Why Would a sheriff Shoot the Lone Judge in Whitesburg, Kentucky?
25th September 2024
They’d been friends for years and once worked side-by-side in the county courthouse. They were two high-profile elected officials in a town where it seems like everybody knows each other, our media partners at the Cincinnati Enquirer report.
So why, as he’s accused in court, did Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines walk into a private room inside the courthouse, pull out a gun and kill District Judge Kevin Mullins?
It’s an unprecedented crime in a town that can go years without a homicide. And the Thursday afternoon shooting left a gaping hole in the judicial system — Mullins was the county’s only judge, and its sheriff is behind bars in Leslie County, facing a first-degree murder charge after he surrendered on the scene.
I’ll bet there’s an interesting story behind this.
Unfortunately, one won’t find it by reading the news coverage, which is basically 5,o00 words of ‘journalists’ scratching their heads.