TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Washington state prison inmate was sentenced to another 24 years in prison on top of his current sentence after he killed his cellmate, the man who raped his younger sister.
KHQ reported that Shane Goldsby, 26, beat 70-year-old Robert Munger to death in July 2020 at the Airway Heights Correction Center in Airway Heights, Washington.
Goldsby attacked Munger from behind and struck him in the face 14 times. He was captured on video stomping on his head at least four times before walking away, court documents say.
According to reports, Munger had molested a number of victims, including Goldsby’s sister, and was serving a 43-year prison sentence for child sex crimes.
In a July 2020 interview, Goldsby told KHQ Munger had taunted him with details about the abuse, which happened years before the attack.
“He kept … giving me 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.
“You put me in the same cell as this dude,” he added. “I feel set up. I’m the victim.”
At his sentencing hearing, Goldsby apologized to Munger’s family. His lawyer read a statement on his behalf because he appeared to be too overcome with emotion.
“I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose a loved one in this kind of way,” the statement said. “To his wife and his whole family I apologize. I am so sorry and I hope you are able to heal from what I caused.”
“I’m ashamed of my actions, I was put into a situation that I don’t wish on nobody,” Goldsby said. “I got a lot of fixing to do.”
According to his lawyer, Goldsby was abused by his drug-addicted mother and went through 10 different foster homes. He eventually reconnected with his mother, and the two began using drugs together, the Spokesman reported.
Goldsby had been imprisoned for stealing a police vehicle and leading multiple agencies on a police chase that ended when he rammed into a patrol vehicle, injuring a trooper inside.
The Washington Department of Corrections said an investigation into the incident found all protocols had been followed in the events leading up to the attack, and there was little staff could have done to prevent the murder. It also found there was no reason to suspect that Goldsby and Munger knew each other when they were assigned to the same cell.
