(NewsNation) — NewsNation investigative producer Allison Weiner joins “Banfield” to break down some of the inside reports she’s getting from Letcher County, Kentucky, where former Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines shot District Judge Kevin Mullins in September.
The shooting happened in judge’s chambers at the county courthouse, where they’d worked together for years. Detectives investigating the scene have confirmed that Stines tried to call his daughter on Mullins’ phone and his own phone just before the shooting.
A grand jury indicted Stines last week on one count of murder of a public official. Stines, who served as sheriff for several years, resigned after the Sept. 19 attack at the courthouse in Whitesburg, a small Appalachian town about 100 miles (146 kilometers) southeast of Lexington, near the Virginia border.
Here’s what Weiner is hearing.
Shawn “Mickey” Stines fought with wife before shooting: Sources
Weiner’s sources tell NewsNation that Stines and his wife “had some sort of a dispute” the night before Mullins was fatally shot in his chambers. The spat put him out of the house for the night.
“That was the reason that he was in plainclothes, because he wasn’t able to have a uniform wherever he was,” Weiner said.
“There’s been some dispute from different sources about when it happened, but my sources are saying it was that night before the actual shooting, and he was in a great deal of distress,” Weiner said.
She said this tidbit, combined with the call to his daughter minutes prior to the shooting, show Stines had “domestic issues at home.”
Judge asked Shawn “Mickey” Stines to come to chambers, sources say
The day of the shooting, Stines and Mullins attended lunch together. Though that has been widely reported, Weiner added: “There were other people at that lunch.”
Sources familiar with the lunch conversation said “it seemed normal,” Weiner explained. “There was no sign of anything.”
When the sheriff attempted to bring up a sensitive subject, the judge reportedly stopped him and said, “Let’s talk about it in chambers. Come by after lunch.”
Stines could face the death penalty if he’s convicted of the murder charge. Prosecutors said Monday it’s too early to say whether they will pursue the death penalty, media outlets reported.
Stines’ lawyers are far from mapping out their full defense strategy, Bartley said, but he added: “We believe that we have a compelling story that we hope to be a complete defense for Mickey.”
At an earlier hearing, Bartley suggested that murder was not the appropriate charge because the shooting came at a time of “extreme emotional disturbance” for his client.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
