Lamonte McIntyre

Brian Betts’ case was much like that of Lamonte McIntyre, another KCK man who says he was framed by former KCK Police Detective Roger Golubski. But McIntyre was exonerated in 2017, while Betts served out most of his 25-year sentence.

This year saw the arrest and indictment of retired Kansas City, Kansas, police detective Roger Golubski. Gun violence and homicides continued to plague Kansas City, something that the new KCPD chief is ready to tackle. A look at the biggest criminal justice stories of the year.

The case of Celester McKinney and Brian Betts is much like that of Lamonte McIntyre, another young KCK Black man who was allegedly railroaded into prison by former KCKPD Detective Roger Golubski.

Chapter 6: Untouchable. Residents of Kansas City, Kansas, had been sounding alarms about detective Roger Golubski and corruption in the police department for decades. But city leaders did nothing, and Golubski retired in peace while the families of his victims mourned. It wasn’t until a year after KCUR started working on this podcast that the FBI finally arrested Golubski — on just a fraction of his alleged crimes. What does justice even look like after all this time?

Kansas City, Kansas, Police and the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s office will offer more details Monday on plans to look at the decades of criminal cases connected to former KCKPD Detective Roger Golubski. Activists call police involvement in the review a "major red flag."

Lamonte McIntyre, who was exonerated in 2017 for a double homicide he didn’t commit, gave an emotional speech at a Kansas City, Kansas, rally organized by Team ROC, the philanthropic and social justice division of rapper JAY-Z’s company Roc Nation.

Chapter 5: The List. Former detective Roger Golubski is connected to a litany of murdered women in Kansas City, Kansas. Several were sex workers who Golubski was accused of abusing and using as informants. But their cases were never solved by his fellow officers, and their families have spent decades without closure.

Former Kansas City, Kansas, police detective Roger Golubski, who is under home arrest, already faces federal charges of rape, sexual assault and kidnapping.

Chapter 4: The chameleon. Once interested in becoming a Catholic priest, Roger Golubski spent 35 years in the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department, which had a reputation for racism and corruption. The secret to Golubski’s career was his use of “confidential informants,” whom he cited to secure countless convictions — including at least one person who was innocent. Now, Golubski is facing a federal indictment for kidnapping, raping and assaulting women.

Chapter 3: Stacey Quinn's story. Kansas City, Kansas, detective Roger Golubski started taking advantage of Stacey Quinn when she was only a teenager, according to her family. Local activists allege this was a pattern for “Golubski’s girls”: The detective would pick up vulnerable women in the neighborhoods he patrolled, sexually abuse them for years, and manipulate them into silence. And just like Stacey Quinn, many of them were murdered.

Now that Lamonte McIntyre's case unveiled the many accusations against former Kansas City, Kansas, Police Detective Roger Golubski, two men see hope for a new trial.

A hearing for two men convicted of a 1997 murder once again focuses on whether Roger Golubski coerced a witness into falsely testifying and whether he fed crucial information to the victim’s family.