‘It Was Building Up’: Man Gets Life Sentence For Killing Elderly Cellmate Who Sexually Assaulted His Sister

A Washington State man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the slaying of his 70-year-old cellmate, who raped his sister, according to reports. 

Shane Goldsby, 26, fatally beat Robert Munger at Airway Heights Correctional Center in Spokane County last year after learning his cellmate had sexually assaulted his sister. He was convicted on first-degree murder charges in Munger’s slaying. 

In June 2020, Goldsby struck Munger in the head about 14 times, stomped, and kicked the convicted sex offender, before correctional officers subdued him, according to KHQ-TV.

During the sentencing hearing, Goldsby’s lawyer apologized to Munger’s family on his client’s behalf.

“I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose a loved one in this kind of way,” Goldsby wrote in the statement, according to WFLA-TV. “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.”

Goldsby added he was ashamed of his actions. 

“I was put into a situation that I don’t wish on nobody,” he said. “I got a lot of fixing to do.”

Munger, who molested a number of victims, including Goldsby’s sister, was serving a 43-year sentence at the time of his death. The abuse occurred years earlier, according to KHQ-TV.

Goldsby said he went into a tailspin after learning that Munger, his cellmate, was responsible for sister’s sexual assault. 

"I was in shock," Goldsby told KHQ-TV. "I was like, 'What the f--k?'... 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."

The 26-year-old said he was ultimately driven to kill Munger because the elderly man was harassing him regarding his sibling’s rape — and provided disturbing details of the sexual assault. 

"He kept ... giving me details about what happened and what he did,” Goldsby told KHQ-TV. “About the photos and videos of him doing this stuff, and it was building up.”

Goldsby insisted, however, he hadn’t intended to murder his cellmate and questioned why correctional officials placed him in the same cell as Munger. 

"You put me in the same cell as this dude," Goldsby stated. "I feel set up. I'm the victim."

Goldsby claimed he complained at least twice to Airway Heights corrections employees regarding the escalating situation. 

"They put me in a position that I shouldn't even be in,” he added. “This shouldn't have happened, at all. You're talking about this dude, who did some sick twisted things to my little sis. My family. My blood. My life. And you want to put me face-to-face with this dude?" 

Goldbsy’s sister is reportedly still a minor.

Prison officials, meanwhile, declined to elaborate on how the two men wound up in the same cell together.

"The Airway Heights Corrections Center is conducting its own administrative investigation into this situation and is cooperating with law enforcement and the courts on the criminal matter,"  Janelle Guthrie, a communications director with DOC, said in a statement. 

Goldbsy was serving time on charges stemming from a 2017 incident related to the hijacking of a police vehicle. He later led authorities on a chase but was arrested after slamming into a state trooper.