SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. – A man in Washington is now serving an additional 298 months in prison after murdering his cellmate - who happened to be the man convicted of raping his juvenile sister.
Shane Goldsby, 26, was sentenced Tuesday for murdering 70-year-old Robert Munger who was serving a 43-year sentence for child rape, child molestation and possession of child pornography, according to KHQ.
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On June 2, 2020, at the Airway Heights Corrections Center in Washington, Goldsby assaulted Munger who died three days later from a fractured skull. The Spokesman-Review newspaper in Washington reported that Goldsby was seen on video stomping Munger’s head.
Goldsby, who was serving a sentence for stealing a police car that led to a chase and ended with him ramming another patrol vehicle, told KHQ that he was put in an impossible situation.
He spoke with a KHQ reporter in July 2020 and said he was “in shock” when he realized his cellmate was the same man who raped his sister, who is still a minor. “This stuff doesn’t happen. You’re talking the same institution, the same unit, the same pod in the same cell as this dude. That’s like hitting the jackpot in the casino seven times,” Goldsby said.
According to Goldsby, he has been in more than 20 altercations with correctional officers, which ultimately led to him being transferred to multiple correctional centers, including Airway Heights Correctional Center where he became cellmates with Munger.
An investigation by the Washington State Patrol found that because of issues like differing last names for family members, prison staff didn’t know the men knew each other when they were placed in the same cell, according to the Spokesman-Review.
The Department of Corrections referred to it as an “unfortunate and complicated incident,” according to KHQ.
Goldsby told KHQ that Munger kept giving him “details about what happened and what he did. About the photos and videos of him doing this stuff, and it was building up.” Goldsby said he tried several times to move to a different cell and told prison staff that there was a problem.
"This shouldn't have happened, at all. You're talking about this dude, who did some sick twisted things to my little...
Posted by KHQ Local News on Friday, July 31, 2020
“When I showed up in that unit, I walked out of that pod, went to an office and said ‘Hey, I need a new cellie,’” he told KHQ. Goldsby also said he tried hitting a call button that would alert officers to a problem, but when he hit it, nobody came. “So, in my head, I’m not in my head at this point and time. I’m completely feeling like this is what they wanted to happen,” said Goldsby.
Washington State Department of Corrections said that all protocols were followed in the events leading up to the incident, according to the newspaper.
The Spokesman-Review noted that when Goldsby was younger he went through 10 different foster homes after child services rescued him from his drug-addicted mother who would sometimes chain him outside. His lawyer said during his sentencing hearing for Munger’s murder that Goldsby reconnected with his mother years later and started using drugs with him prior to him entering prison at age 22.
During his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, Goldsby’s lawyer read a prepared statement after he became overwhelmed with emotion and was unable to read the statement himself.
“I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose a loved one in this kind of way,” the statement read, according to KHQ. “To [Munger’s] wife and his whole family, I apologize. I am so sorry and I hope you are able to heal from what I caused.”
An independent investigation by the Washington Department of Corrections found that while a cellmate policy should have prevented the two inmates from being in the same cell, “screeners had no knowledge about the connection between Goldsby and Munger when they were placed together,” KHQ reported.