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A former Kansas City, Kansas police detective accused of horrific crimes, including the rapes of two Black women and other egregious acts of corruption, took his own life just before his trial was set to begin.
According to the Kansas City Star, 71-year-old Roger Golubski, who was a police officer from 1975 to 2010, was facing six felony counts related to alleged crimes he committed during the 1990s and early 2000s. On Monday, Golubski failed to appear in court for jury selection, and prosecutors requested a warrant for his arrest. Shortly after a judge issued the arrest warrant, the defendant’s body was discovered by law enforcement on his back porch in Edwardsville, Kansas, about 14 miles west of downtown Kansas City, with a gunshot wound in his head. In announcing his death, investigators didn’t say directly that Golubski died by suicide, but they did say in a statement that there are currently “no indications of foul play.” They also noted that the investigation is still ongoing.
Golubski was accused of raping two Black women, one of whom was 13 when the sexual assaults allegedly began. According to the Star, as many as nine women were set to testify that Golubski raped, stalked, or attempted to assault them. Not only was he accused of assaulting these women, most of whom are Black, but he was also accused of coercing some of his accusers to implicate Black men in crimes they did not commit, sending those men to prison for years. In fact, the sexual assault allegations reportedly first came to light in civil court through a lawsuit brought by Lamonte McIntyre, who was exonerated after spending 23 years in prison for a 1994 double murder he claims Golubski framed him for. Among other claims, McIntyre alleged in his lawsuit that Golubski victimized, assaulted, or harassed more than 70 women.
“This is not justice,” McIntyre said outside of the courtroom where the trial that never happened was set to begin. “Justice is facing your accusers. If you commit a crime against the society that you are a part of, justice is facing that society. Him killing himself is not justice. That’s him avoiding it.”
One of the accusers, Golubski, who was on trial for allegedly raping Ophelia Williams, shared similar sentiments.
“I guess that’s what happens to people who do all the wrong stuff they do,” Williams told the Star. “He didn’t want to face the facts, so he decided to kill himself.”
Meanwhile, Golubski was suspected of being a criminal himself, as he is also accused of protecting a sex trafficker and drug kingpin.
From the Star:
Federal prosecutors allege Golubski also served as a protector of feared drug kingpin Cecil Brooks. The former detective is one of four — alongside Brooks and associates LeMark Roberson and Richard “Bone” Robinson — accused of running an underage sex trafficking ring out of an apartment complex at Delavan Avenue and 26th Street. Prosecutors allege the girls were held at the apartment complex “in a condition of involuntary sexual servitude” and used “like chattel.”
If half of what Golubski was accused of was true, he represented arguably one of the most egregious examples of police corruption in modern history. That kind of evil will never sit and be held accountable. It’s no wonder he took the easy way out.
