Judge Says Lawyer Brookside’s Killer Is Incompetent And Sent To Psychiatric Hospital

On Friday, a Jackson County judge ruled that David G. Jungerman, found guilty of killing a Brookside lawyer, cannot be sentenced and will be transferred to the Missouri Department of Mental Health.

Jungerman, an 85-year-old millionaire, was convicted last year of first-degree murder and armed crime on October 25, 2017, by shooting Tom Pickert, who had just returned home after walking his sons to school.

District Court Judge John M. Torrance said Jungerman was not competent to pass judgment because he would have been asked to answer a series of questions.

Yungerman will be sent to a state psychiatric institution with “the hope that someday he will regain his capacity. I don’t think there is any other choice,” Torrens said.

Prior to Friday’s hearing, Torrens ordered a psychological evaluation of Jungerman. According to Torrens, four separate experts from the state mental health department determined that Yungerman suffered from an unspecified neurocognitive disorder.

Jungerman’s competence will be reviewed in six months. At that time, it will be determined whether a sentence can then be handed down.

Sentencing was originally set for November 18, but the hearing was delayed as his lawyers raised concerns about his legal capacity. Under Missouri law, a first-degree murder conviction carries a minimum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

After the hearing, defense attorney Dan Ross said that “the judge was following the law. The facts are what they are, and the law is what it is.”

Ross had previously stated that Jungerman lacked the ability to understand the legal proceedings against him or assist in his own defense. But during the trial he was recognized as capable.

Jackson County Chief Deputy Attorney Dion Sankar said the verdict should have been handed down because Jungerman didn’t need to assist his lawyers.

During a criminal trial that lasted nearly two weeks, prosecutors said Jungerman shot Pickert because of a $5.75 million judgment Pickert won against Jungerman in a civil suit.

Pickert represented a homeless man whom Jungerman shot dead in 2012 because he thought the man was stealing copper from Jungerman’s Kansas City children’s furniture business.

Prosecutors played audio recordings of Yüngermann’s confession that he had shot Pickert. Jungerman joked with Leo Wynn, one of his employees, about the shooting.

In the recording, Jungerman told Wynn: “When I think about it, I smile. This (expletive) has given me a lot of trouble, Leo.”

But Ross said prosecutors and police settled on Yungerman as a suspect based on a perceived motive and did not seriously look for other suspects. Ross said that Kansas City homicide detectives falsified evidence, including CCTV footage, that didn’t fit their motives, narrative, or timeline.

Jüngerman became a murder suspect hours after the shooting due to his association with Pickert. However, the murder remained unsolved for several months.

The KCPD once stated that Jüngerman, who was the focus of the media, was not a suspect.

A week before the shooting, Jackson County court officials began a process to seize Jungerman’s estate to pay a $5.75 million judgment. The court filed paperwork that prevented Jungerman from selling or transferring the property.

Prosecutors said Jungerman shot Pickert with a 17-gauge firearm commonly used by farmers and ranchers to kill pests.

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