Ex-Kansas police detective found dead on first day of federal civil rights trial

A white former Kansas City, Kansas, police detective was found dead Monday of an apparent suicide on the day his federal civil rights trial was set to begin for allegedly sexually abusing Black women over decades, authorities said.

An arrest warrant had been issued when Roger Golubski, 71, failed to appear at a federal courthouse in Topeka on the first day of jury selection. Law enforcement received a 911 call and responded to Golubski’s home in the Kansas City suburb of Edwardsville, where police reported he suffered a fatal gunshot wound with no indications of foul play, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said.

State authorities declined to comment on the manner of his death before an autopsy is complete. Federal law enforcement officials told NBC News that he appeared to have died by suicide.

Top Justice Department officials also confirmed his death in a statement.

“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,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney General Kristen Clarke and Kate Brubacher, the U.S. attorney for Kansas. “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.”

The officials did not comment on his manner of death. His attorney and local law enforcement did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Golubski was charged in 2022 with federal civil rights crimes after he was accused of exploiting Black women for sex and framing people for crimes they say they did not commit.

Golubski, who retired in 2010 after 35 years with the Kansas City Police Department, pleaded not guilty to six counts of deprivation of civil rights. Federal investigators said the case was related to the rape of a woman from 1998 to 2001 and another woman from 1999 to 2002 while he was employed by the department. He was also charged with three others in a separate case for allegedly running a sex trafficking ring from 1996 to 1998 that held women captive.

Golubski had been on house arrest as he was receiving regular dialysis treatments and faced up to life in prison if he were convicted.

Christopher Joseph, Golubski’s lawyer, told a judge when his client failed to show up in court Monday morning that he had been “despondent” over the media attention on his case.

The Kansas City Police Department has come under scrutiny over allegations of corruption and civil rights violations in recent years. Activists have called for a broader federal investigation, particularly in light of the alleged abuses for decades under Golubski.

Outside the courthouse, before it was known that Golubski had died, demonstrators gathered demanding justice.

After learning of his death, Cheryl Pilate, a lawyer for a man who was wrongfully convicted in a 1994 double murder case linked to Golubski, told reporters that a full investigation is warranted into what happened Monday. In February, federal prosecutors had asked a judge to revoke his pretrial house arrest privilege after he was accused of violating the terms by going out to lunch without approval. The judge, however, declined to do so.

Jay Z’s Team Roc, the social justice arm of his Roc Nation entertainment company, filed a lawsuit last month accusing Kansas City of violating public records laws by failing to produce law enforcement records related to claims of police abuse and misconduct.

Team ROC managing director Dania Diaz said the trial would have been meaningful accountability, and Golubski’s accusers and the community must continue to be heard.

“The truth was always going to be revealed in court, but today’s development is certainly a tragic ending to a devastating story for a local community that still deserves answers and healing,” Diaz said.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.