In the hit TV Show, “The First 48,” viewers are told that the first 48 hours after a murder are the most critical in the resolution of the case, but more than 48 hours have gone by in the murder of Kansas City lawyer Tom Pickert, and the public remains in the dark.
Tom Pickert, a trial lawyer with the firm Fowler Pickert Eisenmenger LLC in Kansas City, was shot Wednesday morning while sitting on his front porch in Kansas City’s Brookside neighborhood. He had just returned from walking his two sons to school.
According to KMBC 9 News, the reported owner of a white van spotted fleeing the scene belongs to one David Jungerman.
Trial lawyer Pickert and colleague Ryan Fowler litigated a recent civil case that resulted in a $5.75 million judgment against Jungerman, and the firm was in the process of selling off Jungerman’s property to pay the judgment. The fact that Jungerman had shown a past willingness to brandish weapons made him seem the obvious suspect.
A physician who testified in Jungerman’s civil case certainly thought so. “It’s pretty obvious who shot Mr. Pickert,” the physician told the Kansas City Star. “A gun-wielding wacko with multiple gun charges to his credit who had no qualms about shooting intruders or threatening people with a gun.”
As of Saturday, however, the messages coming to the public through the media are decidedly mixed. Major Donna Greenwall told Fox 4 that police have interviewed the registered owner of the van reported at the scene, and he was released after questioning.
Late Friday, the Kansas City Star reported as follows: “Police spoke with the van’s owner but did not arrest him. The van owner has not been identified as a person of interest in the shooting. On Friday, police said the case remained open and their investigation was ongoing. Police have not released any suspect information.”
Those immediately involved in the case–including the physician cited above and Pickert’s partners–seem to know no more than the public. Understandably, they are living their lives in the shadows until an arrest is made.
