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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Family of Marion woman killed over the weekend remembers her as loving, confident
Two men have been charged with first-degree murder in her death, and another is accused of conspiring with them
Feb. 22, 2024 12:08 pm, Updated: Feb. 23, 2024 5:58 pm
MARION — On a day that authorities implicated three men in the kidnapping and killing last weekend of a Marion woman, friends and family of Melody Hoffman gathered Thursday for a candlelight vigil to remember her as persistent, confident and beautiful.
They shared pictures and memories highlighting her independence and sense of humor. The 20-year-old’s mother, Megan Hoffman, said her contact name in her daughter’s Snapchat was “Big Fat Drama Llama,” and Melody told her just about a week ago that she had made Megan one of her best friends in the app.
Melody teased her family a lot, but was good at expressing her love, her family and friends said.
“Mel was loving and caring, but she was mischievous,” Megan said.
Murder charges
Three people were charged Thursday in the murder case — two with the murder and one with conspiracy. Though police did not release a motive, one of those charged admitted to investigators being in an intimate relationship with Hoffman — but at the same time with another woman also.
McKinley Louisma, 23, of Hiawatha, was charged earlier this week with first-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony in the case. His charges Thursday were upgraded to include first-degree murder.
A second man, Dakota Lyle Van Patten, 18, of Cedar Rapids, also was charged with first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony.
A third man, Logan Kimpton, 18, of Hiawatha, was arrested Thursday on a charge of conspiracy to commit a forcible felony. Court documents show he had lived at the same address as Louisma.
Van Patten and Louisma are accused of kidnapping and killing Hoffman, who Louisma told investigators he’d been in an intimate relationship with, on Saturday night.
Video surveillance from before Van Patten and Louisma met Hoffman that night showed all three men at Walmart in southwest Cedar Rapids, where they bought gloves and two machetes, according to criminal complaints.
Two or three nights before Hoffman’s death, Kimpton told three other people that he and the two others had a plan to kill someone. Kimpton admitted to investigators that he had been at Walmart with the two other men Saturday night and bought the machetes and gloves. When an investigator told Kimpton in an interview he “chickened out” of participating in the murder, he responded, “Damn right I did,” according to complaints.
The complaints state data from Hoffman’s iPhone and Apple Watch indicated she was picked up by Louisma and Van Patten and was in Louisma’s car about 11 p.m. Saturday.
Investigators determined they ended up in Morgan Creek Park, 7212 E Ave. NW near Cedar Rapids, where data from Hoffman’s watch indicated her heartbeat intensified before it either stopped or the watch was deactivated, according to the complaint.
Hoffman was found dead Sunday by Lily Lake at 220th Trail and 38th Avenue in Amana.
A preliminary report from the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office showed strangulation as the cause of death, but Hoffman’s body also had numerous stab and slash wounds, the complaints state.
What happened
Louisma admitted to a Division of Criminal Investigation special agent that he was with Hoffman and Van Patten and that he and Van Patten bound Hoffman’s wrists with duct tape at Morgan Creek Park, placed her in the trunk of the car and drove to several different locations in Linn County until traveling to Iowa County.
Louisma told the agent he had helped rip off Hoffman’s clothes before her body was left near the Lily Pond. He said Hoffman had been beaten and was begging to be let go.
Louisma said he had been in a relationship with Hoffman and was still seeing her but also was in a relationship with another woman, according to court documents.
Investigators with a warrant searched Louisma’s car and found Hoffman’s phone case, a white Apple Watch band with blood on it, a bungee cord, a towing rope, gloves and clothing matching the clothing she had been wearing at Morgan Creek Park.
They also searched Van Patten’s home and found Hoffman’s glasses and part of a towing rope they believe was used to kill her, according to the complaints.
A witness whose name was not released told investigators that, after Hoffman’s body was left at Lily Lake, Van Patten had a machete and told the witness he had killed someone. When asked who he had killed, Van Patten said, “Melody,” the complaints state.
Van Patten admitted to investigators he was with Louisma on Saturday night and said they stopped at a convenience store to buy cigars. This was confirmed by surveillance video showing them at a Kwik Star in Cedar Rapids after Hoffman’s body had been left at the lake, the records show.
Investigators believe that “key elements of the forcible felony offense of kidnapping in the first degree and murder in the first degree, if not all the elements, occurred in Linn County prior to Louisma and Van Patten traveling to Iowa County where Hoffman’s body was discovered,” according to the complaints.
The slaying is being investigated by the Marion Police Department, the DCI, the Linn County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa County Sheriff’s Office.
Van Patten and Louisma both had a first appearance in court Thursday on the murder charges. Kimpton’s first appearance is scheduled for Friday.
Sixth Judicial Associate District Judge Russell Keast set a bond for both men at $2.5 million, but allowed them to be surety bonds where a defendant can pay $250,000 through a bond company to be released from jail pending trial.
Louisma and Van Patten are accused of kidnapping and killing Hoffman while they were both out on bail for assault charges filed last month.
They were charged with willful injury resulting in bodily injury after police say they punched, kicked and kneed a man at a Cedar Rapids apartment while he was on the ground and screaming for them to stop. They caused bruising and swelling to the man’s face and a cut on his lower back, according to a criminal complaint.
Louisma was released from jail on a $5,000 bail and Van Patten was released on a $10,000 bail in that case.
Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com
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