Additional Coverage:
- Realtor’s cold case murder suspect accused of fleeing scene, skipping 911 call in new witness account: report (foxnews.com)
New Details Emerge in 2011 Iowa Real Estate Agent Murder Case
Iowa authorities have made a significant breakthrough in a 15-year-old cold case involving the murder of real estate agent Ashley Okland. Kristin Ramsey, 53, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with Okland’s death on April 8, 2011.
Court documents recently released reveal that a witness living next door heard two gunshots before seeing Ramsey behaving erratically outside the townhome where the shooting occurred. The witness described Ramsey pacing near her vehicle and using her phone from a second-story window vantage point.
Notably, Ramsey reportedly contacted a colleague at her former employer, Rottlund Homes, immediately after the incident but did not call 911. Instead, the witness was the one to alert emergency services.
Okland was shot twice at close range-once in the chest and once in the face-while hosting a model home owned by the same company where Ramsey worked at the time. Authorities also indicated that Ramsey left the scene quickly, backing up “at a high rate of speed in an erratic manner,” according to the witness.
Additional findings from searches of Ramsey’s home uncovered firearms, illegal substances, and violent-themed posters. These items were discovered both shortly after the murder and again during a recent search before Ramsey’s arrest. Prosecutors have opposed a request to reduce her $2 million bond to $100,000.
Ramsey has provided inconsistent accounts of her whereabouts on the day of the shooting in various interviews since the investigation resumed. She has not entered a plea and is scheduled to appear in court for a bail hearing this Friday. Authorities have yet to disclose a possible motive in the case.
Ramsey’s defense team has not responded to requests for comment at this time. The case remains under active investigation as it moves forward through the judicial process.