A chilling video has revealed the moment a sheriff shot a judge dead following an argument in the latter's chambers.
There is no audio on the short clip, which was shown in court on Tuesday (1 October), which happened after District Judge Kevin Mullins and Sheriff Shawn 'Mickey' Stines had lunch with a group at a restaurant.
Stines officially resigned on Monday as sheriff of Letcher County, Kentucky, US, and appeared in court in a jail uniform and handcuffs where evidence was presented.
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Judge Rupert Wilhoit referred the first-degree murder charge to a jury, and while defence attorneys didn't deny that the former sheriff shot Mullins in September, they said that he was having an 'extreme emotional disturbance' during the shooting.
Defence attorney Jeremy Bartley stated to the judge: “I think they’ve established probable cause for manslaughter first, but not murder,” as Stines entered a not guilty plea.
Following their meal, witnesses said they did not see any anger between the two, according to Kentucky State Police Detective Clayton Stamper, the only witness that testified, though he revealed that there was one exchange that caught their attention.
He said “I was told that the judge made a statement to Mickey about, ‘Do we need to meet private in my chambers?’”
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No motive for the shooting was presented by the prosecution, but it was said that a portion of the video that was not played in court showed Stines called his daughter on his phone, before asking to see Mullins' phone.
The surveillance clip, which was shared on X, was taken from the judge's chambers and shows Mullins crouching behind his desk, before Stines fires multiple shots at him.
As the then-sheriff is prepared to walk out, he sees Mullins moving under the desk before turning to shoot him a few more times.
In court, it was noted that Stines looked away from the screen, while people in the gallery on the prosecution side of the courtroom were heard crying.
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20 seconds of the 'much longer' clip was played, as it was noted that the full video revealed Stines standing up and firing shots just seconds after looking at the judge's phone, according to the detective.
Stamper revealed: “I was told that Sheriff Stines had tried to call his daughter, and he had tried to call his daughter from the judge’s phone also.”
Phone records were confirmed to show that the cell phone of Stines' daughter was called from the judge's number, before Stines surrendered himself to authorities right after the shooting and was said to make an odd statement.
Stamper added: “When he was taken into custody, I was told by one of the other officers there that he made the comment, ‘They’re trying to kidnap my wife and kid'.”
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A special judge was appointed by the state to take charge of the case, as Mullins would usually do the job of taking over preliminary hearings for crimes committed in Letcher country.
As for Stines, his formal petition was published by his attorneys, as according to WKYT, it read: “Sheriff Stines has made this decision to allow for a successor to continue to protect his beloved constituents while he addresses the legal process ahead of him.”
If convicted of first-degree murder, Stines might face the death penalty.
Joshua Nair