Iowa Woman Tortured to Death After Breakup

I owe accounting and I don't know what is the address of your emergency. I'm actually at Lily Lake in Amanda and there's it 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 or 3 a.m., her heart rate spiked and then there was also a loud noise alert. Hey that's. I was just told, "A homicide was an awful f***ing song." I didn't know how it was. 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 f*** up." Mary and Iowa has a very low crime rate, very low unemployment rate, very low poverty rate. Mary and 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 and Illinois notice the address of your emergency. I'm actually at Lilly Lake in Amanda and there's a looks like a dead body here. Okay, you're at the Lilly 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 Lilly Lake or Lilly 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. They discovered there are slash marks on her back and stab wounds on her back and then also it appeared she'd 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 that 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 day? It's 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 thrived for, I would say, adult interaction. Turn around quick! Smile! 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. Melody 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 going to 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 in 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. 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 it 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 3.13am we got a SOS message from the Apple alert from her phone saying that there was a crash detected. 911, your phone just called in saying that you may have been in an accident. We have responders headed to that GPF location if you're able call us back. 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 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 my 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 a stickler 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 persons 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 news that you'll ever hear. A lot of stuff after that moment was a blur. Tonight, people gathered to remember a Maryam 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 Maryam 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 pour in. 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 vulgar names, referred to her as f*cking and threatened to harm her and her family. Maryam Police Department conducted an investigation, tried 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 asked 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-Louisma 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. Louisma even stayed 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 going to 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 and the WiiZema broke up towards the end of December 2023. They continued to communicate as they were resolving their relationship, including turning over property of Mr. Louisma's to him. There was a particularly intense text message exchange between Melody and McKinley and the WiiZema around January 7th or so, where Melody actually threatened to throw out Mr. Louisma's property. He ended up getting the property. But in fairly short order, in fact, that same day, Ms. Hoffman received a very threatening and menacing text message from an unknown number. Investigators obviously need to bring McKinley and the WiiZema 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 released his car as a blue 2007 Honda Accord. So the Cedar Rapids Police Department, after the attempt to locate was put out, found the McKinley's vehicle in Haiawatha 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 and the WiiZema 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 the vehicle was brought up as like that. The vehicle would interest some of that a lot of the gold that I would give 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 Hoffman. 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? The last time I speak with her was on the phone. She told me to come over and I always say, "I'm not going to come over unless your mom is there." Because that's what her mom told me. You didn't see her at all on Friday or Saturday. I have a girlfriend. So it was like, "I don't think my girlfriend will be okay with me if I see my ex girlfriend." So I said, "Okay. How did I want my way?" And then two people started coming. It's pretty much leading along the thing that I'm coming in and going, "Oh, I'm just making excuses." Melody didn't always pick up on things that were obvious to other people around her. So Megan was noticing that Mr. Louise Munn was not showing up when he said he would, that he would leave her hanging, that 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 girlfriend's pregnant and I pretty much had more intention of focusing on the child and being a father than she didn't like that. Detectives find out the name of McKinley's other girlfriend. Nakeda Slowbada would have been the on and off again girlfriend of Mr. Louise Munn for approximately four years leading up to Melody Hoffman's murder. Mr. Louise Munn and Miss Slowbada were in this very long-term relationship, but they had actually broken up and separated in July of 2023. And we're not together at the time Mr. Louise Munn met Melody Hoffman, started dating, wasn't until December of 2023 when Mr. Louise Munn and Miss Slowbada got back together and that was at least somewhat due to the fact that Miss Slowbada was pregnant. Detectives steer the conversation back to McKinley Louise Munn's car. 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. Trevor Weasel 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 Nakeda and McKinley. He essentially stayed that he was at home playing video games most 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 a 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? I'm not really sure. You know how it smells? Mr. Luizma 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 this one bag, garbage bag. I don't know, well it's my girlfriend's garbage bag because we got it from the sheet of wrap. It's garbage. I think we pull 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 that. 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 hour and a half of the interview, we can only 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 of Luizma'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 then 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 Kebley. Understand that you want to talk a bit more. Okay, all right. Well, there's things to talk about. Let's get about them to take them, okay? Yeah, so the first interview is pretty much accurate. There are some things that was left just to protect my family, like no problem with that. Okay, who are you worried about? The person that pretty much did this. And who is that? Just how the kid I was with. During the second interview, a Wiesmus story changed drastically. We have a home playing the building. My name is Kevin, but I want to eat pretty much on my login. I don't know if he goes by Dakota. Dakota, I think we're going to go money. You know, last days, you know, I don't know the money. Pretty much, I don't know that's 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. Through the plans to go mudding with Dakota and Logan. So I texted Mel, say, hey, I'm losing there 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 think her, if she said, was to plan. So I said, well, you're going to go spend a night with me after I dropped Dakota off. When you picked her up was 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 Nullity and that he did pick her up with another individual Dakota van Patten. She was just in the back just vibrant into the music and we're just talking out front, but Dakota seemed to look like a little off. Now I was like, hey, so what are you getting me from Amazon? She was telling me that she's getting me some clothes. And if I were, she can order me a little 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 a turn when she started arguing with him. Because he was like, you're being a little bit too too busy because she was complaining about the song. And I was like, man, so the fuck 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, yeah, I was like, okay, that's when he had a gun. And I'm like, what are you going to do with that? And he was like, don't worry, this should go. Mr. Luizma, detail 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, both 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 her head. I was like, no, I'm not duct tape in the end. 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 head and then she was asking me what was 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's 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. Luizma 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 he just started hitting her and punching her. He was making these admissions in the case that only somebody present would have known. She was like, Bobby, why are you doing this? And I was crying. I'm not doing this. He's making me do this. I can't do anything. As soon as like, if you love me, you tell him the stuff. I might have been trying to and she was like, please don't hurt me. I'm not doing anything. I'm trying to stop him, but he doesn't want to this. I don't know what's wrong with him tonight. Mr. Luizma 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. When we got to the pond, he told me to turn the car off and shut off the light. And then he took the keys and they had a minute's pocket and then he opened her side door and he pulled her out of me once she fell and then he started walking towards this picnic area. So then when he got there, he got this road and he was like, put your gloves on and then he pointed gun at her and then she was like, please don't shoot me and then I was like, bro, please don't shoot up. Please don't shoot up. Let's leave her here and let's just go, please be refused. Once she gets to the pond near the abyss who ripped her shirt. He ripped her shirt and then he told me to rip her shirt off and pull her past out and you get that. The gun, 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 she fell and then that's when I ran back to the car. This is a very important necklace to Mellie. It contains the ashes of her sister Ellie, who was still born. When he pushed this, he fell, she got up and she started like limping and trying to run away and then he got catching up to her And then from where I was standing, I can't hear what was happening, but I could. and see what was happening. I just hear like, sign somebody's being choked. But I couldn't see 'cause after he went out there, I guess all I could hear 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 melody was strangled. That indicates to investigators that he was present when melody was killed. - He then was confronted by investigators on whether any of melody's items including her clothing would have his DNA. - When he came back, he handed me the knife and I had blood on it. Did I hear a hold this, hold that, hold that, hold this. Oh, that hold it, I'm like, bro, where is she? He was like, "Oh, there I see." I'm like, no, bro, don't tell your dick that she was like, "Yep, 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 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 what was a key admission during this interview that he had, quote, "touched everything." So Mr. Louise and I 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 Hoffman's murder. - At any time, did you think about just running away? - I knew what I didn't want to really leave her there. - But you didn't leave her there? - Yeah, I didn't go there, I could do anything. - You had a knife for a while. I mean, but this is what I'm thinking of, is to code us 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. - If there wasn't, hell wasn't no stop sign when we were going, 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 way he handles all of the bloody evidence and hangs on to 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'd throw everything out when we stopped outside of the road. He 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. He told me he'd work, 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 dozen? This isn't my first date, okay? I wasn't clothing. You and I are sitting here talking. There's 12 other individuals out there piecing the case together. This case is about 36 hours away, 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 Wiesma'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 attorney. 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. Fix that with force, please. 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 them to the Marion Police Department to interview. - Yeah, that's. I was just told a homicide, I was like, "Well, what the fuck is going on?" I didn't know if that was. - Well, I'll pay attention to this stuff. - Okay. We'll get into that, 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 enough, man. So it is a reference to a homicide investigation. - Man, as you said, my name or anything? - I won't get to that right now, okay. - What's your relationship with McKinley or 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. - Mass, what Molly said. - You came up as the case back clear, you indicate that Ken and your possibly involved in this, okay, and Melody is. - I said, Melody. - Melody, you know, my name and all. - I don't know. - I don't know, I used to go to school with her. She's like not even how old was the victim. She's probably not as up to 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 from now. 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. Van Luizma 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 don't know. - You never even ever (bleep) heard the name. - Would there be any reason Melody's phone would connect to your phone for a hotspot? - No, I don't think so. - Could you give me a possible reason? - One of them has a password. So make people know the password of my hotspot. - Ken knows your password of your hotspot? - I think so. And his phone is connected to it before. His girlfriend's phone's connected to it. So honestly, get my (bleep) password out of my head. 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 one that's Melody's body. - I don't even know who the (bleep) is. 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. If anything, you accuse me of lying. - I'm not accusing of lying, but you're leaving. - Okay, so you got one. - I don't hardly remember (bleep) your pressure. You wanna tell me I'm lying. - 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. - You're the (bleep) facts and you're telling me all the (bleep) facts. - I'm not gonna give you all my keys, man. - I haven't met how to write, no, where the (bleep) is coming from from this. If you think I'm committed to a (bleep) actually to be able to submit a murder or no. - He tried to say that McKimley 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 McKimley's phone. And they find something disturbing. - Mr. Luizma'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 want to send a picture to somebody, it gives you the suggestions of who you might want to send the picture to, whether it be a text message, Snapchat, Facebook, whatever it is, 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 text was saying, "Am down the street, "Am coming home soon." And looking at Luizma's 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 McKimley would. And this led investigators to believe that at this point, Melody was no longer in possession of her phone, and that McKimley 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 of 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 pm 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 were able to show these three individuals walking sometimes even smiling, proceeding to collect these items that we believe were in preparation to kidnap and kill Melody Hoffman. - Dr. 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 Vampad 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. - It allowed noise alert that there was a, I think it's 120 decibels, the phone or her watch picked up, something loud occurred whether it 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 Vampad and Alibi, which is that he was at his girlfriend'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 McKenley. Now, investigators are able to couple all this data they've pieced together along with the DNA evidence found on the items in McKenley, Louise, Ms. Carr after it comes back from processing. - There were several gloves that were found and they were the same gloves that Mr. Van Patton, 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 Patton's DNA was inside a glove that had Melody Hoffman's blood on the outside. We also found a partially used role of duct tape in the console of Mr. Liesma's Honda court. Dakota Van Patton's DNA was found on the inside of the duct tape role that had Melody Hoffman's blood on it. These were two key pieces of physical evidence that were used to prove Dakota Van Patton's direct involvement in this case. On other key pieces of evidence that I'm talking about, the knife that was discovered in McKenley, Louise, Ms. Carr 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 Patton and McKenley, Louise, Ms. Carr. Law enforcement already has a pretty strong case but why stop now? They obtained a search warrant for the residents that Dakota Van Patton was staying at and they uncover even more evidence. Officer's found Melody's glasses in the bedroom that Dakota was staying in. In addition to that, there was a machete found in the residence that matched the Ozark trail style 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 McKenley'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 a murder in the first degree kidnapping in the first degree in Conspiracy Committee of Forcible Felony. We also put out a warrant for Logan Kimpton for Conspiracy to commit a Forcible Felony. We partnered with the US 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 the Code of Empaddon and picked up his other friend Logan Kimpton. 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 and the evidence in the case then showed that Mr. Kimpton was dropped back off at his home. The Mr. Van Patten and Mr. Louise Ma remain together. Melody was picked up approximately 11.25 p.m. by McKimley, Louise Ma 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 McKimley is familiar with. And their Melody's strangled, stabbed, slashed, and killed. After Melody was killed, the Dakota and McKimley 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 McKimley's motive to kill Melody was possibly that Nakeda had given an ultimatum to McKimley since they had a child on the way. It had to be either her or Melody. After their arrests, McKimley and Dakota hire separate defense counsel, and they proceed with separate trials. First up is McKimley Louise Ma, 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 17, into February 18, 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 McKimley puts all the blame for the murder of Melody on Dakota Van Patten. The state says, frequently, day, day, day. If there was no plan, ladies and gentlemen, there was no podrigment. 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 interfere. He did not flutter. But the prosecution counters that McKimley had a motive for killing Melody. The evidence will show there were different possible reasons for why this happened. Animosity in the breakup. Reading himself of Melody so he could stay with him. and they could go on with their lives, but the evidence will also show another potential moment. 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 role of 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 knock 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 in 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 **** 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, believe 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-Lewismann, 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 it comes to him? Is there a pregnancy that comes into play? Does McKinley have a motive to hard Melody? Does Dakota? Devoness will show Dakota was with McKinley. Devoness will 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-Lewismann was the violent one and that Dakota was afraid of McKinley. Mr. Van Patton's admission that Mr. Luizma 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. Luizma was the one who was violent. That Mr. Luizma was the one who committed this act and that he was afraid of Mr. Luizma 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 events will 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 hadn't 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 the 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 nobody 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 the mall. 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 them and I ask 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. 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]