Chambers of Secrets: The Murder of Judge Kevin Mullins
Published by True Crime Today
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Delve into the intricate and unsettling case of Judge Kevin Mullins' murder in Letcher County, Kentucky—a story that intertwines justice, betrayal, and scandal. This podcast provides an in-depth investigation into the events of September 19, 2024, when Judge Mullins was fatally shot in his chambers, allegedly by Sheriff Shawn "Mickey" Stines, a longtime friend and colleague. We explore the complex relationship between Mullins and Stines, tracing their history from courtroom collaborators to the tragic confrontation. Through comprehensive analysis and exclusive interviews, we uncover the alleged sex-for-favors scandal within the courthouse, including claims that Judge Mullins' chambers were misused for illicit activities. The podcast also investigates the legal proceedings leading up to the incident, including a federal lawsuit involving a deputy under Sheriff Stines' command, and how these events may have influenced the fatal encounter. Join us as we navigate the murky waters of this case, seeking to understand the motives, implications, and the profound impact on the local community. This series offers a comprehensive exploration of a tragic event that has left a lasting mark on the justice system in Letcher County.
Mickey Stines ran the Letcher County jail system for years. Four days after his arrest for allegedly shooting Judge Kevin Mullins, a social worker found he couldn’t recognize a cell. He was in an active state of psychosis. Unaware of his surroundings. No recollection of the recent past. He had to be pepper-sprayed during episodes of combativeness. That evaluation is central to the insanity defense Stines’ attorneys are building. New testimony from his aunt paints a picture of the days before the September 2024 shooting: seven nights without sleep, obsessive monitoring of his home security cameras, forty pounds lost in two weeks, and a FaceTime call minutes before the shooting where he asked for a grandmother who’d been dead for two and a half years. His doctor saw him the day before and sent him home with melatonin and Benadryl. His friends, his staff, and his family all agree something was catastrophically wrong. The prosecution is pushing back hard. Stines closed the door to the judge’s chambers before firing. He had lunch with Mullins the same day. And if the defense proves he was mentally ill enough for an insanity defense, the prosecution argues he’s too dangerous for bail. In this Mickey Stines case update: three major rulings are pending — bond, venue change, and whether prosecutors get their own mental health expert. The death penalty hearing still needs to be scheduled. No trial date set. END LINKS Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod DISCLAIMER This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice. HASHTAGS #MickeyStines #KevinMullins #StinesTrial #LetcherCounty #CourthouseShooting #KentuckyCrime #InsanityDefense #MentalHealthDefense #TrueCrime #TrueCrimePodcast
The Mickey Stines case raises hard questions about mental health in law enforcement — and what happens when warning signs get ignored by everyone who sees them. Before former Letcher County Sheriff Stines shot and killed Judge Kevin Mullins in September 2024, multiple people in the courthouse saw him deteriorating. According to court documents, staff watched him lose forty pounds in two weeks. He stopped sleeping. He expressed paranoid beliefs that his family was going to be murdered. He made phone calls to dead relatives. One employee told Kentucky State Police she believed he was "in a psychosis." A local attorney warned the judge directly that Stines was "losing it." The police chief reportedly said he'd "lost his mind." An attorney was so alarmed he contacted the Kentucky Bar Association to figure out what he could do. The day before the shooting, friends brought Stines to his doctor. According to medical records cited in court filings, Stines denied psychosis or homicidal thoughts. He was diagnosed with acute stress and sent home. Twenty-four hours later, he walked into the judge's chambers and opened fire. This case forces hard questions: what systems exist to intervene when a law enforcement officer is visibly breaking down? Who has the authority to act? In Letcher County, the answer appears to have been no one. Stines' defense is pursuing insanity, claiming psychosis and lack of capacity. Whether that succeeds is up to the courts. But the institutional failure deserves examination regardless. #MickeyStines #LawEnforcementMentalHealth #KevinMullins #SheriffShooting #LetcherCounty #CourthouseShooting #MentalHealthCrisis #PoliceAccountability #InstitutionalFailure #TrueCrime Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872 This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.
A former sheriff caught on video shooting a sitting judge is now asking the court to rule that he's too mentally ill to face the death penalty. Shawn "Mickey" Stines' attorneys filed a motion Monday under Kentucky's 2022 mental illness exemption statute, requesting a hearing to determine whether their client has a serious intellectual disability or serious mental illness. The filing offers no named diagnosis and no attached medical documentation. This episode focuses on the legal mechanics — what Kentucky's HB 269 actually requires, how the only previous case under this statute played out, and where the evidence lands for and against Stines' claim. We walk through the four qualifying diagnoses the law recognizes, the documentation and symptom requirements, and the 120-day filing and 90-day ruling timelines the defense is now working against. On one side: witness accounts of a sheriff spiraling into paranoia, a jail intake describing active psychosis, and staff members who told state police they believed he had lost touch with reality. On the other: surveillance footage prosecutors say shows deliberate actions, a doctor's visit where Stines denied any mental health symptoms hours before the shooting, no public record of a qualifying pre-existing diagnosis, and a sealed psychiatric evaluation the defense hasn't been able to leverage. We also look at the broader strategic picture — with no trial date set, a judge recusal motion pending, and Kentucky's death penalty functionally dormant since 2008, what this filing may really be designed to accomplish. #MickeyStines #SheriffStines #JudgeMullins #LetcherCounty #KentuckyLaw #DeathPenaltyExemption #MentalIllnessDefense #HB269 #CourthouseShooting #LawEnforcement Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872 This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.
A lawyer told Judge Kevin Mullins directly that Sheriff Mickey Stines was falling apart. Said he couldn't take the pressure. Said he needed a mental health evaluation. Mullins had worked with Stines for years — Stines was his bailiff before becoming sheriff. They had lunch together the day of the shooting. Hours later, Mullins was dead in his own chambers. Both men were tied to a lawsuit alleging sexual exploitation by Stines' deputies — misconduct that allegedly occurred in Mullins' chambers. Stines gave a deposition in that case days before the killing. It was described as tense. Fifteen months later, still no official motive from prosecutors. Former FBI Behavioral Analysis Program Chief Robin Dreeke spent decades studying how trust becomes a vulnerability. How people dismiss threats from familiar faces. How secrets between powerful people become leverage. And what happens when someone who belongs somewhere — someone with a badge, a title, years of institutional trust — becomes the threat nobody sees coming. Today he breaks down what went wrong in Letcher County. The warning signs that were visible. The pressure dynamics that may have driven Stines to the breaking point. And why institutions keep failing to act when the danger comes from one of their own. #MickeyStines #KevinMullins #RobinDreeke #FBI #SheriffStines #CourthouseShooting #LetherCounty #TrueCrime #BehavioralAnalysis #LawEnforcement Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISDOES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872 This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.
Before Mickey Stines killed Kevin Mullins, both men were connected to a lawsuit alleging sexual exploitation by Stines' deputies — misconduct that allegedly occurred in Mullins' chambers. Stines gave a deposition in that case days before the shooting. It was described as "tense." Robin Dreeke spent over twenty years at the FBI studying how entanglement between powerful people becomes dangerous. How secrets function as leverage. What happens when exposure threatens someone who's already on the edge. This conversation examines the pressure dynamics behind the Stines killing — and asks a question nobody in an official capacity has answered: why hasn't the prosecution told us what drove this? #MickeyStines #SheriffStines #JudgeKevinMullins #RobinDreeke #FBI #LawEnforcement #Leverage #CriminalJustice Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISDOES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872
He had a badge. He had access. He had years of history with the man he killed. Nobody stopped Mickey Stines because nobody thought they needed to. Retired FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke — former head of the Bureau's Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program — breaks down what this case should teach every courthouse and law enforcement agency in America. When the threat comes from someone with legitimate authority, how do you see it? When a colleague is deteriorating, what triggers action? And why do the people closest to danger so often fail to recognize it? #MickeyStines #SheriffStines #JudgeKevinMullins #RobinDreeke #FBI #LawEnforcement #CourthouseSecurity #CriminalJustice Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISDOES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872
Everything we covered this week on the Mickey Stines case — the recusal motion that's frozen proceedings and the systemic failures that allowed a sheriff in crisis to keep his gun. The defense filed a motion to recuse Special Judge Christopher Cohron after discovering video footage showing him seated inches from Judge Kevin Mullins at a Kentucky Judicial Commission on Mental Health meeting just seven days before Mullins was shot to death in his chambers. Cohron never disclosed this connection. Defense attorneys Jeremy and Kerri Bartley argue that in a case where Stines' mental state is the entire defense, this creates an appearance of bias. They point to Cohron blocking psychiatric evaluation from the bond hearing as evidence. Everything is frozen while we wait to see if Cohron steps aside or forces escalation to the Kentucky Supreme Court. We also examined what court filings reveal about the days before the shooting. Mickey Stines spiraled publicly. He called dead relatives on his phone. Lost weight rapidly. Stopped sleeping. Displayed paranoia. His staff pushed him to see a doctor. The diagnosis was acute stress reaction. They sent him home — with his badge, his gun, and his authority untouched. Twenty-four hours later, Judge Mullins was shot nine times in his own chambers. Former FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer exposed the structural failures. Kentucky has no red flag law. An elected sheriff cannot be suspended by subordinates. There was no mechanism to disarm him. The civil lawsuit accuses sheriff's employees of failing to warn Mullins. Their defense: Kentucky law imposed no duty to act. Stines has been held without bond for over fifteen months. No trial date. Prosecutors haven't announced whether they'll seek the death penalty. Civil lawsuits proceed while the murder case sits in limbo. #MickeyStines #JudgeKevinMullins #ChristopherCohron #JenniferCoffindaffer #FBI #LetcherCounty #KentuckySheriff #JudgeRecusal #MentalHealthCrisis #WeekInReview Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISDOES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872
Former sheriff Mickey Stines shot and killed District Judge Kevin Mullins in his own chambers. It was caught on video. But now the defense has uncovered something that could derail the entire case — and attorney Eric Faddis is here to break it down. Video footage shows Special Judge Christopher Cohron, who was assigned to preside over the Stines trial, seated directly next to Judge Mullins at a Kentucky Judicial Commission on Mental Health meeting. That meeting happened seven days before Mullins was killed. Cohron never disclosed this relationship to either side. Now the defense has filed a recusal motion arguing that in a case where mental illness is literally the entire defense, having a judge who worked alongside the victim on mental health issues creates an appearance of bias that cannot be ignored. Cohron has already denied the defense's motion to unseal Stines' psychiatric evaluation. He blocked them from using it at the bond hearing, saying "a bail hearing is not a trial rehearsal." The defense is connecting those rulings to that video. Eric explains what the legal standard for recusal actually requires, why the non-disclosure matters, and what happens if the Chief Justice of Kentucky has to step in. We also cover the Nick Reiner case, where celebrity attorney Alan Jackson just withdrew and left a public defender holding a capital murder case with thirty seconds' notice. Two insanity defenses. Two courtrooms in chaos. Eric Faddis explains what's really happening. #MickeyStines #JudgeRecusal #ChristopherCohron #KevinMullins #NickReiner #InsanityDefense #EricFaddis #KentuckyLaw #TrueCrime #SheriffMurder This video is for commentary and entertainment purposes only. All accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISDOES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872
A former sheriff accused of killing a sitting judge. A special judge assigned to preside over the case. And now, a video that ties them together in a way nobody expected. Defense attorney and former prosecutor Eric Faddis joins us to analyze the recusal motion filed by Mickey Stines' defense team. According to court documents, Special Judge Christopher Cohron appeared in footage from a Kentucky Judicial Commission on Mental Health meeting — seated inches from District Judge Kevin Mullins — just seven days before Mullins was shot to death in his Letcher County chambers. The defense claims Cohron never disclosed this connection and is now arguing his impartiality cannot be trusted. This case already involves a sealed psychiatric evaluation, an insanity defense, a venue fight, and a defendant who's been held without bond for over fifteen months. The recusal motion adds another layer — one that asks a fundamental question: In a case where the victim was a judge and the defense is built entirely around mental health, can the presiding judge's undisclosed attendance at a mental health meeting with the victim be overlooked? Eric Faddis breaks down the legal standard under Kentucky law, what happens if Cohron refuses to step aside, and how this fight could reach the Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court. We also discuss the broader implications for judicial impartiality and what this case reveals about the challenges of trying a case where everyone in the system already knows each other. #MickeyStines #SheriffStines #JudgeKevinMullins #JudgeCohron #EricFaddis #JudicialRecusal #KentuckySheriff #LawEnforcement #CriminalJustice #CourthouseShooting Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISDOES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872
Former Letcher County Sheriff Mickey Stines is fighting to remove the judge overseeing his murder trial — and the reason involves a video that was never supposed to surface. According to a defense motion filed December 29th, Special Judge Christopher Cohron appeared in footage from a Kentucky Judicial Commission on Mental Health meeting held September 12th, 2024. In that video, the defense claims, Cohron sat inches from District Judge Kevin Mullins for roughly two hours. Mullins' widow was also in attendance. Seven days later, Mullins was dead — shot by Stines in his courthouse chambers. The defense argues Cohron never disclosed this to the parties, creating what they call "an appearance of impropriety." In a case where Stines' entire defense rests on his mental state — insanity, extreme emotional disturbance, documented psychosis — having a judge with an undisclosed personal connection to the victim raises serious questions about impartiality. Cohron has already ruled against the defense on several key motions. He denied their attempt to unseal Stines' psychiatric evaluation. He blocked them from introducing that evaluation at the upcoming bond hearing. The defense is now connecting those decisions to what they discovered in the video. Under Kentucky law, judges must recuse themselves when their impartiality might reasonably be questioned. The Bartleys are betting this video clears that bar. If Cohron disagrees, they can escalate to the Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court. Stines has been jailed for fifteen months. No bond. No trial date. And now, no clarity on who will even judge this case. #MickeyStines #SheriffStines #JudgeKevinMullins #KentuckySheriff #LawEnforcement #JudgeRecusal #LetherCounty #CourthouseShooting #CriminalJustice #TrueCrime Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISDOES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872
On September 19th, 2024, the justice system in Whitesburg, Kentucky ruptured in the most shocking way imaginable: Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines walked into Judge Kevin Mullins’ chambers and opened fire, killing his longtime friend — just minutes after they’d shared lunch. The entire murder was captured on courthouse surveillance, leaving the community stunned and searching for answers. In this gripping episode of Hidden Killers, Tony Brueski is joined by psychotherapist and author Shavaun Scott to examine the psychological unraveling behind a sheriff killing a judge on camera. Was this an act of madness? A collapse under pressure? Or something far more calculated? Just three days before the shooting, Stines had been deposed in a civil case involving allegations of corruption and misconduct inside his own office. Investigators are now asking whether mounting legal pressure pushed him toward a breaking point, or whether he believed silencing Mullins would somehow change his fate. Bodycam footage captured immediately afterward shows Stines muttering paranoid claims like “you’re going to kill me,” even as he surrendered without resistance. Was this genuine psychosis, trauma, or an attempt to set the stage for an insanity defense? In the second half, Tony, Stacy Cole, Todd Michaels, and attorney Eric Faddis break down newly released grand jury transcripts revealing that key evidence — including a mental-health diagnosis the day before the shooting — was never presented to jurors. Intake records describing Stines as “actively psychotic,” footage showing visible paranoia, and behind-the-scenes prosecutorial decisions all raise a critical question: was justice compromised before the trial even began? This is the story of a sheriff’s psychological collapse — and the cracks in a justice system now forced to confront its own failures. #MickeyStines #JudgeMullins #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #CourthouseMurder #TrueCrimePodcast #MentalHealthDefense #GrandJury #EricFaddis #PsychologicalAnalysis Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872
Two cases. Two different outcomes. One shared question the system still can’t answer. In California, police say they moved quickly after Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner were found stabbed to death — confident they had enough evidence to arrest their son, Nick Reiner, within hours. The legal fight now centers on schizophrenia, medication changes, and whether mental illness excuses violence. In Kentucky, the opposite happened. Everyone saw Mickey Stines unravel — law enforcement, attorneys, medical professionals. But because he was an elected sheriff, no one had the legal authority to stop him. No red flag law. No suspension power. No override. Judge Kevin Mullins paid the price. In this full episode, retired FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer connects the dots between these cases and exposes the dangerous gaps in how the system handles mental illness when violence intersects with power, family, and authority. We explore how investigations unfold, how insanity defenses are built and challenged, and why prevention often fails not because people didn’t care — but because the law gave them no tools to act. These aren’t isolated tragedies. They’re warnings. And until the system changes, they won’t be the last. #TrueCrime #JenniferCoffindaffer #HiddenKillers #MentalHealthAndCrime #SystemFailure #NickReiner #MickeyStines #FBIAnalysis #TrueCrimeNews Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872
The prosecution wants to move this trial. Not the defense—the prosecution. The Commonwealth of Kentucky is asking the court to relocate the murder trial of former Letcher County Sheriff Mickey Stines, who shot and killed District Judge Kevin Mullins inside his chambers on September 19, 2024. The entire shooting was captured on security footage. There's no question about what happened. The question is why—and whether Stines was mentally capable of forming intent when he pulled the trigger. Court documents reveal a man in freefall. The day before the shooting, Stines was diagnosed with acute stress reaction. Witnesses told investigators he was "losing it," that his anxiety was "completely off the charts," that they believed he was in psychosis. He'd lost forty pounds in two weeks. He told coworkers "they" were going to kill his wife and daughter—but never said who "they" were. Four days after the shooting, a jail social worker found him still in active psychosis, unaware of his surroundings, requiring antipsychotic medication and pepper spray to control. The shooting came just three days after Stines was deposed in a federal lawsuit alleging his deputy coerced women into sex inside Mullins's chambers. That lawsuit also named Stines for failing to supervise. Multiple women have made allegations about what happened in that office—allegations that have never been proven and that Mullins, now dead, cannot answer. Prosecutors say they can't try this case in Letcher County. The crime scene is the courthouse. Both men were elected officials everyone voted for. The defense says keep it local—national coverage means nowhere is untouched. Meanwhile, Stines faces the death penalty, and his lawyers are building an insanity defense around a paper trail of warnings nobody acted on. #MickeyStines #Letcher County #TrueCrime #KevinMullins #KentuckySheriff #CourthouseShooting #InsanityDefense #TrueCrimeNews #MurderTrial #CriminalJustice Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872
Court filings in the Mickey Stines case reveal a chilling reality: everyone saw the breakdown coming — and no one had the power to stop it. An elected Kentucky sheriff spiraled publicly. He called dead relatives on his phone. Lost weight rapidly. Stopped sleeping. Displayed paranoia. His own staff pushed him to see a doctor. The diagnosis? Acute stress reaction. The response? Send him home — with his badge, his gun, and his authority untouched. Twenty-four hours later, Judge Kevin Mullins was shot nine times in his own chambers. In this deep-dive, retired FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer exposes the structural failures that allowed this to happen. Kentucky has no red flag law. An elected sheriff cannot be suspended by subordinates. There was no mechanism to disarm him — even as multiple people recognized he was in crisis. We examine the civil lawsuit accusing sheriff’s office employees of failing to warn Judge Mullins, and their defense that Kentucky law imposed no duty to act. Is that legally sound? Is it morally defensible? This isn’t just a tragedy — it’s a systems failure. One that raises terrifying questions about authority, mental health, and what happens when the person in crisis sits at the very top of the chain of command. #MickeyStines #JudgeMullins #JenniferCoffindaffer #TrueCrime #SystemicFailure #MentalHealthCrisis #HiddenKillers #FBIAnalysis #KentuckyCase Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872
Three days before Sheriff Mickey Stines allegedly walked into Judge Kevin Mullins' chambers and shot him nine times, an attorney contacted the Kentucky Bar Association asking what he could do to intervene. He had already warned Mullins directly. Told him Stines was losing it. The local police chief saw enough to say Stines had lost his mind. Staff inside the sheriff's office watched their boss place phone calls to relatives who had been dead for years. His friends took him to a doctor. The doctor diagnosed acute stress reaction and sent him home. Twenty-four hours later, Kevin Mullins was dead. Court documents reveal the warning signs were everywhere. Witnesses say Stines had not slept in days. He had lost a massive amount of weight. He was convinced unnamed people were going to kill his wife and daughter. He woke his wife at night to whisper because he believed their home was bugged. Coworkers saw it. An attorney saw it. The police chief saw it. Nobody had the power to stop it. Kentucky has no red flag law. Involuntary commitment requires proof of imminent danger, not paranoid delusions, not rapid weight loss, not bizarre behavior. And when the person in crisis is an elected sheriff, no one has the authority to suspend him, disarm him, or override his denials. Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott joins us to break down what these behaviors actually mean clinically, what paranoid psychosis looks like, why people miss or dismiss the signs, and whether Stines' insanity defense might hold up in court. The widow's civil lawsuit now asks whether three sheriff's office employees should be held liable for failing to warn Mullins. Their defense: Kentucky law imposed no duty to warn or protect. Everyone did something. It was not enough. #MickeyStines #JudgeKevinMullins #TrueCrime #KentuckySheriff #CourthouseShooting #MentalHealthCrisis #InsanityDefense #WarningSigns #Psychosis #ShavaunScott #RedFlagLaws #TrueCrimeNews #SystemicFailure #LetcherCounty #KentuckyCrime #TrueCrimePodcast #MentalHealthAwareness #CriminalJustice #CourtroomDrama #TrueCrimeCommunity Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872
Kentucky Sheriff Mickey Stines has admitted in court filings that he shot and killed Judge Kevin Mullins in his chambers on September 19, 2024. Nine bullets. Seven of them fired while the judge was already on the ground. The entire killing was captured on video. But now Stines is claiming he had no control over his actions and his defense team is pointing to a rare neurological disease caused by bug bites as part of their explanation. For over a year, no one could explain why a longtime sheriff walked into a judge's chambers and executed a man he had worked alongside for decades. Stines had served as Mullins' bailiff. They ate lunch together that same day. After a seven-minute private conversation behind closed doors, Stines locked the door and opened fire. Court documents now reveal what was happening in the days before the shooting. Stines had lost forty pounds in two weeks. He was placing phone calls to dead relatives. He told staff that shadowy forces were coming to kill his wife and daughter. He made someone put a bulletproof vest on his wife. His own employees believed he was experiencing psychosis. An attorney warned Judge Mullins directly that Stines was losing it. The local police chief said he had lost his mind. But here is the problem. The day before the shooting, Stines visited a doctor. According to medical records, he denied experiencing any psychosis or homicidal thoughts. The doctor diagnosed acute stress reaction and sent him home. Twenty-four hours later, Kevin Mullins was dead. Now Stines is building an insanity defense that includes claims of California encephalitis, a tick-borne illness that can cause confusion and aggression. Whether this is a legitimate diagnosis or a legal strategy designed to avoid accountability remains to be seen. #MickeyStines #JudgeKevinMullins #LetcherCounty #KentuckySheriff #CourthouseShooting #TrueCrime #InsanityDefense #CaliforniaEncephalitis #TrueCrime2025 #JusticeForMullins #KentuckyCrime #TrueCrimeCommunity #CriminalJustice #MurderTrial #LegalDefense #TrueCrimeNews #CourtroomDrama #SheriffShooting #MentalHealthDefense #BreakingCrime Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872
Rob and Michele Reiner spent nearly two decades trying to save their son. Seventeen rehab stays. Constant supervision. A guest house on their property so they could keep him close and try to manage the chaos. Every possible resource love, money, access, and opportunity could provide. And still, on December 15, 2025, they were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home. Their son, Nick Reiner, now faces charges in their killings. This is not a story about parents who missed the warning signs. It’s about parents who lived with those signs for eighteen years and had no legal way to act on them. In this in-depth conversation, psychotherapist Shavaun Scott examines what was likely unfolding inside the Reiner family long before that final night. She breaks down why Nick Reiner’s own words — that drugs were never about getting high but about “killing the noise” — point to deeper psychological distress that traditional rehab often fails to address. We explore what happens to parents psychologically when they’ve exhausted every option yet remain trapped in proximity to a volatile adult child, and why wealth and access offered no real protection. The discussion then widens to a second chilling case: the Mickey Stines tragedy in Kentucky, where a sheriff fatally shot a judge inside his own courthouse after weeks of visible psychological unraveling. Witnesses described paranoia, severe sleep deprivation, rapid weight loss, delusional beliefs, and an alarming phone call to a deceased relative on the day of the incident. Coworkers saw it. Friends saw it. Authorities saw it. And still, no intervention stopped what followed. Together, these cases expose a painful reality: in the United States, families and communities often recognize danger long before the law allows action. Competent adults cannot be forced into treatment. Intervention requires “imminent danger,” a threshold that frequently isn’t crossed until lives are already lost. This conversation isn’t about excusing violence or assigning blame. It’s about confronting the limits of love, the failures baked into mental-health and commitment laws, and the impossible position families are placed in when respecting autonomy means risking their own safety. If you’ve ever wondered how people can do everything right and still end up here, this episode offers uncomfortable — but necessary — answers. #ReinerMurders #NickReiner #MickeyStines #JudgeKevinMullins #TrueCrime #MentalHealthCrisis #SystemicFailure #CrimePsychology #FamilyViolence #ShavaunScott #HiddenKillers Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872
Rob and Michele Reiner spent nearly two decades trying to save their son. Seventeen rehab stays. Constant supervision. A guest house on their property so they could keep him close and try to manage the chaos. Every possible resource love, money, access, and opportunity could provide. And still, on December 15, 2025, they were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home. Their son, Nick Reiner, now faces charges in their killings. This is not a story about parents who missed the warning signs. It’s about parents who lived with those signs for eighteen years and had no legal way to act on them. In this in-depth conversation, psychotherapist Shavaun Scott examines what was likely unfolding inside the Reiner family long before that final night. She breaks down why Nick Reiner’s own words — that drugs were never about getting high but about “killing the noise” — point to deeper psychological distress that traditional rehab often fails to address. We explore what happens to parents psychologically when they’ve exhausted every option yet remain trapped in proximity to a volatile adult child, and why wealth and access offered no real protection. The discussion then widens to a second chilling case: the Mickey Stines tragedy in Kentucky, where a sheriff fatally shot a judge inside his own courthouse after weeks of visible psychological unraveling. Witnesses described paranoia, severe sleep deprivation, rapid weight loss, delusional beliefs, and an alarming phone call to a deceased relative on the day of the incident. Coworkers saw it. Friends saw it. Authorities saw it. And still, no intervention stopped what followed. Together, these cases expose a painful reality: in the United States, families and communities often recognize danger long before the law allows action. Competent adults cannot be forced into treatment. Intervention requires “imminent danger,” a threshold that frequently isn’t crossed until lives are already lost. This conversation isn’t about excusing violence or assigning blame. It’s about confronting the limits of love, the failures baked into mental-health and commitment laws, and the impossible position families are placed in when respecting autonomy means risking their own safety. If you’ve ever wondered how people can do everything right and still end up here, this episode offers uncomfortable — but necessary — answers. #ReinerMurders #NickReiner #MickeyStines #JudgeKevinMullins #TrueCrime #MentalHealthCrisis #SystemicFailure #CrimePsychology #FamilyViolence #ShavaunScott #HiddenKillers Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872
A Kentucky sheriff shot and killed a judge inside his own courthouse chambers — and according to court documents, the warning signs were everywhere. Witnesses say Mickey Stines hadn't slept in days. He'd lost a massive amount of weight. He was convinced unnamed people were going to kill his wife and daughter. He woke his wife up at night to whisper because he believed their home was bugged. And on the day of the shooting, he reportedly tried calling his grandmother — who had been dead for three years. Coworkers saw it. An attorney saw it. The local police chief said "that son of a bitch has lost his mind." His friends even took him to the doctor the day before. And still, nobody stopped what was coming. In this segment, psychotherapist Shavaun Scott breaks down what these behaviors actually mean clinically — what paranoid psychosis looks like, why people miss or dismiss the warning signs, and what Stines' insanity defense might actually hold up to. We're not here to excuse what happened. We're here to understand it. Because this case is a brutal lesson in what happens when someone falls apart in plain sight and no one knows what to do about it. #MickeyStines #JudgeKevinMullins #TrueCrime #KentuckySheriff #CourthouseShooting #MentalHealthCrisis #InsanityDefense #WarningSigns #Psychosis #ShavaunScott Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872
Three days before Sheriff Mickey Stines allegedly walked into Judge Kevin Mullins' chambers and shot him nine times, an attorney contacted the Kentucky Bar Association asking what he could do to intervene. He'd already warned Mullins directly. Told him Stines was "losing it." The local police chief had seen enough to say Stines had "lost his mind." Staff inside the sheriff's office watched their boss make phone calls to relatives who had been dead for years. They got him to a doctor. The doctor sent him home with a diagnosis of "acute stress reaction." Twenty-four hours later, Kevin Mullins was dead. This isn't a story about people who didn't care. It's a story about people who saw a crisis developing, took action within the limits of what they could actually do, and discovered those limits weren't anywhere close to enough. Kentucky has no red flag law. Involuntary commitment requires proof of imminent danger — not paranoid delusions, not rapid weight loss, not bizarre behavior. And when the person in crisis is an elected sheriff, nobody has the authority to suspend him, disarm him, or override his denials. Court documents exposed this week reveal just how many people recognized something catastrophic was happening — and how the systems we've built gave them almost no power to stop it. The widow's civil lawsuit now asks whether three sheriff's office employees should be held liable for failing to warn Judge Mullins. Their defense: Kentucky law imposed no duty to warn or protect. Everyone did something. It wasn't enough. And the gap between "someone should do something" and anyone having the power to actually do it is where Kevin Mullins died. #MickeyStines #JudgeMullins #TrueCrime #KentuckySheriff #CourthouseShooting #MentalHealthCrisis #RedFlagLaws #TrueCrimeNews #SystemicFailure Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872
