This story was updated to add new information and a video.
An “unrelenting pursuit of justice” led to the arrest of Kristin Ramsey, 53, in the 15-year-old cold case of Iowa Realtor Ashley Okland, West Des Moines police said Wednesday, March 18.
When Okland was killed, Ramsey, of Woodward, worked as an administrative assistant and sales manager for Rottlund Homes, the developer of the townhome where Okland was shot, according to Ramsey’s LinkedIn and confirmed by a source familiar with her work history. Most recently, Ramsey was an employee at Midland Title & Escrow, an organization that’s part of Iowa Realty Co., where Okland worked at the time of her death, an Iowa Realty spokesperson said.
“Everyone within Iowa Realty and related companies was relieved for the family of our friend and colleague Ashley Okland that an arrest was made for her murder,” said the spokesperson, adding the company was “stunned” to hear of Ramsey’s arrest. “Her tragic passing was something that not only deeply impacted our company and community, but the national real estate world as a whole.”
Ramsey was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder after an indictment by a Dallas County grand jury, police said.
Okland, 27, was showing a model townhouse in West Des Moines on April 8, 2011, when she was shot twice. An employee with Rottlund Homes heard a commotion inside the house at 558 Stone Creek Court and went to investigate, according to Crime Stoppers of Central Iowa. Inside, the employee discovered Okland on the floor and called 911, reports said.
Okland later died at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines.
Ramsey was not the person who called 911, according to a Des Moines Register story from June 2011.
Police followed thousands of leads in Ashley Okland death
Assistant Police Chief Jody Hayes, who has worked the case from the beginning, said at a news conference police followed thousands of leads and reviewed “countless” items of evidence and materials since Okland’s death.
The mystery was national news and was among the most high-profile cold cases in central Iowa. It even changed the way real estate agents show houses, which now include a safety pledge that they will not show a home to a stranger until they have met the prospective buyer in a public place and asked them to submit identification.
“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.
Police on Wednesday declined to give any additional details on the case, citing the integrity of the case as it moves through the court system. Because Ramsey was charged by indictment, court documents do not include a criminal complaint with an affidavit laying out probable cause. Ramsey’s attorney Alfredo Parrish declined to comment.
“As significant as this arrest is, our work is not done yet,” Hayes said.
Hayes said police in the cities of Clive, Urbandale and Windsor Heights, as well as the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the FBI and its behavioral analysis unit, the Iowa Attorney General’s cold case unit, the Dallas County Attorney’s Office, Polk County Crime Stoppers and the community helped in the investigation that led to Ramsey’s arrest.
He said police arrested Ramsey without incident on Tuesday. She’s being held in the Dallas County Jail on a $2 million cash bond. Hayes said police do not anticipate any other arrests in the case.
Dallas County Attorney Matt Schultz said he will personally prosecute the case alongside Assistant County Attorney Andrea Lovig and Assistant Attorney General Scott Brown, who leads Iowa’s cold case unit. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird formed the unit in 2024 to investigate the state’s more than 400 cold cases. Okland’s brother, Josh Okland, was there when she announced the unit, saying he was optimistic it could generate new leads in his sister’s case.
“Every person here today believes one thing for sure, no one should ever get away with murder,” Bird said on Wednesday. “Families deserve answers and there needs to be justice for every victim.”
Police work ‘a true gift from God,’ sister says
At the news conference Wednesday, Josh Okland said the day Ramsey was arrested was “a day my family has thought about very often in the last (15) years.”
He and sister Brittany Bruce, both Okland’s younger siblings, thanked authorities, family and friends for their support over the years.
“That Friday afternoon when Ashley was taken from us seems so long ago,” Bruce said. “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.”
West Des Moines police were “given the chance to work on Ashley’s case, dedicating their focus and time to it, so that was definitely a gift to us,” Bruce said. “Their dedication, commitment to Ashley, their drive and work ethic is a true gift from God that we feel fortunate to be touched by.”
Who is Kristin Ramsey?
Before West Des Moines police arrested Ramsey on Tuesday, the Woodward resident did not have a criminal record, according to Iowa Court files. Her only legal blemish? A speeding ticket in Dallas County in 2001.
The former Kristin Pommer got married in 1995 to Toby Ramsey. He is the owner of a local concrete and snow removal business, according to his LinkedIn page. Toby Ramsey also sits on the Board of Adjustments and Appeals in Woodward, a city about 30 miles northwest of Des Moines with a population of about 1,000. He could not immediately be reached for comment.
Kristin Ramsey had worked in Des Moines real estate for almost 30 years, according to her LinkedIn profile. In 1997, she joined the Iowa division of The Rottlund Co., then a major builder of townhomes and condos. Okland was killed inside a Rottlund townhome that was on the market.
At the time of Okland’s death, Ramsey was a Rottlund sales manager after working at the company for about 14 years.
After the broader housing market downturn, Rottlund shuttered and sold off assets when creditors demanded $29 million in 2011. Grayhawk Homes, another developer, bought Rottlund’s Iowa division, according to Builder Magazine.
Ramsey became a title officer at Midland Title & Escrow, a division of HomeServices of Iowa, a major parent company of several local real estate businesses. In a sign of just how wide-reaching HomeServices is, the company’s holdings include Iowa Realty, the state’s largest real estate company — where Okland had been affiliated as an agent.
As a title officer, Ramsey would have researched real estate deals before they closed to make sure the transactions were legal. Midland Title & Escrow removed Ramsey from its website on Wednesday.
“While we take comfort that Ashley’s family and our community as a whole finally has closure, it is with tremendous shock and sadness that we learned of the arrest of Kristin Ramsey, an employee of Midland Title & Escrow, an organization which is a part of Iowa Realty,” the statement from Iowa Realty said. “Kristin became associated with the company several months after the events of 2011. Along with everyone in our community, we are understandably stunned.”
Register courts reporter William Morris contributed to this story.
Kyle Werner is the breaking news and public safety reporter for the Register. Reach him at kwerner@registermedia.com.
Tyler Jett is an investigative reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at tjett@registermedia.com, 515-284-8215, or on X at @LetsJett. He also accepts encrypted messages at tjett@proton.me.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Kristin Ramsey worked for townhome builder where Ashley Okland killed
Reporting by Kyle Werner and Tyler Jett, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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