A teen murder suspect took 200 selfies while wearing the glasses of the 20-year-old Iowa woman with an intellectual disability he is accused of torturing and strangling to death, prosecutors alleged.
Dakota Van Patten, 19, is alleged to have helped his friend McKinley Louisma kidnap and kill Louisma’s ex-girlfriend Melody Hoffman, who was murdered around midnight on Feb. 18, 2024, according to Marion County investigators, The Gazette reported.
Prosecutors revealed in court Tuesday that Van Patten ghoulishly snapped over 200 selfies while wearing Hoffman’s clear-framed glasses between the hours of 2:30 p.m. on Feb 18 and 8:30 p.m. on Feb. 19, 2024.
The selfie-tranche found on Van Patten’s phone included pics of the suspect shirtless in bed, wearing the sweatshirt he is accused of donning the night of the killing, and vaping — all while equipped with the eyewear of the woman he allegedly strangled to death, prosecutors alleged in court.
Also on Van Patten’s phone was a photo of Hoffman’s four-digit iPhone passcode and snaps of him posing with a realistic BB gun on Feb. 17, the day before the killing, authorities claimed.
Van Patten and Louisma are alleged to have bound Hoffman’s wrist and ankles, stabbed her multiple times, and strangled her — then ditching her by Lily Pond in Amana where they further mutilated her corpse, Linn County prosecutors charged.
Van Patten is charged with first degree murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony.
Louisma, 24, who has already been sentenced to life in prison for the killing, accessed a photo on his phone at 4:05 a.m. on Feb 18 that showed Hoffman with duct tape over her mouth, crying, and bleeding from her nose, The Gazette reported.
On Feb. 17, 2024, Lousima, Van Patten, and a third alleged accomplice Logan Kimpton, 19, coaxed Hoffman into sneaking out of her home — and then duct taped her wrists and ankles and shoved her into the trunk of Louisma’s car, prosecutors charged.
All three men were seen buying gloves and machetes from a Cedar Rapids Walmart shortly before the death — but Kimpton allegedly backed out before the torturous murder, authorities alleged, KCRG reported.
Iowa law enforcement recovered a trove of evidence from Louisma’s car, including a pocketknife with stains on it, machetes, a rope, a role of duct tape, pink HeyDude shoes, and a cut up pink shirt that had duct tape stuck to it, CBS Iowa reported.
DNA evidence showed Van Patten is a match for samples lifted from the duct tape, a glove, and glasses, according to that report.
Hoffman was overly trusting and had an “intellectual disability,” according to Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks, who said she was mentally closer to a 14-year-old girl than a 20-year-old woman, the Gazette reported.
Associate State Medical Examiner Dr. Kelly Kruse further revealed in court on Tuesday that Hoffman tested positive for hormones that indicated she could have been pregnant, according to People.
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