The brother of Charles Adair, who prosecutors say was killed in the Wyandotte County Jail when a sheriff’s deputy knelt on his back, says the deputy’s treatment shows the county’s “two-tiered justice system.”
Richard Fatherley, 32, is charged with second-degree murder and, in the alternative, involuntary manslaughter in the July 5 death of Adair, 50, which was ruled a homicide by mechanical asphyxiation. While trying to restrain him, Fatherley knelt on Adair’s back for 1 minute and 26 seconds, according to police documents.
Fatherley, who is free awaiting trial, on Tuesday faced his first hearing, which was held on Zoom. His attorney, James Spies, had no comment.
Anthony Adair, Charles’ brother, said Fatherley’s treatment is similar to that of disgraced Kansas City, Kansas, Police Detective Roger Golubski, who was on home detention after being charged with federal crimes. Golubski killed himself on the day his trial was to begin on violating the civil rights of several women…