Huston William Danker booking photo.

TOLEDO – Former Traer resident Huston William Danker’s first degree murder trial which had been scheduled to begin last week in Johnson County – after being reset twice since the original date of Nov. 4, 2024 – has been reset for a third time to later this summer.

On Dec. 26, 2024, defense attorney Leon F. Spies of Iowa City filed an unresisted motion in Tama County District Court to continue Danker’s 10-day jury trial that had been set to start on Jan. 21, 2025. In the filing, Spies indicated he had conferred with Assistant Attorney General Michael H. Ringle and there was no resistance from the State in regard to a reset.

On May 16, 2024, Danker pleaded not guilty to murdering Ryan Cooper of Traer while also waiving his right to a speedy trial; he again waived that right on Jan. 9, 2025.

“On the afternoon of Friday, December 20, 2024, defense counsel was provided with a 46-page report detailing the findings and expected testimony of an important prosecution expert,” Spies stated in the Dec. 26, 2024 motion to continue. “Although the report was in the State’s possession months ago, and encompassed in the Defendant’s production request, it had not been earlier furnished to the Defendant. Defense counsel has been informed that this late disclosure was inadvertent and due to oversight. The nature of this report – the substance of which will be described for the Court – requires review and expert analysis by a yet-to-be-retained defense expert. This review and necessary trial preparation cannot reasonably be accomplished by the time of trial as currently scheduled.”

Last Thursday (Jan. 23), Chief Judge Lars G. Anderson granted Danker’s motion and reset the trial to Aug. 12, 2025, beginning at 9 a.m. in Johnson County.

A case management conference is scheduled for April 4 at 2:30 p.m..

On April 29, 2024, Danker, now 27, was arrested in Cedar Rapids by the Tama County Sheriff’s Office and charged with first degree murder for acting ‘in concert with Karina Cooper’ to kill Karina’s husband, the late Ryan Cooper. Karina Sue Cooper, now 47, had been previously arrested and charged in February 2024 with first degree murder.

Ryan Cooper, 42, was murdered in his rural Traer home as a result of two gunshot wounds to the face on June 18, 2021.

Like Danker, Karina Cooper pleaded not guilty; she is currently awaiting a 9-day jury trial which as of press time was set to begin on Feb. 25, 2025, in Linn County.

Danker and Karina Cooper both remain behind bars at the Tama County Jail in Toledo on separate $1 million bonds.