Wife planned murder on Snapchat

Karina Cooper and her toyboy lover plotted to kill her husband – using Snapchat to arrange the murder of the father of four

- WORDS: GAIL SHORTLAND

Ryan Cooper was shot in the face

They were a married couple with very different personalities, but they had built a family together. Ryan Cooper, 42, was a quiet man who was sensible with money. He worked for the family farming business and couldn't wait to teach his children about the animals and have them join him driving tractors.

While Ryan was a man of few words, his wife Karina was a hairdresser who could chat to clients easily. Karina would complain to friends that her husband wouldn’t spend money on the house renovations she wanted to do, and she often put their account into overdraft.

The couple lived in Traer, Iowa with their three young children, and Ryan also had a child from a previous relationship. Being a dad came naturally to him, and he always offered to help a neighbour, or even a stranger. So when an attacker targeted Ryan in the dead of night, everyone was in disbelief that he had an enemy.

In the early hours of 18 June 2021, Karina hysterically called Ryan's older brother Aaron, a volunteer firefighter who lived minutes away, and said Ryan had been shot. As Aaron jumped in the car, he called 911 and Karina did the same from the scene.

When first responders and Aaron arrived at the house, Karina was covered in blood and sitting on top of Ryan who was slumped in his recliner chair. Ryan had been shot twice in the face. He couldn't be saved.

The couple’s three traumatised children were rushed from the house. Karina said the evening before, 17 June, they had all been at a local sport’s complex and had picked up pizza to take home. After putting the kids to bed, Karina said she had also gone to bed and Ryan had fallen asleep in his recliner.