Judge declines to overturn convictions of men who claim innocence in 1997 KCK murder
A judge on Wednesday declined to overturn the convictions of two prisoners who claim they are innocent of a 1997 murder in Kansas City, Kansas, finding there was not evidence to prove a disgraced detective was involved.
Retired Judge Gunnar Sundby, who oversaw the case in a senior judge role, said while there is a “cloud of doubt” lingering over former detective Roger Golubski, the attorneys for Brian Betts, 46, and Celester McKinney, 52, did not prove their case.
The question before Sundby was whether Golubski was involved in obtaining the testimony of a key witness in the fatal shooting of Golubski’s nephew by marriage, 17-year-old Gregory Miller.
That witness, Carter Betts, recanted his trial testimony that implicated McKinney and Brian Betts — his own nephews — during a hearing in October. The elder Betts said he had been coerced by two KCK detectives: one he identified as W.K. Smith, who is Black and did not remember the case years later, and the other as a white man who had a mustache.
After looking at a picture of Golubski, Carter Betts identified him as the white detective. He testified 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.”
But in his ruling, Sundby said Carter Betts had testified numerous times about his interactions with KCK police, including times when he did not allege coercion and another when he claimed it was Smith who pressured him.
Sundby said it would be “very easy” to use “this new cloud of doubt cast about Mr. Golubski” to try to throw out convictions. But the judge did not find Carter Betts’ latest testimony credible.
In a statement, the social justice group MORE2, which has called for an outside review of Golubski’s cases, said it lamented the ruling.
“It is just the latest in a long history of failures from the Wyandotte County criminal legal system to provide justice for people of color,” the organization said. “It should scandalize all of us that innocent people, like Brian and Celester, remain imprisoned while Roger Golubski remains in his own home.”
Golubski remains on house arrest after he was indicted in September on federal civil rights charges that accuse him of sexually assaulting and kidnapping a woman and a teenager from 1998 to 2002. He was then indicted in November on separate charges that allege he conspired to sex traffic underage girls between 1996 and 1998 with other men at a KCK apartment complex.
Sunby announced his ruling during a virtual hearing that was attended by relatives of Betts and McKinney. As the hearing ended, they could be heard telling the men they loved them and they would “continue to fight.”
Golubski was Miller’s uncle through marriage and the brother-in-law of a witness in the case, which was not disclosed at trial. Lawyers for Betts and McKinney additionally claimed Golubski fed information to witnesses.
The former detective, whose cases have come under scrutiny and are being reviewed by local officials, testified he did not investigate his nephew’s murder and denied ever coercing witnesses.
McKinney’s brother, Dwayne McKinney, was also charged with Miller’s murder but was acquitted at trial. No physical evidence tied the men to the killing.
Miller’s family believes the right men were convicted. They created a petition urging officials to not release Betts and McKinney, saying they were “trying to use the situation” with Golubski to get out.
Betts and McKinney have described their convictions as similar to that of Lamonte McIntyre, who spent 23 years in prison for a double murder he did not commit in KCK. McIntyre later filed a federal lawsuit, alleging Golubski framed him, which settled for $12.5 million.
Sunby notified the lawyers for Betts and McKinney that they can appeal his decision.
