[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Sobs rang out in a small-town Kentucky courtroom Tuesday as footage was played of a local sheriff shooting dead a judge after finding his daughter's number on the jurist's phone.
Lechter County Sheriff Shawn 'Mickey' Stines, 43, the accused killer, appeared in the CCTV footage inside the inner chamber of his longtime 'friend', District Court Judge Kevin Mullins.
In the chilling clip played in the opening minutes of his preliminary hearing, Stines repeatedly shot Mullins, 54, as he sat behind his desk.
Mullins attempted to scramble behind the desk and chair in the corner of the room while Stines continued firing shots.
In perhaps the video's most haunting moment, the sheriff then goes to leave, but stops as his hand is on the door handle, shoves aside the desk chair and fires a couple more shots into the judge, before eventually walking out of the room.
The court heard Stines had found his daughter's number in Mullins' phone, and had tried to call his daughter from the judge's phone, amid ongoing speculation about a potential motive for the shooting.
As DailyMail.com exclusively reported last month, just hours before the shooting, the sheriff and judge, who were longtime friends, shared an outside table at the popular Streetside Grill & Bar on Main Street for lunch, only a few hundred yards from the courthouse.
The pair were lunchtime regulars together at the sports bar and on that fateful Thursday ordered their usual – both having the $13.99 wings with salad.
'Everything seemed fine between them. There was no clue that anything was wrong at all,' one of the staff attending them that day told DailyMail.com.
'You wouldn't have guessed there was the slightest problem.
The court heard that surveillance video also showed Stines looking at Mullins’ phone several times and then using his phone and Mullins’ phone to try and call his daughter before the shooting.
Upon discovering his daughter's number in the phone, he jumped to his feet within 'seconds', the court heard. He then opened fire.
Kentucky State Police Detective Clayton Stamper testified that during the lunch the pair had appeared to argue. 'I was told that judge made a statement to Mickey about, 'Do we need to meet private in my chambers?' That's all I was told," Stamper said.
No further background was shared.
The video and new details come as the court seeks to determine whether there is enough evidence for Stines to face a grand jury.
He entered a not guilty plea on a charge of murder.
The judge determined there was probable cause and allowed the case to proceed to a grand jury.
Police allege Stines shot Mullins dead at the County Courthouse in Whitesburg Kentucky on September 19.
Under cross examination, Kentucky State Police detective Clayton Stamper was asked whether he has any evidence to suggest this shooting was premeditated.
'No,' he said.
He was then asked if there was any evidence so far which would demonstrate the shooting 'was not a reaction to what was on that phone.'
'No,' he said again.
Stamper confirmed in court that Stines' daughter has been interviewed by police. The interview took place in the presence of her mother.
Three cell phones in total are currently at a forensic lab being downloaded and will form part of the investigation.
Police allege Stines walked into the judge's outer office, told court employees he needed to speak to Mullins alone, then proceeded to shoot him once they entered the inner office.
Stines then walked out with his hands raised and surrendered to officers, who placed him in handcuffs. He was charged with one count of first-degree murder.
Mullins was appointed to serve as a judge in the state's 47th district under former Gov. Steve Beshear in 2009.
He oversaw juvenile matters, city and county ordinances, misdemeanors, traffic offenses, arraignments, felony probable cause hearings, claims involving $2,500 or less, civil cases involving $5,000 or less, voluntary and involuntary mental commitments and domestic violence cases, according to a Letcher County website.
Mullins also gained recognition for his efforts to treat those with drug addiction rather than incarcerate them. He started a program in 2010 that allowed inmates with substance abuse disorders to enroll in inpatient treatment as a condition of pretrial release.
He was previously an assistant commonwealth attorney for nine and a half years, focusing on drug-related offenses.
Stines, meanwhile, was elected sheriff in 2018 and reelected in 2022.
The two men were reportedly friends for 20 years before the incident.
Stines could face the death penalty if convicted of murder because Mullins was a public official.
#2
When this story fist came out, there was some vague reference (prob the Mail, natch) about some previous sex scandal in the court or sherrif's dept.
Just going by physiognomy, the judge probably had it coming.
#3
Gateway Pundit was hinting to an even darker backstory. Not only was there the speculative incident with the Deputy's Daughter, but a series of sexual assaults on inmates too.
Technology reporter Taylor Lorenz said Tuesday that she is leaving The Washington Post, less than two months after the newspaper launched an internal review following her social media post about President Joe Biden.
Lorenz, a well-regarded expert on internet culture, wrote a book “Extremely Online” last year and said she is launching a newsletter, “User Mag,” on Substack. a well-regarded expert *snort* An unemployed tw@t
“I will pursue the type of reporting on the internet that has become increasingly difficult to do in corporate media,” Lorenz wrote on Substack to introduce her new project.
Lorenz attended a White House conference in August and had posted a picture of herself to some of her followers on Instagram, with Biden in the background and the text “War criminal :(” After a New York Post reporter posted a screenshot, Lorenz posted a message saying “you people will fall for any dumbass edit someone makes.”
NPR subsequently wrote that four people with direct knowledge of the post confirmed that it was authentic. The Post said it would review the matter; Lorenz has not written for the paper since then, the Post wrote on Tuesday.
“We are grateful for the work Taylor has produced at The Washington Post,” a newspaper spokesperson said. “She has resigned to pursue a career in independent journalism, and we wish her the best.” "GTFO" Read the rest at the link
[Daily Mail where America gets its news] Multiple employees inside a Tennessee plastic factory have died after being told by their bosses not to evacuate during Hurricane Helene, according to a worker.
Impact Plastics in Erwin, Tennessee, confirmed that there had been fatalities at their plant after Friday's extreme weather - but haven't revealed how many people had been killed.
Two people are said to have died, with up to five still missing.
Employee Bertha Mendoza, 56, has since been confirmed as one of those who had died in the floods, according to a fundraising page. Alexa Peterson told NBC News that her father Johnny was among those who had died. She told the outlet she was seeking legal representation.
Jacob Ingram, a mold changer at the company, told the Knoxville News Sentinel that as the flooding began, mangers told employees to move their cars but wouldn't let them leave.
Ingram said: 'They should've evacuated when we got the flash flood warnings, and when they saw the parking lot. When we moved our cars, we should've evacuated then.'
It emerges as the death toll from the brutal Hurricane which swept the southeast last week passed 150 people.
Footage shared by Ingram on his social media shows dark brown muddy water running through the company's parking lot.
Large pickup trucks can be seen bobbing up and down inside the fast flowing floodwaters.
Among the worst-affected areas is the North Carolina city of Asheville, which sits in a valley and which has so-far seen around 50 people confirmed as dead.
President Joe Biden was set to survey the devastation in the region Wednesday.
Rescuers are still continuing their efforts to make contact with hundreds of people who are cut off by washed-out roads and downed communication lines.
Images of the destruction caused by the hurricane reveal a wasteland of splintered houses, crushed cargo containers, mud-covered highways, and collapsed communication lines.
Damage estimates ranged from $15billion to more than $100billion, insurers and forecasters said over the weekend, as water systems, communications and critical transportation routes were affected.
Property damage and lost economic output will become clearer as officials assess the destruction.
At a news conference on Tuesday, North Carolina governor Roy Cooper said: 'Communities were wiped off the map'.
"Soldiers assigned to the Connecticut, Maryland and North Carolina National Guard work together to distribute food and water to local first responders in Avery County on Sept 29, 2024."
… the parties “are experiencing certain difficulties in making mutual payments,” explained Pakistan’s Deputy Minister of Commerce Nasir Hamid.
Under the agreement, the Russian company will supply 15,000 tons of chickpeas and 10,000 tons of lentils in exchange for 15,000 tons of tangerines and 10,000 tons of potatoes.
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10/02/2024 15:52 ||
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#6
It is hard to imagine a more heinous crime than unlawful rescuing.
Maybe it is just my Inner Boy Scout, but why doesn't FEMA have plans and resources to mobilize and manage local transportation resources, both air and ground? It's not like this is their first rodeo.
#7
Because that isn't their job anymore. Their job is to get fat and rich off the tubes who think the agency exists to help them. Like any government agency they don't fix problems they create them
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
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