New court filings reveal that people close to the ex-sheriff allegedly believed he was “losing it” in the days leading up to the fatal courthouse shooting of Kevin Mullins in September 2024.

According to reports, coworkers and friends described Stines as paranoid, sleep-deprived, and mentally spiraling under pressure from an ongoing civil lawsuit tied to misconduct allegations involving one of his deputies. Some witnesses even claimed Stines feared unnamed people were going to hurt his wife and daughter.

Just one day before the shooting, Stines reportedly visited his family doctor while accompanied by concerned friends. Medical notes described him as extremely subdued and suffering from “acute stress reaction,” though he allegedly denied having anxiety, psychosis, or violent thoughts at the time.

Then came the shocking courthouse shooting that stunned Kentucky and the entire country. Prosecutors say Stines shot Judge Mullins nine times inside his chambers, including multiple shots after the judge had already fallen to the ground. Surveillance footage of the incident has already been shown in court.

Now his defense team is pushing an insanity defense, arguing that he was in an active psychotic state around the time of the killing. Newly released jail evaluations reportedly described him as confused, paranoid, detached from reality, and at times so combative he had to be pepper sprayed while in custody. He was later given antipsychotic medications inside the jail.

Despite those claims, investigators previously told the grand jury they believed Stines appeared to be in his “sane mind” after the shooting — setting up what could become one of the biggest legal battles in the case moving forward.

With the death penalty still on the table, the courtroom fight over Stines’ mental state may ultimately decide everything.