While the motive for the shooting death of District Judge Kevin Mullins at the apparent hands of Sheriff Mickey Stines remains unknown, a picture is emerging of a recent change in the Sheriff’s demeanor.
The Mountain Eagle cites sources including their own reporters who indicated that since about mid-August, Stines had lost a significant amount of weight, was quieter than usual, and had backed off on his typically consistent communication with the media.
He had also been in the midst of giving a deposition in a lawsuit filed against him in connection with a former deputy convicted of sexual improprieties with probationers inside the Courthouse.
Stines was not accused of sexual improprieties but rather of failing to properly train and supervise the deputy.