Shane Goldsby, then 25, was serving time for stealing a police car when he murdered cellmate Robert Munger
Steven White and Jane Lavender Associate Editor
08:00, 17 Jan 2026
Shane Goldsby was sentenced to just under 25 years for the murder(Image: Kelso Police Department)
A prisoner killed his cellmate after discovering he was incarcerated with the man who had sexually assaulted his younger sister.
Shane Goldsby, then 25, was caught on camera brutally attacking Robert Munger’s head on June 2, 2020.
The 70-year-old was serving a 43 year sentence for child rape, child molestation and possession of child pornography.
Goldsby reportedly expressed shock that he was sharing a cell at the Airways Heights Corrections Center in Washington, US with the individual who had violated his sister, who was underage at the time.
He said, a month after the killing: “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 was forced to share a cell with his sister’s rapist(Image: Washington Department of Corrections)
At the time, Goldsby was serving time for stealing a police car. An investigation by authorities found that due to different surnames among family members, no connection was identified between the two men, reported the Spokesman-Review.
Goldsby revealed the situation escalated as Munger was sharing details about, “what happened and what he did. About the photos and videos of doing this stuff, it was building up.”, reports the Mirror.
He reportedly claimed that, despite repeatedly requesting to be relocated to a different cell, his pleas were ignored. “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.
No prison guard came when Goldsby pressed an emergency cell alarm before the incident occurred. He added: “So, in my head, I’m not in my head at this point in time. I’m completely feeling like this is what they wanted to happen.”
Munger was serving a 43 year sentence(Image: Kelso Police Department)
In August 2021, Goldsby received an additional sentence of 298 months – nearly 25 years – behind bars for the killing.
He expressed remorse to the victim’s family, with his solicitor reading out a statement after the defendant became too overcome with emotion to carry on.
It stated: “I’m ashamed of my actions, I was put into a situation that I don’t wish on nobody. I got a lot of fixing to do. I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose a loved one in this kind of way. To (Munger’s) wife and his whole family I apologise. I am so sorry and I hope you are able to heal from what I caused.”
During proceedings, the court heard that Goldsby suffered abuse at the hands of his drug-dependent mother and was sometimes tethered outside like an animal. He subsequently moved through 10 separate foster placements after being rescued by social services.
His mother later re-established contact with him and they started taking drugs together. By 22, he was serving time in the intensive management unit, but was ultimately moved to Airway Heights prison, where he encountered Munger.
The Washington Department of Corrections described it as an “unfortunate and complicated incident.”
Whilst a cellmate policy ought to have prevented the two prisoners from being housed in the same cell, officials stated that “screeners had no knowledge about the connection between Goldsby and Munger when they were placed together.”