WHITESBURG – (TNS) The former Eastern Kentucky sheriff caught on camera gunning down a district court judge in his office last year has admitted to the slaying but claims his actions were unintentional.

Attorneys for former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines say he “lacked the capacity to intend” to shoot and kill District Court Judge Kevin Mullins in September 2024.

Stines has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder of a public official, but his latest admission in a separate civil wrongful death case last month supports criminal case filings that suggest his attorneys are mounting a broad insanity defense.

Mullins was shot nine times behind his desk at the Letcher County Courthouse in Whitesburg. The act was captured by a CCTV camera mounted on his office wall. A motive fo

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