THE ASHLEY OKLAND MURDER CASE
Realtor Ashley Okland (27) was murdered while hosting an open home on Friday April 8, 2011 in Des Moines, Iowa. On March 18, 2026, almost 15 years after Ashley died, Kristin Elizabeth Ramsey (53) was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the case. Kristin would have been around 38 at the time Ashley died.
Ashley was born on December 30, 1985 in Ames, Iowa. Her parents are Deb Cochran and Tim Okland. Ashley’s siblings are Josh and Brttany. She loved sports, dance and piano when she was growing up.
Ashley attended Ballard High School before going onto the University of Northern Iowa. She spent two years there before transferring to Iowa State University. She graduated from there in 2006.
Ashley began her real estate career in 2007, when she was aged around 24. She worked first at the JDR Group and became an Iowa Realty Agent in 2010.
In her free time, Ashley was involved with a number of charities. She volunteered as a Big Sister and was a Young Professionals Connection supporter. She loved traveling, going to concerts, golfing and exercising.
Ashley had a partner named Eric Grubb and the two adopted a puppy named Indi.
Ashley’s brother Josh spoke about the time leading up to her murder.
“April 7th, we spent the entire afternoon together. Her real estate career was booming, and she hired me to be her assistant to work on small stuff for her, make pamphlets. So we sat at Panera in Ankeny for four hours, and she was training me, but yeah, I will never forget that day,” Josh said.
On the day of Ashley’s death, she had been working alone. She was holding an open house at a model townhome in West Des Moines. Some media reports list the address of the townhome as 558 Stone Creek Court in West Des Moines.
According to People, the company that was developing the property was Rottlund Homes. An employee of that company heard a commotion inside the townhome and went to check what was going on.
Ashley was found bleeding on the floor of the home. The employee called 911.
Ashley was taken to hospital, and she passed away there. She had been shot twice. It is believed the gunshots were to her upper body, including one to the chest.
Police began a major investigation into Ashley’s murder. By April 18, ten days after her murder, more than 340 tips had been received by authorities. A reward of $67,000 was offered at that time for anyone who could provide information in the case. The reward was offered through Polk County Crimestoppers. It was the largest reward fund ever created at that time.
Ashley’s friend, fellow realtor Jen Stanbrough spoke to axios.com and said “I wasn’t even in my right mind. It felt like a nightmare that you were living day after day after day.”
Jen said that before Ashley’s murder, she never gave much thought to the dangers involved with their work. She said she would often meet strangers in vacant houses, parked in ways that would allow her vehicle to be blocked in and would walk ahead of customers into basements.
West Des Moines police Lt. Jim Barrett said on April 18, 2011 that a search warrant had been investigated but the information on that was sealed by a judge. Authorities also said our favorite line ‘there is no reason to believe the shooting was anything other than an isolated incident.’
Over the coming years, the West Des Moines Police continued to ask the public for help.
By 2013, two years after Ashley’s murder, they had followed up on over 700 tips and interviewed hundreds of people. No suspect was ever identified.
In 2019, West Des Moines police Sgt. Dan Wade said “This is one of those cases where I remember where I was when I got the call.” He said that a website (now defunct) called AnswersforAshley.com had been established.
“There is somebody, somewhere, that has one bit of information that may break this case wide open for us,” Sgt Wade said.
Josh spoke in 2019 and said that he was now married and a father. “This is the first time in my life that I have outlived Ash, and that’s hard for me,” he said.
He said the hardest part is that life continues without his sister, who has three nephews that she never got to meet.
“I just want (my son) to know how awesome she was,” Josh said. “I want him to understand that she was a role model and even though she’s not here, he can look up to her.”
The reward for info in the case had reached $150,000 by that point.
Over the years, authorities would give regular non-updates on the case and would appeal for information.
In 2021, Ashley’s friend Jen created a pledge for realtors that was the first of its kind in the nation. The guidelines of the pledge stated that realtors should not show a home to any stranger without first meeting in a public place and asking for ID. Jen also worked to develop a realtor training safety course. “I can’t bring my friend back. The pain will never go away — but I’ve tried to find a way to honor her and find a purpose.”
In June 2024, the Iowa Cold Case Unit was established by the Iowa Attorney General’s Office. Ashley’s case was one of 400 cases that were handed to the unit for investigation.
The unit made its first arrest in March 2025. An arrest was made for the murder of Barbara Lenz who disappeared in 1989.
This info about that case is from the Iowa Attorney General
Lenz was last seen on Saturday, May 6, 1989. Her boyfriend at the time, Robert Davis, reported dropping her off at her Woodbine, Iowa, apartment earlier that day. Lenz was supposed to visit her former boyfriend, and father of her 3-year-old child, in Omaha, Nebraska, but she never arrived.
Her disappearance was reported to the Woodbine Police Department. Investigations at Lenz’s home suggested she had been taken against her will. Over the years, investigations pursued numerous leads and searches, but Lenz was never found. The Iowa Cold Case unit brought fresh eyes and a focused team to dig through information, meet with witnesses, and loosen up leads in Lenz’s case.
“This arrest is a milestone in securing justice for Barbara Lenz,” said Attorney General Bird. “We are hoping to soon bring peace and answers to Barbara’s loved ones, who have waited 35 long years in the dark. I am deeply grateful to my team in the Iowa Cold Case unit, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Iowa State Patrol, the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office, the Harrison County Attorney’s Office, and the Woodbine Police Department who have, and continue to, work diligently to crack Barbara’s case. No one should get away with murder.”
Robert Davis, a 61-year-old man from Council Bluffs, and Lenz’s boyfriend at the time of her disappearance, was arrested on March 10. He was charged with First Degree Murder.
To mark the 14th anniversary of the case in 2025, Ashley’s brother spoke to the media. “When I think about the last time I saw her, yeah, 14 years feels like a long time,” he said. Josh said he had no idea why someone would want to kill his sister.
He said there was no indication that Ashley was afraid of anyone or that anything was wrong. “No. Not at all. And we were very close. If there was something going on, she would have told me,” he said.
A park for children with special needs was established in honor of Ashley.
“I am proud to be her brother. She impacted so many people in such a positive way and such a good role model for a short 27-year life. Her legacy lives on,” said Josh.
By 2025, authorities said they had looked into over 1,000 leads and that an average of 30 new leads came in per year.
On March 18, police announced that Kristin Ramsey (53) had been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in Ashley’s case. The arrest happened after Kristin was indicted by a grand jury.
“Ashley’s story has kept many of us awake at night revisiting the details over and over in our minds,” Jody Hayes, Assistant Chief of West Des Moines Police Department said at the briefing, part of which was streamed by the Des Moines Register.
He later added: “Our work is not done yet.”
“That Friday afternoon Ashley was taken from us seems so long ago,” Ashley’s sister Brittany Bruce said at the press conference after the news broke. “We had lost our hopes in finding answers and having any justice for Ashley. It was really difficult to accept the case had gone cold.”
“Today is the day my family has thought about very often in the last 14 years,” said Josh.
Little information has been made public regarding a motive or any possible connection between Ashley and Kristin. According to Kristin’s LinkedIn page, she worked as a Sales Manager at Rottlund Homes at the time of the 2011 killing. We mentioned that company earlier – they were in charge of the development that Ashley was trying to sell.
At the time of her arrest, Kristin was an employee at Midland Title & Escrow, which is connected to the realty company that Ashley worked for when she died, Iowa Realty told the media. The company removed Kristin from their website after her arrest.
We also do not know much about Kristin’s life. Court filings have portrayed her as a central Iowa resident with deep family ties in the area. She has a husband in Woodward, Iowa, parents in Johnston and a son who is attending college in the state.
Steve Fortiano, a professor at Drake University’s College of Law and former prosecutor with Polk County Attorney’s Office, says the trial timeline depends largely on Kristin. Once trial information is filed, the state has 90 days to bring her to trial.
If Kristin waives her right to a speedy trial, the trial would be pushed back. Fortiano said that would give the defense time to review grand jury information, gather evidence and complete pre-trial work.
Until a trial occurs, the full extent of the investigation and what led to Kristin’s arrest will not be known — including by Ashley’s friends and family.
“There are still certain things that are confidential and we want to keep them confidential because we if we talk to a witness and they tell us something that the general public doesn’t know and we can confirm that it’s true, then obviously that makes them a much more credible witness,” Profressor Fortiano told media outlet, KCCI. “There are certain things that really don’t come out until the final trial.”
Kristin is being held on a $2m cash only bond. This means she would have to pay the full amount upfront to be released.
Her attorneys have requested that the court reduce the amount to $100,000. They have argued that she could be released under conditions like surrendering her passport and GPS monitoring. A judge still needs to decide if the bond will be lowered.
The next known court date in the case is set for May 20, 2026, but this is subject to change.
THE BEVERLY CARTER MURDER CASE
Beverly Carter was abducted and murdered in Arkansas in 2014 by a couple who had posed as buyers for a home that she had listed.
As some background into Beverly, she was born on December 20, 1963 in Anniston, Alabama. Her family have said that was very dedicated to her faith and put God first.
She also loved spending time with her family – she was married to her husband Carl for 35 years at the time of her death. They had two sons together – Carl Jr and Chad. Beverly also had a daughter in law and four grandchildren in 2014. Her fifth grandchild was due to be born in 2015.
So adored was she by everyone who knew her, she lived the loveliest of lives and leaves the brightest of legacies.
In 2014, Beverly was working as a realtor for Crye-Leike Realtors (often referred to as Crye-Leike Real Estate Services) in the Little Rock, Arkansas area. Beverly had been with the company for years.
On Thursday September 25, 2014, Beverly started out her day on a high note. She won $50 in a workplace competition. The weather was said to be beautiful on that fall day and Beverly had plans to head home after work to have dinner with her husband.
Before heading home, Beverly had one last showing scheduled at 14202 Old River Drive in Scott, Arkansas.
Beverly had been contacted by a couple with the names of Crystal and Michael. They told her they wanted to relocate to the area.
Beverly called Carl at about 5.15pm that evening to let him know about the 6pm scheduled appointment.
When Beverly did not arrive home by 9pm, Carl became worried. He went to the home in Scott to check on her. He found her brown Cadillac SUV parked in the driveway. Her purse was inside the vehicle. He found the door to the home was standing open.
Carl searched the home and his wife was not there. When he called police and they looked in her purse, they said nothing appeared to be missing. The front door lock for the home was unable to be found.
In the early hours of Friday September 26, Carl said that he received some texts from Beverly’s phone.
“All of a sudden I received three texts in a row,” he told local station THV11.
“One said, ‘Yes’, then she sent another that said, ‘My phone’s low. The battery’s down, and I’ll call you whenever I get signal.’ … And, then, straight back-to-back, I received a text that said, ‘Oh, I’m out drinking with some friends.’”
Carl said that he knew something was very wrong as Beverly was not a drinker.
Police went to the home in Scott on that day and set up a crime scene.
Other real estate agents in the area tried to help in the search by passing out fliers with Beverly’s details on them.
One of Beverly’s colleagues from Crye-Leike said that she had worked with her for around six years.
“Some offices have even shut their office for the day” to help out, she said.
Staci said that she thought it was scary to think about what may have happened since details were scarce.
“She pulled up and now she’s gone,” Staci said.
By Saturday September 27, 2014, more than 100 volunteers had joined the search for Beverly.
David Goldstein, a realtor who worked with Beverly, coordinated the effort, helping set up a grid of the area and develop a plan to “search everything we possibly can.”
“We expect we will get information today,” he said at the time. “My expectation is to find Beverly and to find her OK. But time is of the essence.”
Another colleague of Beverly’s named Susan Vaught spoke about how she had helped investigators access Beverly’s computer. “It’s just on and on and on trying to find clues,” she said. “We’re just trying to find clues. … Somebody’s going to find her alive. That’s the only [call] we want.”
By Sunday September 28, 2014, a warrant had been issued for the arrest of Arron Lewis (33). He was initially charged with kidnapping in Beverly’s case.
Sheriff’s office Lt. Carl Minden said investigators had pegged Arron as a “person of interest” when he was involved in a vehicle crash in Pulaski County and taken to Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock for treatment Sunday morning. At some point while authorities believed he was getting a CT scan, he left the facility and hasn’t been located.
It was not revealed at the time how authorities linked Arron to Beverly’s case.
Lt Carl Minden said “We do consider him dangerous based on the nature of the charge and based on the fact we haven’t located Mrs. Carter,” he added.
“We need him. The best person that can help us find her right now is Mr. Lewis.”
Arron had an extensive criminal history including felony theft of property convictions.
Arron was found and taken into custody on Monday September 29. He was questioned for over 12 hours. Arron did admit to kidnapping Beverly but would not say where she was.
On the night of September 29/morning of September 30, Beverly’s body was found in a shallow grave on a property in Cabot, Arkansas. This discovery happened after investigators got a ‘major break in the case’ that led them to a concrete business in Cabot.
“They obtained permission to search the property,” Lt Minden said at the scene. “During the search of the property, they did find a shallow grave toward the back of the property,” he said. “After they uncovered it, it was positively identified as Beverly Carter.”
Arron was taken to jail on September 30, and he told reporters then that he did not kill Beverly. He said that he had targeted her as she was a “a woman that worked alone — a rich broker.”
“Why’d he pick her? Why’d he do what he did? There’s a lot of things we’ll have to piece together,” Lt Minden said.
Arron told authorities that he a had a codefendent named Trevor. Lt Minden disputed this.
“[Lewis] is the only suspect we have in the case and at this point the only person we’re going to be looking for,” he said.
Arron entered not guilty pleas to charges of capital murder and kidnapping after Beverly’s body was found. He was ordered to be held without bail.
Capt. Simon Haynes spoke to the media on October 1, 2014. He said that they used cell phone data to help find Beverly’s body, which they found in a shallow grave about a half hour’s drive from the home where she is believed to have met Arron. Capt Haynes would not specifically say if he believes Arron was the one to text Carl from her phone hours after he allegedly abducted her, but did hint that support devices connected to her phone helped investigators in their search.
On October 30, 2014, Arron’s wife Crystal Lowery (41) was arrested in regards to the case. She was charged with both kidnapping and capital murder.
Lt Minden spoke about the new developments.
“This investigation has never stopped, and we’ve kind of said that all along. It is sealed, but our investigators have been continuing to work on it,” he said. “I’ve said numerous times we’ve had tips and leads, just tons of them, to finish working out. We’ve had suspicions all along. This is just something that, through the investigative process, they just happened to wrap up today and managed to get the warrant for the kidnapping and capital murder and serve it today.”
In 2015, Arron was permitted to dismiss the attorney that had been assigned to him so that he could represent himself during the legal proceedings.
Article info:
“I would like to terminate my lawyer,” Arron said. “I do not wish for Mr. Hensley to continue representing me. I’ve told him numbers of times he’s been discharged.”
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herbert Wright questioned Arron to determine whether he would be able to represent himself at his coming trial dates.
Arron said he has some college education, can read and write and said he does have legal experience because he “won a lawsuit against Benton County.”
In 2015, Crystal pleaded guilty to first degree murder and kidnapping as part of a plea deal. She agreed to testify against Arron. The more serious capital murder charge was reduced as part of the deal and she was handed a 30 year sentence.
Arron’s trial began in January 2016.
Crystal testified that the plan had been for Arron to kidnap Beverly and keep her in an abandoned office building at the concrete plant while they made ransom demands, but the couple was unaware of changes at the plant that would make that plan impossible.
With Beverly tied up in the trunk of his car — and nowhere to go — Arron was forced to improvise.
“Where are you going to take her because I don’t want her at the house?,” Crystal testified that she had asked him at the time. “He didn’t have anywhere to take her, and he was driving around and he said he could get pulled over at any moment and he needed to get off the road.”
Prosecutors said Arron took Beverly to his Jacksonville home, where the couple kept her bound with duct tape in the bathroom. Crystal was left to guard her with a stun gun, while Arron went back to the abduction site to retrieve her purse and bank card, Arkansas News reported in 2016. But by the time Arron got to the property, law enforcement authorities were already swarming the area and he had to leave empty-handed.
Prosecutors said the couple forced Beverly to record a 12-second ransom message begging her husband to cooperate or “it could be bad,” but Carl wouldn’t hear the message until after she was found dead.
The couple decided to abandon the ransom plan and get rid of Beverly instead, fearing that she had already seen Arron’s face and also may have seen Crystal’s name on prescription bottles in the bathroom.
They wrapped her head in duct tape and let her suffocate to death while her hands were tied behind her back.
“She died a horrible, terrifying death that no one deserves,” deputy prosecutor Barbara Mariani said in her opening statements, according to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. “Beverly loved her life. The last thing Beverly experienced was unspeakable terror at that man’s hands.”
The defense tried to argue that Beverly had never been abducted and that she had gone willingly as part of a sexual encounter. Defense attorney Bill James tried to argue that Beverly may have died while having consensual sex with Arron. He tried to portray her as a woman who was having a mid-life crisis and was living a secret life.
The attorney alleged that Beverly was suffering from both financial and marriage issues. He said her real estate career was ‘in the toilet.’
“We’ve got to look at this truthfully, not from a fantasy,” he said. “Beverly was making bad decisions at this point in her life.”
Carl took the stand and did admit that there had been an affair by him early in their marriage and that they had once had a physical altercation. He said thought they were on ‘very good terms’ when Beverly died.
Jury selection began in the trial on January 12 2016 and it was done by January 15 2016. After deliberating for less than an hour, the jury found Arron guilty of capital murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
After his mother’s death, Carl Jr. founded the Beverly Carter Foundation to honor his mother and continue to create awareness about the dangers of a profession often done alone. The work has given him a new passion to help others.
“That really pushes me forward because when people confide in you the ways they’ve been victimized, harassed, stolen from, you really want to get to work and help them,” he told the news station in 2019.
To continue his mom’s legacy, he also became a real estate agent himself.
In 2020, Crystal asked the Arkansas Parole Board to cut her 30 year sentence in half. Crystal told the board that she had found God and had achieved “exemplary institutional adjustment.” She asked to continue repaying her debt to society outside of the prison walls.
“I know I can never say or do enough to change what I did,” she wrote.
She also argued that she was no longer a danger to society and said she would not have been in the position she is without Arron.
“I have a debt to pay to society and it would be more productive to pay this debt volunteering and monitoring on the outside than staring at four walls on the inside eating up taxpayer dollars,” she wrote. “I am asking you for a second chance to prove myself redeemable to society.”
Her clemency petition was denied by the parole board in July of 2020.
During the trial, one of Beverly’s sons spoke to the jury. “She loved my dad so much,”
His voice quivered as he remembered his mother’s smile and laughter “that would fill up a room” and how she doted on her five grandchildren, teaching them to ride bicycles, tie their shoes and eat entire boxes of Little Debbie cakes.
“We had so many good years left with her,” he said. “This world is a darker place without her.”
SOURCE LIST
https://www.foxnews.com/us/realtors-cold-case-murder-finally-solved-after-15-years-police-say
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/desmoinesregister/name/ashley-okland-obituary?id=21640080
https://www.axios.com/local/des-moines/2021/04/08/des-moines-realtor-safety-ashley-okland-murder
thegazette.com/state-government/new-cold-case-unit-hopes-to-crack-400-plus-unsolved-deaths-in-iowa/
https://www.axios.com/local/des-moines/2026/03/19/ashley-okland-murder-bond-kristin-ramsey-review?
https://www.stewart.com/en/quick-links/safety/beverly-carter-story
https://www.smithfamilycares.com/obituaries/beverly-carter-1
https://web.archive.org/web/20221202231006/http://beverlycarter.arkansasonline.com