A disgraced Kansas cop committed suicide hours before he was to stand trial for raping black women.
Roger Golubski, 71, was found dead Monday morning after he failed to show up to attend jury selection at his trial in Topeka. A judge issued a warrant for his arrest before news of his death broke.
Two sources say this CNN the retired detective had committed suicide. Prosecutors later confirmed in court that Golubski died, but did not say how or when.
Golubski’s lawyer Chris Joseph told the court that the deceased officer had become distraught over press coverage of his alleged misdeeds.
The late officer was accused of preying on vulnerable black women during his decades-long career.
He is said to have hand-picked his victims, in the belief that any accusations against him would never be taken seriously.
Victims came forward to accuse Golubski of sexual assaults, but he claimed they were liars or repeating old rumors that had been debunked.
He was eventually indicted in 2022 after a lengthy secret investigation into claims that he was an associate of a drug lord involved in the sex trafficking of underage girls.
Roger Golubski committed suicide Monday as he stood trial for raping black women while working as a detective in Kansas. He will be seen in October 2022
About 50 people held a brief rally in subzero temperatures outside the federal courthouse in Topeka to show their support for the women who accused Golubski
Police are seen at the former officer’s home on Monday. A warrant was issued for his arrest after he failed to appear in court
Prosecutors said female residents of poor neighborhoods in Kansas City, Kansas, feared that if they crossed Golubski, he would demand sexual favors and threaten to harm or imprison their family members.
Golubski, 71, faced six felony counts of violating women’s civil rights. But he did not appear in court Monday morning for the start of jury selection.
Allegations at the heart of the case — that Golubski preyed on women for decades with apparent impunity — have outraged the community and deepened historic distrust of law enforcement.
Golubski was accused of sexually assaulting one woman when she was a teenager and another after her sons were arrested.
The prosecutor followed previous reports of similar allegations of abuse across the country, with hundreds of officers losing their badges after allegations of sexual assault.
Cheryl Pilate, an attorney representing women who say they have been abused or threatened, called for a thorough investigation into Golubski’s death by officials with no ties to local police, as reported by the Associated Press.
“The community was looking forward to justice, to full and public accountability, and now they have been denied that,” Pilate said.
About 50 people held a brief rally in subzero temperatures outside the federal courthouse in Topeka to show their support for the women who accused Golubski of abusing them, parting ways before his death was announced. They held signs with slogans like “Justice Now!”
Golubski rose to the rank of captain in Kansas City, Kansas, before retiring there in 2010 and then working on a suburban police force for six more years.
Lesa Mensa, left, and Anita Randle listen to a speaker during a rally outside the federal courthouse on the opening day of a trial of former detective Roger Golubski
U.S. District Judge Toby Crouse dismissed the case against Golubski at the prosecutor’s request. Golubski’s lawyer Joseph called the death “truly unexpected.”
The case against Golubski was part of a series of lawsuits and criminal charges that have led the prosecutor’s office to launch a $1.7 million effort to reinvestigate cases Golubski worked on during his 35 years on the force. One double murder case Golubski investigated has already led to an acquittal, and an organization led by rapper Jay-Z is suing to obtain police records.
Joseph had said lawsuits over the allegations were an “inspiration for fabrications” by his accusers. But prosecutors said that, along with the two women whose stories are at the heart of the criminal case, seven others would testify that Golubski had abused or harassed them.
Before his death, Golubski was under house arrest and underwent kidney dialysis treatments three times a week. That angered women who said he victimized them. Anita Randel-Stanley, a resident of Kansas City, Missouri, who said Golubski began molesting her decades ago when she was a teenager, called the house arrest “a slap on the hand.”
“There is no justice for the victims,” she said.