State v. Yust
| Docket Number | WD84633 |
| Decision Date | 01 August 2023 |
| Parties | STATE OF MISSOURI, Respondent, v. KYLR CHARLES YUST, Appellant. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF CASS COUNTY, MISSOURI THE HONORABLE WILLIAM B. COLLINS, JUDGE
W Douglas Thomson, Presiding Judge, Cynthia L. Martin, Judge and Thomas N. Chapman, Judge
W DOUGLAS THOMSON, JUDGE
Kylr Yust appeals from his convictions for voluntary manslaughter and second-degree murder following the deaths of K.K.[1] and J.R. Yust was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for voluntary manslaughter and life imprisonment for second-degree murder.
Yust brings six points on appeal. First, Yust argues that the trial court erred in excluding the testimony of two witnesses, Billy Bayes and Joseph Stauch, who offered alternate perpetrator evidence as to who killed K.K. In his second and third points, Yust argues that the trial court erred in excluding both a surveillance video and testimony relating to the surveillance video that Yust argues supports another alternate perpetrator theory as to who killed both K.K. and J.R. In his fourth and sixth points, Yust argues that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of his prior bad acts, which he argues is inadmissible. Finally, in his fifth point, Yust argues that the State failed to present evidence sufficient for the jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that he knowingly killed J.R.
Finding no error, we affirm.
K.K. was a junior at Belton High School when she went missing in 2007 while dating Yust, who was 18 years old at the time. Nine years later, J.R. also went missing while dating Yust. Their bodies were discovered in the same location in the woods near Belton in April 2017 by a mushroom hunter.
On May 4, 2007, K.K. went to school, but left early and never returned home. At the time of her disappearance, Yust and K.K. had been dating for approximately nine months. Various friends described their relationship as "toxic," "bad," and "high-strung." K.K. confided in friends that Yust was abusive and she was scared of him, but she did not know how to handle his violent outbursts.
Approximately two weeks before her disappearance, K.K. spoke with a friend, Amy Clark, and stated that she intended to break it off with Yust. K.K. spoke to Yust on the phone while at Clark's house, intending to break up with him. Yust came to Clark's house to pick K.K. up. Later, K.K. returned to Clark's house with bruising around her neck and a swollen bottom lip.
On April 28, 2007, about a week later, K.K. was working at Popeyes Chicken when Yust showed up to give K.K. a gift. Yust attempted to convince K.K. to spend time with him when she got off work, but she refused because she had prior plans. When K.K. finished working, Yust was waiting for her in the parking lot. She again refused to hang out. Yust then grabbed K.K., forced her into his truck, locked the door, and drove off. Eventually, Yust dropped K.K. off. K.K. contacted the police to report the incident and was "very agitated and upset" by the incident.
The next Monday, April 30, 2007, K.K. and her mother went to the Cass County Circuit Court to seek an order of protection against Yust. In her petition for an order of protection, K.K. noted several instances of violence, including: (1) that Yust had kidnapped her on April 28, 2007; (2) that Yust had choked her a month before the report; (3) that in December 2006, Yust held a knife to K.K.'s throat and threatened to slit it; and (4) in March 2007, Yust restrained her at his home and would not let her leave. K.K. noted on the form that she felt like she was "in immediate, present danger of abuse." K.K. received an ex parte order of protection against Yust on the same day.
Yust was served with the order of protection on May 1, 2007, three days before K.K. went missing. Yust and K.K. remained in contact. On the day she went missing, May 4, 2007, Yust and K.K. texted throughout the morning, and at 9:13 a.m., K.K. called Yust. K.K. left the school at 9:19 a.m. Yust then picked K.K. up from school.
At 10:25 a.m., K.K. called Kyle Reynolds, a close friend of Yust's who was a member of the same death metal band as Yust. K.K. asked Reynolds if he wanted to hang out with her and Yust. It was unusual for K.K. to call Reynolds. Reynolds declined the offer because he had a job interview later in the morning. K.K. never made another phone call. Between 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., Yust came to Reynolds's house and was agitated. Reynolds believed at the time that Yust's actions were out of character for Yust.
K.K.'s friends became worried later in the day when they could not reach her. At approximately 5:20 p.m., Clark reported to the Belton Police Department that she could not contact K.K. and was worried. A Belton police officer attempted to contact K.K. by calling her cell phone. K.K.'s phone was never recovered.
In the following days, various police officers followed leads concerning K.K.'s disappearance, including questioning Yust. Yust voluntarily spoke with the police several times. Yust admitted that his relationship with K.K. was stressful and that he was upset that she was hanging out with other people.
The investigation into K.K.'s disappearance went cold. However, even as the case was cold, Yust confessed to at least six people that he killed K.K.
First, Yust confessed to Katelynn Farris, whom he dated when Farris was between 16 and 17 years old. Yust told Farris that he took K.K. to his apartment and she was never seen again. In 2010, Farris agreed to wear a wire for the FBI to assist in their investigation into K.K.'s disappearance. Farris spent a day with Yust recording their conversations. During those conversations, Yust told Farris that he strangled K.K. and threw her in the middle of the woods. Yust also told Farris that he panicked after killing K.K. and had to think quickly about where to dump her body. Yust also said that "if he could take anything back, [cheating on Farris] or killing [K.K.], it would be cheating on [Farris]."
In late 2009 or early 2010, Yust confessed to Nick Yeates, a friend of Yust's. During their conversation, Yust told Yeates that he had killed K.K. because she had not loved him. Yust said that he "just snapped and that something bad had happened to [K.K.]." Yeates also later agreed to wear a wire for the FBI. During his recorded conversation with Yust, Yust coached Yeates on how to handle an upcoming interview with the FBI regarding Yust's involvement in K.K.'s disappearance.
Yust also confessed to another girlfriend, C.M., in the summer of 2010. C.M. was 17 years old when she dated Yust and lived with him in Kansas City. One night, C.M. was packing her bags in their shared bedroom, prepared to leave Yust, when Yust discovered her. Yust got on top of C.M. and began choking her with both hands. While he was choking C.M., Yust said, C.M. repeatedly lost consciousness during the attack, but each time, Yust woke her up by punching her in the legs, saying "that he was not finished with [her] yet." C.M. awoke the next morning to find Yust in bed with her, telling her that he loved her "and if [she] was good, it would never happen again." Sometime later, after C.M. saw some "Find [K.K.]" posters around their shared apartment, Yust told C.M. that he was collecting the posters to place in K.K.'s parents' yard. Yust also told C.M. that "something bad happened to [K.K.]" and he "remembered dragging her through the woods and that she was heavy."
Yust also confessed to his roommate, Seth Duncan, in 2012. Yust told Duncan that he and K.K. were arguing when the argument escalated and he "choked [K.K.] out." Yust also told Duncan that after he choked K.K., he took her body to the woods. Duncan told police about Yust's confession in 2012.
In 2013, Yust confessed to Aaron Caponetto and Nicholas Kirkbride while he was staying with them for a few days. Yust came back to their house one night "very intoxicated" with a near-empty bottle of whiskey and was "extremely upset." Yust asked Caponetto if he "had ever loved somebody so much ... that [he] would rather see them dead than with somebody else." Yust then told Caponetto that he had strangled K.K. to death. Yust also told both Caponetto and Kirkbride that he would tell them the location of K.K.'s body if they worked with him on a music project that would end with Yust "blow[ing] his brains out over all the audience." Yust also threatened to kill both men if they told anyone about Yust's confession or plan. Caponetto eventually informed the police of Yust's confession after J.R. went missing.
In September 2016, 21-year-old J.R. was living with her boyfriend of almost 3-and-a-half years, Jaxxon Mallett, in Kansas City, Missouri. Mallett and Yust were close friends and J.R. knew Yust through Mallett. In early 2016, Mallett suffered a medical event that required an extended hospital stay. After Mallett was released from the hospital, he noticed that J.R. was "distant" and asked if J.R. was sleeping with Yust. J.R. admitted that they were. Mallett cut off all contact with Yust but tried to work on his relationship with J.R. Mallett and J.R. continued to live together.
J.R and Yust remained in contact even as she worked on her relationship with Mallett, and they exchanged emails, texts, and calls throughout the summer of 2016. Yust came to J.R. and Mallett's house several times late at night or early in the morning to bang on their door. Yust's behavior concerned Mallett, who sent Yust an email...
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