Kyle Ricke said he was sorry for killing Algona Police Officer Kevin Cram.
"Every night, I pray for forgiveness for the family,” Ricke said. "I'm very regretful for the pain and hurt that I caused them, and I pray that one day that they can forgive me for my horrible actions.”
A jury in Dickinson County took about an hour in July to convict the 44-year-old Algona man of first-degree murder for the shooting death of 33-year-old Cram last Sept. 13. The mandatory sentence in Iowa is life behind bars without parole.
The aftershocks of your acts will reverberate for the current family and friends for their lifetime and actually for generations to come.Judge Nancy Whittenburg
When handing down her judgment, Judge Nancy Whittenburg said the crime was like "an earthquake” that broke the foundations of many lives.
"The aftershocks of your acts will reverberate for the current family and friends for their lifetime and actually for generations to come — because this is an indelible mark on all of them, including members of your family,” Whittenburg said. "Your act was cowardly. It was heinous. It was reprehensible. It was beyond selfish — and it was immoral.”
Prior to the sentencing, the courtroom heard victim impact statements from family members, including Cram’s two brothers, a son, father, grandmother and wife.
"You not only destroyed a family and children's lives, but your own family and an entire community with your selfishness,” Lara Cram, Kevin Cram's wife, said. "You should have just taken yourself out, like you said, but you're so pathetic you couldn't even do that.”
Officer's widow shared raw emotion during sentencing
Lara Cram expressed deep sorrow and even anger over the loss of her husband due to Ricke’s actions. She talked about the emotional toll on the family, including missing significant milestones.
"Your youngest son is the same age as ours, so every time he gets to talk to you — he tells you he loves you, tells you 'Happy Father’s Day,' tells you 'Merry Christmas,'" Cram said. "I want you to think about our son, who never gets to talk to his dad ever again.”
Cram said her husband would have done what he could to help Ricke — if he hadn’t been shot instead.
"You didn't even know the man that you killed. He would have given you a ride,” she said. "He would have given you any spare change and offered advice to mend your poor excuse for a relationship. The things that you take for granted now, we never get for the rest of our lives.”
Father called Officer Cram an amazing son, father and husband
Kevin Cram’s father, Mark Cram, echoed that sentiment. He called Kevin an amazing son, husband and father who would never miss reading his children a book before bedtime — even on duty.
"He would park his police car and call home to read a story to them before bed,” Cram said. "He was truly an excellent dad. He was their teacher, their best friend and their hero.”
Cram also stated that Kevin always showed compassion, even on the job. He shared the story of a young meth addict who Kevin convinced to go to rehab and get clean. And that caring spirit continued the night of his death when he arrived to arrest Rick for a misdemeanor harassment warrant from nearby Emmet County.
"He showed you a small act of kindness by letting you put away your skid loader before he took you in. The difference is everybody else appreciated him doing them a favor. On the other hand, you used his small act of kindness as an opportunity to ambush and execute him,” Cram said. "That makes you a truly worthless, despicable piece of [expletive]. Our son did you a favor, and in return, you killed him. The manner in which you killed him speaks volumes about you.”
Autopsy photos presented during the trial showed that Kevin was shot eight times.
"After he was on the ground, defenseless, you put three more bullets in his back. That is the very definition of a yellow-back shooting coward, and that is you. Even after that act of cowardice was done, you got in your pickup and ran away," Cram said. "When they had his autopsy pictures up, you were staring at the floor. You put eight bullets in him, but you weren't able to even look at the damage you caused. Those pictures are forever in our memories. Your name is attached to 46 court records in one capacity or another. At the time you killed Kevin, you were 43 years old. Obviously, you didn't learn from your mistakes like a normal person does.”
Mark Cram also expressed disgust in seeing the body cam video of Ricke "ambushing and executing” his son — and the aftermath — before fleeing to his sister's home in Minnesota.
"The second most disgusting thing I've ever seen is watching you and your mother hug each other while our son lay on the ground dying, not 10 feet away,” he added. "What kind of sick, nasty people hug each other while a young man lay dying 10 feet away? I would say you're just trailer trash, but you don't even have a trailer. You're 43 years old and living with mommy. What is trailer trash without a trailer? Just trash.”
Mark Cram then left Ricke with one final statement.
“Burn in hell, [expletive]."
A family impacted by murder
A packed courtroom also heard Kossuth County Victim Witness Coordinator Cinnamon Mawdsley read a letter from Kevin Cram’s 7-year-old son, Weston.
"I feel sad about my dad dying. I loved him very much. He showed me how to rodeo, and he taught me how to fish, and was going to show me how to hunt when I got older. I miss him every day," the statement said.
I hope that every night you close your eyes, you hear the screams of my son when he misses his dad at night.Lara Cram, wife of Officer Kevin Cram
The prosecution then played a gut-wrenching recording that brought tears to the eyes of some, including seasoned officers. They heard one of Kevin Cram’s three boys crying for 96 seconds — the same amount of time that led up to the shooting.
"I know you'll never see the outside world again, but I hope that every night you close your eyes, you hear the screams of my son when he misses his dad at night, because this is what you've done to his sons and to me,” Lara Cram said.
Judge Whittenburg also ordered Ricke to pay $150,000 in restitution to Lara Cram and up to $18,000 for attorneys’ fees. Ricke has 30 days to appeal the sentence. The day before sentencing, the judge ruled against a motion by Ricke’s legal team for a new trial. They claimed the level of premeditation in the case did not warrant a first-degree murder conviction.
