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Shellsburg man pleads to first-degree murder before trial starts in Johnson County
Huston Danker helped his Traer lover, Karina Cooper, kill her husband
Aug. 12, 2025 12:41 pm, Updated: Aug. 13, 2025 7:43 am
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CEDAR RAPIDS — A Shellsburg man, set to go to trial today in Johnson County for helping his lover kill her husband in June of 2021, unexpectedly pleaded guilty and faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Huston W. Danker, 27, pleaded guilty as charged to first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Ryan Cooper, 42, of Traer, on June 18. He pleaded before jury selection started in Johnson County District Court, where the trial was moved from Tama County.
Assistant Iowa Attorney General Mike Ringle didn’t respond Tuesday to an email request for comment.
According to a criminal complaint, Danker told police he helped Karina Sue Cooper, 48, kill her husband, who was fatally shot twice on the left side of his face while he slept on a recliner at his farmhouse.
Karina Cooper was convicted by a Linn County jury of first-degree murder in July and will be sentenced to life in prison next month.
According to testimony during Karin Cooper’s trial, Danker, in two interviews, denied having any romance with Karina.
Special Agent Jon Turbett with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation testified that Danker described his relationship with Karina as her “gay best friend.” He acknowledged there were rumors about them in Traer, but it was because she cut his hair and babysat his kids.
Danker denied he and Karina had exchanged inappropriate Snapchats.
According to evidence presented during Karina’s trial, she and Danker, who were having an affair, carried out a plot to kill Ryan, so they could be together and start a new life with Ryan’s life insurance policy, which named Karina as sole beneficiary.
Digital forensic evidence showed many texts and Snapchats indicating a romantic and sexual relationship between Karina and Danker, according to testimony. Other messages included Karina saying she “hated” her husband, calling him a “sperm donor,” and then making plans to kill him and conceal the evidence.
Ringle, in his closing argument at Karina’s trial, encouraged jurors to look at the timeline of the messages exchanged between Danker and Karina during the early morning hours of June 18, the day Ryan was shot.
Ringle presented two scenarios — one in which Karina was the shooter, and the other in which Danker shot Ryan. He said it doesn’t matter if Karina pulled the trigger of the rifle, or aided and abetted Danker if he was the shooter, it is first-degree murder.
In messages to each other, Karina and Danker professed their love for each other. In a message sent around 3:30 a.m. June 18 -- an hour before Karina called 911 -- Danker told Karina, "Remember those casings. No ifs, ands or buts.“
Karina replied to Danker, "Absolutely. 100 percent."
Then Danker asked her to send him a message after he left her house so he could open it when he got home, and she agreed.
"Okay, babe, seriously putting the phone down,” Danker wrote in the next message. “Have to get this (expletive) done."
"Go," Karina replied, just seconds later.
Ringle said Karina was signaling to Danker that Ryan was asleep and it was OK to come over.
Karina, testifying in her own defense, described her affair with Danker as mostly an “online relationship,” which led to sex one time and later she was “disgusted” and became scared of losing her husband and their family. It was just a “fantasy,” she said.
Karina said after Danker shot Ryan, she became scared of Danker because he was threatening her and her children.
Danker will be sentenced Oct. 3.
Trish Mehaffey covers state and federal courts for The Gazette
Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com
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