Karina Cooper may already be facing a lifetime behind bars for the murder of her husband, Ryan Cooper. But the fallout from the killing hasn’t stopped with her conviction. Now, Ryan’s estate is trying to claw back the half-million dollars in life insurance money Karina received just months after his death.
Ryan, 42, was found shot twice in the face inside the couple’s Traer, Iowa, home on June 18, 2021. By December of that year, Karina had already collected $514,882.21 from his life-insurance policy, according to court filings and local reports.
More than three years later, in February 2024, Karina was arrested. Prosecutors said she and her alleged lover, Huston Danker, had plotted Ryan’s killing to cash in on the payout. A Linn County jury convicted her of first-degree murder on July 11 of this year, and last month Danker pleaded guilty himself.
With both conspirators now convicted, Ryan’s siblings — Aaron Cooper and Michelle Wilson, who administer his estate — want the insurance money returned. They’ve petitioned a judge for an injunction to freeze any remaining funds and identify where they might be held. Their motion names Karina, her attorney Chris Wilson, investment broker Jay Devries, and Chelsea Savings Bank as potential custodians, signaling a paper trail that could stretch across multiple accounts. A hearing on the request is scheduled for Sept. 12 at the Tama County Courthouse.
Iowa’s so-called “slayer statute” is clear: a person who intentionally causes another’s death can’t benefit financially from it. That principle is now being tested in real time as the courts decide whether Karina should be forced to return what she collected.
The case itself hinged on digital forensics and painstaking analysis of the crime scene. Jurors saw Snapchat exchanges in which Karina and Danker allegedly discussed casings and cleanup before the 911 call. Prosecutors also presented text messages where Karina vented about her husband — one reading, “I f—ing hate him,” another wishing for a deadly truck accident. Forensic evidence included a .22-caliber casing, location records, and bloodstain patterns showing Ryan was shot while reclining.
Karina is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 19, when she will formally receive the mandatory life sentence that comes with a first-degree murder conviction in Iowa. Danker’s sentencing is set for Oct. 3 in Tama County.
But for Ryan’s family, justice now isn’t just about a guilty verdict. It’s also about making sure his killers don’t keep the money they say was the motive all along.
