Trish Mehaffey

The autopsy of Melody Hoffman, 20, of Marion, showed blunt force injuries all over her body, along with five stab wounds and numerous cutting marks on her back. A medical examiner also said Hoffman may have been pregnant at the time of her strangulation or recently had a miscarriage, which could be a possible motive for the Hiawatha man on trial for kidnapping and murder.

McKinley Louisma, in a police interview, said his co-conspirator held a gun to his head and started beating a Marion woman and then strangled her.

A Cedar Rapids man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fatally shooting Mohammad Tawfik, 22, also of Cedar Rapids, in January 2023. The two men were arguing over a drug deal they set up.

A Cedar Rapids man, already convicted for sexual assault in Linn and Keokuk counties, was sentenced last week to another 10 years for an assault in Marion County. The judge ran the 10 consecutively to his other 25 years for a total of 35 years.

McKinley Louisma’s phone also shows messages exchanged with victim

A Marion police investigator testified Thursday the Hiawatha man charged with killing Melody Hoffman in February had a torture photo in his phone. It shows the woman with a bloody nose, duct tape over her mouth and she appears to be crying.

Marion police investigators testify about traffic camers and cell tower locations used to track Hiawath man and his co-conspirator accused of kidnapping and killing Marion woman on in February.

The mother of a 20-year-old Marion woman who was kidnapped and killed on Feb. 17 testified Tuesday she always tracked her daughter’s phone and other electronics because Melody Hoffman had an intellectual disability that made it more difficult for her to understand social situations because she was trusting of everybody.

The murder trial for McKinley Louisma, accused of kidnapping and killing Melody Hoffman, 20, of Marion, started Monday in Linn County. The prosecutor told the jury her slaying was “depraved and dehumanizing.”

Rural Iowa auditor’s offices have seen higher daily numbers of early voters than in year’s past. Some attribute it to the voters being more “enthusiastic” and distrust of the mail system to deliver their absentee ballots by the deadline.

U.S. Marshals of the Northern District of Iowa participated with 21 other states in Operation Trick or Treat to arrest non-compliant and fugitive sex offenders. During the Iowa operations, they conducted 61 compliance checks and arrested 6 people. Overall, the national operation netted 331 arrests.

A Marion father strangled to death his 5 year-old son after staying up most of the night contemplating how he would kill him. One way was using knives, which police found during a search of the home.

The heartbroken mother of Kavon Johnson on Friday asked a judge to sentence her son’s killer to 50 years in prison and run the sentence consecutively to his other 50 year sentence for killing another man the day before on Jan. 27, 2022.

A Scott County jury awarded more than $1.6 million to the family of a LeClaire man, finding his former Tipton doctor liable for not properly treating a staph bacteria infection while he was recovering from spine surgery.

A Cedar Rapids man was sentenced to 35 years in prison for trying to kill his ex-girlfriend by stabbing her multiple time and striking her in the head with a claw hammer. The judge said his version of events was “ridiculous and unbelievable” and the victim was credible.