Presiding Judge William Collins ruled Tuesday that the last 10 years of a Kansas City police officer’s phone records be examined to determine whether he communicated with witnesses and if that communication had influence in the prosecution of Kylr Yust, the accused killer of Kara Kopetsky and Jessica Runions.
The defense team, headed by Sharon Turlington, a public defender from St. Louis, filed a motion last week requesting forensic analysis of Joshua Meierer’s cell phone. Meierer is a police officer in Kansas City and is rumored to have a sexual relationship with Jaime Runions, the mother of Jessica.
In addition, Meierer is suspected of conducting an “off the books” investigation of the murders, even though the Belton Police Department had warned him to stay away from the Kopetsky case and KCMO police have no record of him being involved in the Runions investigation.
Yust, 32 of Kansas City, has been in the Cass County Jail since October of 2017 with a $1 million, cash only, bond.
A case review is next slated for Aug. 17 at 2:30 p.m. in the Cass County Justice Center.
Kopetsky was 17 when she was last seen alive at 9:19 a.m. May 4, 2007, on Belton High School surveillance footage. Runions was last seen alive Sept 8, 2016, when she and Yust were seen leaving a party in Grandview.