I haven’t forgotten about either of our co-Public Enemies No. 1 in the Kansas City area.
A year ago, I had David Jungerman, who probably killed lawyer Thomas Pickert, as Public Enemy No. 1. Now I’m giving equal status to Kylr Yust, who probably killed Kara Kopetsky and Jessica Runions.
Both of these guys have been in jail more than two years now — Jungerman in Jackson County and Yust in Cass County — and their murder cases have been inching along painfully.
Here are the latest developments…
The Yust case
The trial was scheduled to start July 27, but at a video conference Tuesday, Judge William B. Collins said he would grant a defense motion for a continuance (date to be determined), partly because previously unknown information pertaining to some other possible suspects surfaced recently.
In one instance, a VHS tape was discovered during the cleaning of a desk formerly occupied by a Belton police lieutenant. The tape contained material about someone who apparently was interviewed at some point about the Kopetsky murder. (She was killed in 2007, Runions in 2016.)
Tuesday’s hearing, which I watched via WebEx, included Yust, his three St. Louis-based public defenders and Cass County Prosecutor Ben Butler and Assistant Prosecutor Julie Tolle.
One of the people listening in, as I did, was John Runions, who must be related to Jessica.
Yust was videoed while seated in a room at the Cass County Sheriff’s Office. A couple of times before the hearing began, he waved at the camera, either to acknowledge his attorneys or indicate he could see all the other parties. He did not smile when he waved.
As soon as the hearing got underway, Judge Collins showed his frustration at the belated surfacing of new information, including the VHS tape, and also at the Sheriff’s Office failure to produce a report on prison calls various parties had had with Yust.
With the corners of his mouth often drawn up tightly, Collins, in casual attire, said…“It’s troubling. I’m asking the same questions, and we’re not getting quick answers from law enforcement agencies about these requests” for documents and reports.
“I need to find out what is exactly happening.”
Collins said that in hopes of moving the case along, he intended to appoint a retired judge as a “special master,” whose job it would be to sort through the “discovery” issues, that is, the puzzle of the VHS tape and other late-surfacing information about additional witnesses.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys wholeheartedly agreed on the importance of getting access whatever information the Belton Police Department failed, for whatever reason, to forward to the Cass County Prosecutor’s Office. The defense is entitled to see any evidence the state has, so it works both ways.
…What I am worried about is that this case might have been too complex for small-town Belton Police Department. It is the biggest case Cass County has seen in decades, and Belton PD might have been in over its head. If that’s so, it could ultimately and fatally compromise the state’s case.
It will be a tragedy if the Belton PD’s failure to consolidate and hand over information in timely fashion allows Yust to one day go free.
**
The Jungerman case
Trial was scheduled to begin last week but has been pushed back to Oct. 5.
It does not appear as muddled as the Yust case but, it, too, is bogged down in various motions.
Among them:
— A defense motion to set a bond for Jungerman so he could get out of jail while awaiting trial. This motion was filed March 20, and Judge John Torrence has not ruled. Currently, Jungerman, now 82 years old, is being held without bond, and I think the chances of Torrence setting a bond are one in a million.
— A defense motion to suppress items recovered from an Oct. 25, 2017, police traffic stop of Jungerman and subsequent statements he made while police interviewed him. (That was the day Pickert was gunned down in his front yard in Brookside.) Defense attorneys filed the motion to suppress last week, and the state has requested additional time to respond.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
On September 28, 1953 little Bobby Greenlease was abducted and murdered. On December 18, 1953 both of his killers were executed and justice was served. Today, our criminal justice system is a joke and it’s greatest victims are the families of the victims themselves drug through endless delays and appeals even when there is no question as to the guilt of the perpetrators.
So there was another suspect in the far distant past, so what? There’s a reason Yust is in jail and that person isn’t.
As for Jungerman, I wouldn’t put my money on any ruling that Torrence handed down. He’s the same weasel who sentenced the brat of a wealthy Mission Hills lawyer to 120 days in jail for killing a pedestrian in a hit-and-run case while the kid was drunk. One can only conclude that he’s one of the best judges money can buy and Jungerman has a pile of it.
I guess I shouldn’t have to point out that everything has changed a lot since 1953!
And as for Torrence, he made a big mistake on the hit-and-run case, but I’ve got full confidence in him in this case. He is moving it along as best he can, considering the pandemic has thrown a wrench in the works, and he’s not going to let this turd out in the streets between now and whenever the trial takes place.
Belton Police may not be the weak point in the prosecution of Yust. Cass County Prosecutor Ben Butler may not be up to the job, and there’s no talent behind him.
I haven’t seen much from Butler; he’s deferring to Julie Tolle, for the most part. So far, she has impressed me, as has Sharron Turlington, who did most of the talking for the defense yesterday. She’s been trying murder cases as a public defender for 23 years, and she said this is one of the most complex — “if not the most complex” — cases she has seen.
There’s surely a lot of pressure on Butler and Tolle to produce a conviction. If the defense attorneys lose, they just glide on to the next piece of business. If they win, it’s a huge feather in their cap.
Good reporting, Jim. Could you tell from the names of the other people listening in to the Yust case as to whether or not The Star had someone following the hearing?