–The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld the 1st Degree Murder conviction of Kyle Lou Ricke in connection with the shooting death of Algona Police Officer Kevin Cram in September of 2023.
Ricke was convicted of 1st Degree Murder by a jury in Dickinson County following a trial in July of 2024. His lawyers appealed the conviction, arguing the state failed to prove that he acted deliberately and with premeditation when he shot officer Cram, who was attempting to execute an arrest warrant out of Palo Alto County at the time of the shooting.
In their ruling released Wednesday morning, the justices stated that Ricke’s comments following the shooting that were heard on Officer Cram’s body camera were the most persuasive in upholding the conviction. The court concluded that “a reasonable jury could conclude that once Ricke learned Officer Cram was there to serve an arrest warrant, he formed the motive to kill him to avoid going back to jail”.
The opinion also states that “a reasonable jury could rely on the violent nature of the killing to find premeditation”, arguing that Ricke had the opportunity to deliberate before he shot Officer Cram the first time, and before each of the seven shots that followed.
Last August, Ricke was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, which is mandatory for a 1st Degree Murder conviction in Iowa.
