Whitesburg is a quiet place. Nestled in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, it’s the kind of town where the law and the community are usually the same thing. But on September 19, 2024, that peace didn't just break—it shattered. Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Mickey Stines walked into District Judge Kevin Mullins' chambers. They had just eaten lunch together. They were friends. Minutes later, the judge was dead, and the sheriff was in handcuffs.
It feels like a movie script. Honestly, it’s hard to wrap your head around how two of the most powerful men in a small county ended up in a room where one gunned down the other. We’ve seen the headlines, but the layers of this story—the sex scandals, the cell phone calls, and the recent insanity defense filings—are way more tangled than they first appeared.
The Footage Nobody Wants to Watch
There is video. It’s silent, which somehow makes it worse. It shows Mickey Stines sitting across from Judge Mullins. They’re talking. Then, there’s an exchange of cell phones. This is a huge detail that investigators have been picking apart for over a year now. Stines reportedly used his own phone to call his daughter, then tried calling her again from the judge’s phone.
Why?
Whatever was on those screens triggered something. Stines stood up. He pulled his service weapon. The video shows Mullins trying to shield himself behind his desk, but there was nowhere to go. Stines didn't just fire once. He walked around the desk and kept shooting. Then, he walked out and surrendered.
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Basically, the sheriff admitted he did it. In court filings from late 2025, Stines’ legal team conceded that he pulled the trigger. They aren't fighting the "who." They’re fighting the "why" and the "state of mind."
Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Mickey Stines and the Brothel Allegations
To understand what might have been happening in that room, you have to look at the mess surrounding the Letcher County courthouse before the shooting. A few years back, a deputy named Ben Fields—who worked under Stines—got hit with a federal lawsuit. The claim? He was forcing women on home incarceration to have sex in exchange for favorable treatment.
Even crazier? This supposedly happened right in Judge Mullins’ chambers.
- Fields pleaded guilty to rape and sodomy in 2024.
- Stines was deposed in a related civil lawsuit just three days before he killed the judge.
- Witnesses like Sabrina Adkins have alleged that the courthouse was being run like a "brothel."
People in town have whispered about this for ages. They say the "swinging" culture and the "sex parties" were an open secret. Stines’ defense team is leaning into this chaos. They argue he was under "extreme emotional disturbance." They claim he was in an "active state of psychosis" and genuinely didn't understand the charges against him right after the arrest.
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The Insanity Defense Strategy
Fast forward to where we are now in early 2026. Stines is facing charges of first-degree murder and murder of a public official. His lawyer, Jeremy Bartley, is pushing a broad insanity defense. They want to prove he "lacked the capacity to intend" to kill his friend.
It’s a tough sell. Prosecutors are pointing to the deliberate way he walked around that desk to finish the job. They’re also pushing to move the trial out of Letcher County. They think the jury pool is too poisoned by local ties and the media circus. Honestly, they’re probably right. In a town of 1,700, everyone has an opinion on Mickey Stines.
Recent Legal Shuffles
In December 2025 and early January 2026, things got heated in the courtroom.
- A judge denied the motion to dismiss the indictment against Stines.
- The defense tried to get Judge Christopher Cohron removed from the case, claiming he can’t be impartial.
- A wrongful death lawsuit filed by Mullins’ widow is moving forward, focusing on Stines' personal liability.
The civil side is interesting because it’s stripping away the "official capacity" protections. Stines’ team tried to argue sovereign immunity—basically saying he was acting as sheriff—but the court isn't having it. If you shoot a judge in his office, you're on your own.
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What Most People Get Wrong
The biggest misconception is that this was a random "good man snapped" story. It wasn't. There was a build-up. Between the Ben Fields scandal, the depositions, and whatever was on those phones regarding Stines’ teenage daughter, the pressure cooker had been hissing for years.
Some people think the "insanity" plea is a get-out-of-jail-free card. In Kentucky, it’s rarely that simple. Even if he’s found to have acted under extreme emotional disturbance, it usually just knocks the charge down from murder to first-degree manslaughter. He’d still be looking at decades behind bars.
Actionable Insights and What’s Next
If you’re following this case, keep your eyes on the evidentiary hearings regarding the cell phone data. That is the "smoking gun" for the motive.
- Watch the Venue Ruling: If the trial moves to a different county, the defense’s strategy will likely shift away from local "character" witnesses.
- Follow the Civil Case: The Mullins family lawsuit might reveal documents and testimony that the criminal prosecutors haven't made public yet.
- Check the Mental Health Evaluations: There is a massive fight right now to keep Stines' psychological evaluation sealed. If that breaks open, we’ll finally see what the experts think was going on in his head.
The story of Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Mickey Stines isn't just about a shooting. It’s about the collapse of an entire power structure in a small Appalachian community. It's about what happens when the people sworn to protect the law become the ones breaking it in the most violent way possible.