Day 4 of Jungerman trial suspended because of possible COVID exposure

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The fourth day of the murder trial against the Kansas City man accused of killing a prominent local attorney in broad daylight outside of his Brookside home was suspended Friday morning because of a possible COVID exposure.

Jungerman is charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action for the fatal Oct. 2017 shooting of Kansas City attorney Tom Pickert.

Pickert was killed on Oct. 25, 2017, at 8:07 a.m. outside of his family’s home. Pickert had just walked his two young sons to school with the family dog. His wife, Emily Riegel, described hearing a gunshot or gunshots while getting ready for work inside the home. She ran outside and found someone had fatally shot her husband of 16 years that day. “I was screaming for help,” Riegel said. “Screaming to stop the van.”

She told jurors she saw someone in a white van pull a dark mask over their face and drive away from the crime scene. A neighbor said he saw an older man with thinning white or gray hair near a white van before the shooting. At the time of the homicide, Jungerman was 79 years old.

Prosecutors told jurors they will prove it was Jungerman’s van seen at the crime scene. His defense team argued they will prove it was not. “The van they show is not my client’s,” attorney for the defendant Daniel Ross told jurors.

Jurors this week have heard audio recordings and video of Jungerman during the investigation into Pickert’s death. Click here to read more details on that, and our previous coverage.