Defense lawyer in Kylr Yust murder case says KCPD officer had sex with witness
A defense attorney for a man accused of killing two women in Cass County says a Kansas City police officer had a sexual relationship with a witness in the case and conducted his own unofficial investigation before being asked to stop.
The allegations concern the case of Kylr Yust, who is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Kara Kopetsky and Jessica Runions.
Kopetsky was reported missing in May 2007; Runions was last seen alive in September 2016. Their remains were found in April 2017 after a mushroom hunter found bones in a wooded area south of Belton. Yust was charged in October 2017.
Defense attorney Sharon Turlington said reports provided by law enforcement agencies during the discovery phase of the prosecution indicate a Kansas City police officer had sex with a witness. The reports indicated the officer was also not authorized to be conducting the investigation and was asked to stop because there were concerns that the official investigation could be compromised.
“The defense has serious concerns regarding the integrity of the evidence in this case,” Turlington said in a statement. “There are documented instances of this officer giving witnesses false information, failing to write reports and ignoring proper procedures which are designed to ensure an unbiased and truthful search for evidence.
“The fact that this officer also had sexual relations with a witness Is additional reason to question the reliability of any evidence and statements that were obtained by this officer.”
Sgt. Jake Becchina, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department, said officials are confident there have not been any criminal violations by the officer.
“If that changes, we would of course conduct an internal investigation,” Becchina said.
A Cass County judge has ordered the officer’s phone records be analyzed.
Other questions have surfaced in the case, including reports found in an old desk at the Belton Police Department that contained information about an alternate suspect.
In charging documents, prosecutors said that Yust had long been suspected in Kopetsky’s death. He had allegedly confessed to at least four people that he choked Kopetsky until she stopped breathing.
