Cold case murder of Iowa realtor found shot at open house cracked 15 years later

The mysterious death of an Iowa realtor who was shot twice at an open house 15 years ago has finally been solved, authorities said.

Kristin Elizabeth Ramsey, 53, was indicted by a grand jury on first-degree murder charges on Tuesday in the killing realtor Ashley Okland on April 8, 2011, the West Des Moines Police Department announced at a press conference on Wednesday.

Okland, 27, was found lying on the floor by an employee for the development company after she was shot twice while hosting an open house inside a West Des Moines model townhouse for Iowa Realty Co. in the early afternoon, according to Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa.

She was rushed to a local hospital and pronounced dead, authorities said.

Ramsey had worked as an administrative assistant and sales manager for Rottlund Homes, the developer of the townhouse where Okland was fatally shot, the Des Moines Register reported.

The accused murderer is currently an employee at Midland Title & Escrow, which is connected to the realty company that Okland worked for when she died, Iowa Realty told the outlet in a statement. The company removed Ramsey from its website on Wednesday, the outlet said.

The motive in Okland’s slaying is not clear.

“Ashley’s story has haunted a very vibrant community of professional realtors who have forever changed how they hold open houses and conduct business on a daily basis,” Assistant Police Chief Jody Hayes told reporters.

Investigators have followed up on “thousands of leads from the public,” and reviewed “countless” evidence in connection with Okland’s murder case.

“Ashley’s story has kept many of us awake at night, revisiting the details over and over in our minds, searching for that missing piece that would tie everything together and lead us down the right path to identifying a person who was responsible for this act,” Hayes said.

Cops did not further comment on how they connected the “missing piece” that led to Ramsey’s arrest.

“As significant as this arrest is, our work is not done yet,” Hayes said.

Josh Okland and Brittany Bruce, both of Ashley’s younger siblings, thanked the authorities and the community for their support in the years leading up to Ramsey’s arrest during the press conference.

The day of Ramsey’s arrest was a “day my family has thought about very often in the last [15]
years,” Josh Okland told reporters.

“That Friday afternoon when Ashley was taken from us seems so long ago,” Bruce added. “We had lost our hope in finding answers and having any justice for Ashley. It was really difficult to accept that the case went cold.”

“Their dedication, commitment to Ashley, their drive and work ethic is a true gift from God that we feel fortunate to be touched by,” Bruce said of the police’s investigation.

Ramsey is currently being held at the Dallas County Jail, police said.