The Judge, The Sheriff, and the Chamber of Secrets
Mar 26, 10:00 AM
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The Judge, The Sheriff, and the Chamber of Secrets
The former sheriff says he didn’t murder the judge—his mind did.
That’s the opening line now being argued in a Kentucky courtroom, where former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines stands accused of shooting and killing District Judge Kevin Mullins inside his chambers. This wasn’t some cold, calculated act, his defense insists—it was a mental break, triggered by fear, stress, and a small-town scandal that just might make your jaw hit the floor.
Let’s get one thing straight up front: the entire incident was caught on video. Stines walked into Judge Mullins' office and fired eight shots. That much is undisputed. But what followed is where things get messy—and deeply unsettling.
Stines has pleaded not guilty, and now his attorney, Jeremy Bartley, is laying the groundwork for an insanity defense, saying the ex-sheriff suffered from a mental disease or defect, and was also under "extreme emotional disturbance" when he pulled the trigger. Basically, the defense isn’t arguing about what happened—it’s arguing about why.
And that “why” has roots in something dark. A few days before the shooting, Stines gave a deposition in a case involving one of his former deputies, Ben Fields. That guy? He’d been accused of coercing female inmates into sex—in exchange for staying out of jail. Think "Orange is the New Black," but way less scripted and way more disturbing. One of the accusers, Sabrina Adkins, claimed that she was forced to have sex with Fields for six months… inside the judge’s chambers. Yeah, the same room where the murder would later take place.
According to Bartley, Stines’ deposition forced him to answer some very uncomfortable questions about all of it. And afterward, the sheriff allegedly felt like his entire world was closing in—that his testimony had painted a target on his back. He supposedly feared that the fallout from the deposition would threaten not just his job or reputation, but the lives of his wife and daughter.
That’s not just legal strategy fluff, either. When police arrested Stines after the shooting, he reportedly shouted: “They’re trying to kidnap my wife and kid!” Clearly, in his mind, something had gone very, very wrong.
It’s worth noting that the judge, Kevin Mullins, wasn’t just some random guy in a robe to Stines. They were close—friends, even. They’d known each other since 2009, when Stines served as Mullins’ courtroom bailiff. Over the years, they became lunch buddies, often grabbing wings at the Streetside Grill & Bar down the street from the courthouse. On the day Mullins died, the two had lunch together—same order, same table, same casual vibe.
Then, hours later, Stines entered his office and shot him.
Prosecutors say the shooting seemed to come out of nowhere. But now investigators are digging into another possible motive: jealousy or betrayal. It’s been suggested that Stines may have seen his daughter’s phone number in Mullins’ phone, which allegedly sent him into a tailspin. Surveillance footage shows Stines trying to call his daughter from his phone—and then using the judge’s phone, too. What exactly he saw on that screen remains unclear, but the implication is that whatever he discovered set him off.
CCTV from the courthouse showed Mullins raising his hands in fear, hiding behind his desk, as Stines raised his gun. The whole thing, horrifying as it is, unfolded in seconds. But it was built on years of what the defense claims was accumulating psychological pressure.
Now, Stines’ legal team is leaning hard into the mental health defense. They say they’ll present expert evidence showing that he wasn’t legally responsible for his actions. Bartley says there's even more evidence out there—though he’s keeping it close to the chest for now—that could prove Stines’ state of mind was so fractured, he shouldn't be held criminally liable.
Meanwhile, the larger scandal casts a long shadow. The sex-for-favors scheme tied to Deputy Fields and possibly Judge Mullins has not gone away. Accuser Sabrina Adkins didn’t just name Fields—she claimed Mullins had videotapes of “sexual stuff” happening in his chambers. Mullins never responded to the allegations before his death, and the tapes, if they exist, haven’t surfaced publicly.
Fields, for what it’s worth, was fired by Stines before being arrested and sentenced to six months behind bars. But that did little to erase the cloud of controversy over the courthouse—and now, it's all tangled up in a murder trial.
So here we are: a former sheriff who says he lost his grip on reality, a respected judge dead in his own office, and a community unraveling under the weight of buried secrets. What started as a tight-knit town’s tragic loss has become a psychological crime drama no one saw coming—and no one will forget.
#LetcherCounty #KevinMullins #ShawnStines #CourthouseScandal
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The former sheriff says he didn’t murder the judge—his mind did.
That’s the opening line now being argued in a Kentucky courtroom, where former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines stands accused of shooting and killing District Judge Kevin Mullins inside his chambers. This wasn’t some cold, calculated act, his defense insists—it was a mental break, triggered by fear, stress, and a small-town scandal that just might make your jaw hit the floor.
Let’s get one thing straight up front: the entire incident was caught on video. Stines walked into Judge Mullins' office and fired eight shots. That much is undisputed. But what followed is where things get messy—and deeply unsettling.
Stines has pleaded not guilty, and now his attorney, Jeremy Bartley, is laying the groundwork for an insanity defense, saying the ex-sheriff suffered from a mental disease or defect, and was also under "extreme emotional disturbance" when he pulled the trigger. Basically, the defense isn’t arguing about what happened—it’s arguing about why.
And that “why” has roots in something dark. A few days before the shooting, Stines gave a deposition in a case involving one of his former deputies, Ben Fields. That guy? He’d been accused of coercing female inmates into sex—in exchange for staying out of jail. Think "Orange is the New Black," but way less scripted and way more disturbing. One of the accusers, Sabrina Adkins, claimed that she was forced to have sex with Fields for six months… inside the judge’s chambers. Yeah, the same room where the murder would later take place.
According to Bartley, Stines’ deposition forced him to answer some very uncomfortable questions about all of it. And afterward, the sheriff allegedly felt like his entire world was closing in—that his testimony had painted a target on his back. He supposedly feared that the fallout from the deposition would threaten not just his job or reputation, but the lives of his wife and daughter.
That’s not just legal strategy fluff, either. When police arrested Stines after the shooting, he reportedly shouted: “They’re trying to kidnap my wife and kid!” Clearly, in his mind, something had gone very, very wrong.
It’s worth noting that the judge, Kevin Mullins, wasn’t just some random guy in a robe to Stines. They were close—friends, even. They’d known each other since 2009, when Stines served as Mullins’ courtroom bailiff. Over the years, they became lunch buddies, often grabbing wings at the Streetside Grill & Bar down the street from the courthouse. On the day Mullins died, the two had lunch together—same order, same table, same casual vibe.
Then, hours later, Stines entered his office and shot him.
Prosecutors say the shooting seemed to come out of nowhere. But now investigators are digging into another possible motive: jealousy or betrayal. It’s been suggested that Stines may have seen his daughter’s phone number in Mullins’ phone, which allegedly sent him into a tailspin. Surveillance footage shows Stines trying to call his daughter from his phone—and then using the judge’s phone, too. What exactly he saw on that screen remains unclear, but the implication is that whatever he discovered set him off.
CCTV from the courthouse showed Mullins raising his hands in fear, hiding behind his desk, as Stines raised his gun. The whole thing, horrifying as it is, unfolded in seconds. But it was built on years of what the defense claims was accumulating psychological pressure.
Now, Stines’ legal team is leaning hard into the mental health defense. They say they’ll present expert evidence showing that he wasn’t legally responsible for his actions. Bartley says there's even more evidence out there—though he’s keeping it close to the chest for now—that could prove Stines’ state of mind was so fractured, he shouldn't be held criminally liable.
Meanwhile, the larger scandal casts a long shadow. The sex-for-favors scheme tied to Deputy Fields and possibly Judge Mullins has not gone away. Accuser Sabrina Adkins didn’t just name Fields—she claimed Mullins had videotapes of “sexual stuff” happening in his chambers. Mullins never responded to the allegations before his death, and the tapes, if they exist, haven’t surfaced publicly.
Fields, for what it’s worth, was fired by Stines before being arrested and sentenced to six months behind bars. But that did little to erase the cloud of controversy over the courthouse—and now, it's all tangled up in a murder trial.
So here we are: a former sheriff who says he lost his grip on reality, a respected judge dead in his own office, and a community unraveling under the weight of buried secrets. What started as a tight-knit town’s tragic loss has become a psychological crime drama no one saw coming—and no one will forget.
#LetcherCounty #KevinMullins #ShawnStines #CourthouseScandal
Want to listen to ALL of our podcasts AD-FREE? Subscribe through APPLE PODCASTS, and try it for three days free: https://tinyurl.com/ycw626tj
Follow Our Other Cases: https://www.truecrimetodaypod.com
The latest on The Downfall of Diddy, The Trial of Karen Read, The Murder Of Maddie Soto, Catching the Long Island Serial Killer, Awaiting Admission: BTK’s Unconfessed Crimes, Delphi Murders: Inside the Crime, Chad & Lori Daybell, The Murder of Ana Walshe, Alex Murdaugh, Bryan Kohberger, Lucy Letby, Kouri Richins, Malevolent Mormon Mommys, The Menendez Brothers: Quest For Justice, The Murder of Stephen Smith, The Murder of Madeline Kingsbury, The Murder Of Sandra Birchmore, and much more! Listen at https://www.truecrimetodaypod.com