Motive revealed in Kentucky sheriff’s alleged killing of judge as body language expert analyzes new video

FIRST ON FOX Fox News Digital has obtained surveillance footage showing the moments leading up to former Letcher County Kentucky Sheriff Shawn Mickey Stines' suspected murder of former Kentucky th Judicial District Judge Kevin Mullins as Stines' attorney shared a motive for the shooting The pair who had known each other for years before the unforeseen Sept killing that rocked the tiny town of Whitesburg had spoken in the judge's chambers and gone out to lunch together with a group of friends and coworkers in the hours leading up to the shooting In the surveillance video taken from Mullins' chambers a group of people various of whom had been at lunch with Stines and Mullins earlier in the day at StreetSide Grill Bar within walking distance of the court and county jail could be seen cordially chatting with the judge for more than minutes KENTUCKY SHERIFF SEEN IN FOOTAGE SHOOTING AT JUDGE IN SHOCKING PRELIMINARY HEARINGThereafter Stines entered Mullins' chambers and cleared the room to speak with the judge privately When I'm seeing the sheriff it's intriguing to watch him because he was ready to go the minute he walked in consultant author and body language expert Susan Constantine reported Fox News Digital He was contemplating it he was shuffling his feet and had his hands in his pockets Meanwhile she noted that Mullins looked despondent and almost unaware of Stines' presence In the next seven minutes Stines and Mullins talked privately before Stines stood up and seemingly locked the door of the chambers Stines sits down wants to have a conversation with the judge Constantine revealed The judge is very nonchalant very carefree Doesn't seem to be rattled by a lot Seems to be very what I would say is just unremarkable FOLLOW THE FOX TRUE CRIME CLUB ON X And then we've got the sheriff he leans in she mentioned Then he's obviously got something on his mind because he's in an action stance I think the fact that Mullins is shrugging it off I think that created more angst towards the judge because he wasn't taking it seriously whatever was being spoken about and he's kind of playing it off like it wasn't a big deal she mentioned And the more he played it out this is not a big deal the more angry Stines became Mullins then handed his phone over to Stines a rumored but never-before-seen event that has led to a great deal of speculation among true crime pundits and internet sleuths alike After looking through the judge's phone Stines placed a call that went unanswered before he tossed the phone back onto the judge's desk He then allegedly stood up unholstered his pistol and moved menacingly toward Mullins before opening fire at point-blank range killing the judge NEW VIDEO SHOWS KENTUCKY SHERIFF POINTING GUN AT JUDGE BEFORE ALLEGED FATAL SHOOTINGConstantine disclosed the judge didn't appear to believe he was in imminent danger until seconds before the shooting The judge is kind of going what are you doing Put the gun down she revealed Just kind of using his hand gestures kind of flinging him out like what are you doing This doesn't make any sense And then all of a sudden there's something that the sheriff must have revealed Contantine commented And all of a sudden then he goes into protection right Both palms are up What are you doing Stop Don't do this ' Now he's in self-protection mode And that's when Stines got him when he was the weakest Because both hands are up And that's when he went in for the shot Constantine does not believe that the crime was committed in the heat of the moment as Stines' attorneys are prepared to argue I think that was already pre-planned a preeminent attack that was going to take place she noted SIGN UP TO GET THE TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTERIn a Monday phone interview with Fox News Digital Stines' attorney Jeremy Bartley and his wife and co-counsel Kerri Bartley put to bed online rumors about the phone exchange and explained the defense's version of events in the days leading up to the shooting Stines had attempted multiple times to contact his daughter throughout the day and including the time while he was in chambers and he tried to contact her from the judge's phone Jeremy Bartley disclosed He also noted that Stines received a call from his aunt while he was in the judge's chambers Bartley mentioned that the phone exchange had nothing to do with any relationship between the judge and his daughter as has been speculated Rather he revealed Mullins was experiencing increased paranoia that his family was in danger in the period leading up to the shooting due to a civil lawsuit in which he was named and deposed Specifically in the approximate two-week period prior to the situation in the judge's chambers pretty much all the bystanders the investigators talked to patronage what those close to Mickey had revealed as well Bartley announced And that's absolutely this Mickey had become extremely paranoid He'd become sleepless basically wasn't sleeping He slept little if at all He had sort of become withdrawn And you know it was of such a concern that his co-workers urged him to go to the clinician and he ultimately did the day prior to the shooting CASEY ANTHONY JUDGE WARNS KENTUCKY MAGISTRATE MURDER HIGHLIGHTS NEW REALITY SAYS HE KEPT GUARD DOG TO BE SAFEAccording to Bartley a major contributing factor to the judge's emotional state was a deposition in a civil lawsuit filed against former Letcher County Sheriff's Deputy Ben Fields which named Stines as a defendant for failing to adequately supervise Fields The lawsuit filed by Sabrina Adkins in January came on the heels of Fields' sentencing after he pleaded guilty to raping and sodomizing her while she faced legal trouble in The civil suit alleges that in exchange for sexual favors Fields allowed Adkins to remain at home on bail without having to wear an ankle monitor When she later refused to participate in sexual activity with Fields she was arrested for violating the terms of her home incarceration according to the lawsuit The lawsuit says that all the sexual assaults occurred in Mullins' chambers and that other women had been subjected to the same predatory remedy Stines' big concern all centers around the civil suit by Sabrina Adkins who had been sexually assaulted by this Ben Fields or coerced into sexual favors in exchange for ankle monitoring fees Bartley revealed That had led to a federal lawsuit GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE TRUE CRIME HUBStines had been deposed in the suit just three days prior to the shooting This civil suit had drawn a lot of attention to things that were happening in the courthouse Bartley commented And in fact if you look at it it was because of this lawsuit the reason that there had been a camera placed in the judge's chambers which is highly atypical highly extraordinary to have such concern that the administrative office of courts puts a guard camera in a judge's chambers Bartley explained that Stines was under pressure by his peers not to say too much during the proceedings in the civil lawsuit I think one of the big things is that my client felt there had been pressure placed on him not to say too much during the deposition and not to talk about things that happened within the courthouse particularly in the judge's chambers he mentioned On the day that this shooting happened my client had attempted multiple times to contact his wife and daughter and he firmly concluded that they were in danger Bartley revealed He thought that they were in danger because of what he knew to have happened within the courthouse And there was pressure and there were threats made to him to sort of keep him in line to keep them from saying more than these folks desired him to say According to Bartley Mullins and Stines were not particularly good friends contrary to popular belief though they'd known each other for quite a long time I don't think that you would find on any given weekend the judge and my client hanging out socially he mentioned I think that their relationship was centered pretty much solely on their profession Stines has been charged with one count of first-degree murder of a masses official Bartley has stated the alleged killing occurred in the heat of the moment and was not premeditated He is planning an insanity defense for Stines Prosecuting attorney Jackie Steele did not return a comment request