Inside Kentucky Sheriff's Allegedly 'Odd' Behavior 3 Days Before He Shot a Local Judge (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Judge Kevin Mullins and Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines.Photo:Kentucky Court of Justice/AP; Letcher County Sheriff’s Office

Kentucky Court of Justice/AP; Letcher County Sheriff’s Office

Three days before former Kentucky SheriffShawn “Mickey” Stinesallegedly killed a judge, he gave a deposition in a lawsuit in which he was accused of failing to investigate a deputy sheriff who sexually abused a woman in the judge’s chambers.

According to Ned Pillersdorf, the attorney handling the 2022 federal civil rights lawsuit against the Letcher County Sheriff and his former deputy, Ben Fields, Stines was acting “odd” during the five-hour deposition.

“I would describe him as depressed, subdued — not surprisingly, he was cautious, but it was more than cautious. It was an odd performance,” says Pillersdorf. “It was a tense deposition. My experience in Kentucky court, if you file a civil rights suit against a sheriff, they’re usually gregarious and talkative, he was none of those: subdued, tense, evasive, most unfriendly. I did think there was something going on with him emotionally. And three days later this unbelievable shooting occurred. Is it related? Who knows.”

Stines, 43, is accused of killing 54-year-old District JudgeKevin Mullinsfollowing an argument in the judge’s chambers in the city of Whitesburg on Thursday, Sept. 19 — three days after the deposition.

Avideoof the shooting was later played in early October during a preliminary hearing. The short clip, which did not include audio, appeared to show Stines firing at Mullins multiple times while the judge was sitting at his desk and then after when the victim fell to the floor.

Letcher County Courthouse.Beth Musgrave/Lexington Herald-Leader/Tribune News Service via Getty

Beth Musgrave/Lexington Herald-Leader/Tribune News Service via Getty

Police have yet to provide a motive in the alleged slaying, which has rocked the small community of Letcher County, Ky., where Stines and Mullins were longtime friends and colleagues. Stines served as the bailiff in Mullins' court before he became sheriff in 2018, per theLouisville Courier Journal.

After the killing, Pillersdorf says prosecutors reached out to him, asking questions about Stines’ demeanor during the deposition. “[The prosecutor] wanted a copy of the deposition and he interviewed me as a witness,” he says.

Fields later pleaded guilty to third-degree rape, third-degree sodomy, two counts of tampering with a prisoner monitoring device and second-degree perjury in the case involving one of the women, per theMountain Eagle.

He was sentenced to seven years but will spend six and a half of those years on probation in Jan. 2024, according to theMountain Eagle.

Signs indicating that the Letcher County Courthouse is closed on Friday, Sept. 20, 2024, in Whitesburg, Ky.AP Photo/Randy Sartin

AP Photo/Randy Sartin

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“You don’t realize how vulnerable women are, low-income women are — who are in ankle bracelet or drug court situations,” says Pillersdorf. “They can be easily extorted because they know if they complain they’re being sexually hit on, they doubt anyone would believe them and that they realize that if you are on ankle bracelet or drug court, people administering those programs could simply make a phone call to the judge and you’re back in jail.”

“I’m hoping the good that will come out of all this is those who administer ankle bracelet programs or drug court will be more sensitive in the fact that these women are easy targets,” he says. “They’re so vulnerable."

Attorneys for Stines and Fields could not be reached for comment.

source: people.com