A disgraced former Kansas City detective accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting numerous Black women and teenagers for decades and putting innocent men in prison has reportedly died by suicide.
According to CNN, Robert Golubski’s trial was set to start on Monday morning. But when the ex-Kansas City detective failed to show up to court, a judge issued an arrest warrant and postponed the trial.
Officers went to his in Edwardsville after a 911 caller reported hearing a gunshot, per a statement from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Golubski was found dead.
“There are no indications of foul play,” the statement continued adding that a post-mortem examination is in the plans.
The judge overseeing the trial dismissed the case following the news of the former detective’s death.
“This matter involved extremely serious charges, and it is always difficult when a case is unable to be fully and fairly heard in a public trial and weighed and determined by a jury,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said.
“The proceedings in this case may be over, but its lasting impact on all the individuals and families involved remains. We wish them peace and the opportunity for healing as they come to terms with this development and ask that they all be treated with respect and their privacy respected,” she added.
Golubski retired from the Kansas City police department in 2010 after 35 years in the force and rising to the rank of captain.
According to BBC, the 71-year-old had been in home confinement since his 2022 arrest on charges of sexual assault on Black women in Kansas City for several years while he was on duty.
The federal charges against him were filed after he and the Kansas City Police Department were sued by a man who was wrongfully convicted of murder. Golubski had investigated the case.
Before his death, the former Kansas City detective entered a not-guilty plea to six felony counts of violating Black women’s civil rights, which included allegations of rape, kidnap, and sex trafficking that went back decades.
Golubski was also accused of protecting sexual assault abusers and drug dealers and fabricating crimes to set up his victims.
Most of his alleged crimes were Black women and middle school-aged girls from crime-ridden, low-income neighborhoods, who he reportedly used his position of authority to rape them. He was also accused of terrorizing his victims with death threats to get what he wanted.
In one alleged incident, prosecutors said the former Kansas City detective drove a teenage girl to a cemetery and forced her to dig her own grave, then sexually assaulted her. The alleged victim reportedly suffered a miscarriage from the attack.
Another incident saw Golubski leverage a mother’s son’s arrests to coerce her into having sex with him, a tactic prosecutors said was a common method in his predatory behavior.
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His case ignited outrage across Kansas City, dominating front pages and earning a local columnist a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage.
Jay-Z’s social justice initiative, Team ROC, is even set to amplify the case through its new true crime podcast, Corruption Uncovered.
The podcast series aims to expose systemic failures in the U.S. justice system, with a significant focus on Golubski’s federal case. It will include interviews with survivors, affected families, attorneys, activists, and community members.
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