The Sheriff, the Judge & the Courthouse Murder: What Really Happened in Letcher County?

In one of the most shocking criminal cases in recent memory, a sitting sheriff walked into a Kentucky courthouse and executed a judge in his own chambers. But this wasn’t a random act of violence — it was the detonation point of a system that had been rotting from the inside out.

On this episode of Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski, we dig into the case of Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines, now indicted for the murder of Judge Kevin Mullins inside the Letcher County Courthouse in 2024. Surveillance captured the whole thing. He walked in. He shut the door. He opened fire.

But this isn’t just about a single shooting. Three days earlier, Stines had been deposed in a federal civil rights case — Adkins v. Fields — alleging rampant sexual coercion, abuse of power, and misconduct inside that same courthouse. One official has already pleaded guilty to rape and sodomy. Others, including Judge Mullins, were named in the lawsuit. Some of the alleged misconduct? Took place inside Mullins’ chambers.

Now, Robin Dreeke, retired FBI Special Agent and former chief of the Bureau’s Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program, joins us to break down the behavioral spiral that may have led a law enforcement officer to kill a judge — and what it reveals about power, silence, and systemic corruption.

We’ll examine post-arrest bodycam footage, explore how intimidation keeps victims quiet, and ask the hard question: Was this murder an act of madness — or of reckoning?

This case isn’t just about Kentucky. It’s about what happens when power protects itself, and justice becomes a commodity. Don’t miss this one.

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