Trials reset for two men charged in kidnapping, killing of Marion woman

CEDAR RAPIDS — Two of the men charged in the kidnapping and killing of 20-year-old Marion woman in February are waiving their right to a speedy trial.

The trial date for Dakota Lyle Van Patten, 18, of Cedar Rapids, is set for Aug. 26 in Linn County District Court.

The trial for McKinley Louisma, 23, of Hiawatha, is tentatively set for Nov. 4. Previously, his trial had been set for May 28.

Both men are charged with first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony.

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They are accused of kidnapping and killing Melody Hoffman, who died by strangulation, according to an Iowa State Medical Examiner’s preliminary report. She also had numerous stab and slash wounds to her body and was bound with duct tape during the Feb. 17 attack.

During Louisma’s pretrial hearing, 6th Judicial District Judge Chad Kepros had a lengthy discussion about possible trial dates, with defense attorneys and prosecutors having conflicts.

There was also some concern about starting jury selection on Nov. 5 because it’s Election Day, and no one wanted to infringe on potential jurors having the opportunity to vote.

Jury selection could begin Nov. 4, or possibly the week before on Oct. 31, with testimony starting that same day.

Tracking the crime

Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks, during an interview in February, told The Gazette that Hoffman’s mother, Megan Hoffman, reported her daughter missing early Feb. 18.

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Melody Hoffman lived with her family in Marion, and her mother hadn’t seen her since the evening of Feb. 17, when Melody said she was going out with friends.

Megan Hoffman didn’t know if her daughter was with Louisma that night, but Maybanks confirmed Louisma had an “on-again, off-again” relationship with Melody. Louisma later told police he also had another girlfriend.

Authorities found Hoffman’s body Feb. 18, near the Lily Pond at 220th Trail and 38th Avenue in Amana.

Investigators from the Marion police, the Linn and Iowa county sheriff’s offices and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation worked together in making an arrest in Hoffman’s death.

They tracked activity on Hoffman’s iPhone, which was synced to her Apple Watch, and determined she was picked up by Louisma and Van Patten, in Louisma’s vehicle, around 11 p.m. Feb. 17, Maybanks said.

Investigators learned the three ended up in Linn County’s Morgan Creek Park, just west of Cedar Rapids, because Hoffman’s Apple Watch recorded her heartbeat, which intensified and then stopped, either when she was killed or when the watch was deactivated.

“She was either killed at Morgan Creek Park or Lily Lake, but both counties could potentially have jurisdiction because key events took place in both counties,” Maybanks said during the interview.

But “key elements, if not all the elements” of the kidnapping and murder occurred in Linn County before Louisma and Van Patten traveled to Iowa County and left the body, he added.

Louisma interview

During a search of Louisma’s car, which was found in Hiawatha, deputies found a bag in the car’s trunk containing Hoffman’s phone case, a white Apple watchband with blood on it, a towing rope, gloves and clothing Hoffman had been wearing Feb. 17, according to the criminal complaint.

Maybanks said Louisma came to the Marion Police Department after finding out his car had been towed there, and investigators interviewed him.

Louisma told a DCI special agent that he and Van Patten bound Hoffman’s wrists with duct tape while at Morgan Creek Park and placed her in the car trunk, according to the complaint. They then drove to several different places in Linn County before they went to the pond at Lily Lake, where they ripped off her clothes and left her.

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Louisma said Hoffman had been beaten while she was with him and Van Patten and that she was “begging to be let go.” He didn’t admit to doing the beating himself, Maybanks said.

He told investigators if they asked Van Patten what had happened, he probably would blame Louisma, Maybanks said.

Investigators also confirmed through video surveillance that Louisma, Van Patten and Logan William Michael Kimpton, 18, who also has been charged, were together at Walmart buying the two machetes and gloves before they picked up Hoffman that night, Maybanks said during a previous interview.

Van Patten, during his interview with police, admitted he was with Louisma at Walmart before the killing but didn’t admit to being with Louisma during Hoffman’s slaying.

However, video surveillance from a Kwik Star store in Cedar Rapids showed Louisma and Van Patten buying cigars after Hoffman’s body was left at Lily Lake, according to the complaint.

A witness told police that Van Patten, while in possession of a machete, admitted he had killed someone and, when asked who he had killed, replied, “Melody.”

Kimpton, who lived with Louisma in Hiawatha, was charged with conspiracy to commit a forcible felony.

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He admitted to investigators that he had been at Walmart with Louisma and Van Patten on Feb. 17 when they bought two machetes and gloves, according to a complaint.

When an investigator said to Kimpton, during an interview, that he had “chickened out” of participating in the killing, Kimpton replied, “Damn right, I did,” the complaint stated.

Kimpton also told three other people one or two nights before the killing that he and two others planned to kill someone, the complaint stated. These people didn’t know the victim’s identity.

Kimpton’s trial is set for July 30.

Megan Hoffman, Melody’s mother, said at a Feb. 22 candlelight vigil for her daughter that “Mel was loving and caring, but she was mischievous.”

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com