A woman charged with the 2011 murder of realtor Ashley Okland may be the victim of a miscarriage of justice, according to new court filings by the defense. Kristin Ramsey, 53, faces a first-degree murder charge in the shooting death of Okland at a model home in West Des Moines, Iowa, on April 8, 2011. Ramsey has pleaded not guilty.
Ramsey's defense team has filed a motion to dismiss the case, accusing the prosecution's sole eyewitness of substantially altering her testimony in a way that implicates Ramsey. The witness, an unnamed neighbor who lived next door to the crime scene, initially told police she heard gunshots and then saw Ramsey's car pull up to the scene three minutes later. This account was consistent across her first two interviews on April 8 and April 9, 2011.
Shifting Testimony
However, in a third interview on April 14, 2011, after investigators reportedly identified her as a suspect, the witness allegedly changed her narrative. According to the defense's filing, she then claimed to have heard gunshots, looked outside, and seen Ramsey outside her vehicle in the driveway, acting "panicked and frantic." The defense argues this omits the crucial detail of Ramsey arriving several minutes after the shots were fired and seeing her in a car.
When confronted with these inconsistencies, the witness attributed memory issues to a past concussion and skull fracture, stating she had difficulty remembering things. The defense has not publicly identified this eyewitness.
Prosecution's Witness and Other Details
Earlier prosecution filings had identified Wanda Fowler as the sole witness. Fowler, who lived next door to the model home, told police she saw Ramsey outside the front of the crime scene shortly after hearing what were later identified as gunshots. An earlier filing stated Fowler claimed to have seen Ramsey reverse her car at high speed before leaving and returning shortly after the incident.
Fowler, who called 911 after the shooting, reportedly attempted suicide two weeks after Okland's murder. It is unclear if this was related to the case, and no wrongdoing has been suggested on Fowler's part.
Ramsey's attorneys have previously suggested prosecutors failed to disclose that a black SUV was allegedly seen in the area around the time of the murder. Two months after Okland's killing, Joseph Kruse, a colleague of Okland's, died by suicide in his black SUV. The connection, if any, to Okland's murder remains unconfirmed.
Okland was a realtor with Iowa Realty Co., and Ramsey was a sales manager at Rottlund Homes, the builder of the development where the shooting occurred. The two women are not known to have had any prior connection, and prosecutors have not yet disclosed a motive or any animosity between them.
Investigation into Witness Account
After the April 2011 interview where her story reportedly changed, the eyewitness relocated to Florida. She did not speak with investigators again until the summer of 2025, after the Okland case was reopened. In a July 2025 recorded phone call, an investigator reportedly told the witness, "We believe everything you told us, and you already told me everything you told me was accurate." The witness then mentioned having a concussion the previous year.
Investigators spoke with the witness from June 2025 to January 2026, but only the July 2025 call was recorded. In January 2026, a four-person state investigation team traveled to Florida to meet with the witness. The defense alleges this meeting was not recorded, and the resulting report was only three pages long. The defense claims the investigators handed the witness case evidence to review rather than asking open-ended questions.
The eyewitness testified before a grand jury in March 2026. Ramsey's defense asserts that the jury was not presented with her contradictory statements from April 2011.
A hearing date for the motion to dismiss has not yet been scheduled. Ashley Okland's brother has publicly stated his family stands by the prosecution's case and seeks justice.