WEBVTT - The Girlfriends S4/E7: The Reckoning 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:04.040 Hey, it's Nikki. We left on a pretty dramatic moment 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:07.800 last time. We'll pick up where we left off, but 0:00:07.920 --> 0:00:10.879 first I wanted to let you know that while you'll 0:00:10.920 --> 0:00:13.960 hear from a group of women who found community and 0:00:14.040 --> 0:00:18.560 purpose in the process of rallying together, this episode will 0:00:18.600 --> 0:00:24.880 include stories about violence, murder, suicide, and sexual assault. Some 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:28.600 of the victims are miners, and you'll hear quite a 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:32.520 lot of strong language. If you or someone you love 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:35.240 has been affected by any of the themes in the show. 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:39.120 We've left some links in the description that offer resources 0:00:39.240 --> 0:00:46.159 and support. Take care of yourself. Kadij and I remember 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:50.000 exactly where we were on September fifteenth, twenty twenty two. 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:52.760 I think everyone in our community does. 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:55.720 I think I was sitting in the living room and 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:57.040 I got a phone call. 0:00:57.480 --> 0:00:59.880 I was in my bedroom. I got the text, and 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:03.000 think got paced on my balcony, just back and forth. 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:03.279 Wait. 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:06.119 Yeah, I just couldn't sit I just couldn't sit down 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:08.360 because I just couldn't believe. I couldn't believe it was actually. 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:11.039 Yeah, it was. It was surreal. I definitely had a 0:01:11.040 --> 0:01:13.760 feeling that God was on duty. No, I always say 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:17.600 God to be patient. God is on duty that morning. 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:22.560 It really felt like he was because after years of campaigning, 0:01:23.360 --> 0:01:30.600 Roger Gallupski was finally in handcuffs. So George read him 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:34.040 each of his charges, and in response, he seemed pretty animated, 0:01:34.280 --> 0:01:37.680 appearing shocked and surprise, raising his head and his eyebrows. 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:43.160 Remember Ophelia Williams, the mother of twins who said Gallupski 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:47.840 assaulted her after arresting her sons. She and an anonymous 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:53.200 woman who also claimed Gallupski had assaulted her had quietly 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:58.080 spent years working with the FBI to share information about 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:02.200 what had happened to them. That helped build a case 0:02:02.240 --> 0:02:05.280 that led to Gazupski being arrested on the charges of 0:02:05.400 --> 0:02:10.359 kidnap and sexual assault on September fifteenth, twenty twenty two. 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:16.560 The documents filed for the case were damning. Ophilia and 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:21.359 the anonymous woman who goes by s K described Glupski's 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:26.040 abuse in depth. I won't go into the details, but 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:32.160 it was violent, not consensual, and left both women traumatized. 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:40.359 Gallupski is taken to his first court appearance on the 0:02:40.440 --> 0:02:46.800 day of his arrest. He pleads not guilty, but that 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:54.600 September arrest is just the start when it hits the news. 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:57.200 Kadija and I spend hours on the phone talking to 0:02:57.240 --> 0:03:01.320 people who want to share their Glupski stories. We redirect 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:04.120 them to lawyers and watch on in awe as we 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:07.440 realize the work we've dedicated years of our lives too 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:15.000 is finally moving things in the right direction. It isn't 0:03:15.040 --> 0:03:20.560 all plane selling, though. Gallupski has a range of health issues, 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:25.799 including kidney failure, which requires regular dialysis, so he's put 0:03:25.840 --> 0:03:30.080 on house arrests as he awaits trial. There is a 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:34.360 lot of controversy surrounding that house arrest. Some of the 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:37.920 victims are outraged that he's allowed to stay living at home, 0:03:38.640 --> 0:03:42.680 and in January twenty twenty four, someone takes a photo 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:46.920 that shows Gallupski out at a fast food place. Trips 0:03:46.960 --> 0:03:49.760 out to a burger joint were not included in the 0:03:49.840 --> 0:03:52.760 terms of a house arrest for a man accused of 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:57.400 serious violent crimes, but we push all of that to 0:03:57.480 --> 0:04:04.240 the side and stay focused on our goal. Justice of 0:04:04.360 --> 0:04:08.760 philia in the anonymous victim's case meant a lot to us. 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:12.080 It only involved two victims, but we knew that if 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:16.000 Gulubski was found guilty, it could open the floodgates for 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:19.120 even more women to get their day in court. So 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:25.240 we were hopeful, but that anticipation came with nerves. 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:29.560 I think for about a week straight. I went to 0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:32.080 bad crying, and I woke up crying. It's just like 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:33.560 you could feel something in the air. 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:39.479 Emotions were running high. We were anxious and felt a 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:43.600 little off balance, but we were determined to see it 0:04:43.640 --> 0:04:49.640 through because after years of investigating and fighting for justice, 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:54.360 the first day of Roger Glubski's trial was finally here. 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:06.200 On the morning of December second, twenty twenty four, a sharp, 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:10.880 icy chill descends over Kansas City, Kansas. It's the first 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:13.960 truly cold day of the winter, and if I didn't 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:16.280 need to be out of the house by nine am, 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:21.440 I would stay inside. But this is the day we've 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:25.040 all been waiting for, and no amount of ice, wind 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:28.120 or snow can stop me from driving over to the 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:33.440 Topeka courthouse. I get into my car, but the GPS 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:36.480 is playing up. It keeps sending me to the wrong place. 0:05:37.279 --> 0:05:39.599 So I call Kadija and we agree to meet up 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:41.480 just before the trial begins. 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:45.360 And in a car we talked about how luting of 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:48.160 a day it was it was probably the worst day 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:49.760 of the year, right now, Oh you know if that 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:50.640 day was cold. 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:54.760 Kadizu arrives a little earlier than me. It's around nine 0:05:54.839 --> 0:05:57.640 to twenty five am when our taxi pulls up outside 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:04.120 the courthouse. She steps into the courthouse to warm up, 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:08.240 stands in the reception to shelter from the cold. But 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:11.279 when she walks in, she's greeted by a staff member 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:14.159 who tells her that things aren't going according to plan. 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:20.480 The trial isn't going to start on time. Why go? 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:26.640 Lucie is missing, and I'm like, he's missing? 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:26.920 You know? 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:29.599 At this point my jaw is like what. 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:45.920 I'm Nikki Richardson from The Teams A novel and iHeart podcast. 0:06:46.600 --> 0:07:09.559 This is the Girlfriend's Untouchable, You big guy, Episode seven, 0:07:10.400 --> 0:07:24.880 The Reckoning. When I park outside the courthouse that morning, 0:07:25.040 --> 0:07:26.760 Kadija heads straight towards my car. 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:29.400 They can't find his ass. 0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:30.080 What do you mean? 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:30.880 They can't find him? 0:07:31.000 --> 0:07:34.160 Work? They can't find him. Stay about to issue a 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:36.720 warrant and go look for this motherfucker? Are you safe? 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:40.080 I'm serious? Have my whole mouth drop who. 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:42.200 Was supposed to be keeping hands on him? I don't 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:46.760 fucking know Glupski was on house arrests with the understanding 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:48.760 that he would make his own way to court. But 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:51.920 his car isn't parked outside the courthouse and he's not 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:55.040 picking up his phone, so the judge presiding over the 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:58.760 trial puts out a warrant for his arrest. Kadiza tries 0:07:58.800 --> 0:08:00.920 to explain it to me, but it just doesn't make 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:01.480 any sense. 0:08:02.560 --> 0:08:05.760 NICKI all the shit I was not expected. 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:13.760 Keeping track of him he is. I'm so dumbfounded. This 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:16.920 was just not what I expected. Kadija and I are 0:08:16.960 --> 0:08:19.960 at a complete standstill for a moment, trying to figure 0:08:19.960 --> 0:08:22.679 out what to do while we wait for Glupski to arrive. 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:29.960 You hungry, No, damn, Nikki, I don't even I mean, 0:08:30.160 --> 0:08:33.559 my my brain was already prepared to go sit in court. 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:36.720 They said if they could find him about one o'clock. 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:38.560 Then they would they would try to continue on with 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:42.200 the trial. Well, he's gonna have some explaining to do. 0:08:42.280 --> 0:08:44.880 I mean that already starts him off real bad. Even 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:47.040 if they do find him. 0:08:47.240 --> 0:08:48.600 I think this motherfucker's dog. 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:51.680 He had probably left the fucking guns me though she 0:08:51.760 --> 0:08:55.160 ain't coming. You know, Niko has a crazy ass sixth sense. 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:58.640 But she kept saying it's gonna be shit. She kept 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:01.199 saying it to me, And here where we are. 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:04.640 While Kadija and I sit in the car waiting for 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:07.800 Gulupski to be found and brought to court, Nico is 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:11.160 at home. She had been anxiously tossing and turning her 0:09:11.200 --> 0:09:12.520 way through the early morning. 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:16.440 The day before his trail that Sunday. I could not sleep, 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:20.240 I couldn't I couldn't rest. 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:26.200 Nico desperately wanted justice for her younger self, her older 0:09:26.240 --> 0:09:30.000 sister Stacy, and all the women she loved and lost 0:09:30.600 --> 0:09:36.920 whose lives had crossed paths with Roger Gallupski. Gallupski going 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:40.760 on trial felt like the first step towards that. 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:45.839 I had a feeling of like butterflies, all kind of 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:50.920 emotions was going through me. I just was able to 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:53.880 go to sleep. At about seven or eight that morning. 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:57.120 She can't fall into a deep sleep, so she glances 0:09:57.160 --> 0:09:58.439 over at her phone. 0:09:58.559 --> 0:09:59.720 I had about twenty misco. 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:04.200 Kadija and I are still sitting in the car trying 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:08.000 to figure out what's gone wrong. But then we get 0:10:08.000 --> 0:10:08.440 a call. 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:14.520 Nico called me cry and she said her, lay, You're 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:21.040 told her he's dead. 0:10:23.840 --> 0:10:27.120 It's nine to fifty five am. We're supposed to be 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:31.320 sitting in court in five minutes, but according to Nico 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:39.320 and her lawyer, Roger Gulupski is dead. Kadiji and I 0:10:39.360 --> 0:10:41.600 don't know what to do, so we just sit in 0:10:41.640 --> 0:10:44.480 the car, shell shocked as we try to wrap our 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:47.839 minds around it. That must have been in shields I 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:51.600 felt this morning. We sit on our phones desperately refreshing 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:55.439 the news for an official statement, details or an explanation, 0:10:56.320 --> 0:11:02.280 and then I get a text. He was found dead 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:05.000 in his home where you found out? 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:06.760 Guys might just message to me. 0:11:09.040 --> 0:11:16.480 Details slowly begin to filter through. At six am that morning, 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:19.640 Roger Gulubski wakes up to get ready for the first 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:23.400 day of his trial. At seven oh three am, he 0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:26.960 calls up his son Matthew and tells him he is 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:31.679 not strong enough to do this. Still, he gets dressed 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:35.480 and prepares to head over to the courthouse. At around 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:38.960 eight twenty am, he takes a call from his lawyer's office. 0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:44.160 It lasts one minute and eleven seconds. At eight thirty 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:47.880 he leaves the house and gets into his twenty eleven 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:52.360 red fod Taurusts. He makes his way down Ninth Street 0:11:52.679 --> 0:11:58.840 to Edwardsville Drive, but doesn't reach the interstate. Instead, he 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:07.760 hits around about and heads back home. At nine oh one, 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:11.800 he calls his attorney again. They talk for a few minutes, 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:17.800 the call ends. Glupski's lawyer's office tries to call him 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:22.440 four more times, but he doesn't pick up. A few 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:25.960 minutes later, a nine to one one call comes from 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:30.040 the woman who's been living with Gallupski during his house arrest. 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:34.840 She tells the operator that she was inside when she 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:38.640 heard a loud bang. She says she ran out of 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:42.559 the house and onto the back porch. According to her, 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:46.920 Roger Glubski is sitting on the floor, still holding a pistol. 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:57.240 He was pronounced dead at nine to eighteen am, just 0:12:57.320 --> 0:13:00.400 forty two minutes before we thought we would be in 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:09.680 court for jury selection. The cause of death suicide. Kadija 0:13:09.720 --> 0:13:11.800 and I sitting shock as we read the news. 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:20.440 Wow make you said, like you drop a motherfucker to 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:27.079 kill yourself just a little bit, don't it Just it's 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:33.400 it's not the best feeling in the world. It's a 0:13:33.440 --> 0:13:35.000 fucked up, fast feeling right now. 0:13:36.640 --> 0:13:38.640 Yeah, because that's not the way I expected it to. 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:41.640 End on the day of motherfucker, are you fucking kidding me? 0:13:41.920 --> 0:13:43.880 I mean, at least let them have their day in court, 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:47.600 but he wasn't gonna let anybody have that satisfaction. 0:13:50.520 --> 0:13:53.319 We didn't know what to do really from there. We 0:13:53.559 --> 0:13:56.120 kind of just sat with it on the side of 0:13:56.160 --> 0:14:01.280 the road for probably about five minutes. For we we 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:05.920 did anything, just sitting there, like in Ah. It felt 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:12.000 like life was sucked out of Topeka. It's probably on 0:14:12.120 --> 0:14:12.560 the news. 0:14:13.520 --> 0:14:14.120 It's gotta be. 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:22.360 It's kind of work. What we doom? 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:23.080 Wow? 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:49.760 What the fuck we do? I don't know? Mm hm. 0:14:57.720 --> 0:14:59.920 As soon as the news breaks that Roger Glupski is 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:02.520 the conspiracy theories start coming out. 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:03.800 Is he really dead? 0:15:04.360 --> 0:15:06.840 That's like one of the biggest questions to me, because 0:15:08.040 --> 0:15:10.359 he felt as though he was very untouchable. 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:15.640 That's Trina Cooper who we heard from last time. Her mother, Dorothy, 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:18.720 was murdered in the eighties and Glupski was the officer 0:15:18.800 --> 0:15:20.960 she met while trying to reopen the investigation. 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:24.760 I have questions, That's why I ask, like, is. 0:15:24.680 --> 0:15:28.200 He really dead? Trina isn't the only one who doubts 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:31.240 the official statement about what happened that morning. We hear 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:37.200 theories all day. Some people think Gallupski's hiding out in 0:15:37.280 --> 0:15:42.240 rural Kansas, living with distant relatives in Missouri. Others say 0:15:42.320 --> 0:15:44.480 he's taken a flight and fled to a country that 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:48.360 doesn't have an extradition treaty with America. But there's another 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:51.320 theory that starts to gain a lot of traction amongst 0:15:51.360 --> 0:15:52.000 the community. 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:57.040 If he is dead, someone took his life. Well, Gulupski 0:15:57.120 --> 0:16:00.520 taking his own life. No, you can't give me believe that. 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:05.720 And I really feel as though it happened because everyone 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:07.800 else was going to be exposed. 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:13.560 I'll be honest. It's a theory. I consider that morning, 0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:18.480 Glupski's trial had the potential to implicate and expose other people, 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:26.120 potentially dangerous, powerful people. In the moment, Kadija and I 0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:28.960 can't help but wonder whether there was a person or 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:33.480 group of people desperate enough to protect themselves that they 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:37.640 would want Gallupski dead. But we never get evidence to 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:40.960 give weight to any of those theories, so we sit 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:50.840 with the official statement that Glupski's death was a suicide. 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:53.880 The rest of that morning is a whirlwind. We spend 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:56.400 hours on the phone talking to the Department of Justice, 0:16:56.400 --> 0:16:58.480 who reached out to see how they could support us, 0:16:59.240 --> 0:17:01.600 and we spoke to lists looking for more information. 0:17:02.520 --> 0:17:04.960 Hey, I don't know if you heard the news, but 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:08.720 Roger Glusi didn't show off of court this morning and 0:17:08.800 --> 0:17:10.160 they found him dead in his home. 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:18.720 To clarify, Kadijia and I are not lawyers or public officials. Still, 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:23.800 that morning, we find ourselves being called upon like unofficial spokeswomen, 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:31.680 and I'll be honest, it's kind of stressful. By eleven am, 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:35.119 the adrenaline rush is beginning to wear off, so we 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:38.520 make an executive decision to drive across Topeka and get 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:39.040 some lunch. 0:17:40.119 --> 0:17:41.960 I'm just gonna go with the burger with cheese. 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:44.200 I'm trying to think how big my stomach is about 0:17:44.200 --> 0:17:48.200 to be. Let's just do a fullord of biscuits and gravy. 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:50.640 It's one of the most disappointing days of our lives. 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:54.879 But for most people in that diner, it's just a 0:17:54.920 --> 0:18:00.560 regular Monday. They're grabbing lunch, seeing friends and having casual conversations. 0:18:01.520 --> 0:18:05.280 Their indifference underscores how fucking surreal our day has been. 0:18:06.160 --> 0:18:10.439 After a frantic morning outside the courthouse, things are finally 0:18:10.480 --> 0:18:13.600 beginning to slow down, and for the first time since 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:19.280 hearing the news, we just sit down and eat and 0:18:19.359 --> 0:18:21.080 open up about how we're really feeling. 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.760 I couldn't find all this, and I think it's because 0:18:24.880 --> 0:18:28.840 my spirit kind of met could feel the intensity of it. 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:33.359 It's such a tragic ending, I mean, because if he 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:35.280 wanted to end it, he could have ended in it. 0:18:36.400 --> 0:18:38.240 It didn't have to be the day of the pluck 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:38.680 and drown. 0:18:39.480 --> 0:18:42.400 You just have so many questions, but that has been 0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:46.040 this entire process. Is just having so many questions, and 0:18:46.080 --> 0:18:52.119 it just feels so unresolved, you know, because there's no 0:18:52.359 --> 0:18:54.560 justice at this point, because at least they're able to 0:18:54.560 --> 0:19:01.159 at least it's suicide and the mission of guilt. No, no, 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:06.480 unless he left the known with the confession. 0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:08.840 I'm really worried about Nitho. 0:19:09.440 --> 0:19:12.320 He too, worried about all of them. 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:17.800 Really, Niko, Yeah, Nico, Vones, matter of fact, Len he called. 0:19:17.680 --> 0:19:18.040 Them n. 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:22.840 Hey, Nico, how are you feeling bad? 0:19:26.280 --> 0:19:26.480 Hurt? 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:28.480 And I'm angry? 0:19:29.119 --> 0:19:30.440 He said, your hurt and you're angry. 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:34.080 Yeah. 0:19:34.200 --> 0:19:37.480 Gulupski's trial was supposed to last weeks and end on 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:41.840 January fifteenth, twenty twenty five. One day before the twenty 0:19:41.840 --> 0:19:48.320 fifth anniversary of Nico's older sister Stacy's murder. Nico had 0:19:48.359 --> 0:19:51.600 thought the trial ending with Gulupski behind bars would give 0:19:51.640 --> 0:19:55.680 her a sense of closure, but him killing himself before 0:19:55.720 --> 0:20:01.720 he could face up to what he'd done devastated her. 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:05.760 I wanted to be able to face him and ask 0:20:05.840 --> 0:20:10.560 him why and why is he lying? Asking him, plead 0:20:10.640 --> 0:20:13.760 with him to tell the truth on up to what 0:20:13.920 --> 0:20:20.320 you've done. You have lived your life. I wanted an 0:20:20.320 --> 0:20:25.720 apology for everything that he's done. 0:20:25.960 --> 0:20:29.000 The reality of the situation is beginning to sink in 0:20:29.040 --> 0:20:34.119 for Niko. There isn't going to be a trial. Glupski 0:20:34.200 --> 0:20:37.360 is never going to see his day in court, and 0:20:37.400 --> 0:20:41.560 after a lifetime of heurt, his victims still aren't going 0:20:41.640 --> 0:20:49.120 to get the justice they deserved. She isn't the only 0:20:49.160 --> 0:20:53.640 one feeling that way. LaMotte McIntyre spent twenty three years 0:20:53.640 --> 0:20:57.080 in prison after being arrested by Roger Glupski, who had 0:20:57.119 --> 0:21:00.840 sexually assaulted his mother Rose. It was getting ready to 0:21:00.920 --> 0:21:03.920 drive over to Topeka in anticipation of the first day 0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:06.840 of the trial when he heard the news. 0:21:07.359 --> 0:21:09.560 I just wanted to see him face his accusers. And 0:21:09.600 --> 0:21:12.439 face the people who he had wrong. That's what the 0:21:12.640 --> 0:21:15.479 just system is designed to do, to help the victims 0:21:15.520 --> 0:21:17.679 of society get justice by way of the people who 0:21:17.760 --> 0:21:23.040 wronged them. And I was expecting my mother to experience that. Yeah, 0:21:23.080 --> 0:21:26.119 I felt like I was robbed. I lost something. For 0:21:26.160 --> 0:21:28.520 a moment, I feel like share lots of opportunity to 0:21:29.160 --> 0:21:31.080 face my accuser or face this man who did this 0:21:31.119 --> 0:21:31.840 shit to my mom. 0:21:32.840 --> 0:21:35.200 As Kadejah and I sit in the diner eating lunch, 0:21:35.520 --> 0:21:39.600 we get calls from victims, survivors, witnesses, and loved ones 0:21:40.560 --> 0:21:51.360 reaching out to us for answers, but we don't have them. 0:21:51.520 --> 0:21:55.440 For a while, we'd allowed ourselves to believe that if 0:21:55.480 --> 0:21:59.160 we worked hard enough, pushed the right people, and kept fighting, 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:05.040 we could change things, prove that nobody, even a powerful 0:22:05.080 --> 0:22:10.119 police officer, was untouchable. But it doesn't feel true now. 0:22:11.280 --> 0:22:13.280 I just wish I could go somewhere and just scream, 0:22:13.920 --> 0:22:16.280 Like if we could just go somewhere and just scream, 0:22:16.400 --> 0:22:18.080 just like over and over, just scream. 0:22:19.640 --> 0:22:23.680 It's a tough morning, but as we work through our emotions, 0:22:24.320 --> 0:22:31.399 we come to some conclusions. It isn't our fault that 0:22:31.400 --> 0:22:35.240 Gelupski is dead or that the authority supervising his house 0:22:35.320 --> 0:22:38.920 arrest failed to find and confiscate his gun. The women 0:22:38.960 --> 0:22:42.440 of Kansas City, Kansas have been failed time and time 0:22:42.520 --> 0:22:46.920 again by the authorities meant to protect them. But we 0:22:47.000 --> 0:22:50.840 can't lose hope, even in the midst of what feels 0:22:50.920 --> 0:22:55.720 like an impossible situation. Because ksey K is our home. 0:22:56.520 --> 0:22:59.600 We love it too much to give up. We have 0:22:59.640 --> 0:23:03.280 no tree choice but to channel our despair into determination. 0:23:05.359 --> 0:23:09.920 So we dry our tears, leave the diner, and get 0:23:09.960 --> 0:23:10.399 to work. 0:23:27.200 --> 0:23:28.399 I got you, I Got You. 0:23:33.840 --> 0:23:37.960 The months that followed Glupski's death were unsettling. The authorities 0:23:37.960 --> 0:23:41.720 didn't come forward with a solid explanation for how Glupski 0:23:41.880 --> 0:23:44.560 had been able to get and keep a gun on 0:23:44.680 --> 0:23:49.679 house arrest. Kadija and I kept rewinding the tape, playing 0:23:49.720 --> 0:23:51.760 the years leading up to his death back in our 0:23:51.800 --> 0:23:54.280 minds and trying to figure out what could have been 0:23:54.320 --> 0:23:57.119 done to get justice sooner. We hope that if we 0:23:57.160 --> 0:23:59.960 could trace things back to the start, we might be 0:24:00.119 --> 0:24:02.800 able to figure out what to do next. So as 0:24:02.840 --> 0:24:05.080 we tried to make sense of Glupski's death and the 0:24:05.160 --> 0:24:07.840 questions that left us with, we turned to the only 0:24:07.920 --> 0:24:12.600 concrete thing. We had the dozens of interviews, folders worth 0:24:12.640 --> 0:24:16.480 of evidence, and numerous affidavits that had been collected over 0:24:16.520 --> 0:24:22.400 the years. We were looking for answers, or at least clues, 0:24:23.000 --> 0:24:26.840 anything we might have missed the first time around. We 0:24:26.880 --> 0:24:29.560 wanted to find something that might give the dozens of 0:24:29.600 --> 0:24:33.760 women whose stories we've heard some form of closure or 0:24:33.800 --> 0:24:40.360 better yet, justice, whatever that might look like. Digging through 0:24:40.359 --> 0:24:43.440 the files, we came across the formal statement made by 0:24:43.480 --> 0:24:48.119 one of the police officers who worked with Glupski, Max Seifert. 0:24:49.119 --> 0:24:52.280 When we spoke to him, he confirmed that many people 0:24:52.320 --> 0:24:55.240 turned a blind eye to what Glupski was doing during 0:24:55.240 --> 0:24:59.600 his time working for the KCKPD. In his statement, Max 0:24:59.680 --> 0:25:03.360 go's so far as to say all of the detectives, 0:25:03.640 --> 0:25:08.359 along with older officers and the commanders, all knew. No 0:25:08.440 --> 0:25:12.280 one in the department questioned Gulupski's conduct, No one raised 0:25:12.320 --> 0:25:15.120 any questions about whether it was proper or could cause 0:25:15.160 --> 0:25:19.080 a problem of any kind. This was not news to us, 0:25:19.320 --> 0:25:23.000 but still it was shocking to see it on paper, 0:25:23.600 --> 0:25:27.359 see a legal document that outlined how people and positions 0:25:27.400 --> 0:25:32.119 of power had seemingly allowed this to happen. There was 0:25:32.160 --> 0:25:35.120 something else in Max's declaration that jumped out to us. 0:25:38.240 --> 0:25:41.159 He draws attention to the fact that these women were 0:25:41.240 --> 0:25:45.639 often poor and vulnerable, and that Gallupski would be seen 0:25:45.760 --> 0:25:50.400 in places like housing projects or while leaving cheap hotels 0:25:50.480 --> 0:25:55.760 where prostitutes were known to serve their customers housing projects. 0:25:57.000 --> 0:26:00.520 We knew he targeted vulnerable women, but how far did 0:26:00.520 --> 0:26:07.760 he take it? As we dug a little deeper, we 0:26:07.840 --> 0:26:12.400 came across the statement of someone we'd never heard of before. Yeah, 0:26:12.400 --> 0:26:13.760 have you seen this before? I think this is the 0:26:13.800 --> 0:26:14.679 first time I've seen this. 0:26:14.680 --> 0:26:16.920 This is the first time I've seen it. 0:26:16.920 --> 0:26:19.879 It was a six page affidavid signed by a woman 0:26:20.000 --> 0:26:24.280 named Tina Peterson. It formed part of the case Lamont's 0:26:24.320 --> 0:26:27.560 team brought a few years ago to sue the Unified 0:26:27.600 --> 0:26:31.600 government for their role in his false conviction. You reading 0:26:31.600 --> 0:26:34.560 it now, Yeah, I'm starting to make some connections that 0:26:34.560 --> 0:26:39.720 are made me very right. Tina's affidavid jumped out at 0:26:39.840 --> 0:26:42.200 us because her story takes us back to the mid 0:26:42.280 --> 0:26:46.200 nineteen eighties, right around the time that Gelupski was becoming 0:26:46.240 --> 0:26:52.280 a detective. Back then, Tina was working as a victim 0:26:52.320 --> 0:26:56.480 advocate at an emergency refuge in Kansas City. It's now 0:26:56.520 --> 0:27:01.040 called the Dela Gill Joyce H. William Shelter for Survivors 0:27:01.200 --> 0:27:05.560 of domestic violence. Hundreds of women came through its doors 0:27:06.040 --> 0:27:09.679 looking for an empathetic ear and a safe place to sleep. 0:27:10.480 --> 0:27:12.560 Tina's words are read by an actor. 0:27:13.400 --> 0:27:16.119 I generally worked the overnight shift. That shift tended to 0:27:16.160 --> 0:27:19.160 be pretty busy, as women seeking shelter often arrived late 0:27:19.200 --> 0:27:19.520 at night. 0:27:20.359 --> 0:27:23.480 Tina saw women walking through the shelter in varying states 0:27:23.480 --> 0:27:24.359 of distress. 0:27:24.760 --> 0:27:27.560 Then not only showed signs of physical abuse, they also 0:27:27.640 --> 0:27:31.280 showed signs of emotional or mental abuse. I listened for 0:27:31.359 --> 0:27:35.320 hours to these women, providing counseling and support. One name 0:27:35.400 --> 0:27:40.640 came up repeatedly, Roger Glubski. They would often be crying, shaking, 0:27:40.800 --> 0:27:45.719 or showing other intense emotions. During these emotional discussions, they 0:27:45.720 --> 0:27:49.240 would describe being sexually harassed, threatened, and coerced by Glubski. 0:27:49.840 --> 0:27:53.040 Some described being humiliated when Gallupski dumped them back on 0:27:53.080 --> 0:27:58.760 the street, still undressed when he was done with them. 0:27:59.560 --> 0:28:03.920