JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC

The first bullet missed Thomas Pickert.

Talking on his cell phone, Pickert apparently didn’t know he’d been fired at. Momentary confusion and uncertainty followed.

Then came a second shot. It struck its mark.

Pickert fell down on the sidewalk in front of his home. When his wife got to him moments later, the 39-year-old lawyer was dead, and a white van was leaving the scene, headed west on 66th Terrace. It turned north on either Brookside Road or Wornall.

…Those details, previously unreported, as far as I know, are contained in a search warrant issued on Oct. 25, the day of the murder.

Jungerman

The search warrant — a public record I obtained from the Jackson County Circuit Court yesterday — reveals significant circumstantial evidence pointing toward 79-year-old David Jungerman as the possible shooter.

As straightforward and dry as they customarily are, police and criminal-case records often tell a dramatic story of how a crime occurred and who may have perpetrated it. This is a classic example.

But before the details, a bit of background. Pickert had represented a man who won a $5.75 million civil judgment against Jungerman in July. Pickert represented a homeless man whom Jungerman had shot after discovering him and another man in a building Jungerman owns.

The day before Pickert was murdered, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department had served Jungerman with notice that the court was beginning the process of seizing property he owns in Jackson County, as well as Vernon and Bates counties in southwest Missouri.

Although Jungerman had appealed the judgment, he apparently was not able to post a bond (the amount of which was probably quite large) that would “stay” execution of the judgment.

Kansas City police quickly homed in on Jungerman as someone they wanted to talk to about the murder. One thing that aroused their interest was that after the verdict was announced, “Jungerman had an outburst in the courtroom where he cursed and yelled…at court personnel, including the victim.”

Another incriminating fact: A records check showed Jungerman owned a white van.

At 11:03 p.m. Oct. 25 — 15 hours after the murder — KCPD Det. Bonita Cannon filed a warrant application to search a white 1997 Chevrolet Express — its license number listed in the warrant application — believed to be owned by Jungerman. Detective Cannon wrote that the van was thought to be located on the premises of a home in the 9200 block of East 60th Terrace in Raytown.

At 11:04 p.m. Oct. 25 — a minute after the application was filed with the Jackson County Circuit Court — a judge signed the warrant application.The warrant was executed either that night or the next day. Police apparently seized and searched the vehicle and also questioned Jungerman. They did not arrest him, and they have not identified him as a suspect.

A generic 1997 Chevrolet Express van.

Now, back to the warrant itself…

Police took statements from two people at or near the murder scene. (The warrant does not identify either by name.)

“Witness #1 stated he observed a white van, with no windows on the driver side other than driver door, east on 67th Street, turn north on Linden (Road)…He stated the vehicle was parked for a few minutes, saw an older, gray haired, white male standing near the back side of the van, before getting into the driver’s seat. The older white male drove west on 66th Terrace and park (stet) ahead of a blue truck, on the north side of the street on 66th Terrace, across from the dispatch address.”

Here’s what the warrant says regarding the second witness, apparently Pickert’s wife, Emily Riegel, a physician with the University of Kansas Health System.

“Witness #2 stated she was inside the residence at the dispatched address when she heard a loud noise. When she looked out the window, she observed the victim standing on the sidewalk in front of the residence, talking on his cell phone. She asked if he knew what the sound was, he replied, “No.” Witness #2 stated she told the victim to come inside of the house, as she moved back into the bedroom. Witness #2 stated she heard a second loud noise. When she looked back out the window, she could no longer see the victim but did observe a white snub nosed van, on the north side of the street on 66th Terrace, facing west bound with no windows on (the) side, leaving the scene westbound on West 66th Terrace. She believed the vehicle then went north on either Wornall Road or Brookside Road.”

Thomas Pickert was fatally shot in this block of 66th Terrace, just east of Brookside Road. (Brookside Road should not be confused with Brookside Boulevard, which runs from 49th Street to a block south of 63rd Street. This shot is looking east.)

**

The warrant does not indicate if either witness got a close enough look at the van driver to identify him. Also, it does not indicate if the first witness got the license plate number or if police got that from state vehicle registration records. What the warrant says on those two points is: “Jungerman fits the description from the witness at the scene and his vehicle fits the description provided by both witnesses.”

Police wanted to process the van, the warrant says, “for bullet fragment, firearms, ammunition, spent shell casings, photographs, DNA, trace evidence to include but not limited to blood, hair fibers, fingerprints and other microscopic evidence.”

Now, fast forward to Thursday, Nov. 1, two days ago. Detective Cannon filed an “officer’s return” document with the Circuit Court reporting the basic results of the vehicle search.

In cursive, she wrote on the one-page return what police recovered from the van and what they did to extract possible evidence. Here’s an image of that page…

The application for the search warrant, the signed warrant and the “officer’s return” are the only public documents that have been filed in the case, as far as I know.

**

Here is some information about Jungerman that helps with context.

:: In court records from numerous civil cases he has been involved in, Jungerman listed his address as 6000 Elm Avenue, Raytown. That, however, is a vacant lot adjacent to Elm Lake, which is more like a large pond. As I noted above, police listed an address for Jungerman on East 60th Terrace. The house is a long stone’s throw from the vacant lot.

Here is a screen shot of the intersection of East 60th Terrace and Elm Avenue.

:: For many years, Jungerman has owned a company that manufactures baby high chairs, which are sold through distributors. The name of the company is Baby Tenda Corp., also known as Babee Tenda. I believe the homeless man who won the big judgment last summer was shot in the building that houses Baby Tenda. Jungerman shot the man, and possibly another man, after finding them on his property in 2012. The man who won the $5.75 million jury award had to have a leg amputated as a result of his injuries.

The building that houses the Baby Tenda company is at 123 S. Belmont Blvd. in northeast Kansas City (below). The business appeared to be operating as recently as a few days ago, when I drove by.

:: Jungerman has been through two divorces in Jackson County in recent years. Court records show he married a woman in October 2012 and that a dissolution was granted in July 2014. The woman’s age is not listed, and they had no children.

He married again three months later, in October 2014. A motion for dissolution was filed in August 2015, and a dissolution was granted in December 2015. The woman’s year of birth was listed as 1957, which would make her almost 20 years younger than Jungerman, who was born in 1938. They had no children.

A 2010 blog post I found in researching Jungerman referenced a daughter, which leads me to believe he has had at least one other marriage in his lifetime.

…The fellow appears to cover a lot of ground and leave a rough wake.