Spirit Lake, Iowa — The mother of the Algona man accused of shooting a policeman to death last year has testified at her son’s murder trial.
Video from Algona Officer Kevin Cram’s police camera was played in the courtroom, showing the shooting happened just minutes after Cram arrived to arrest Kyle Ricke for a misdemeanor. The shooting happened at Irene Ricke’s house and the prosecutor asked her questions about the incident.
Irene Ricke was also asked what information she relayed to the other officers who arrived after the shooting.
Dickinson County jurors also heard the interaction between Cram and Ricke from the officer’s body camera. It was only about 100 seconds before Ricke shot and killed Cram as he tried to serve the warrant.
Ricke left to put away a skid loader he was using to clear a trail. He returned from the garage with a gun, firing eight shots, hitting Cram three times in the head. The prosecution says after firing on Cram, Ricke tried to shoot himself, but there were no bullets left in the gun. Ricke fled to his sister’s home in Minnesota, where he was taken into custody four hours later. His sister also took the stand, saying her brother admitted he did a “terrible thing” and he wanted to end his life. Algona Assistant Police Chief Mark Bacha testified that he was worried when Officer Cram did not signal dispatch or tell other officers the warrant had been served.
DCI investigator Evan Thompson interviewed Ricke in Minnesota after he was arrested in the shooting. Assistant Attorney General Ryan Baldridge asked Thompson what Ricke said about the shooting.
Baldridge asked Thompson about trying to get Ricke to tell him where the gun used in the shooting was.
Ricke is charged with first-degree murder in the killing of officer Cram. The trial was moved from Kossuth County to Dickinson County due to concerns about finding an impartial jury.
