An ex-officer who died in an apparent suicide before his federal trial was barred from having a gun

TOPEKA, Kan. — A former police detective in Kansas who died in an apparent suicide as he was about to stand trial on civil rights violations for allegedly sexually assaulting and terrorizing vulnerable women for decades wasn’t supposed to have a gun while he was under house arrest.

Police found Roger Golubski dead on his back porch Monday morning after a neighbor reported hearing a gunshot, and there were no indications of foul play, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation said in a statement. The judge’s order allowing Golubski to be under house arrest said he could not “possess a firearm, destructive device, or other weapon.”

Golubski’s death — just as jury selection was to begin at the federal courthouse in Topeka — raised questions about why the 71-year-old wasn’t behind bars, and how a gun came to be at his home in Edwardsville, outside Kansas City, Kansas.

“We will look into how he obtained the firearm as a part of the death investigation,” said Melissa Underwood, a bureau spokeswoman.

Golubski, once a highly regarded detective in Kansas City, was charged in 2022 with six felony counts of violating the civil rights of women and girls. Prosecutors say he sexually abused them and sometimes threatened to throw them or their relatives in jail if they didn’t comply.

The trial was to focus on two women. One said Golubski began sexually abusing her when she was in middle school. The other said he began abusing her after her twin sons were arrested. Prosecutors said seven other women were planning to testify that Golubski abused or harassed them as well. Advocates for the women believe there are other victims who have either died or are afraid to come forward.

Prosecutors say that Golubski, who was white, victimized Black women and girls in some of Kansas City’s poorest neighborhoods.

Golubski’s prosecution followed hundreds of abuse cases across the country where officers lost their badges after allegations of sexual assault.

After Golubski’s death, the judge dismissed the case at the request of prosecutors.

Prosecutors wanted Golubski jailed almost immediately. They asked to have him taken into custody two days after a federal grand jury indicted him in September 2022.

But U.S. Magistrate Judge Rachel Schwartz rejected their request, concluding that while the allegations were “shocking,” Golubski was not the risk he was when the alleged abuse occurred years ago.

An attorney for Golubski described him as “sick and infirm,” saying he needed…