Prosecutor says Marion woman’s kidnapping, fatal torture was ‘depraved, dehumanizing’

CEDAR RAPIDS — What happened to Melody Hoffman on Feb. 17, was “depraved, dehumanizing and defies all reason,” as she was kidnapped, tortured and killed by her boyfriend, McKinley Louisma, who had just broken off their relationship in January, a prosecutor said in his opening statement Monday.

Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks said the 20-year-old woman had a mind of a 14-year-old girl because she had an intellectual disability. She had become involved in a “fatal” relationship with McKinley Louisma, 23, of Hiawatha.

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Hoffman still lived with her mother and didn’t have any friends, Maybanks said. She was “overly trusting and easily manipulated and controlled” because of her lack of experience with others. She wanted attention from men and wanted a boyfriend when she met Louisma.

Louisma broke up with Hoffman in January 2024 because he got back together with his long-term girlfriend, who was pregnant.

Hoffman took the breakup hard because Louisma was her first boyfriend and she also had a “secret,” Maybanks said.

Louisma is on trial this week in Linn County District Court for first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony. He is accused of kidnapping and killing Melody Hoffman, 20, of Marion. Two others, Dakota Van Patten and Logan Kimpton, also are charged in the slaying.

The trial is expected to continue into next week.

Prosecution: Three men ‘terrorized and tortured’ Marion woman

Maybanks, in his opening, said Louisma knew on Feb. 17 that Hoffman would still be willing to get into a car with him and Van Patten.

Megan Hoffman, Melody’s mother, knew her daughter had left that night about 11:42 p.m. because she had a surveillance camera at home. She sent Melody a message to come back, but Melody never returned.

Maybanks said video surveillance, phone and other electronic data and DNA will show where they traveled and what happened to Hoffman that night.

Megan Hoffman, who was tracking her daughter’s location that night, could see she was at Morgan Creek Park, west of Cedar Rapids.

Maybanks said that night turned into “depravity” at the park and Hoffman was beaten. Louisma and Van Patten used a handle of a machete and struck her in the face. They “terrorized and tortured” her. They bound her hands and legs with duct tape and then went to the Lily Pond in Amana. The men strangled her with a paracord, stabbed her in the back and slashed and mutilated her body, Maybanks said.

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They tried to stage it as if she had been attacked, stripped of her clothing and left at the pond.

However, Louisma left behind part of why this happened, Maybanks said. The possible motive: Hoffman was either pregnant or had been before her death.

Maybanks said investigators found evidence of the kidnapping and torture in Louisma’s car — a paracord, knife with blood on it and machetes.

Louisma admitted to police that he handled those items and they had also been handled by Van Patten.

Defense: Louisma’s DNA not found on items used in murder

Jill Eimermann, Louisma’s lawyer, in her opening said Louisma was at Morgan Creek Park and the Lily Pond that night, and he was there when Hoffman was beaten and died. However, this case isn’t as “straight forward as the state leads you to believe,” she said.

Louisma had no plan or agreement with Van Patten and they weren’t acting together, Eimermann said.

Louisma didn’t strangle her or cut her. He didn’t beat her and he didn’t kill her.

None of the DNA found on those items in Louisma’s car matched his DNA, Eimermann said. The DNA matched Hoffman, Kimpton and Van Patten.

“After hearing all evidence, you will determine the state has come up short,” Eimermann said.

Hoffman’s body found the morning after she died

Amy Robasse testified Monday that she was at the Lilly Pond on Feb. 18, sitting in her car listening to an audiobook, which she does regularly. It was about 9:30 a.m.

At some point, she saw a couple walking toward her car and they seemed agitated. They told her they saw something near the shore line. They didn’t know if it was an animal or something else, and asked her to look.

Robasse discovered it was a human body. She could tell it was a young woman. She said the body had “pale perfect skin and glorious curls.” The woman wasn’t moving and she had “slashes and gashes all over her,” Robasse said.

The prosecution played the 911 call Robasse made, in which she said the woman was only wearing underwear and a bra. Robasse told the dispatcher she might have been sexually assaulted because of her lack of clothing.

Iowa County Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Tiedt testified he talked with Robasse and the couple who saw the body.

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Tiedt said the woman was lying face down and was dead. She had lacerations and stab wounds to her back. There was little blood at the scene and he didn’t think the homicide had occurred at the pond.

Tiedt identified photos he took at the crime scene.

Hoffman’s back had slash marks in a crisscrossing pattern and four stab wounds to her back and side. She also had defensive wounds and cuts to her fingers and hands.

Witnesses testify Kimpton, Van Patten told them of murder

A Linn County Sheriff’s detective identified video surveillance of Louisma, Van Patten and Kimpton in Walmart earlier the night of Feb. 17 buying machetes and rubber gloves. Louisma was paying for the items, along with flavored water and cookies.

Trevor Weis, of Hiawatha, testified he knew Louisma as “Ken” and met him through his mother. They weren’t friends but Louisma would give him rides to work. Weis said Louisma and his girlfriend lived with Weis’ mother and Klimpton was his cousin.

Louisma gave Weis a ride home from work about 10:58 p.m. on Feb. 17. Van Patten was with Louisma. The next day, Weis said Louisma came to his house and told him if someone asks about his whereabouts, tell them he was with him all night playing video games.

Brandon Monson, 20, of Cedar Rapids, testified that Kimpton, on Feb. 17, told him and two others that he was involved in a plan to murder someone with Louisma and Van Patten. Kimpton said it was going to happen that night.

Monson said he didn’t know whether Kimpton was joking or not. He had been known to joke about “stuff like that” in the past.

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Taya Meyer, 20, of Marion, testified Van Patten came to her home on Feb. 17. He said he needed to talk to her and he seemed to have a “weird type of vibe,” she said. He told her he had killed Hoffman and said Louisma also was involved.

Van Patten wouldn’t tell her why they did it, only that it “had to be done,” Meyer said.

Meyer testified she was scared and told him to leave. She didn’t want to be part of it. Meyer said she wanted to call the police, but she didn’t know what Van Patten would do.

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