–The man accused of killing an Algona Police Officer in September of last year will stand trial in Dickinson County, after a judge granted his request for a change of venue Tuesday.
Attorneys for Kyle Lou Ricke filed a motion to move the trial out of Kossuth County in late April, saying pretrial publicity would make it impossible to find an impartial jury here. The state did not dispute the request, and simply asked that if the trial be moved, it be held in a county with similar demographics and not be too far, as to make travel difficult for witnesses and family members.
On Tuesday, Judge Nancy Whittenburg filed the order sending the trial to Dickinson County. In her ruling, Whittenburg says that a review of US Census Bureau statistics show that Dickinson County has similar demographics to Kossuth County, is not contiguous to Kossuth County, and is at a reasonable travel distance from Kossuth County.
Ricke is charged with 1st Degree Murder, in connection with the shooting death of Algona Police Officer Kevin Cram in September of 2023. His trial is currently scheduled to begin on June 25th.
