Karina Sue Cooper reacts as a guilty verdict is read during her first-degree murder trial at the Linn County Courthouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Friday, July 11, 2025. Cooper, 48, of Traer in Tama County, was convicted of fatally shooting her husband, Ryan Cooper, on June 18, 2021. The trial was moved to Linn County. (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette)
CEDAR RAPIDS – A Linn County jury has found Traer woman Karina Sue Cooper guilty of murder in the first degree for her role in the 2021 shooting death of her husband Ryan Cooper.
Right at 5 p.m. on Friday and following just over three hours of deliberation by the jury plus six days of testimony which began on Wednesday, July 2 – breaking for the Independence Day holiday – Cooper, 48, was found guilty of the lone charge connected to her husband’s murder back on June 18, 2021, at their rural Traer home.
The trial took place at the Linn County Courthouse in Cedar Rapids, after being moved from Tama County, with Iowa Sixth Judicial District Chief Judge Lars Anderson presiding.
Sentencing is set to take place at a later date in Cedar Rapids.
Murder in the first degree is considered a class A felony in Iowa and carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
After the jury was dismissed and brief remarks were given by the judge, Karina Cooper was taken away in handcuffs from the courtroom at 5:03 p.m. Her $1 million bail was immediately revoked.
On Friday evening, Tama County Sheriff Casey Schmidt, who was in attendance throughout the trial, issued a statement about the verdict, thanking the Linn County Sheriff’s Office courthouse staff, deputies, and the jury for their “professionalism and commitment” during the proceedings.
“This case was built on years of tireless work. I want to recognize the investigators from the Tama County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, and the Tama County Attorney’s Office. To every person and agency who played a role in this case, whether mentioned by name or not, thank you. Your work mattered,” Schmidt said. “Investigations like this take time. They require patience, persistence and a commitment to the truth. But when justice is served, it is worth every effort.”
He went on to address the families involved in the case.
“To the Cooper family, this verdict does not bring Ryan back, but I hope it brings some peace. You have carried this weight for a long time. To Karina’s family, I know this is a painful time for you as well. No one is left untouched by a tragedy like this,” Schmidt said. “There is still another trial ahead. I am confident that the truth will continue to come out and that justice will continue to be done. The Tama County Sheriff’s Office will always stand for truth. We will always fight for victims. And we will always do what is right, no matter how long it takes. Ryan Cooper mattered, and we will not forget him.”
Cooper testifies in her own defense Thursday
On the only day of the defense’s case Thursday, Karina Cooper delivered her account of the events leading up to Ryan’s death, as well as the aftermath. She described a normal and loving marriage that had become impacted, especially following an affair she had with co-defendant Huston Danker, 27, a former salon client of hers. Karina Cooper characterized Danker as a manipulative presence in her life – someone who made suggestive and disturbing comments about Ryan’s death, but whom she claimed she never believed would act on such threats.
Karina Cooper admitted to lying to investigators early in the case, including denying the affair and withholding details about her communications with Danker. She said those omissions were made out of fear, not guilt, and maintained that she had no role in Ryan’s killing. She testified that she panicked upon finding her husband’s body and chose to call his brother, Aaron Cooper, who lived nearby, instead of dialing 911, a decision prosecutors have pointed to as suspicious.
Much of the prosecution’s cross examination of Karina Cooper centered on digital evidence, including Snapchat messages exchanged with Danker in the hours before and after the killing. Prosecutors confronted her with messages that appeared to show romantic and conspiratorial undertones, while Karina Cooper insisted some of her language was taken out of context or misinterpreted. She also disputed the forensic evidence related to those messages, claiming she had written a longer phrase that investigators say never existed in the chat logs.
Editor’s Note: Danker is set to go to trial on his first degree murder charge next month in Johnson County District Court.
