KCK murder case heads back to appeals court amid new scrutiny of Golubski
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- A judge found McKinney received ineffective representation during the 2022 hearing.
- The matter was sent back to the Kansas Court of Appeals to determine next steps.
- Evidence raised new questions about former detective Roger Golubski’s involvement.
A Kansas judge ruled Thursday that Celester McKinney received ineffective legal representation during a 2022 hearing tied to his conviction in a 1997 Kansas City, Kansas, murder case, sending the matter back to the appeals court and reopening questions about former detective Roger Golubski’s involvement.
McKinney and his cousin, Brian Betts, were convicted in the 1997 killing of Greg Miller in Kansas City, Kansas.
“Everything that was in the dark is coming to the light,” McKinney said after the ruling. “The truth is, it’s a process to freedom that everybody has to fight. We’re continuing to keep God first.”
The ruling followed a four-day evidentiary hearing in which McKinney’s attorneys argued that his legal representation during the 2022 proceedings was deficient and failed to fully investigate evidence tied to former Kansas City, Kansas police detective Golubski.
Senior Status Judge Gunnar Sundby had previously ruled against the two men in the 2022 hearing. Sundby said the hearing revealed significant evidence that had not been adequately explored during the 2022 case.
“What we’ve seen over the last four days was there was a lot more information out there,” Sundby said. “The result could’ve been different.”
The Kansas Court of Appeals will now determine the appropriate next step, which could potentially include ordering a new trial.
One of McKinney’s attorneys, Evan Glasner of the Midwest Innocence Project, said that the team was pleased with the result in the case based on the evidence that was presented over the past four days.
“There are still more steps to be done here, and while this is a positive step in the right direction, the case is being remanded to the Court of Appeals, and we have to figure out exactly how things will be sorted out,” Glasner said. “Mr. McKinney’s name is still not officially cleared.”
Golubski’s connection
Carter Betts, uncle to Brian Betts and McKinney, had previously implicated his nephews in the case, but later recanted that statement, saying it had been coerced by lead investigator W.K. Smith and a white detective he would later identify as Golubski. Carter Betts had previously testified in court that Golubski told him if he did not go along with what police wanted him to say, he would make him and his family “suffer.”
Golubski was Miller’s uncle through marriage and the brother-in-law of a witness in the case, which was not disclosed at trial. Both McKinney and Betts spent more than 25 years in jail but have maintained their innocence and have been out on parole since 2023. McKinney’s brother, Dwayne McKinney, was also charged with Miller’s murder but was acquitted.
Golubski testified in the 2022 hearing for the case that sought a new trial, saying he had no involvement in the investigation. He had already been placed on house arrest for an indictment on federal civil rights charges that accused him of sexually assaulting and kidnapping a woman and a teenager from 1998 to 2002. Golubski died by suicide in 2024 on the first day of his trial.
The Star has extensively reported on Golubski in the past, including a series of stories by former columnist Melinda Henneberger that won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary in 2022.
Despite that testimony, records presented during the hearing suggested Golubski had deeper ties to Miller than previously disclosed. Documents indicated Miller had provided information to Golubski in another case and had been seen inside the drug house where Miller lived.
Attorneys also revealed that Miller had served as a state’s witness in two murder cases, presenting an alternative theory that he may have been targeted in retaliation.
Sundby said during his ruling that the information of how closely linked Golubski was to Miller could have changed decisions at multiple points over the years, including in the identification of a motive for Miller’s death.
“I think the only way this Court has to rule is that the lack of presentation of all the evidence that was submitted concerning an alternative theory as to the murder of Greg Miller, the lack of adequate investigation into the crime, could have resulted in maybe a different verdict,” Sundby said.
