85-year-old convicted of murder incompetent for sentencing

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An 85-year-old suburban Kansas City man convicted of killing an attorney is not competent to move forward with sentencing, a judge has ruled.

David Jungerman will be committed to the Missouri Department of Mental Health, and his competency will be reevaluated in six months following the ruling on Friday, KCTV-TV reported.

Jungerman was found guilty of first-degree murder in September for the 2017 killing of 39-year-old Tom Pickert, who was shot in front of his home after he returned from walking his children to school.

A judge in November ordered that Jungerman undergo a mental competency evaluation. At a hearing Friday, experts testified they found Jungerman incompetent. His lawyers had said Jungerman has an unspecified neurocognitive disorder.

Prosecutors didn't call any witnesses but previously presented evidence from their own expert who determined Jungerman was competent for sentencing.

At trial, prosecutors said Jungerman shot Pickert because he was upset the attorney had won a $5.75 million judgment for a homeless man who Jungerman shot in 2012 because he thought the man was stealing from one of his businesses.