Kyle Ricke

ALGONA — The man accused of murdering Algona Police Officer Kevin Cram last September is asking that his trial be moved out of Kossuth County.

Kyle Lou Ricke’s first-degree murder trial is scheduled to begin June 25 at the Kossuth County Courthouse in Algona. The trial was originally scheduled for Dec. 12, 2023. In January, it was rescheduled for the June date.

His attorney, Matthew Pittenger, of Mason City, on Monday filed for the change of venue, according to online court records.

Ricke was apprehended near Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, late on Sept. 13, 2023, following a four-hour manhunt after he allegedly shot and killed Cram while the officer was attempting to serve an arrest warrant.

Cram, 33, was located by law enforcement and emergency medical services shortly after the shooting and transported to Kossuth Regional Health Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Ricke had an active warrant for third-degree harassment, a simple misdemeanor, out of Palo Alto County, court documents show. He had allegedly been harassing a former partner with text messages and phone calls between April and August, according to online court records.

After being apprehended in Minnesota, Ricke was extradited back to the Kossuth County Jail. He pleaded not guilty to the first-degree murder charge on Oct. 6. He is being represented by the Mason City State Public Defender’s Office.

Ricke is being held in custody in the Hamilton County Jail.

During Ricke’s initial appearance in Kossuth County Magistrate Court in September, prosecutor Scott Brown, with the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, said the shooting was captured “at least partially, if not fully” on video.

If convicted, Ricke faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.