KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Attorneys for accused double murderer Kylr Yust filed a motion this week asking for a delay in his trial, arguing the COVID-19 pandemic has "seriously hampered" their ability to provide counsel and interview potential witnesses.
In the motion, filed in Cass County on Tuesday, Yust’s St. Louis-based attorneys say they have been under stay-at-home orders for more than two months. On March 16, they were advised to self-quarantine after a co-worker was tested for the virus, according to the filing.
In addition to complications caused by the pandemic, his lawyers also argue they did not receive a police report regarding a witness who came forward in 2013 to provide information on another suspect, whose vehicle was later searched by the FBI, until January 2020. The reports were only found when the Belton Police Department cleaned out an old desk and contacted the prosecution, according to the filing.
"The police failed to fully investigate the information provided and never even attempted to interview the suspect and other witnesses named in the reports," the filing says.
Also while cleaning out the desk, police found a “previously undisclosed and undocumented recording of a suspect who had confessed to multiple witnesses that he had killed Kara Kopetsky,” according to the filing. Yust’s lawyers say they received that video recording in April.
In the filing, Yust's lawyers say they have contacted those witnesses, some of whom live out of state, but they have not completed that part of their investigation. They also are still working to contact "numerous witnesses" who say they saw Kopetsky after she went missing on May 4, 2007, according to the filing.
The defense also argues that if Yust’s trial proceeds in late July as scheduled, social distancing rules and mask requirements will infringe upon his right to a fair trial.
The lawyers also filed a second motion this week, requesting that Yust’s indictment be dismissed because of a violation of confidential communications. According to the filing, his lawyers were informed that a least two staff members at the Cass County Jail had listened to calls between Yust and his attorneys.
“It is clear from the record the Cass County Sheriff’s Office has failed to provide the ability for counsel to speak with Mr. Yust in a private and confidential manner,” the filing reads. “This violation of Mr. Yust’s constitutional and statutory rights is more egregious because numerous jail staff are endorsed witnesses for the State.”
Yust faces two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of abandoning a corpse in connection with the deaths of Kopetsky, 17, and Jessica Runions, 21. Kopetsky went missing in 2007, and Runions disappeared nearly 10 years later in 2016. Their remains were found near each other in rural Cass County in 2017.
Late last year, a judge set jury selection in his trial to begin July 22.
A hearing on both motions is set for 9 a.m. Tuesday in Cass County.
