In December 2024, a court convicted 20-year-old McKinley Louisma of murder. He will spend the rest of his life in prison following his role in the brutal death of his girlfriend, 20-year-old Melody Hoffman, in February 2024. Police arrested a second man, Dakota Van Patten, 19, on first-degree murder charges shortly after Hoffman’s death. What prosecutors allege Van Patten did to Hoffman might make your stomach turn.
The Cedar Rapids Gazette reported that investigators recovered 268 photos from Van Patten’s phone. Among them were 200 selfies in which he allegedly wore Hoffman’s glasses as a trophy. Marion Investigator Tom Peterson testified that the suspect took the photos between 2:30 p.m. February 18 and 8:30 p.m. February 19. Police believe Van Patten took the photos after Hoffman’s death at Morgan Creek Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. After the photo shoot, the man reportedly dumped her body at Lily Pond in Amana.
Police say Louisma and a third suspect, Logan Kimpton, went to Walmart on February 17 to purchase machetes and coated gloves. Per an earlier report by The Gazette, the men conspired to torture Hoffman and could not have completed the crime without each other. Prosecutors called the men’s alleged actions “depraved and heinous events that snuffed out the life of Melody Hoffman.”
Prosecutor Nick Maybanks had zero compassion for Van Patten in court, per KCRG. “When Dakota Van Patten is pictured here and the other 200 or so pictures, when he was wearing Melody Hoffman’s glasses after he brutally kidnapped and slayed her with McKinley Louisma, he might have worn them, but he’s never going to see things the way she saw them that night,” Maybanks said. “She saw the boy that she liked and a new friend. They saw a young, vulnerable woman who was the target of their conspiracy and their twisted and sordid plan.”
According to her obituary, Hoffman had many friends and enjoyed spending time with them. The young woman also had a passion for animals and the outdoors.
“She loved swimming, camping, concerts, and being involved in scouting. She volunteered at the Linn County Animal Shelter and looked forward to volunteering more. Her love for animals ran deep,” the obituary reads.
“Every chance she had to donate blood she took it. She loved to hear about the impact her donation made. She was the most loving and caring person who would help anyone,” it continues. “She knew no strangers, had no fear, and loved everyone unconditionally. She immensely loved and cherished her cousins, whom she held close to her heart.”
Per KCRG, the jury found Van Patten guilty of first-degree murder on September 25. He will learn his sentence in November but is expected to spend his life in prison, per Iowa law. That just doesn’t seem long enough for what happened to an innocent woman.
