(WEST DES MOINES, Iowa) — A woman has been arrested in the 2011 cold case murder of an Iowa real estate agent, authorities said.
Kristin Ramsey, 53, was arrested on Tuesday for first-degree murder in the death of Ashley Okland, the West Des Moines Police said.
Okland was shot and killed while working at a model townhouse on April 8, 2011, according to the Iowa Attorney General’s Office Cold Case Unit.
Okland’s death sent “shockwaves” throughout the state and “haunted” the real estate community, West Des Moines Police Assistant Chief Jody Hayes said at a news conference Wednesday.
Police and prosecutors did not discuss what led to Ramsey’s arrest, but Ramsey at the time worked for Rottlund Homes, the company that built the model home where Okland was killed, Ramsey’s then-boss, Steven Kahn, told ABC News.
Khan said nothing about Ramsey led him to suspect she may have been involved in Okland’s death.
“She was the nicest lady. I’m totally shocked,” he said.
Kahn noted that he sat next to Ramsey at Okland’s funeral.
“There’s nothing from a business standpoint that I could see why it would have happened,” Kahn said, adding about Ramsey, “I have no idea about anything in her personal life.”
Police and prosecutors declined to discuss details of the case, with Dallas County Attorney Matt Schultz only saying at the news conference, “After hearing the evidence, a Dallas County grand jury issued a true bill indicting Kristin Ramsey with the murder of Ashley Okland.”
Okland’s sister, Brittany Bruce, told reporters on Wednesday, “That Friday afternoon when Ashley was taken from us seems so long ago. We had lost our hope in finding answers and having any justice.”
She thanked the detectives and prosecutors for their relentless work on the case.
“We have full confidence in their abilities to see this through,” she said.
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