Ex-cop Golubski expected to testify at hearing of prisoners who say they are innocent

Standing Tuesday outside the courthouse in Kansas City, Kansas, exoneree Lamonte McIntyre said he met as many as 10 prisoners behind bars who always claimed they, like he, were wrongly convicted in Wyandotte County.

Their cases, McIntyre said, had one thing in common: former KCK police detective Roger Golubski, who was indicted last month on federal charges that he sexually assaulted and kidnapped a woman and a teenager from 1998 to 2002.

“He didn’t protect and serve anything,” said McIntyre, who alleged in a lawsuit that Golubski framed him in a 1994 double murder after his mother rejected the cop’s sexual advances. “He broke down, tore down — he destroyed.”

Outside the courthouse, McIntyre joined the relatives of Brian Betts and Celester McKinney, who maintain they are innocent of a 1997 fatal shooting for which they have been imprisoned for more than 23 years. Their supporters held a rally ahead of a two-day hearing set to start Wednesday that, if their lawyers are successful, could lead to their freedom or win them new trials.

Golubski, who was released on home detention ahead of his own trial, is expected to take the stand at the hearing. He is likely to be asked about his role in the Betts and McKinney investigation.

During his own 23 years in prison, McIntyre met nine or 10 prisoners who swore they were innocent, including Betts. The men played basketball and often talked about their cases at the Lansing Correctional Facility.

“That’s one of the things we have in common,” said McIntyre, whose lawsuit against Wyandotte County recently settled for $12.5 million. “He always spoke about the injustice that happened to him.”

McIntyre believes convictions touched by Golubski should be reviewed. He’s not alone: Lawyers screening more than 30 Wyandotte County convictions say a systematic review of Golubski’s cases is required.

District Attorney Mark Dupree has vowed to review every case submitted to his office with Golubski’s name on it.

Was Golubski involved?

Betts and McKinney were convicted of first-degree murder in the killing of 17-year-old Gregory Miller, who was gunned down in northeast KCK. McKinney’s brother, Dwayne McKinney, was also charged but was acquitted at trial.

Attorney Sarah Swain, who represents Celester McKinney, has said the police investigation featured many of the same themes found in McIntyre’s wrongful conviction.

The prosecution’s primary witness, Carter Betts — who is the uncle of Betts and McKinney — has recanted his testimony implicating his nephews, saying detectives and a prosecutor threatened him. He broke down in tears at Brian Betts’ trial, he later testified, because he felt like he was “betraying” his nephew by making “false statements.”

Attorneys say they have learned Golubski was the victim’s uncle through marriage and the brother-in-law of another witness for the prosecution. In 2020, the Court of Appeals granted McKinney a hearing — the one expected to start Wednesday — on the issue of if Golubski was involved in the case, considering his alleged connections to the victim and witness were not disclosed at trial.

In court records, the DA’s office said it has no evidence to support that Golubski was involved in the investigation. The sole mention of Golubski at trial came from another officer, who was asked who became the lead detective.

“Det. (W.K.) Smith and I believe Det. Golubski I believe,” officer Michael Shomin testified, according to court records. “I’m not sure on that because there was a lot going on immediately after this incident...”

The DA’s office concedes that Golubski was either the “husband or estranged ex-husband of the victim’s aunt” at the time Miller was killed, Assistant District Attorney Kayla Roehler wrote in court filings. The question that remains for the judge, she wrote, was what, if any, role Golubski played in obtaining Carter Betts’ since-recanted trial testimony.

A KCKPD employee from 1975 to 2010, Golubski has long been accused of terrorizing Black women. While he is accused in the recent indictment of sexually assaulting a woman and a teenager, prosecutors say he stalked and raped additional victims. Now 69, he has pleaded not guilty.

Last month, The Star published an investigation examining several questionable Wyandotte County convictions, including that of Betts and McKinney.

The convictions reviewed by The Star illustrated allegations raised in recent years about the practices of former KCK detectives, including Golubski. In those cases, spanning from 1997 to 2009, detectives are accused of coercing witnesses or falsifying evidence against suspects who, now in prison, maintain they are innocent.

In a call earlier this year from the El Dorado prison, Betts claimed Golubski and other detectives have caused “numerous wrongful convictions in Wyandotte County.” He called himself and his cousin “two of many.”