Before driving to Nevada, MO, yesterday for a hearing in an attempted burglary case involving David Jungerman, whom police have questioned in the slaying to lawyer Thomas Pickert, I had not decided if I would try to talk to Jungerman. I thought I’d just see what unfolded.
Moments after I arrived at the Vernon County Courthouse, things did, indeed, begin unfolding.
I was about 15 minutes early, and as I waited for the elevator, two men — one of whom I immediately recognized as Jungerman — entered the courthouse and approached the elevator.
I held the elevator door to give them time to get on, and after the door closed, I turned to the elderly, white-haired man standing next to me and said, “Mr. Jungerman, right?”
He leaned back slightly, looked at me and said: “Yes…Remind me…My mind’s not so good.”
“I’m Jim Fitzpatrick,” I said. “I’m a blogger from Kansas City, and I’ve been writing about the case.”
Small talk continued until we got off the elevator. Then, standing outside the only courtroom in the building, Jungerman turned to me and said, “What’s a blog?”
**
Pickert
Thus began a new chapter, at least for me, in the tragic, unsolved murder of Pickert, 39, who last summer had represented a client who won a $5.75 million civil verdict against Jungerman.
While talking on his cell phone and standing in the front yard of his Brookside home, Pickert was gunned down — probably with a rifle and probably from a vehicle — by a person described in a police document as “an older, gray-haired, white male” driving a white van.
…Where Jungerman was curious about the nature of a blog, I was interested in asking him what he knew about Pickert’s murder. So, at one point, I put it to him straight:
“Did you kill him?”
After the slightest of hesitations, he replied: “My attorney has told me not to answer any questions, so I’m not going to say I did, and I’m not going to say I didn’t.”
**
Pickert’s murder was not a random event. Police immediately zeroed in on Jungerman because of the $5.75 million damage case, in which Jungerman had shot and seriously injured a man who was trespassing on property Jungerman owns in northeast Kansas City.
Jungerman
The victim, a homeless man named Jeffery Harris, was, indeed, on Jungerman’s property but was not threatening him in any way. Jungerman actually ambushed Harris and another man, shooting them from inside a building he owns while Harris and the other man stood outside on a loading dock.
During a five-day trial, Jungerman represented himself and, consequently, had frequent interaction with Pickert. After the jury verdict had been read — and after the judge and jury had left the room — Jungerman, according to police, directed an “angry outburst” at Pickert and others remaining in the courtroom. (For his part, Jungerman says there was no angry outburst.)
The civil case, combined with the white van being driven by the “older, gray haired, white male” may be the most incriminating evidence authorities have relating to Jungerman.
With the Pickert case seemingly in limbo, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office has been in contact with the Vernon County Prosecutor’s Office regarding the attempted burglary case, which is now scheduled to go to trial on Tuesday, April 3.
**
Yesterday’s hearing pertained to motions in that case, where Jungerman allegedly kicked at the door of a tenant’s home outside Nevada in June 2016 and demanded, “When are you getting out of here, you mother fucker?”
Jungerman had a .40 caliber Glock, semi-automatic handgun in his waistband, and witnesses said he had his hand on it part of the time he was at the house.
After arriving at the scene, a Vernon County deputy sheriff found the handgun, loaded with 10 hollow-point bullets, in the console of Jungerman’s vehicle.
One possible problem for the prosecution is that Jungerman was initially charged with straight-out burglary for allegedly “kicking in” the tenant’s door, but the charge was later lowered to attempted burglary, with amended wording alleging Jungerman only kicked the door.
If Jungerman had the good sense to hire an attorney — he is a multi-millionaire and could easily afford one — the attorney probably would be able to exploit the ambiguity. Jungerman, on the other hand, will be at a disadvantage, with his limited courtroom experience and lack of legal training.
Should a jury convict him, he could be sentenced to as much as seven years in prison. If convicted, however, he probably would have the means to post even a large bond and remain free while appealing the case.
**
I ended my afternoon in Nevada the same way I started — in conversation with Jungerman. After the hearing we spoke for 10 to 15 minutes outside the courtroom and then for about another 15 minutes outside the courthouse, while making our way to our vehicles.
The conversation was wide ranging. He spoke, among other things, about his libertarian philosophy, his knee replacements and his antipathy for Israel. “I’m not anti-Semitic,” he declared, “I’m anti-Israel.”
And at one point he complained that a radio talk-show host and some Kansas City TV reporters had trashed him in their reporting on the Pickert case.
Looking squarely at him, I said, “So have I.”
“Have you been killing me?” he said, returning my direct gaze.
“Yes,” I replied.
…And so it went, Day 1 of my association with David Jungerman.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
I am pleased that you avoided the technique of aiming a camera or microphone, and yelling your question at him!
Welcome to the Comments Dept., William…As you may know, I’ve had this story mostly to myself, so there were no other reporters or bloggers at the courthouse yesterday. I like having the “playing field” to myself…
I did ask Jungerman if I could take his picture (would have used my phone). At first he agreed but in the end declined.
Chilling. Stay safe. Unlike the father of the two children he so callously murdered in cold blood. Unbelievable reporting. Thank you.
Thanks for the compliment, Liselotte.
Jungerman shot four people — two each on separate trespassing occasions — before Pickert was murdered. He told me yesterday he strongly believes in the so-called “castle doctrine,” which he described this way: “You come in my house, I’m going to blow your ass away.”
That said — and as unpredictable as he has shown himself to be — I really don’t think he’s going to be shooting anyone else in the near future.
Good Lord, Jim…The world is nuts, be careful.
Needn’t worry, Lisa…We’ll be having lunch again as soon as you’ve recovered sufficiently from your knee surgery.
Sounds good. I’m walking, albeit slowly and not far, on my own! Heading to FL tomorrow for a few days, then Marissa & Theo will be back for 2 weeks! Let’s shoot for early February to catch up. Stay warm.
Why do you and the Kansas City star refer to the man who was shot in the leg by Mr. Jungerman as a “homeless man.” Just curious.
As I understand it, Cecil, he lived on the streets. I believe (but don’t have the full transcript to back it up) he said he and the other guy were looking for a place to sleep when they were on Jungerman’s property that night.
They tripped an alarm, and Jungerman drove down there from his home in Raytown, not bothering to call the cops, to deal with the trespassers as he saw fit.
So, do you think he did it?
I sure do — and thanks for the comment, Blake.
I think luck was with him the morning of Oct. 25. Police spoke to a witness who saw “an older, gray-haired, white male” in or near the white van that morning. Unfortunately, I don’t think the witness — might have been a neighbor — got a good enough look at the perp to i.d. him.
In the wake of an email from a friend of Tom Pickert, I corrected my preceding comment regarding what two witnesses told police. Specifically, the search-warrant application indicates that Pickert’s widow, Dr. Emily Riegel, saw the van but not the “older, gray-haired, white male.”
The search warrant application, a public document, says that only one of the two witnesses referred to in the warrant — perhaps a neighbor — actually saw the van driver. It says Dr. Riegel saw the van driving away, but it does not say she if she got a good look at the driver or could describe him.
That first witness was more specific. He told police he saw “an older, gray-haired, white male” standing near the back side of a white van on an adjacent street, Linden Road. The gray-haired man then got into the driver’s seat and turned onto West 66th Terrace and parked on the north side of the street, across from Pickert’s home. (From the north side of the street, he could have fired straight out of the driver’s side window, across 66th Terrace, and toward Pickert.) The search warrant does not say if the witness saw or heard shots being fired.
As for Dr. Riegel, the warrant says she heard two loud noises while inside the house. After the second loud noise, she went outside and found her husband on the ground. She saw a white snub-nosed van on the north side of 66th Terrace, facing westbound, pull away and turn north on either Wornall Road or Brookside Road.
(Brookside Road is a narrower extension of better-known Brookside Boulevard, which ends at Meyer Boulevard.)
Too bad The Star isn’t doing reporting like this. A fantastic act of journalism, Fitz. Loved reading every word.
I was down by the HyVee on Shawnee Mission last night and the cops had the parking lot to an apartment complex blocked off and all streets leading up to the apartment complex blocked off and yet not one news source in KC has a story on it. We are so hurting for local news coverage.
Thanks, John.
Jim, you have a lot more balls than I do. Me, I’d rather trash this guy from afar. But more power to you, and I hope you continue on the trail. Be safe! Varmints that are cornered can do desperate things, though you could be right about him awakening to his situation. He might be paying big bucks by now to a lawyer who is pleading with him to cool his behavior. Or maybe the police have threatened him enough to put a lid on his aggression. We can only hope.
John, I think you are so right about local news coverage. This is my principal beef about news reporting in the KC metro. It sucks, to put it mildly.
I’m almost certain I read about it on-line last night, and very sure I did this morning — 63rd & Cottonwood, right?
Jim: good grief. You scare the heck out of me. Know I would not want to take the chance of that looneytune knowing who I was. That’s quite the chutzpah you have there!
Gayle, I was only able to find a reference to it just a short while ago by doing a search on news.google.com. Even then, the “reporting” basically regurgitated the Shawnee PD’s press release. There was no original content. Anyone in this thread could have published the same story from the comfort of their home.
Thanks, Bob and Gayle…Jungerman said he thinks the cops have bugged his house, and I hope he’s right.
And regarding sticking my neck out, you understand, don’t you, that newsrooms are full of obsessive-compulsive personalities?
You sell yourself short here. Even severe OCs get scared off sometimes.
Just as long as you don’t have a death wish …
Having established a “rapport,” of sorts, with Jungerman, I am less concerned than I was several weeks ago, when I started hammering him in print.