Prime Crime: Solved Murders - Iowa Woman Tortured to Death After Breakup

Episode Date: June 28, 2026

An Iowa woman called 911 in a panic after stumbling upon a body near a pond in Amana. Detectives identified the woman as Melody Hoffman, with the manner of death being homicide, and immediately began an all-out investigation. Investigators uncovered a trove of evidence pointing to two prime suspects. Find out what happened on this episode of “Prime Crime with Jesse Weber.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Iowa County 911, what is the address of your emergency? I'm actually at Lily Lake in Amana, 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's Apple Watch told investigators that at approximately 12 o'3 a.m., her heart rate spiked, and then there was also a loud noise alert. I had ass. I was just told a homicide. I was like, well, I didn't know if that was.

He had a gun. And I was like, what are you going to do with that? And he was like, don't worry, let's shut the . Marion, Iowa has a very low crime rate, very low unemployment rate, very low poverty rate. Marion, Iowa is in 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 size of society. city we are. But on February 18th, 2024, a 911 phone call pierces through that piece and quiet. What is the address of your emergency? I'm actually at Lily Lake in Amana, and there's, it looks like a dead body here. Okay, you're at the Lily Pond? Yeah, right by the, uh, where the picnic area, the pavilion is. It's a woman and she's just wearing underwear. 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 Lily Lake, or Lily Pond, as it's used interchangeably, what appeared to be a deceased woman laying on the shoreline. She is on her stomach, yes. Is there anything else around her? No, but there are all kinds of marks on her back. It's 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 happened here. When investigators arrived there, they taped off the area and then began their examination. They discovered their slash marks on her back and stab wounds on her back and then also it appeared she had been strengthened. 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 class ring on one of her fingers that had to use the victim's body. that had her name on it. That confirmed that was their victim, a 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. from high school. She was fun, outgoing kind of person, very trusting. She lived with her mom, Megan Hoffman. What? Is that your happy dancing? Your daddy's home? My spouse, T.J. and I have two daughters. Melody, she was born on 12-9 of 03, and Ellie was still born on 5'9 of 17.

My relationship with Melody was very close. We weren't afraid to talk to 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 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. buddy. 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 hadn't had an issue with her. The crime scene itself provides an important

clue to investigators. Lillipond is a small park with a moat area, pavilion, some of a church, trees, and then there's a large pond area that Melody's body was 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, Melanie. 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 to unlock, 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 over. 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.

I'm 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. 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 3.13 a.m., we got a.S. 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 GPS 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 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 live. learned 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 and 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 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 her, 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, 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. 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 Marion Police 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. It'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 Marion woman. Investigators say it was kidnapped and murdered. Loved ones held the vigil for 20-year-old Melody Hoffman tonight.

We held a candlelight vigil for Melody at the park there, and it was just an opportunity for everybody to get together. Friends and family held this vigil at Wannity Park, 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 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're 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 and threatened to harm her and her family. Marion 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 ask Megan who she believes was the last person to be with Melody on the night of her murder. I told him McKinley. I knew it was McKinley. There was never any doubt in my mind. So detectives start digging into 23-year-old McKinley-Luisma 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. Louisa may 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 them 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 wouldn't 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-Louisma broke up towards the end of December, 2023. They continued to communicate as they were resolving their relationship, including turning over property of Mr. Luisma's to him. There was a particularly intense text message exchange between Melody and McKinley-Louisma around January 7th or so, where Melody actually threatened to throw out Mr. Luisma'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-Louisema 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-Lesma's car was a blue 2007 Honda Accord. So the Cedar Rapids Police Department, after the attempt to locate was put out, found McKinley's vehicle in Hiawatha 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-Louisma 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. Sometime yesterday we were brought into working case and your vehicle brought up as like a vehicle of interest. So we kind of wanted to go over 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 going to come over unless your mom is there. That's what her mom told me. So 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 would be okay with me going to see my ex-girlfriend. So I'm going, I'm on my way, and then she would keep on your way. It's pretty much leading around the thing I'm coming and then I'm just making excuses. Meli didn't always pick up on things that were obvious to other people around her. So Megan was noticing that Mr. Luizma was not showing up when he said he would,

that he would leave her hanging, that he would ghost her often, and Megan finally said to Melody, you've got to have a talk with him. Why did you guys decide to break up? Because I had my ex-girlfriend's pregnant, and I'm pretty much I had more attention on focusing on the child and being a father. and being a father, and she didn't like that. Detectives find out the name of McKinley's other girlfriend. Nikia Slobida would have been the on and off again

girlfriend of Mr. Luisma for approximately four years leading up to Melody Hoffman's murder. Mr. Luizma and Ms. Slobida 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. At the time Mr. Luisma met Melody Hoffman and started dating. It wasn't until December of 2023 when Mr. Luizma and Ms. Sloboda got back together and that was at least somewhat due to the fact that Ms. Sloboda was pregnant.

Detective steer the conversation back to McKinley-Louisma's car. Do you share it with anybody or is it just yours or I mean just mine but time to time I would lend somebody drive it. What was the last time he think he 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 picked up Trevor at 11. And then you brought him back. than when you got back, you and Trevor start playing the game. Yeah. Trevor Weiss was, Luis was alibi. Trevor was working at a local bar in a neighboring town,

and McKinley went to go pick him up and give him a bride home. Trevor lived in the same trailer park as Nicaia and McKinley. He essentially stated 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 Mel.

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. Yeah, yeah. 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 in death? You didn't? Okay. Do you know who did? You don't know, not really, to be honest, no. Mr. Loizma 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 backseat, in the front seat anywhere? There was just one bag, garbage bag. I don't know.

Well, it's my girlfriend's garbage bag, because we got a little. from the sheet of rapids, garbage, I forget we pull that place. When it's a green bag, what makes you think that Melanie's stuff is in there? I'm not saying that her stuff is in there. 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, 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 of Lewisman'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. Her 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 looked 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. did another interview with Special Agent Kedley. Understand that you wanted to talk a bit more? Okay, all right.

Well, there's things to talk about. Let's get about it on the table, okay? Yeah, so the first interview is pretty much accurate, but there's some things that was left out. Just to protect my family, like no further with that. Okay. Who are you worried about the person that pretty much did this? And who is that?

His other kid I was with. During the second interview, a Lwisna's story changed drastically. We had a whole plan to go Mudding, the captain, with my buddy. Pretty much from my Logan. And who's the Illinois?

I don't know what he goes by Dakota. Dakota, I think women are going to go money. Do you know the last names? You know, I don't know the money. Pretty much know them on the first name. Now, in case you don't know, mudding is when you take trucks or ATVs off. offroading through wet, muddy terrain like bogs, trails, and fields.

So the plan is to go muddy with Dakota and Logan. So I texted Mel and 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, what's the 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 Noliti and that he did pick her up with another individual, Dakota Van Patten.

She was just in the back, just vibed into the music and we're just talking how fun, but Dakota seemed like a little off. And 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 you a new PlayStation 5, And then he was like, damn, you must have a lot of money to be spending on him like that. And then 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, like too, because she was complaining about the song. And I was like, hey, man, chill the shit out. So 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. And 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, that shut the fuck up. Mr. Loizma 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 both of us together.

out and then he told me to pop my trunk so I pop my trunk and then he told me to get the duct tape and duct tape her hand I was like no I'm not duct tape in her 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 her 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 had money. I was like, no, she don't. She's like, yes, she has 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 and Dakota, here's the click. And that's when he's trying to free Melody cutting her finger allegedly. Mr. Luizma had 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 would have known. She was like, Bubby, why are you doing this? And I was crying, I'm like, I'm not doing this.

He's making me do this. I can't do anything. And she was like, if you love me, you're telling the stuff. I'm like, I've been trying to. And she was like, please don't hurt me. Please don't care. I'm like, I'm not doing anything to you. I'm trying to stop him.

He doesn't want to listen. I don't know what's wrong with him tonight. Mr. Louisement 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 had him in his pocket. And then he opened her side door, and he pulled her out, and once again she fell. And then he started walking towards this picnic area. So then when he got there, he got this rope and he was like, put your gloves on. And then he pointed a gun at her. And then she was like, please don't shoot me. And then I was like, bro, please don't shoot her, bro. Please don't shoot her. Just let's just go. Please. He refused. Once you get to the pond near the amaz who ripped her shirt? He ripped her shirt

and then he told me to rip her shirt off and pull her pants down. And you did that? Yeah. Okay. the gun, like, he racked it, like, he was put it in the chamber. And he was like, he's not playing. So I ripped her clothes. 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 sisters. 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 that, she felt she got up and she started like limping and trying to run away. And then he ended up catching up to her. And then from where I was standing, I can't hear like what was happening, but I couldn't see what was happening.

I just heard her like, it's not like somebody's being choked. But I couldn't see because after he went after. That's all I could have was just a choke. And I couldn't do nothing because I couldn't get out of there. So I was just pretty much standing by the car just, like, wishing it would all stop. 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 it had blood on. He was like, here, hold this, hold that, hold this. Hold that, hold this. I'm like, bro, where is she? He was like, go over there and see. I'm like, no, bro, don't tell me you did this. He was like, yep. He was like, if you didn't do what I was going to 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. Loizma admitted to them, and what was a key admission during this interview, that he had, quote, touched everything. So Mr. Loizma, I had had 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 Ms. Hoffman's murder. At any time, did you think about just running away? I did, but I didn't want to really leave her there. But you did leave her there? He had a gun, and I couldn't do what you think. You had a knife for a while? I mean, but this is what I'm thinking of.

Is Dakota's in the driver's seat? Eventually he's going to come to a stop sign. And he's looking that way and you're behind him with a knife? There wasn't no stop sign where we were going. I know that route. There's stop signs between the amazes. 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 going to have to beat the out of her, tie her up with duct tape, pulled 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 going to 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. Luizma that it 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. Luizma had multiple opportunities to stop Mr. Van Pan's behavior and did not do that. I didn't know there was anything in my back trunk. He told me he thought everything out when we stopped on the road. You told me about three hours ago

that you were in your trunk when you got home. Yeah, I was in my truck. Well, no, I wasn't in my trunk. You told me you were. Yeah, but I wasn't in my trunk. 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 jive with other information?

And it doesn't. This isn't my first case, okay? I wasn't covered. And while you and I are sitting here talking, there's 12 other individuals out there piecing the case together. This case is about 36 hours old. Okay? And everything that we found in that trunk is going to be subject to a thorough DNA look at.

And if Dakota was involved in this, we're going to find out. And if he wasn't involved in this, we're also going to 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 actually had a BB gun that was recovered at Luisema's residence with the Kia 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 county attorney. We've been talking to one of the other guys that you brought up. Ryan's still here, but you're going to be charged tonight with kidnapping in the first degree. Okay, so that way for us, please. Thank you. McKinley is arrested in charge with the kidnapping of Melody Hoffman, while investigators continue to build the case against him. Now they turn their attention to Dakota Van Patten. Investigators went and located Dakota, and we brought them to the Marion Police Department to interview.

I was just told a homicide. I was like, what the . I didn't know if it was. What I got to pay attention to this stuff. Okay. We'll get into that, man. But right now I got to reach your Miranda. Okay.

Sorry, my feeling I'm capable of committee and murder. I think you're out of your mind. Okay, fair enough, man. So it is in reference to a homicide investigation. Matt, as you said my name or anything? I won't get to that right now. Okay. What's your relationship?

with McKinley, Williswam? Kind of friends, I met him for the most here, so. Is he the one who said my name or anything, or? You have been brought up by him, yes. Mazz, what all he said? You came up is the case facts clearly indicate that Ken and you're constantly involved in this, okay? And Melody's...

I said, no. Melody. You know, that name at all? No. I know a girl is going to school with, but she's like not even how old was a victim? She's 20. Oh, no. That's not the same. at all. Mr. Van Patten very staunchly denied any kind of involvement in Melody Hoffman's disappearance,

kidnapping a murder. He maintained that he was not a perpetrator of that. You don't know Ken talking to a Melody at all? No. No. I don't even, I'm sorry, but I'm not the Ken's capable of a murder. He's a really like nice, soft dude. Him and his girlfriend have a kid on the way too.

Mr. Van Patten said that he believed that Mr. Van Lee's 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-Louisma and Dakota Van Patten have recently been charged criminally. January 2024, McKinley was arrested for willful 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 never even heard the name. Would there be any reason Melody's phone would connect to your phone for a hotspot? No, I don't know. Could you give me an plausible reason of it?

Why don't know that happened? No's my password. So many people know the password to my hotspot. Do you have your password to your hotspot? I think so. I mean, his phone's connected to it before. His girlfriend's phone's connected. You know, I just honestly get my f*** password out.

I don't know. I don't know. I was just trying to wrap my mind around. Dakota, how your working phone that you just had with you. I did not know. Would have ended up in the same vicinity as Melody's body. I don't even know who that is. That's what I'm trying to tell you to go.

Well, Melody is the girl that died. Okay, well, I don't know anything about anybody who'd be died. I never heard anything about a fucking 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. That's not true. You can't accuse me of lying? I'm not accusing me of lying, but you're leaving it stuff about my. I don't hardly remember under pressure. You don't want to tell me I'm lying? I'm not telling you I'm lying. I'm telling you I know what facts we have.

And I know there's more to... I hear the facts in the museum. I'm not going to give you all the facts. I'm not going to give you all my case facts, man. I mean, I don't really know where the you're coming from from this. I mean, if you think I'm committed to a f***, you can be able to commit a murder?

No. 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 killing that night. We didn't have enough to corroborate Dakota's involvement, so he was let go that night. Investigators continue gathering evidence, including data from McKinley'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 and 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 texts were saying AM down the street, Am coming home soon, and looking at Luisma'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 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 the last. the one using your phone communicating with Megan saying that I'm just down the street. The Light 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 can go to those locations and and retrieve any video that was pertinent to the case. Investigators began to try to reconstruct the events of February 17th into 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. Luisma, Mr. Van Patten, and Ms. Hoffman had been together from approximately 1124 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 purchased 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. Loisemus 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 to kidnap and kill Melody Hoffman. After Linn County retrieved the Walmart video, one of the deputies was able to identify Dakota and Logan Kempton as the other two being in the video with McKinley. Investigators discover that Logan Kempton is the person who introduced McKinley and Dakota to each other. Logan Kempton was the cousin of the woman that Mr. Luizma had been dating off and on, and Dakota Van Paden was a friend of Logan Kempton, 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, whether it was screaming or some kind of loud noise was recorded on. her Apple devices at the same time that her heart rate spiked. From that data, investigators were able to determine that Melody Hoffman had experienced an 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 at his girlfriend's house the night that Melody was killed. Him admitting that he went to Taya 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-Louisima's car after it comes back from process.

There were several gloves that were found, and they were the same gloves that Mr. Van Patten, Mr. Kempton, Mr. Leesma 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 been. Melody Hoffman's blood on the outside. We also found a partially used role of duct tape

in the console of Mr. Luizma'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-Louisma, 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 Luisma. 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 counted these 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 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 provable lies. Dakota was arrested that day on the 21st for murder in the first degree, kidnapping in the first degree, and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony. We also put out a warrant for Logan Kempton, for

conspiracy to commit a forcible 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. Luizma was communicating with Melody Hoffman arranging to meet up with her later that night. Mr. Luizma also picked up the code of M. Patton and And he 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, and the evidence in the case then showed that Mr. Kempton was dropped back off at his home, but Mr. Van Patten and Mr. Luisma remained together. Melody was picked up approximately 1125 p.m. by McKinley Luisma 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 there Melody is 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 an apparent celebration of what they did. Investigators believe that McKinley's motive to kill Melody was possibly that Nicaia 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 hire separate defense counsel and they proceed

with 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. The state says frequently they, they, they, they.

But there was no plan, ladies and governor, there was no grievance. they were not acting in concert, there was no, the defendant in Pat. Because while he was there, he did not strangle her. He did not feed her. He did not kill her. But the prosecution counters that McKinley had a motive for killing melody. The evidence will show there were different possible reasons for why this happened. animosity when the breakup, ridding himself of Melody so he could stay with

Nakia and they could go on with their lives. But the evidence will also show another potential motive that 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 Patten to help him, and Dakota Van Patent, ladies and gentlemen is 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 Patten 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 Patten. Dakota Van Patten 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 Patten's DNA is found on the inside of Glove 2, Melody Hoffman's glasses, and the used roll 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 not guilty. Thank you. The jury goes back to deliberate, and after just two hours, they come back with their verdict.

In the matter caption, state of Iowa versus McKinley, Louisma, 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 forcible felony, signed by the foreperson. After being convicted on all counts, McKinley-Louisma heads to sentencing for the murder of Melody Hoffman. And this, 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 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 Patten begins. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, premeditation, execution, celebration. Together, Dakota Van Patten and McKinley-Louisement, friends, accomplices, partners, and terror, premeditated, and executed the kidnapping and 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 law of triangle at the day in question? Are there some serious jealousy issues when he comes to him? Is there a pregnancy that comes into play? Does McKinley have a motive to heart melody? Does Dakota?

Devenants will show Dakota was with McKinley. DeVidence will show Dakota was with melody. but is his mere presence enough to reach this high burden of beyond a reasonable doubt that's on the state? Now the defense argues that McKinley-Louisma was the violent one, and that Dakota was afraid of McKinley.

Mr. Van Patten'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. Luisma,

and that's why he didn't intervene or stop things from happening. At trial, the prosecution presents evidence of Van Patten's involvement in the murder of Melody Hoffman, and that includes something very disturbing. The evidence will show that investigators came back on the 21st of February to Mr. Pan Patent's house with a search warrant in hand, they found Melody Hoffman's glasses. Further investigation revealed Mr. Van Paden hadn't just taken the glasses, but he had modeled

them and taken pictures of himself in 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 and closing arguments, the jury goes back to deliberation. and they come back with a finding of guilty on all counts. On November 14th, 2025, Dakota Van Patten 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, like, 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'll stick with me for the rest of my career, what this family must have went through. We got him justice, but Melty 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 her face. The lady was over the moon that some teenage girl commented on her sweater and it was in a positive way. way. We get a little ways away from them and 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 back seat. 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.