KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A settlement agreement in the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a local attorney who was shot to death outside his Brookside home is on hold and could be in jeopardy.
The widow and parents of Tom Pickert filed a wrongful death suit against David Jungerman in Jackson County Circuit Court.
Pickert was shot and killed in the front yardof his Brookside home in 2017 after walking his kids to school.
Pickert won a $5.75 million lawsuit against Jungerman on behalf of Jeffrey Harris before the shooting. Jungerman shot and injured Harris, who was homeless at the time, outside Jungerman's business in 2012.
Pickert's wife and parents are asking for unspecified damages in the civil case.
Jungerman is also charged with murder in Pickert's death.
Court records and testimony Thursday, which included recorded conversations Jungerman had with his daughter, Angela Buesing, while he was in jail, show that Jungerman gave control of his money and assets to Buesing as part of a trust.
However, Jungerman's attorney, William Mallory, filed court documents late Wednesday, claiming Buesing didn't properly follow the trust rules.
Mallory argued as a result, Jungerman still has a stake in that trust and the lawsuit.
Rick Holtsclaw, the attorney for the Pickert Family, called the last-minute court filing, which came one day before Judge David Harrell was potentially going to approve the settlement, "bush league."
Holtclaw also said Jungerman has no standing or claim in the case, because he gave up his control of the trust to his daughter.
Harrell said that, while he's not insensitive to how torturous delays in potential settlements like this one can be on the attorneys' clients, he also said he didn't want the Pickerts to be subject to fear the settlement might be taken away later.
Harrell ordered new briefs from the attorneys in order to determine who has the right to act on behalf of the trust.
If it's determined that Buesing alone has standing, the settlement likely will move forward.
If Harrell determines Jungerman still has a stake in the trust, Jungerman could renegotiate or even scrap the proposed settlement.
A court ordered receiver is currently managing the trust to make sure assets aren't inappropriately withdrawn while the suit is pending.
Harrell briefly had Buesing put in jail for not supplying adequate information to the receiver.
Court records said that Jungerman intentionally moved assets to "hinder, delay or defraud creditors" after he lost the judgment in court to Harris.
Those same records indicate Jungerman had close to $34 million in cash assets as of Jan. 31, 2018.
Buesing also testified in court Thursday that the trust has 8,000 acres of corn and soybean farmland.
While terms of a potential settlement have not been finalized, Bernie Rhodes, an attorney representing 41 Action News as well as KCTV-TV and the Kansas City Star, argued in court Thursday that the terms of any settlement in the case should be made public.
Holtsclaw argued Thursday on behalf of the Pickert Family the settlement should be kept confidential to avoid potentially compromising the pending criminal case against Jungerman.
Holtsclaw also argued that if the settlement terms were made public, it would jeopardize Pickert's widow and two young boys, because it would present an opportunity for "people to do bad things".
"The timing of the settlement is entirely up to the parties," Rhodes said. "They're not required to settle before the criminal case, that's a decision they've made. The family is using the court to get money, which is their absolute right to. The defendants are using the court to get final settlement relief from this case. When you go to the public court, you have to go to the public knowing what's going on."
There are multiple defendants in the Pickert family's wrongful death lawsuit, but the settlement would only impact the trust and not any of the other named parties, including Jungerman individually and his businesses.
