New document reveals altercation between Kirk Blunck, man charged in the architect's death

Kirk Blunck texted his wife "911" shortly before he took a fatal fall down the stairs of the Teachout Building in Des Moines' East Village, according to new details released nearly seven years after his death.

Police arrested and charged Zachary Allen Gaskill, 32, last week with second-degree murder in the death of the prominent Des Moines architect. Blunck was found severely injured in the stairwell of 500 E. Locust St., where he had an office, on Jan. 24, 2016.

He died shortly after from what the Polk County Medical Examiner ruled to be blunt force trauma due to a fall from height.

A newly released criminal complaint alleges on that day, Gaskill attempted to enter a locked room on the sixth floor of the building to which he did not have access. He allegedly made contact with Blunck at 4:11 p.m., shortly before Blunck texted his wife, "indicating a serious situation was occurring," the complaint says.

Blunck was found a few minutes later in the stairwell, suffering from injuries that would prove to be fatal.

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The complaint alleges a witness stopped to help Blunck after he fell. Gaskill allegedly passed them in the hallway and "claimed the victim assaulted him, gave a false name, made no effort to assist, and then fled the scene," the complaint said.

Police released surveillance footage of Gaskill and another person a few days later. He came forward, but police allege he lied to them about why he was in the building that afternoon.

Gaskill originally told police he entered the sixth floor of the Teachout Building to use the restroom after he could not find one in the Up-Down bar, which is located in the basement. He claimed he ran into Blunck behind a locked door on the sixth floor, which led to a "verbal exchange" in which Blunck accused Gaskill of trying to break in.

Gaskill told investigators he was waiting for the elevator when Blunck "opened the door and charged at him causing contact between the two which caused them both to go over the railing," the complaint says. Gaskill claimed he suffered minor injuries from the fall.

After he shared the original telling of the events, police claim Gaskill's account changed multiple times. A day later, Gaskill allegedly told his probation officer he saw someone on the ground in the stairwell, but never saw him fall. Gaskill also allegedly instructed his girlfriend at the time to claim she saw Blunck fall, though she later told investigators she did not. He also told another person that Blunck "came at him with a knife," prompting Gaskill to "throw him over the railing," according to the criminal complaint.

Witness statements and other available evidence also disproved Gaskill's account, police claim. The sixth floor of the Teachout Building, for example, does not have a publicly accessible elevator.

A witness also alleged Gaskill knew where the bathroom was in the Up-Down because "he had intercourse in the bathroom prior to his encounter with (Blunck)," according to the criminal complaint. The person who stopped to help Blunck after the fall said they were working on the building's third floor and did not see Gaskill attempt to locate a bathroom, the complaint says.

Results from Blunck's autopsy also disproved Gaskill's original account of how Blunck died, according to the criminal complaint.

"The investigation into this case reveals that the defendant when encountered by the victim for trying to gain access into a restricted space did with malice aforethought, kill Kirk Blunck by causing severe injuries to Kirk Blunck resulting in his death," the criminal complaint states.

More:Arrest made, charges filed in the 2016 death of Des Moines architect Kirk Blunck

Gaskill is being held in the Polk County Jail on a $50,000 cash bond. Prosecutors asked for the bond amount because Gaskill is on parole for another crime and "also has a history of manipulative behavior (including a staged traffic accident) to avoid consequences for his earlier criminal conduct," the complaint says.

He previously pleaded guilty to burglary on two separate occasions, once in 2014 and once in 2019. And a judge ordered Gaskill to pay $6.25 million to Blunck's family in 2018 after they alleged in a wrongful death lawsuit that Gaskill attacked Blunck, causing his death.

Gaskill once played for the Des Moines Blaze, a nonprofit minor league football team. He left the team in 2013.

In a statement released last week, Blunck family attorney Grant Woodard praised the charges against Gaskill as a step forward in "the process of justice for Kirk."

Who was Des Moines architect Kirk Blunck?

Blunck specialized in renovating historic buildings and helped pioneer efforts to revitalize the East Village and Sherman Hill. He renovated the six-story Teachout Building in 1998 and his firm has worked on 13 projects in the East Village, including the buildings that house Wooly's and the Locust Tap.

In downtown’s Western Gateway, Blunck helped transform the century-old Crane Building, once a toilet factory, into apartments for artists.

He had been involved with the Des Moines Art Center since 1980. He helped develop the plans for a wing of the museum and completed other project studies over the years.

But Blunck’s life wasn’t free of high-profile controversies. Des Moines officials nearly evicted the tenants of one of his Sherman Hill apartments in 2014 because of issues that included exposed asbestos and lack of screens and fire exit signs. And a Register investigation in June 2014 revealed Blunck owed the city more than $1 million for two loans he received in the 1990s to renovate East Village buildings.

Staff writer Noelle Alviz-Gransee contributed reporting.

Francesca Block is a breaking news reporter at the Des Moines Register. Reach her at FBlock@registermedia.com or on Twitter at @francescablock3.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines police detail events preceding Kirk Blunck's death in 2016