Report: Ex-Cop Kills Himself on First Day of Trial

On what was supposed to be the first day of the trial of a former police detective accused of raping vulnerable Black women, protesters outside the federal courthouse in Topeka held signs saying "Justice Now." But Roger Golubski will never face justice. After the 71-year-old failed to show up in court on Monday, he was found dead on the back porch of his home outside Kansas City, Kansas, from what sources tell outlets including CNN and the Kansas City Star was a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

• The charges. Golubski faced six felony counts of violating women's civil rights, the AP reports. Prosecutors said he used the power of his badge to sexually abuse women over decades in Kansas City, threatening to harm or jail their relatives if they refused his demands. Prosecutors said Golubski chose victims he thought would not be believed if they complained about him to authorities. The charges were connected to the alleged kidnapping and rape of two women, but prosecutors said they were working with seven others who said they were abused, reports KMBC.
• A second case. Golubski, who retired in 2010 after 35 years on the Kansas force, was charged in a separate federal case with protecting a drug dealer who sexually trafficked underage girls, KCUR reports. In that case, Golubski faced charges including conspiracy, kidnapping, and aggravated sexual abuse.

• Case dismissed. Federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the case Monday afternoon after Golubski's death was confirmed. Calling the death "truly unexpected," US District Judge Toby Crouse granted the request. "It is always difficult when a case is unable to be fully and fairly heard in a public trial," prosecutors said in a statement, per CNN.
• "Despondent." Golubski, who had been under house arrest, was "despondent about media coverage of the trial," said his attorney, Chris Joseph, per KMBC.
• Calls for an investigation. Cheryl Pilate, an attorney for women who said they were abused or threatened by Golubski, called for a thorough investigation of his death, the AP reports. "The community was looking forward to justice, to a full and public accounting and now that has been denied to them," she said.

• "He knew he was guilty." Lamonte McIntyre spent 17 years in prison after he was wrongly convicted of a double murder based on what authorities said was Golubski's corrupt police work. Golubski was accused of sexually assaulting McIntyre's mother. "Justice is facing your accusers," McIntyre, who was released in 2017, tells the Star. "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." Golubski, McIntyre says, "avoided it because he knew he was guilty. He probably thought death was better than facing that. That's how deep his secrets were. He wanted to take them to the grave." Golubski's alleged misconduct was exposed as part of the exoneration investigation.

(More Kansas stories.)