Mike Deak, and Suzanne Russell

Courier News and Home Tribune

RARITAN BOROUGH - Richard P. Schubach, the borough attorney who was charged Friday with criminal sexual contact with an undercover police officer, died Tuesday morning of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Richard B. Schubach, 58, of Stockton, was found at about 7:35 a.m. in his personal vehicle parked outside an office complex adjacent to Schubach’s law office on Route 202.

Schubach had an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to his chest, Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey Soriano said.

Schubach was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:05 a.m. by EMTs from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset in Somerville.

Schubach was transported to the New Jersey Northern Medical Examiner’s Office, where a postmortem examination will be conducted.

Schubach was arrested Friday and charged with three counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact hours after inappropriately touching an undercover Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office agent against her will, according to a news release from the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office.

Cop says Raritan lawyer undressed her, kissed breast

The door was locked to Schubach's second-floor law office at the Centre of Raritan office complex at 1124 Route 202, Raritan, on Tuesday afternoon. A piece of mail about estate planning was placed at the bottom of the door.

Employees at several nearby public accounting and financial services offices declined comment. One worker in a nearby office said she thought Schubach worked alone, without a receptionist or secretary, but did not know how busy his law practice was. He is believed to have practiced law at the Centre of Raritan location for at least eight years.

Schubach's vehicle was apparently found in the parking lot of the Raritan Office Park nearby at 1130 Route 202, Raritan, where attorney Marco Benucci's office is located.

Benucci, who has been practicing law for 22 years, said he knew Schubach as a professional acquaintance.

"Professionally, he was a nice guy," he said. "I never had any issues with him. He was always very pleasant."

Benucci said he had known Schubach about 15 years from being in court and attending Somerset County Bar Association meetings.

"We spoke quite often, whenever I saw him in court," he said.

Benucci said he saw Schubach last Thursday in Hillsborough Municipal Court, the day before Schubach was arrested and charged with criminal sexual contact. Benucci said the two men greeted each other and shook hands.

Benucci said Schubach did a lot of municipal court work, mostly criminal cases, but didn't know specifically what kind of criminal matters.

As Benucci arrived at work around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, he spotted several police cars around a gray BMW.

"I couldn't park," he said, adding that he thought something unusual had happened because of the large police presence. "It was serious because there were three or four police cars and officers around this vehicle."

He later saw a body, covered with a cloth, being removed from the vehicle, but didn't know who it was until he received a call that Schubach had apparently killed himself inside the vehicle.

He said it's a shock because it's someone he knew and would see in court.

"He wasn't a friend, but a professional acquaintance. Always pleasant," he said.

Lessie Araya, of the Somerset section of Franklin, said she was saddened by the news of Schubach's death.

"We got the news right after it happened from people who live in the area," she said. "Raritan's a small town; everybody knows everybody."

She said her daughter, Danielle Morgan, formerly worked for TD Bank in Raritan, where Schubach was a customer. The bank on East Somerset Street is about a 10-minute drive from his law office, she said.

"This guy had a heart of gold," said Araya, adding that Schubach answered her daughter's legal questions and helped out with legal matters. "He never asked anyone for a dime."

Araya said Schubach always treated her daughter with the utmost respect, including when they were alone in his office. She said her daughter would call him on an as-needed basis and last talked to him in 2012.

"Whatever she needed, he took care of," Araya said.

She described Schubach as quick-witted and always a pleasure to speak with, and she questions the charges filed against him.

Araya said his death is heartbreaking. She prays for his family, especially his two children — a girl and a boy. Araya said she met Schubach with his son one day at the bank.

"He idolized his babies," Araya said. "I can't imagine what his family is going through."

Schubach formerly served as the PTA president at St. Ann School in Raritan, where his children went to school. His widow, Diane, is the chief financial officer in Branchburg, officials said.

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Staff Writer Mike Deak: 908-243-6607; mdeak@mycentraljersey.com

Staff Writer Suzanne Russell: 732-565-7335; srussell@mycentraljersey.com