Senator’s son to appear in court to change testimony in North Dakota deputy’s death

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The adult son of U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer is scheduled to change his testimony Friday in connection with a fatal crash that killed a North Dakota sheriff’s deputy last year.

Ian Cramer, 43, is charged with murder while fleeing from a police officer, preventing arrest, endangering, fleeing from an officer and drug and driving offenses following the Dec. 6, 2023, pursuit and crash that killed Mercer County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Martin, 53.

Cramer was initially charged with murder, later upgraded to felony murder, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine. In April, Cramer pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The notice filed Wednesday mentioned the change of testimony, but court documents did not provide details.

Cramer is the son of Kevin Cramer, a Republican who is running for a second term in the Senate. He said his son “suffers from a serious mental disorder that manifests itself through severe paranoia and hallucinations.”

Before the crash last December, Bismarck police said Ian Cramer’s mother took him to the hospital for mental health issues. Court documents say he crawled into the driver’s seat of his parents’ car after his mother got out, then backed the vehicle into the locked garage door and into the hospital’s ambulance bay. He later fled from officers when one confronted him in Hazen, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) from Bismarck, according to court documents.

Cramer reached speeds of more than 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) and continued driving even after the spiked device punctured two tires, according to court documents. More spikes were deployed, and Cramer swerved, then hit Martin’s patrol car head-on, throwing him about 100 feet (30 meters), authorities said. Martin was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

In March, Ian Cramer pleaded not guilty to separate charges of theft, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment in connection with the incidents at the hospital. A jury trial is scheduled for November.

Cramer is being held at the McLean County Jail in Washburn on $500,000 bail.

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