Ex-Kansas detective dies by suicide as long-awaited civil rights criminal trial is set to begin, sources say

CNN
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A disgraced former Kansas police detective facing trial on charges that he kidnapped and raped two women decades ago was found dead in his home Monday morning.

Authorities discovered the body of 71-year-old Roger Golubski after he failed to show up for jury selection at his long-awaited trial in Topeka, according to two sources familiar with the situation. They said he died by suicide.

When the judge asked where Golubski was, his attorney, Chris Joseph, told the court that his client was distraught over recent press coverage of the case. Joseph was contacted by CNN and declined further comment.

The retired detective was accused of using his position as a police officer in Kansas City, Kansas, to sexually assault vulnerable black women for decades. Prosecutors said in court papers that Golubski chose his victims carefully because he was sure they would never be believed.

Golubski denied the allegations and his lawyers suggested in court filings that his accusers were fabricating their claims or parroting old unproven allegations or rumors.

After a lengthy investigation conducted largely in secret, federal authorities filed two indictments against Golubski in the fall of 2022. In the second case, he was accused of colluding with a drug lord in the sex trade of underage girls.

The allegations against Golubski came to light as part of a civil lawsuit against him and his former department that alleged he framed a Kansas City teenager in a 1994 double murder. The man, Lamonte McIntyre, was released from prison in 2017 after more than 23 years behind bars. The parties settled the case in June 2022, with county officials agreeing to pay the McIntyres $12.5 million. Neither Golubski nor officials in his former department admitted wrongdoing in connection with the case.

The allegations, which date back to the 1980s, rocked the city and led to a new state law against sexual misconduct by police. The developments were documented on the front pages of local newspaper The Kansas City Star and led to a passionate newspaper columnist winning one of journalism’s highest honors – a Pulitzer Prize.

Team Roc, rap mogul Jay-Z’s social justice nonprofit, even took out a full-page ad in the Washington Post calling the situation “one of the worst examples of abuse of power in U.S. history.”

Prosecutors had acknowledged in pretrial motions that despite an extensive, years-long investigation by the FBI, they had little evidence beyond the statements of Golubski’s alleged victims to support their explosive claims. They said the credibility of his accusers was the “very centerpiece” of the case against him.

“This trial depends entirely on the credibility of the victim,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing last year.

Federal prosecutors released a statement Monday following news of Golubski’s death, saying, “It is always difficult when a case cannot be heard fully and fairly in a public proceeding.”

“While the process in this case has concluded, the lasting impact on all individuals and families involved remains. “We wish them peace and the opportunity to heal as they come to terms with this development,” the deputy’s statement said Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Kate E. Brubacher for the District of Kansas.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include a statement from federal prosecutors.