The north Iowa man accused of killing an Algona Police Officer last fall is asking for his trial to be moved out of Kossuth County.
43-year-old Kyle Ricke is seeking a change of venue for his first-degree murder trial, scheduled to begin next month. In his motion for the defense, Attorney Matthew Pittenger states that media coverage of the case was intense following the shooting death of Officer Kevin Cram on September 13, 2023.
Pittenger says that publicity has created a substantial likelihood that a fair and impartial jury can not be impaneled from Kossuth County or any surrounding county. The state will file a written response to the motion before a judge makes a ruling.
Ricke is currently scheduled for a pretrial conference on May 31st, with his trial scheduled to begin June 25th.
Ricke remains in jail on a $2 million cash-only bond.
Prior to joining the Algona Police Department, the 33-year-old Cram was an officer with Nora Springs Police from 2013 to 2015.
