Charged Friday with three counts of criminal sexual contact, attorney Richard P. Schubach, with an office in Raritan Borough, was found dead Tuesday morning, apparently a suicide victim.
At about 6:51 a.m. Tuesday the Raritan Borough Police Department responded to a welfare request regarding Mr. Schubach, who was thought to have been at his law office at 1124 Route 202.
At 7:35 a.m., officers located Mr. Schubach in his personal vehicle parked outside an office complex adjacent to Mr. Schubach’s law office. The prosecutor’s office said Mr. Schubach was unresponsive “with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to his chest,” according to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.
On Jan. 29, detectives arrested Mr. Schubach, 58, of Delaware Township, Hunterdon County, one day after his meeting with an undercover detective investigating a citizen’s allegation that Mr. Schubach offered some of his female clients a reduced price for his legal fees in exchange for sexual favors.
The undercover detective’s cover story was that she was facing criminal charges. Mr. Schubach allegedly requested that she return to his office the next day with further documentation about her criminal matter. Prior to leaving this initial meeting, Mr. Schubach asked the undercover detective to wear something “pretty” for their next meeting.
On Friday, the detective and Mr. Schubach met again at his law office for their arranged meeting. The prosecutor’s press release said that, as the detective was seated in a chair, “Mr. Schubach approached her and without permission or prompting, placed his hand into/under the undercover detective’s blouse and began fondling her breast. After briefly stepping away he, again, approached her and placed his hand into/under her blouse and onto her breast a second time.” During the meeting Mr. Schubach also allegedly placed his hand on the inner thigh of the detective.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the undercover detective stood up and told Mr. Schubach “I don’t like this” and tried to leave his office. Mr. Schubach asked her to “hold on” before she opened the door to exit his law office.
According to the prosecutor, “He approached her by the exit door, and he proceeded to expose her right breast and place his mouth onto her breast. Before she exited the building he instructed her to turn around to face him while he proceeded to lift up her skirt.”
Detectives arrested Mr. Schubach on Friday. Superior Court Judge Robert Reed, set bail at $2,500 with an option to post 10 percent in cash. After posting bail, Mr. Schubach was released.
Prosecutor office’s Major Crimes detectives responded to Tuesday’s scene to assist Raritan Borough police. Mr. Schubach was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:05 a.m. by EMTs from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset.
Mr. Schubach was transported to the New Jersey Northern Medical Examiner’s Office, where a post-mortem examination will be conducted.
