Kentucky - Judge killed, sheriff arrested in Letcher County courthouse shooting - Sep. 19, 2024 # 3

[Muddy K]

My impression, and IMO only, after listening/watching the body cam stuff, is that Stines is a man steeping and choking in shock and fear over what he has just done. He knows he is in the deepest of trouble; maybe the full extent of the catastrophe is just beginning to dawn on him during the ride to the jail.

He can't believe what he's done, can't remember who he was the second before he decided to act, brandished his gun and fired the shots. Can you imagine the physiological effects? I'm surprised he didn't have a heart attack in the back of that squad car.

I've never thought the murder was premeditated, not even when he turned back to fire more shots under the desk at Judge Mullins. I do think it was deliberate, however, 100 percent intentional.

In the videos, he sounds to me like a terrified child, babbling things about tight handcuffs, smothering heat, needing to breathe, all the while exhorting the troopers to be fair to him in much the way a child sometimes desperately whines and wheedles to please, please, please not be punished. He's incredibly scared of something, but I think his fear is mostly about what he's done, not why he did it. JMO.

Truly unusual, perplexing case. What on earth happened?

 

[jepop]

My impression, and IMO only, after listening/watching the body cam stuff, is that Stines is a man steeping and choking in shock and fear over what he has just done. He knows he is in the deepest of trouble; maybe the full extent of the catastrophe is just beginning to dawn on him during the ride to the jail.

He can't believe what he's done, can't remember who he was the second before he decided to act, brandished his gun and fired the shots. Can you imagine the physiological effects? I'm surprised he didn't have a heart attack in the back of that squad car.

I've never thought the murder was premeditated, not even when he turned back to fire more shots under the desk at Judge Mullins. I do think it was deliberate, however, 100 percent intentional.

In the videos, he sounds to me like a terrified child, babbling things about tight handcuffs, smothering heat, needing to breathe, all the while exhorting the troopers to be fair to him in much the way a child sometimes desperately whines and wheedles to please, please, please not be punished. He's incredibly scared of something, but I think his fear is mostly about what he's done, not why he did it. JMO.

Truly unusual, perplexing case. What on earth happened?

Thanks for this. This makes the most sense to me. You've put into words what I was unable to articulate. Shock at the enormity of what he has just done. Afterall, he just deliberately took the law into his own hands and shot an unarmed cowering man multiple times to ensure he was dead. Jmo

 

[FromGermany1]

My impression, and IMO only, after listening/watching the body cam stuff, is that Stines is a man steeping and choking in shock and fear over what he has just done. He knows he is in the deepest of trouble; maybe the full extent of the catastrophe is just beginning to dawn on him during the ride to the jail.

He can't believe what he's done, can't remember who he was the second before he decided to act, brandished his gun and fired the shots. Can you imagine the physiological effects? I'm surprised he didn't have a heart attack in the back of that squad car.

I've never thought the murder was premeditated, not even when he turned back to fire more shots under the desk at Judge Mullins. I do think it was deliberate, however, 100 percent intentional.

In the videos, he sounds to me like a terrified child, babbling things about tight handcuffs, smothering heat, needing to breathe, all the while exhorting the troopers to be fair to him in much the way a child sometimes desperately whines and wheedles to please, please, please not be punished. He's incredibly scared of something, but I think his fear is mostly about what he's done, not why he did it. JMO.

Truly unusual, perplexing case. What on earth happened?

My impression is, he knows quite well, what officers are capable of, if they want to do something illegal (treat a person badly) and how to conceal. Not to say, he did something like that himself. But maybe he knows secret things, and his officers have fear, he one day would put them out to the public. THAT maybe his fear: the fear of his ex subordinates. MOO

He had an example to look at: the se.x scandal in his own jurisdiction/office. MOO

In addition he is/was superior to a lot of people, who may want to take revenge for things, he decided without their agreement. In his position he is in more danger than every other arrestant. MOO

 

[OldAce]

My impression, and IMO only, after listening/watching the body cam stuff, is that Stines is a man steeping and choking in shock and fear over what he has just done. He knows he is in the deepest of trouble; maybe the full extent of the catastrophe is just beginning to dawn on him during the ride to the jail.

He can't believe what he's done, can't remember who he was the second before he decided to act, brandished his gun and fired the shots. Can you imagine the physiological effects? I'm surprised he didn't have a heart attack in the back of that squad car.

I've never thought the murder was premeditated, not even when he turned back to fire more shots under the desk at Judge Mullins. I do think it was deliberate, however, 100 percent intentional.

In the videos, he sounds to me like a terrified child, babbling things about tight handcuffs, smothering heat, needing to breathe, all the while exhorting the troopers to be fair to him in much the way a child sometimes desperately whines and wheedles to please, please, please not be punished. He's incredibly scared of something, but I think his fear is mostly about what he's done, not why he did it. JMO.

Truly unusual, perplexing case. What on earth happened?

"He's incredibly scared of something."
Yes, some of what he has done and what repercussions will follow. Natural enough...
But realizing the "situation" that led him to do this, and how it will turn out going forward. I think he became aware of some activities; examined, investigated, went to the judge to corroborate and was "very disappointed" in the response. Made the calls. confirmed the worst, and reacted..
Up until that moment; OK, worried. Then the world fell in. Acted, now reviewing the whole scenario, with personal knowledge of how some LE work, he has present safety issues...
Ignore the attorneys remarks. Purposefully misleading until he can get handle on the case and trial date set. No need to expose what you are going to use at trial until you are before the 12 that matter.
JMO, may be way off.

 

[NervousNellie]

"He's incredibly scared of something."
Yes, some of what he has done and what repercussions will follow. Natural enough...
But realizing the "situation" that led him to do this, and how it will turn out going forward. I think he became aware of some activities; examined, investigated, went to the judge to corroborate and was "very disappointed" in the response. Made the calls. confirmed the worst, and reacted..
Up until that moment; OK, worried. Then the world fell in. Acted, now reviewing the whole scenario, with personal knowledge of how some LE work, he has present safety issues...
Ignore the attorneys remarks. Purposefully misleading until he can get handle on the case and trial date set. No need to expose what you are going to use at trial until you are before the 12 that matter.
JMO, may be way off.

RBBM
What does two unanswered phone calls confirm?

 

[tlcya]

RBBM
What does two unanswered phone calls confirm?

that is the twenty five thousand dollar question right there.

 

[vls12345]

But Stines gave them zip, nada, nothing. Otherwise he was quite vocal. Come on now. Come on man. Be fair to me. Come on now. Make sure there ain't no weapons in there.

The complaints: cuffs are too tight. I can't get up in there. I can't get back there. It's too hot back here. I'm going to die of heat back here. I can't breath. I can't breath. I can't breath.

The very sort of things he himself has probably heard from suspects he has transported to jail hundreds of times. Yet it sounded so flat, so by rote coming from him.

Rsbm.

I agree that he sounded kind of flat/had the same affect for all of his complaints in the car. And when he started the "I can't breathe" statements, I thought exactly the same thing -- he's running a script (from his own mind) of what arrestees say. It was weird.

Re: make sure there are no weapons in back -- it's interesting to read everyone's thoughts on that because my immediate thought was to wonder if it was a threat (even though it is said in the same flat affect as everything else so it didn't sound especially threatening). Like, make sure there are no weapons within my reach or I will have to use them to escape or kill you too (since he obviously has no qualms about shooting an officer of the law).

Lastly, re: the LE officer laughing. I took it as nervous laughter because of the improbable situation. Or because many first responders have gallows humor to get through the horrors they deal with. Or both.

MOO.

 

[Kemug]

I really don't think that officer's laugh was a nervous laugh. Surely it would be more of a giggle if it was. To me, that laugh comes across as more like a hearty guffaw. For some real reason. And it must be to do with the Judge, IMO.

 

[OldAce]

RBBM
What does two unanswered phone calls confirm?

Unknown. I have never understood the other end. He placed calls. Just know he used 2 different phones.
Did they just ring? Did someone pick up and silence? Did they ring, someone answered the wrong way.
Is there any lab reports on them available?

 

[Warwick7]

I really don't think that officer's laugh was a nervous laugh. Surely it would be more of a giggle if it was. To me, that laugh comes across as more like a hearty guffaw. For some real reason. And it must be to do with the Judge, IMO.

Agreed!

 

[KooshBall]

I have always laughed at inappropriate times, it is very uncomfortable but completely out of my control. I don't realize I am even doing it until it is too late. No one here would know what my laugh sounds like when I do that, so I don't know how anyone can be sure what the officer 's laugh would, or should, sound like, if he was in fact doing a nervous laugh.

I'm thinking either nervous laughter or the laugh symbolized not being shocked someone would shoot the judge. This whole case is strange, mainly because it seems like a huge elephant in the room, that the public hasn't been let in on yet.

 

[arielilane]

@LawCrimeNetwork

Body camera and dash cam footage shows the aftermath of the shooting of Judge Kevin Mullins in Letcher County, Kentucky in September 2024. Sheriff Mickey Stines has pleaded not guilty. Law&Crime’s Angenette Levy
@angenette5 breaks down the video.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1876290126038569343

Bodycam: Kentucky Sheriff Appears Paranoid After Shooting Judge in Chambers​

Body camera and dash cam footage show the aftermath of the shooting of Judge Kevin Mullins in Letcher County, Kentucky in September 2024. Sheriff Mickey Stines has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge for the shooting of Mullins which was recorded by a surveillance camera. Law&Crime’s Angenette Levy breaks down the video in which Stines appears paranoid in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.

 

[Ontario Mom]

I understood that statement came about when Stines was being booked at the Leslie County jail, and I certainly think we know where he got the idea from.... um, cough, cough. JMO.

ETA: What was it -- about an hour car ride to Leslie County with the trooper...

I'm confused about the bolded section above.
Where is it you think Stines got the idea from, to claim someone was trying to kidnap his wife and kid?

 

[tlcya]

I'm confused about the bolded section above.
Where is it you think Stines got the idea from, to claim someone was trying to kidnap his wife and kid?

He was driven to Lesley County Jail approximately one hour away from the Lechter County Courthouse where the shooting happened. During that drive he was asked repeatedly if his actions had "something to do with your family?" Over and over and over he was asked this in the body cam footage we saw in the previous pages. During that hour long drive he appeared to be concerned that someone was going to take into the national forest or harm him in some way. And that question was asked of him over and over and over during the drive to Lesley County Jail.

So some of us wondered if he either latched onto that question and ran with the "I did this to protect my family" defense upon getting there, or if he was suffering some sort of mental health issue and that question being repeated to him over and over was received by a delusional man as some sort of threat being made against his family.

The sheriff's demeanor during that drive was very unusual IMO.

 

[Ontario Mom]

He was driven to Lesley County Jail approximately one hour away from the Lechter County Courthouse where the shooting happened. During that drive he was asked repeatedly if his actions had "something to do with your family?" Over and over and over he was asked this in the body cam footage we saw in the previous pages. During that hour long drive he appeared to be concerned that someone was going to take into the national forest or harm him in some way. And that question was asked of him over and over and over during the drive to Lesley County Jail.

So some of us wondered if he either latched onto that question and ran with the "I did this to protect my family" defense upon getting there, or if he was suffering some sort of mental health issue and that question being repeated to him over and over was received by a delusional man as some sort of threat being made against his family.

The sheriff's demeanor during that drive was very unusual IMO.

Thanks, that makes sense. It did seem a little weird how many times he was asked the same question.

jmo

 

[OldAce]

Thanks, that makes sense. It did seem a little weird how many times he was asked the same question.

jmo

I am curious as to why they latched on to that question. Seems as if there may have been more smoke than vapor caused by his supposedly one remark. "They are trying to kidnap......"
I would have thought the questions would have ranged more in the "Mickey, why did you shoot him." "Mickey, He was your friend...", "You guys worked together every day, Mickey, Why."

Sometimes; the subject you are repeatedly quizzed on by LE, is to learn just how much you may know in detail about that subject. Very stuck record type interrogation.
In my opinion, there is a lot to be revealed as to the basis of that remark, maybe at trial...

 

[acutename]

has he ever shot anyone before? I know some LE have weapons, train with them, go to the range, etc., but wind up not using them. if this is the first time he ever shot anyone, that in itself is a big event.

 

[KooshBall]

I assumed they were questioning Stines if the shooting had something to do with his family because they knew about the phone call to the daughter. Now that I think about it, the phones may not have been checked yet at that point.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

We have learned, somewhere upthread, that Stines had been kicked out of his home the night before, by his wife. Do I have that right?

If that is correct, perhaps his coworkers and deputies knew about it? That could be part of what prompted the repeated "does this have to do with your family" questions, if in fact Stines' comment about kidnap didn't occur until later at the Leslie Sheriff's Office. MOO

 

[tlcya]

I am curious as to why they latched on to that question. Seems as if there may have been more smoke than vapor caused by his supposedly one remark. "They are trying to kidnap......"
I would have thought the questions would have ranged more in the "Mickey, why did you shoot him." "Mickey, He was your friend...", "You guys worked together every day, Mickey, Why."

Sometimes; the subject you are repeatedly quizzed on by LE, is to learn just how much you may know in detail about that subject. Very stuck record type interrogation.
In my opinion, there is a lot to be revealed as to the basis of that remark, maybe at trial...

either they knew about the phone calls from Stines phone followed by one from Mullins phone, or he had already made that statement about abduction while still at the courthouse immediately after the shooting and we weren't given that footage for whatever reason.