They'd been friends for years and were two well-known elected officials. So why would Letcher County's sheriff shoot its only judge in the courthouse?

A sheriff charged with murder in the shooting of a rural Kentucky judge in his courthouse chambers is accused in a federal lawsuit of ignoring abuse by one of his deputies, who later pleaded guilty to

A Kentucky sheriff faces murder charges in connection with the deadly shooting of a local judge in his chambers on Thursday afternoon. Authorities say Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines, 43, shot District Judge Kevin Mullins,

As residents of a small town in southeast Kentucky mourn the loss of a prominent district judge, they’re looking for answers about the argument that authorities say led up to his killing inside the judge’s chambers and the sheriff’s arrest in his death.