Iowa Woman Tortured to Death After Breakup

- I owe a counting in on what is the address of your emergency. - I'm actually at Lily Lake in Amanda. And there's a looks like a dead body here. It's a woman and she's just wearing underwear. - A 20 year old woman is found strangled to death and investigators have to pull out all of the stops to find her killer. - Melody Zappelwatch told investigators that at approximately 12 o'3 a.m., her heart rate spiked and then there was also a loud noise alert. - And that's, I was just told, "Oh, I'm gonna say I was able to f*ck this home. "I didn't know if that was." - He had a gun and I thought, "What are you going to do with that?" And he was like, "Don't worry, this should f*ck up." (soft music) - Marion Iowa has a very low crime rate, very low unemployment rate, very low poverty rate. - Marion Iowa is an Eastern Iowa right next to Cedar Rapids. It's a bedroom community. It's a great place to raise a family. It's fairly quiet for the size of city we are. - But on February 18th, 2024, a 911 phone call pierces through that piece and quiet. - Iowa County, I don't know what is the address of your emergency. - I'm actually at Lillie Lake in Amanda and there's a looks like a dead body here. - Okay, you're at the Lillie Pond? - Yeah, right by the, where the picnic area the Pavilion is. - Is she breathing? - It does not look like it. Do you see her chest rising and falling? - She's on her stomach. - I'll get somebody over there, okay. - On February 18th around 10 o'clock in the morning, Iowa County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call at Lillie Lake or Lillie Pond as it's used interchangeably. What appeared to be a deceased woman laying on the shoreline. - So you said that she's on her stomach? - She is on her stomach, yes. - Is there anything else around her? - No, but there are all kinds of marks on her back. Like, flashes. I'm wondering if there might have been a sexual assault, too. - This kind of crime is something that was actually quite shocking to the citizens of our community greater Lynn County and also the state of Iowa. We just don't see things like this ever happen here. - When investigators arrive there, they taped off the area and then began their examination. And they discovered there are slash marks on her back and stab wounds on her back. And then also it appeared she had been strangled. The slash marks on her back were almost in an X pattern. Another injury that she had was a cut to her middle finger and then also a bruise on the left side of her face. Investigators there noticed that there appeared to be ligature marks around her wrist and around her neck. - With no ID found on this victim's body, investigators have to use other means to figure out who this woman is. They found a clasping on one of her fingers that had her name on it. - That confirmed that was their victim 20-year-old Melody Hoffman. - The cause of death in this case was strangulation. The ligature mark around Melody Hoffman's neck was significant enough of an injury that it was likely the cause of her death. But who would want to murder Melody Hoffman? A young woman entering adulthood. - She was a married resident and I graduated from high school. She was fun, outgoing kind of person, very trusting. - She lived with her mom, Megan Hoffman. - What? - Is that your happy dance, like your daddy's home? - My spouse, TJ, and I have two daughters, Melody. She was born on 12-9 of '03, and Ellie was still born on 5-9 of '17. - By relationship with Melody, it was very close. We weren't afraid to talk to each other. She would tell me everything, whether I wanted to know it or not. It was just a very close and special relationship. - When Melody was younger, she was just curious. She had no fear. Melody did have a mild intellectual disability. She would be able to do anything. She just maybe needed a little more instruction or guidance. But as soon as she was understanding of what you were trying to tell her, she would be able to do it. Her junior and senior year, she loved, she loved, you know, seeing her friends and hanging out with the teachers and talking to the teachers. She survived for, I would say, adult interaction. - Turn around quick. - Oh, my! - Smile! - They're standing there. - (laughs) - Put your hand on your hip. She loved animals and kids and babies, and just cared about everybody. - Melody's murder was very violent. The injuries point clearly to one thing. This was personal. - The injuries themselves, there's passion there. They're pretty horrific and whoever did this, new Melody and had an issue with her. - The crime scene itself provides an important clue to investigators. - Millie Pond is a small park with a moat area, pavilion, some mature trees, and then there's a large pond area that Melody's body is next to. - The crime scene itself, it's kind of secluded living here for most of my life. I had no idea that this location was there, so it was somebody that was intimate with that area and knew this location. - And when investigators examine Melody, they find another clue. - Melody Hoffman was not actively bleeding from those slash wounds. She wasn't actively bleeding from the stab wounds. - It is likely that she was strangled first, meaning her heart would have stopped. - This led investigators to consider it was very possible that maybe something took place at another location. - The first thing investigators need to do is establish who was she last with. That is gonna be your biggest lead right out of the gate. - I got a call from my supervisor, Lieutenant Fort. He made me aware that Megan Hoffman was actually at the police department reporting and Melody was missing. - Investigators speak with Megan to learn more about the last time she spoke with and saw her beloved daughter Melody. - February 17th, it was about 11 o'clock. I was playing on my phone and I get a notification that she had left the area that I had set up in life 360 as our home. She said she would be back. She said leave the door unlocked at 11.30 at night. I didn't want the door left unlocked so I got up and I locked it and I told her to text me or call me or whatever when she got home. I would get up and unlock the door and let her in. And then it was quiet for a while. I just assumed that she was being a kid and hanging out with her friend. And then I tried to get a hold of her. I noticed a few times that the location on her phone had gotten shut off so I had asked her to turn it on and she turned it on. I think it was in the midnight hour. I started getting messages from Snapchat. They were saying like unlock the door. I'm on my way and down the road seeing a friend and I knew that she didn't have any friends down the road and it was just off. And then I got the video that she had posted earlier in the evening sent to me directly. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) I told her, yeah, I already seen that. Come on, get home. After that her location got shut off again as I was watching it on the life 360 app. I told her to turn it back on and never got turned back on. I sent more messages that were like hello. Answer me, talk to me, what are you doing? So then I just kind of laid there. I was still in bed. I dozed off for a little while. And then at 313 AM, we got a SOS message from the Apple alert from her phone saying that there was a crash detected. 9-1-1, your phone just called in saying that you may have been in an accident. We have responders headed to that GPS location. If you're able, call us back. (upbeat music) There is a crash detection alert, which means that the phone has had some sort of a very hard impact. So you have these strange text messages that don't sound like your daughter. You have location permissions turned off. You have a repeat video, and you get a crash detection alert. That is the makings of everything that would make any mother panic about where. your child is are they safe and okay? I was hoping that it was just you know a phone got left on the top of the car and they drove off on that feature I have come to learn that she had four of us set up one being her Aunt Daisy so when that message went out it went to Daisy and Daisy sent me a message right away an asked if Mel was with me and I said no she and her husband went to the crash site the map location that Apple had sent to us and they were looking for you know a car accident or something this was 3.30 3.45 in the morning by that time they got out there and they called me and they said there's no accident we don't see anything out here keep trying to get a hold of Mel and I was and I was calling her and texting her and I don't know why I thought of it but I thought if I took her iPad and I hotspotted it to my phone I could use her find my Apple device feature on her iPad to send her phone on alert and I would go out to that location that Apple had sent the alert from I get out there and I thought I had heard something with the window being cracked just a little bit so I rolled the window down the rest of the way and I played it over and over and I was able to hear something so I got out of my car and I started walking down the side of the road as I got closer the sound was louder and louder and louder so I knew I was going in the right direction kept playing it over and over I was a little ways away from it and I looked down and I seen a glow as I got closer it was her phone it was face down on the white line so I grabbed the phone and the first thing I noticed is oh man it's broke the back is completely shattered the front had just a couple cracks through the screen but it was still usable I noticed that there was not a phone case on the phone and that was something that I was as tickler about melody knew that if I was paying for her phones they would have a phone case on them so I looked around for a little bit I didn't find the phone case I got back in my car then I drove myself to the Maryampley station and proceeded to file a missing person's report I don't know if it's a mother's instinct or what it is but we knew that something was wrong at that time is when he told us that they had recovered melody and she was deceased that's the worst thing is a lot of stuff after that moment was a blur tonight people gathered to remember a Marion woman investigators say was kidnapped and murdered loved ones held the vigil for 20-year-old Melody Hoffman tonight we held a candlelight vigil a formality at the park there and it was just an opportunity for everybody to get together friends and family held this vigil at Wanati Park in Marion earlier tonight more than 60 people gathered to remember Hoffman telling stories of her life and the fond memories they still have it felt really good to see all of the support pouring in January of 2024 about a month before Melody was found murdered Megan had reported this disturbing text message that was sent to Melody the text that was sent to Melody was from an unknown number it was a threatening text message that they were going to kill her that the police can't protect her all the time and that they were going to paint their house red indicating that they're going to cut them up or do whatever the person who sent it to her called her Valkyrie names referred to her as and threatened to harm her and her family Marion police department conducted an investigation try to figure out who the individual was that sent the text message but it was a temporary phone that had sent the message and so it wasn't able to be tracked back to anybody at the time investigators need to figure out who sent this threatening message because it could very well be her killer so they ask Megan who she believes was the last person to be with Melody on the night of her murder I told them McKinley I knew it was McKinley there was never any doubt in my mind so detective start digging into 23 year old McKinley Louise Ma and his relationship with Melody that was her first serious boyfriend they had just met actually on Facebook dating in November of 2023 and the relationship very quickly evolved into a dating relationship and into a relationship where Mr. Louise and me even stay overnight at Melody's apartment with her mom they became extremely close and Melody became very attached to him in a short period of time Melody and McKinley had a pretty good relationship he was around a lot so I was interacting with him they hung out all the time I never seen him argue or fight or heard of arguments or fights or anything they seemed to get along very well further in the relationship McKinley promised that he was gonna go see Melody but then ultimately he wanted to show up and would kind of what they call it ghost Melody that's what led to the breakup between McKinley and Melody she did not take it very well Melody Hoffman and McKinley Louise Ma broke up towards the end of December 2023 they continued to communicate as they were resolving their relationship including turning over property of Mr. Louise Ma's to him there was a particularly intense text message exchange between Melody and McKinley Louise Ma around January 7th or so where Melody actually threatened to throw out Mr. Louise Ma's property he ended up getting the property but in fairly short order in fact that same day Miss Hoffman received a very threatening and menacing text message from an unknown number investigators obviously need to bring McKinley Louise Ma in for questioning but first they need to find him we didn't know exactly where he lived at the time so we began to look for him and his car McKinley Louise Ma's car was a blue 2007 Honda Accord so the C-Rapids Police Department after the attempt to locate was put out found McKinley's vehicle in Hyawatha in a trailer park they called our department and we seized the vehicle and towed it to our police department we applied for a search warrant for the vehicle to locate any kind of evidentiary value that was in the car while investigators wait for the search warrant McKinley Louise Ma actually calls the Marion Police Department to find out if they have his car he came to the Marion Police Department willingly after getting a ride and then the interviews began with him sometimes yesterday we were brought into work in case and vehicles like the vehicle of interest some kind wanted to go to that with you just to kind of give you a little bit of basis for what we're looking into we're looking into a case involving Melody Huffman sounds like you guys used to date for a while yeah do you remember the last time you had a chance to speak with her last time I speak with her was on the phone she told me to come over and I always say I'm not gonna come over unless your mom is there because her mom told me so you didn't see her at all on Friday or Saturday I have a girlfriend so it's like how do my girlfriend will be okay when you go to my ex girlfriend so how do I want my way and then true because are you coming I it's pretty much leading along the thing I'm coming in and I'm behind this make excuses Melody didn't always pick up on things that were obvious to other people around her so Megan was noticing that Mr. Louise Ma was not showing up when he said he would that he would leave her hanging but he would go stir often and Megan finally said to Melody you've got to have a talk with him what did you guys decide to break up because I had my ex-girlfriends pregnant and I'm pretty much had more intention of focusing on the child and being a five and she didn't like that detectives find out the name of McKinley's other girlfriend Nakeda Slobada would have been the on and off again girlfriend of Mr. Louise Ma for approximately four years leading up to Melody Hoffman's murder. Mr. Louise Ma and Miss Slobada were in this very long term relationship but they had actually broken up and separated in July of 2023 and were not together at the time Mr. Louise Ma met Melody Hoffman started dating it wasn't until December of 2023 when Mr. Louise Ma and Miss Slobada got back together and that was at least somewhat due to the fact that Miss Slobada was pregnant. Detective steer the conversation back to McKinley Louise Ma's car. Do you share it with anybody or is it just yours or I mean just mine but time to time I would let somebody drive it was the last time you think you let somebody else drive your car it was Sunday Sunday night who would have that been I don't really know the guy that well he had told investigators that he had had his vehicle with him the entire night with the exception of about 45 minutes where he had lent the vehicle to somebody else. Remember about what time that was that he did this I pick up Trevor at 11 and then you brought him back and then when you got back you and Trevor start playing the game yeah Trevor Wies was Luis was out. by Trevor was working at a local bar in a neighboring town and McKinley went to go pick him up and give him a ride home. Trevor lived in the same trailer park as Nekia and McKinley. He essentially stayed that he was at home playing video games most of the night with another friend and then also that he had lent his car out to somebody for approximately 30 to 45 minutes. But other than that, he stayed at home and he had no contact with Melody that evening. I should probably try to bring you up to speed on where we're at. Unfortunately, little over 24 hours ago, Melody was found and unfortunately she was found deceased. And so we're still trying to evaluate what happened, why it happened, whether this was something that could potentially be an accident or something that could potentially be reasonably explained. Did you have anything to do with her disappearance and death? You didn't? Okay. Do you know who did? Mr. Louise Mah denied being involved with Melody Hoffman's disappearance or murder. In fact, he denied even being with Melody Hoffman that night. Is there going to be any clothing or items or anything related to her in the trunk, in the back seat, in the front seat, anywhere? There was just one bag, Garbys bag. I don't know. Well, as my girlfriend's Garbys bag was we got it from the Cedar Rapids Garbys, I think we call that place. When it's a green bag, what makes you think that Melody's stuff isn't there? I'm not saying that her stuff isn't now. Was the bag already in the car when you went out there? Yeah, it was in the car, in the back seat, in the back seat. I mean, in the back trunk. After I want to say an hour and an hour and a half of the interview, McKinley didn't want to talk anymore and he remained here at the police department. While detectives keep McKinley at the police station, investigators secure the warrant to search his car. We did a walk around a policeman's car just to look at obvious signs of any kind of evidence, anything that stuck out immediately. As we were doing that, there was a small speck of blood, at least appeared to be blood on the trunk just above the keyhole. We determined that we're going to open the trunk to see what was inside there. We saw a green trash bag on the left hand side of the trunk. We started to open the trash bag and there was what appeared to be a clump of hair stuck to a loop of duct tape. Our green trash bag had a myriad of evidence. There was Melody's clothes that had blood on it. There was more duct tape that had blood on it and her hair, her pants, her shoes, her apple watch wristband that had blood on it. There was receipts to Walmart. There was packaging to two machetes. They had found Melody Hoffman's phone case as well as finding a paracord that they believe was likely the instrument used to strangle her. This evidence could not look worse for McKinley. This is his car. This is his on-again, off-again, girlfriend. These are items that have blood on them and that essentially look like a kidnapping grab bag. Agent Ryan was sending me pictures, things that he wanted to know if I could identify them or not. I think one of the first pictures I got was a picture of Melody's phone case. I was able to identify that right away. Also in the green trash bag were two pairs of Ozark trail gloves with blood on it. While investigators send the evidence found in McKinley's trunk for DNA processing, he asked to speak to detectives again. After that, he conducted another interview with Special Agent Kebli. Understand that you want to talk a bit more. Okay, all right. Well, there's things to talk about with us. Let's get about the table, okay? Yeah, so the first interview is pretty much accurate, but there are some things that was left just to protect my family, like no family. Okay, who are you worried about? The person that pretty much did this. And who is that? There's another kid I was with. During the second interview, a whistmas story changed drastically. We had a home playing the building. My body, the captain, my body, pretty much on my locate. Who's the owner? The owner of my body goes by Dakota. Dakota, I think we're gonna go money. You know, the last things. You know, I don't know the money, pretty much the owner of the first thing. Now in case you don't know, mudding is when you take trucks or ATVs off-roading through wet, muddy terrain like bogs, trails, and fields. So the plan was to go money with Dakota and Logan. So I texted Mal say, "Hey, I'm doing something right now. I'll be on my way." She said, "Well, can you be here before 11?" So I said, "Yes, I can. Just give me a second, because I'm pretty far." When I went there, I picked her up, she said, "Was the plan?" So I said, "Well, you're gonna go spend the night with me after I dropped the coat off." When you picked her up with Dakota with you, yes, he was with me. Okay, so it was just you two and you picked her up around 11? Yes. He later admitted that he was going to meet up with Nality, and that he did pick her up with another individual Dakota van Patten. She was just in the back just vibing into the music and we're just talking how fun, but Dakota seemed to look like a little off. Now I was like, "Hey, so what are you getting me from Amazon and she was telling me that she's getting me some clothes?" And if I were, she can order me a new PlayStation 5, and then he was like, "Damn, you want to have a lot of money to be spending on him like that?" And she was like, "Yes, because she loved me." So he was like, "Well, we can cruise around for a bit." And then pretty much it took the turn when she started arguing out of way, because he was like, "You're being a little bit too, too busy." She was complaining about the song, and I was like, "Hey, man, show the **** out." But then he stepped outside, and he took a piss, and then he came to my driver's side, and then he knocked on the window, and that's when he was like, "Get out." And I was like, "Okay, that's when he had a gun." And I was like, "What are you going to do with that?" And he was like, "Don't worry, this should **** out." Mr. Luizma detailed that they went to Morgan Creek Park first, because it was a place that was actually near his home that he had been to before with Melody Hoffman. He said, "Well, there was to get out." And then he told me to pop my trunk. So I popped my trunk, and then he told me to get the duct tape and duct tape or hand. I was like, "No, I'm not duct tape in my hand." And then he took the gun, and then he put it to my, to the side of my head, and he was like, "Just do it." And then I just duct tape my hand, and then she was asking me what's going on, and I was like, "I don't know." He was just saying, "Oh, she have money." I was like, "No, she don't." She was like, "Yes, she have money, because she's willing to spend all that money on you." McKinley talks about sitting in the back of the car with Melody while Dakota allegedly has him at gunpoint. McKinley at one point says he gets his pocket knife out into Cody. Here's the click, and that's when he's trying to free Melody, cutting her finger allegedly. Mr. Louisiana then detailed that it was at Morgan Creek Park that Mr. Van Patten became upset with Melody Hoffman, and Mr. Van Patten began to assault her. He moved his way in the back, and then he just started hitting her and punching her. He was making these admissions in the case that only somebody present what a bone. Mr. Louisiana said that Mr. Van Patten directed him throughout the course of the next couple of hours to drive around with Melody Hoffman, ultimately going to Lily Lake. He told me to rip her shirt off and pull her pants down, and you did that. Okay. The gun, like he racked it, and put it in her chamber, and he was like, "He's not playing." So I ripped her clothes, and she had this necklace that was around her neck. I know what the necklace was. When he did that, she started screaming. That's my sister's, and then he pushed her down, and then she fell, and then that's when I ran back to the car. This is a very important necklace to Melody. It contains the ashes of her sister Ellie, who was still born. When he pushed as he fell, she got up and she started like glimpsing and trying to run away, and then he had to catch him up to her. And then from where I was standing, I can't here, like what was happening, but I can't believe it. to see what was happening. I just hear like something, somebody's being choked. But I couldn't see because after he went out there, I just wanted to hear it was just choked. I couldn't do nothing because I couldn't get out of there. So I just pretty much just then by the car just, like wishing I could get what all stopped. - Since he had intimate knowledge of her injuries, such as being strangled, he was not told that Malady was strangled. That indicates to investigators that he was present when Malady was killed. - He then was confronted by investigators on whether any of Malady's items, including her clothing, would have his DNA. - When he came back, he handed me the knife and I had blood on it. Like, here, hold this, hold that, hold it. Hold that, hold it, I'm like, bro, where is she? He was like, go there, I see him. I know, bro, don't tell your dig that he was like, yeah, he's like, you didn't do what I was gonna do it. So then when he gave me everything, I pretty much touched everything and then all the stuff that I touched. He told me to put it in the bag. - That's when Mr. Louise must admit it to them and was a key admission during this interview that he had, quote, touched everything. So Mr. Louise May had already told investigators before any DNA examination was even able to be done that he had handled basically all of the evidence that was involved in Miss Hopkins murder. - At any time, did you think about just running away? I mean, what I didn't want to really leave her there. - But you didn't leave her there? - He hadn't done that, I couldn't do anything. - You had a knife for a while. I mean, but this is what I'm thinking of. It's decoders in the driver's seat. Eventually, he's gonna come to a stop sign. And he's looking that way and you're behind him with a knife. - There was no stop sign when we were going on. - I know that route, there's stop signs between me and me and this. Based on your story, there's about 50 different times when you could have stopped this all from happening. His reasoning wasn't logically sound, for the reason he was not stopping Dakota from trying to do anything. - He went from wanting to drive by Melody's mom's place to get some money to, well, I guess I'm gonna have to beat the (beep) out of her tire up with duct tape, hold another guy at gunpoint and have him assist me with taking her out to a pond 30 miles away to choke her. And then I'm gonna make sure that McKinley is the one who handles all of the bloody evidence and hangs onto it. That's essentially what you're telling me. - Special agent Kelly pushed back at this pretty significantly. His main point with Mr. Louise mother was very unlikely that Mr. Van Patten would be able to compel him to do all this for this long a period of time for several hours and that Mr. Louise mother had multiple opportunities to stop Mr. Van Patten's behavior and did not do that. - I didn't know there was anything in my bag, he told me he told everything, I won't stop outside of the road. - You told me about three hours ago that you were in your truck when you got home. - Yeah, I was in my truck. Well, no, I wasn't in my truck. - You told me you were, yeah, but I wasn't in my truck. - He doesn't believe in that. He's an innocent bystander at this point. - As you're telling me this second account, I'm thinking how does this drive with other information in a thousand? This isn't my first date, okay? - I wasn't talking. - Well, you and I are sitting here talking, there's 12 other individuals out there piecing the case together. This case is about 36 hours a day, okay? And everything that we found in that trunk is gonna be subject to a thorough DNA look at. And if Dakota was involved in this, we're gonna find out. And if he wasn't involved in this, we're also gonna find out. - Remember that gun that McKinley claims Dakota threatened him with? Well, investigators find the gun. Even though McKinley was claiming that Dakota had a gun, investigators determined that Dakota, I actually had a BB gun that was recovered at Uesma's residence with Nikkea on Hummingbird Lane. And Dakota was taking selfies with it in McKinley's car and the front seat passenger seat. So McKinley knew the entire time that this gun was not real. - Talk to the guy in turning. - We've been talking to one of the guys that you brought up. Brian's still here, but you're gonna be charged tonight with kidnapping in the first degree. Okay, so I'm at Forest Police for the end of that. Thank you. - McKinley is arrested and charged with the kidnapping of Melody Hoffman while investigators continue to build the case against him. Now they turn their attention to Dakota Van Pat. - Investigators went and located Dakota and we brought him to the Marion Police Department to interview. - Hey, that's, I was just told a homicide. I was, I didn't know if that was. - Well, I'm happy to answer this stuff. - Okay, we'll get in there, man. But right now, I got to reach in Miranda, okay? - Sorry, but if you think I'm capable of committing a murder, I think you're out of your mind. - Okay, very much, man. So it is a reference to a homicide investigation. - Man, as you said, my name, or anything? - I won't, I won't get to that right now, okay. What's your relationship with McKinley? - McKinley, well, this month. - Kind of friends, I met him a couple of months ago, so. - Is he the one who said my name, or anything? - You have been brought up by him, yes. - Yes, well, he said. - You came up as the case back clearly indicate that Ken and your, and possibly involved in this, okay, and Melody is, - I said, Melody, you know, my name at all. - I don't, I don't. - I don't realize who in the school with her. She's like, not even how old was the victim. - She's 20. - Oh, you know, that's not the same melody at all. - Mr. Van Patten, very staunchly denied any kind of involvement in Melody Hoffman's disappearance, kidnapping and murder. He maintained that he was not a perpetrator of that. - You don't know Ken talking to a melody at all, you know? - No. - I don't even, I'm sorry, but I don't know if he Ken's capable of a murder. Because he's a really nice (bleep) soft dude. Him and his girlfriend have a kid on the way to. - Mr. Van Patten said that he believed that Mr. Valuisma was a chill dude, that he wasn't a violent man. Which we knew to not be true, at least given the fact that they had both been charged with a violent act just within about a month. - So as it turns out, both McKinley, Luizma and Dakota Van Patten have recently been charged criminally. - January, 2024, McKinley was arrested for a well-full injury along with Dakota Van Patten. They ended up beating up an individual and causing injuries to his face. - You mentioned you don't know melody at all. - No, I do never even ever (bleep) are they named. - Would there be any reason that Luizvon would connect to your phone for a hotspot? - No, I don't know if they know. Could you give me a possible reason? - Why not? - I have no password. So make people know the password of my hotspot. - Ken knows your password of your hotspot. - I think so. I mean, his phone is connected to it before. His girlfriend's phone's connected to it. You know, there's honestly get my (bleep) password out of my car. - I was just trying to wrap my mind around Dakota how you're working phone that you just had with you. - I do not know. - Would have ended up in the same vicinity as the smell of these bodies. - I don't even know who the (bleep) is where I'm trying to (bleep) tell you though. - Well, melody is the girl that died. - Okay, well, I don't know anything about anybody who (bleep) died. I never heard anything about a (bleep) death or anything. - Every time we brought up her name, he would get angry and he would distance himself as much as he could. - I need you to tell the truth about what happened. This is serious stuff. You know that's not true. - I mean, that's not (bleep) true. It actually accused me of lying. - I'm not accused of lying, but you're leaving. - I can't say that one. - I don't hardly remember (bleep) under pressure. Do you want to tell me I'm lying to you? - I'm not telling you I'm lying. I'm telling you I know what facts we have. If you know there's more to mine. - I hear the (bleep) facts and you're gonna tell me all the (bleep) facts. - I'm not gonna give you all my case, man. - And then I don't really know where the (bleep) is coming from from this. If you think I'm committed to a (bleep) murder now. - He tried to say that McKinley did pick him up at one point, but he went to a girlfriend's house that being Taya Meyer. And he spent the night there, but had nothing to do with melodies and killing that night. We didn't have enough to cooperate. The code is involvement. So he was let go that night. - Investigators continue gathering evidence, including data from McKinley's phone. And they find something disturbing. - Mr. Louisiana's cell phone in this case was a treasure trove of evidence. And of course the key piece of evidence in this case was the photo that it appears that he took of Melody Hoffman, bound with duct tape, bloodied and crying. - The picture was actually in a deleted location in almost like a pending file. When you open up an iPhone and you wanna send a picture to somebody, it gives you the suggestions of who you might wanna send the picture to, whether it be a text message, Snapchat, Facebook, whatever it was, that picture gets stored in a temporary file and then it gets dumped in there for a certain amount of time. But since he did not send it, it just remained in that location and he was able to find it that way. - I knew that it wasn't Melody sending me messages back, but I didn't fully grasp that until later on. But I had a weird feeling about any of the messages that were coming from Snapchat. They were just worded a little bit different than what she would have normally been saying. - The texts were saying, "Am down the street, Am coming home soon," and looking at Luis was phone and using the forensic analysis of that and the way he communicated via text, it was the same way. Melody would not communicate using Am. But McKinley would and this led investigators to believe that at this point Melody was no longer in possession of her phone and that McKinley was likely the one using her phone communicating with Megan saying that "I'm just down the street." The life 360 and phone data from Melody's phone that Megan provided to investigators proves crucial to this investigation. Getting a timeline nailed down is extremely important. Usually companies or businesses only keep their videos for a certain amount of time anywhere from a couple days to a month. We wanted to establish that timeline that way we could go to those locations and retrieve any video that was pertinent to the case. Investigators began to try to reconstruct the events of February 17th and to February 18th, 2024, to try to build a timeline of where Melody Hoffman was and who she was with up to and including the time that she was killed. Using a combination of the life 360 and phone data and traffic camera footage investigators are able to construct a map of where exactly Melody was the night she was murdered. When they started to examine Mr. Luizma and Mr. Van Patten's phone and compared it to Ms. Hoffman's phone with all the relevant location information they were quickly able to determine that Mr. Luizma, Mr. Van Patten and Ms. Hoffman had been together from approximately 11.24 p.m. on February 17th until the time Melody Hoffman was killed. And the surveillance footage they've gathered provides investigators with another lead. We were able to capture these men inside of Walmart entering, proceeding to the outdoor area where they purchase two machetes and two sets of Ozark trail gloves. It just so happens that the packages for the machetes were discovered in the trunk of Mr. Luizma's car along with the receipt from the purchase as well as the Ozark trail gloves. We are able to show these three individuals walking sometimes even smiling, proceeding to collect these items that we believe were in preparation to to kidnap and kill Melody Hoffman. After Lynn County retrieved the Walmart video, one of the deputies was able to identify Dakota and Logan Kimpton as the other two being in the video with McKinley. Investigators discovered that Logan Kimpton is the person who introduced McKinley and Dakota to each other. Logan Kimpton was the cousin of the woman that Mr. Luizma had been dating off and on. And Dakota Van Patten was a friend of Logan Kimpton, so that's how the two of them met. Melody's Apple Watch data also provides investigators with another clue. The loud noise alert that there was a, I think it's 120 decibels, the phone or her watch picked up. Something loud occurred while there was screaming or some kind of loud noise was recorded on her Apple devices at the same time that a heart rate spiked. From that data, investigators were able to determine that Melody Hoffman had experienced a event that had either led to her heart stopping or an event that led to the Apple Watch being removed from her body. When they pieced together the other forensic data in this case, they had determined that Melody Hoffman was not at Lily Lake when this happened. She was at Morgan Creek Park. So Detective Circle back to Dakota Van Patten's alibi, which is that he was at his girl friend's house the night that Melody was killed. Him admitting that he went to Tay and Myers' place was huge because she was later able to cooperate that he did come over that night, but after Melody had been killed and Dakota confessed to her that he had killed Melody along with McKinley. Now, investigators are able to couple all this data they pieced together along with the DNA evidence found on the items in McKinley Louise Miss Car after it comes back from processing. There were several gloves that were found and they were the same gloves that Mr. Van Patten, Mr. Kimpton, Mr. Liesma were observed purchasing at Walmart. On one of these gloves, our forensic examiners were able to find Melody Hoffman's blood on the outside of the glove. That glove was swabbed on the inside for DNA and that swab resulted in confirmation that Dakota Van Patten's DNA was inside a glove that had Melody Hoffman's blood on the outside. We also found a partially used roll of duct tape in the console of Mr. Liesma's Honda Court. Dakota Van Patten's DNA was found on the inside of the duct tape roll that had Melody Hoffman's blood on it. These were two key pieces of physical evidence that were used to prove Dakota Van Patten's direct involvement in this case. On other key pieces of evidence and I'm talking about the knife that was discovered in McKinley Louise Miss Car that had Melody Hoffman's blood on it. The paracord that was used to strangle her had Melody Hoffman's DNA on it and two other people's DNA on it and the only two people that were with Melody Hoffman when she was killed was Dakota Van Patten and McKinley Louise Mutt. Law enforcement already has a pretty strong case but why stop now? They obtain a search warrant for the residents that Dakota Van Patten was staying at and they uncover even more evidence. Officers found Melody's glasses in the bedroom that Dakota was staying in. In addition to that there was a machete found in the residents that matched the Ozark trail style of machete and then also they found a rope in the basement that appeared to match the remaining length of the rope that was found in McKinley's trunk. We connected that it was likely the rope that was used to cut off the ligature that strangled Melody. And finally investigators compare the phone data and they are able to place Dakota with Melody on the night of her murder without a shadow of a doubt. The one thing he denied up and down was that he was not with Melody but his phone connected to Melody's phone. That was one of our major approval lies. Dakota was arrested that day on the 21st for murder in the first degree kidnapping in the first degree in conspiracy to commit a forceful felony. We also put out a warrant for Logan Kempton for conspiracy to commit a forceful felony. We partnered with the U.S. Marshals to help assist locating Logan and we were able to arrest him a few days later. Using all this available evidence investigators pieced together a theory of what happened to Melody the night she was murdered. Mr. Louise Ma was communicating with Melody Hoffman arranging to meet up with her later that night. Mr. Louise Ma also picked up Dakota van Patten and picked up his other friend Logan Kempton and the three of them then proceeded to go to the Walmart where they were captured on video surveillance, purchasing machetes and gloves. They left the Walmart in the evidence in the case then showed that Mr. Kempton was dropped back off at his home, but Mr. Van Patten and Mr. Louise Ma remain together. Melody was picked up approximately 11.25 p.m. by McKinley-Louisma and Dakota Van Patten. Around midnight the nightmare for Melody began where she was bound, beaten and then put in the trunk of a car. At that point the life 360 on Melody's phone is shut off. From there they drive out to Lily Pond, an area where McKinley is familiar with and their Melody's strangled, stabbed, slashed and killed. After Melody was killed, Dakota and McKinley drive back to the Cedar Rapids area. They stop at a local quickstar, use the restroom and then come to the front desk and buy cigars and apparent celebration of what they did. Investigators believe that McKinley's motive to kill Melody was possibly that Nakeda had given an ultimatum to McKinley since they had a child on the way. It had to be either her or Melody. After their arrests, McKinley and Dakota hired separate defense counsel and they perceived separate trials. First up is McKinley-Louisma. On trial for kidnapping, conspiracy to commit forcible homicide and first degree murder of Melody Hoffman. Depraved, dehumanizing defies reason. The evidence in this case will show that the defendant's actions, along with his accomplice, Dakota Van Patten, on February 17th into February 18th, 2024, were depraved. The evidence in this case will show that they kidnapped, killed, and mutilated Melody Hoffman. In a manner that can be described as nothing less than dehumanizing. But the defense attorney for McKinley puts all the blame for the murder of Melody on Dakota Van Patten. Please accept him. There was no choice. They were not acting in concerts. There was no the defendant's case in Patten. Because while he was there, he did not strangle her. He did not use her. He did not kill her. But the prosecution counters that McKinley had a motive for killing Melody. The evidence will show that there were different possible reasons for why this happened. Animosity in the breakup. Gritting himself of Melody so he could stay with him. and they could go on with their lies. But the evidence will also show another potential motive. The Melody Hoffman was either pregnant at the time of her death or had recently been pregnant. After seven days of testimony and evidence, the trial goes into closing arguments. The evidence in this case has shown that the defendant was the leader of this conspiracy. He was the instigator of the brutality that was inflicted upon Melody Hoffman. He was the key driver of the kidnapping, and the only person in this case with true motive and passion to do what he did to Melody Hoffman. He may have needed Dakota Van Paten to help him, and Dakota Van Paten, ladies and gentlemen, has guilty of the role that he played in this, too. But none of this happens without the defendant. None of it. The evidence has shown in this case that the defendant and Dakota Van Paten worked in concert together. From the time they walked into Walmart to buy the machetes and gloves, to the time they went into Quickstar and got some celebratory cigars. Let's talk about Dakota Van Paten. Dakota Van Paten was not ashamed of what he had done. He flaunted it. He confessed his crime to someone else within hours of committing it. Dakota Van Paten's DNA is found on the inside of glove, too. Melody Hoffman's glasses and the used roll-up duct tape. You decide the facts in this case. What are you firmly convinced of? And once you do that, you'll return three verdicts of not guilty. Thank you. The jury goes back to deliberate. And after just two hours, they come back with their verdict. In the matter of caption, state of Iowa versus McKinley, Luizma, count one. We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of murder and the first degree. Count two. We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of kidnapping in the first degree. Count three. We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of conspiracy to commit a forceful felony. Signed by the four person. After being convicted on all counts, McKinley, Luizma, heads dissent and sing for the murder of Melody Hoffman. And this is where Megan, Melody's mom, finally, gets to address McKinley directly. You f---ed with the wrong mama. You messed with the wrong family. I'm sorry you never felt like you fit in to our family. I now know you could never fit into a caring, loving, supportive family. All Melody wanted to do was to care for you and support you. She begged me to let you stay with us so you wouldn't have to sleep in your car during the winter. Every meal you eat, every time you lay down on the bed provided for you, Melody is still providing for you. She will provide those bars you now live behind for the rest of your life. Before the judge hands down his sentence, he also has a few words for McKinley. Sir, your offenses are obviously devastating to Melody Hoffman's family, but they also undercut really the safety and feelings of security for the entire community. A sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole is the appropriate sentence for these crimes and they're necessary for the protection of the community. On September 17th, 2025, the trial of Dakota Van Patton begins. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, premeditation, execution, celebration. Together, Dakota Van Patton and McKinley-Lewisma, friends, accomplices, partners and tear, premeditated and executed the kidnapping in the murder of Melody Hoffman. Presence is not participation. I ask you to pay attention to the relationship between all the players that they talk about. Pay attention to the relationship between McKinley and Melody. They're off again, on again, boyfriend, girlfriend, but what exactly is happening with that relationship on the night in question? Is McKinley a part of a locked triangle at the day in question? Are there some serious jealousy issues when he comes to him? There are pregnancy that comes into play. Does McKinley have a motive to hard Melody? Does Dakota? The evidence we'll show Dakota was with McKinley. The evidence we'll show Dakota was with Melody. But is his near presence enough to reach this high burden of beyond a reasonable doubt that's on the state? Now the defense argues that McKinley-Lewisma was the violent one, and that Dakota was afraid of McKinley. Mr. Van Patton's admission that Mr. Lewisma was a chill dude, or that he was not a violent person, was a key admission during his interview. Because he would later argue at trial that Mr. Lewisma was the one who was violent. That Mr. Lewisma was the one who committed this act, and that he was afraid of Mr. Lewisma, and that's why he didn't intervene or stop things from happening. At trial, the prosecution presents evidence of Van Patton's involvement in the murder of Melody Hoffman, and that includes something very disturbing. The evidence we'll show that investigators came back on the 21st of February 2, Mr. Van Patton's house. With a search warrant in hand, they found Melody Hoffman's glasses. Further investigation revealed Mr. Van Patton had just taken the glasses, but he had modeled them and taken pictures of himself and glasses. He had taken somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 selfies, wearing Melody Hoffman's glasses. Some photos that he had actually sent to people on Snapchat. After a week of testimony in closing arguments, the jury goes back to deliberate, and they come back with a finding of guilty on all counts. On November 14th, 2025, Dakota Van Patton is sentenced to life in prison without parole. I've been a prosecutor for 25 years. I've prosecuted a lot of homicides. After every homicide, when the jury convicts, I always take a moment to myself, and that's when the reality of the loss of human life kicks in. You got the adrenaline going, you just got to conviction, you got justice, but it doesn't bring that person back. I mean, this was just a horrible loss for this family. So, I think that's something that will stick with me for the rest of my career, what this family was to went through. We got him justice, but Noody Hoffman should be alive. There are a lot of memories of Mel. I mean, we had 20 years with her. She always tried to make everybody happy. I remember one time. We were walking through them all. It was Christmas time. There was these two ladies, and Melody tells this lady, "I like your sweater." And she was thrilled. You could just see it across your face. The lady was over the moon that some teenage girl commented on her sweater, and it was in a positive way. We get a little ways away from a woman. I asked Melody, "Did you really like her sweater?" And Melody's like, "No, I just wanted to see her smile." Those kinds of interactions happened every time we went somewhere. To the end, she believed in the goodness of people. She just wanted to have fun. The last video, she was dancing in the backseat. And I think that just watching that from what I've learned about her is a tribute to who she was, what kind of life she lived. She was smiling, dancing, laughing all the way to the end. It's truly devastating what happened to her and the loss that her family will feel. We need more people like Melody Hoffman in the world, and she was taken away. [Music]