Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RICHARD JENKINS
Hurley — One of the two defendants accused of bombing a Kimball, Wisconsin asphalt plant in 2015 will have his competency to stand trial examined following a judge’s ruling Monday — two months after a competency exam was ordered in a separate case.
Judge Gary Carlson ordered a competency exam for Robert “Barrel Bob” Gollubske, 82, who is facing two counts of being a party to the crime of using explosives to damage property in connection to several explosions at Mathy Construction’s Northwoods Paving asphalt plant off U.S. 2 in the town of Kimball on the morning of July 4, 2015.
Carlson is hearing the case following Judge Patrick Madden’s death earlier this month.
Gollubske’s son, Matthew Allen Gollubske, 38, is also charged with two counts of being a party to the crime of using explosives to damage property in connection to the 2015 blasts.
In two other cases, Price County Judge Kevin Klein found Robert Gollubske not competent to stand trial July 11. Klein was appointed to hear those two cases in November.
In one case, he is charged with two counts of making threats to commit injury and one count of making terroristic threats. In that case, Gollubske is charged with threatening to blow up both the Iron County Courthouse in Hurley in 2013 and the Mathy Construction asphalt plant in Kimball in 2016. The courthouse threat count was refiled after having been previously dismissed.
In a separate case, Gollubske is charged with making terroristic threats and disorderly conduct. These charges stem from an August 2018 incident at the Marshfield Clinic in Mercer. In this case, Gollubske allegedly said, “I can blow this place up and get away with it,” after getting upset at being denied an appointment, according to a probable cause statement in the case.
“The doctor opines that based upon the current evaluation … the defendant, Robert Gollubske, is presently rendered to lack substantial mental capacity to factually and rationally understand the proceedings or be of assistance in his defense and that he is not competent to proceed,” Klein said during the July 11 competency hearing.
The information presented at that hearing indicates the nature of Gollubske’s disorder makes it unlikely he will improve enough for the criminal cases to resume.
“Although it’s possible treatment will slow the progression of Mr. Gollubske’s cognitive decline, the nature of a neurocognitive disorder is progressive. Consequently, it is unlikely he would improve enough to be restored to competency” Klein said, reading from the report.
A competency hearing is expected to be scheduled in the asphalt bombing case once the report is completed.
In the bombing case, Gollubske is represented by Frederick Bourg. He is represented by Stephen Zuber in the other two cases.