Photo: Washington Department of Corrections
A Washington state prison inmate was sentenced to nearly 25 years in jail for killing his cellmate in 2020. Shane Goldsby, 26, beat 70-year-old Robert Munger to death after learning that he raped his younger sister.
Munger was serving a 43-year prison sentence for molesting numerous underage victims. Goldsby, who was in jail for stealing a police vehicle and leading authorities on a wild high-speed chase, said that Munger taunted him by providing graphic details about how he raped his sister years ago.
Goldsby asked prison officials for a new cellmate, but his request was ignored.
"I had so much stuff going on in my head," he told KHQ. "I wasn't stable at that point. I wasn't. I was getting to that point because (Munger) kept wanting to give me details about what happened, what he did – about the photos and the videos of him doing this stuff. It was building up."
Eventually, Goldsby snapped and attacked Munger from behind in a communal area of the prison. Surveillance video captured Goldsby striking Munger in the face more than a dozen times and kicking him in the head at least four times. Munger died from his injuries three days later.
At his sentencing hearing, Goldsby tried to read a statement expressing remorse for his actions but became overcome with emotion. His lawyer, Victoria Lynn Blumhorst, had to read the statement to the court.
"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."