Suspect in Iowa real estate agent’s cold case murder was spotted by witness at the scene: Court docs
Kristin Ramsey, 53, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Ashley Okland. (West Des Moines Police)
(WEST DES MOINES, Iowa) — The woman accused in the 2011 cold case murder of an Iowa real estate agent was allegedly spotted by a witness outside the crime scene just after the fatal gunshots, according to new court documents.
Kristin Ramsey, 53, was arrested last month for first-degree murder in the April 8, 2011, death of Ashley Okland, according to the West Des Moines police.
Okland was working at a model townhouse when she was shot twice at close range: once in the chest and once in the face, according to court documents.
A woman who was in the neighboring townhome said shortly after 2 p.m. she heard two loud noises a few seconds apart that sounded like “thuds,” prosecutors said Wednesday in a filing regarding Ramsey’s motion for bond. Authorities believe those “thuds” were gunshots, prosecutors said.
The witness said after hearing the noises she saw Ramsey “outside the front door of the model home,” the court documents said. “Shortly after that the witness observed the Defendant from the second floor window of her home pacing by her vehicle on her cell phone.”
The witness then said she saw Ramsey back her car up quickly and “in an erratic manner,” and then drive away, the documents said.
“Concerned that something was wrong, the witness entered the model home and discovered Ms. Okland unresponsive on the ground,” according to the court documents. The witness called 911, and “shortly after she left the Defendant returned to the area of the townhome,” the documents said.
While police have yet to release a potential motive, court documents said the model home was owned by the same company for which Ramsey was a sales manager.
Ramsey was interviewed multiple times and has allegedly given “conflicting versions of her whereabouts and other events” from that day, according to the court documents. Her statements themselves conflict, and they also conflict with other witness statements, the documents said.
Ramsey has not entered a plea and is due in court on Friday for a bail hearing. Her attorneys did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Luigi Mangione appears for a suppression of evidence hearing in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan Criminal Court on December 16, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Seth Wenig-Pool/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A federal judge in New York on Wednesday pushed back Luigi Mangione’s federal trial from September to October, giving an additional month’s separation between his state and federal trials.
U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett said the federal trial jury selection will begin Oct. 5, with the presentation of evidence beginning Oct. 26.
“What is happening at 100 Centre [the state courthouse] inevitably affects how we structure things here so the defendant can get a fair trial,” Garnett said.
Garnett said she did not want to be “held hostage” by the state prosecution, but she said she had “some pause” about the “utility” of having potential jurors fill out questionnaires in the glare of the state trial.
“There’s really no way around taking into account the events in the state case involving the same defendant,” Garnett said.
Mangione, who was shackled at the ankles, wore a beige smock over a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He kept an arm casually propped on the back of his seat during the brief hearing.
The defense had asked for Mangione’s federal trial to be delayed to January 2027. Prosecutors objected to any rescheduling, arguing a delay prejudices the government.
Mangione is due back in federal court on June 5.
Mangione pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges after he was arrested for allegedly gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan in December 2024.
Mangione, 27, faces the possibility of life in prison if he’s convicted in either case. Garnett previously threw out the federal charges that carry the possibility of the death penalty and the judge overseeing the state prosecution, Gregory Carro, previously tossed out an enhancement to the state murder charges that said Mangione’s alleged conduct amounted to terrorism.
Carro has said he would rule on the defense motions to exclude evidence by May 18.
The sign of Department of Homeland Security is seen outside its headquarters on February 13, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Telesforo Cerero-Palacios isa home renovator in Minnesota who says he has no reported criminal history, so he was shocked to learn the Department of Homeland Security listed him as one of the “worst of the worst” detained immigrants in the U.S. who have serious offenses.
“What happened here? Why does their system say this about you?” Cerero-Palacios, 53, recalled after a relative saw him on the list.
The DHS website features thousands who the agency claims are the “worst” individuals, including a photo of Cerero-Palacios with his alleged crime, “dangerous drugs.”
However, a DHS government document showed that Cerero-Palacio has no criminal history. The document, reviewed by ABC News, is known as a “Record of Deportable/Inadmissible Alien,” which is created by the agency when individuals are detained.
Cerero-Palacios said he has never been accused of any drug-related offense and an ABC News review of criminal records in Minnesota found several traffic and parking tickets and one small claim case, but did not turn up any drug-related charges.
In an interview conducted in Spanish, Cerero-Palacios told ABC News that agents entered his home on April 7, 2025, looking to detain a relative, but that’s when he was asked about his immigration status. He said he told officials he was undocumented and was subsequently detained.
The DHS document appears to corroborate his account, stating that deportation officers working with the Drug Enforcement Agency were conducting fugitive operations at his address when they interviewed him about his immigration status.
“During the interview, CERERO freely admitted that he did not have any documents that would allow him to reside in the United States legally,” the document said.
It also states that in 1998, Cerero-Palacios was arrested for giving a police officer a false name, but the case was dismissed in 2000.
The document makes no mention that he’s ever been accused of any drug-related charges.
“CERERO claims and appears to be in good health and takes no medication. CERERO does not use narcotics,” the document says.
Despite an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson citing his 1998 arrest in a statement shared with ABC News, DHS appears to have issued him a non-immigrant visa three times, until 2015, the document showed.
“This illegal alien was previously arrested for giving a false name to a peace officer. The FBI number connected to this drug charge is linked to multiple aliases, including Telesforo Cerero-Palacios. We will give you more information on this case shortly,” the ICE spokesperson told ABC News.
It’s unclear what drug charge the spokesperson was referring to. Days after ABC News began asking questions about its inclusion of Cerero-Palacios on its “worst of the worst” database, DHS appears to have removed Cerero-Palacios from the list.
DHS did not respond when asked if he was erroneously placed on the list and has not followed up with any additional information, despite repeated attempts by ABC News to obtain one.
Cerero-Palacios spent 16 days in immigration detention last year and was released after posting a bond, Cerero-Palacios’ attorney, Gloria Contreras Edin said.
“What is interesting is we come to find that he’s on ‘worst of the worst’ so it’s like, why is he on there,” Contreras Edintold ABC News. “They would have never released him if he had been a drug dealer. They would have never let him out on a bond and then I wonder how many other people are they doing that to.”
Cerero-Palacios told ABC News that his inclusion on the website prompted him to stay at home except to go to work.
“I was afraid to leave the home thinking that they might detain me again,” Cerero-Palacios said.
Contreras Edin shared a letter with ABC News from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension that said a background search using her client’s fingerprints, name, and date of birth “indicates that no record was found.”
The letter says the search does not preclude any information being available at the county or city level.
“I have to believe in my heart that it was an error or a mistake, but it’s such a significant error and such a significant mistake that it worries me that they may be doing this to other people,” Contreras Edin said.
DHS launched the “worst of the worst” website in December, promising to allow users to “search through some of the hundreds of thousands of criminal illegal aliens who have been arrested across all 50 states,” the agency said in a press release.
Since then, the database has grown to include more than 30,000 people. DHS has used the information on the website to justify its expansion of immigration enforcement operations such as “Operation Metro Surge” in Minnesota, where two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by federal agents during immigration operations.
Meanwhile, Cerero-Palacios is still in immigration proceedings and has a hearing about his case in April. He says the government’s claims about him have affected him profoundly.
“Imagine how many others have seen my photo? My reputation is ruined, they’ll say ‘Oh, I thought he was a hard worker, but he’s involved with drugs,'” he said.
E. Jean Carroll arrives for her civil defamation trial against President Donald Trump at Manhattan Federal Court on January 22, 2024 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday asked a federal appeals court in New York to pause its ruling rejecting his challenge to the writer E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit so he can pursue an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
A jury awarded Carroll $83 million in damages in 2024 after she successfully argued that Trump defamed her with comments he made disputing her claim that he sexually abused her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the 1990s.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined last week to re-hear Trump’s claim of immunity and his attempt to substitute the United States as a defendant in Carroll’s case.
Trump on Wednesday asked the 2nd Circuit to stay its ruling in order to allow him “to present important questions relating to, without limitation, Presidential immunity and the Westfall Act to the Supreme Court.”
If the stay is not granted, Trump’s attorneys said he would suffer irreparable harm.
The jury in 2024 found that, as a result of Trump’s comments, Carroll was harassed and humiliated, subjected to death threats, and feared for her physical safety for years. Trump has denied all wrongdoing.
A separate jury in an earlier trial awarded Carroll $5 million in damages after holding Trump liable for defamation and sexual abuse.
