing for the former Letcher County sheriff accused of killing a district judge allegedly showed the deadly shooting.

www.lex18.com

 

[katydid23]

Logically, that does make sense, and I've thought about a scenario like that myself. The counterpoint is that they seem to be standing by him, which I wouldn't expect if that scenario was true.

I'm not sure they were truly standing by him. I think they were sitting in the assigned 'family of defendant' seats, but may still end up testifying to their truths about his anger issues. JMO

 

[Inthedetails]

Detective Stamper also testified that Mullins and Stines went to lunch at a restaurant near the courthouse the day of the shooting and that Mullins was heard asking Stines, “Do we need to meet private in my chambers?”

Video shown at preliminary hearing shows deadly shooting of Letcher County judge

Video shown at the preliminary hearing for the former Letcher County sheriff accused of killing a district judge allegedly showed the deadly shooting.

www.lex18.com

That question sounds like the judge offering privacy for a serious, uncomfortable, man-to-man discussion. The judge was not shirking or slinky away from a conversation.

jmo

 

[Parsnip]

So she reached out to her family friend for help----got the Judge to sign a Protective Order

I don’t think there would have to be protective order for your scenario to square up. MS would have known if there was a temporary one, ime, because it would have to be served to him and filed with local LE for it to be in effect.

 

[Elley Mae]

That question sounds like the judge offering privacy for a serious, uncomfortable, man-to-man discussion. The judge was not shirking or slinky away from a conversation.

jmo

My question is what did stines say or do before that.? Or was stines being short or cocky in conversation to cause mullins to say that.

If not mistaken stines was said to be quiet at lunch.

 

[Ontario Mom]

Both Mullins’ and Stines’ phones were sent for forensic examination, but investigators have yet to receive the results. A woman reportedly employed by the Letcher County Sheriff’s Office also gave her phone to investigators to be examined. Stamper testified that she was one of Stines’ employees and believed she’d received text messages from Stines that detailed what occurred at lunch and ultimately led to the shooting.

https://fox56news.com/news/kentucky/former-letcher-county-sheriff-accused-of-killing-judge-to-appear-in-court/

I find it kind of bizarre the investigators have yet to receive the results from the KY state police lab after nearly 2 weeks. A case one my kids was involved in 10 years ago required her phone to have all deleted info restored and the entire phone downloaded. It took about 3 hours at a small town PD.