Traffic cameras and cell towers are being used to track the Hiawatha man accused of killing the Marion woman

CEDAR RAPIDS – Marion police investigators testified Wednesday about traffic camera video footage and cell tower locations that tracked the movements of McKinley Louisma and his accused co-conspirator, who are accused of kidnapping and killing 20-year-old Melody Hoffman on or about April 17 .February was accused.

Marion investigator Michael Pope told jurors about camera footage authorities found showing Louisma, a 23-year-old from Hiawatha who goes on trial this week on charges of first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit a violent crime, and Dakota Van Patten followed. of Cedar Rapids, also charged with Hoffman’s killing.

The video showed Louisma and Van Patten going to Marion’s to pick up Hoffman after 11:20 p.m. on Feb. 17. Megan Hoffman – Melody’s mother – testified that this was around the time Tuesday when she received an alert from a location app that had been keeping tabs on her daughter’s location for security reasons.

Several different traffic cameras tracked Louisma’s blue Honda Accord to Morgan Creek, where investigators believe she was tortured and killed, possibly around midnight on February 18. The car then drove north on Edgewood Road toward Marion, near Hoffman’s residence.

Louisma then drove toward Walford and then toward Lily Pond in Amana, where he and Van Patten Hoffman set out to stage an attack and left her body at the lake, according to footage identified by Pope.

Louisma and Van Patten then drove to a Kwik Star at 1001 Blairs Ferry Road NE in Cedar Rapids. Pope noticed that a security camera showed a mint green bag in the back seat of Louisma’s car. According to previous testimony, the bag contained a piece of paracord used to strangle Hoffman and other items used in the crime.

Pope also testified about a search of Van Patten’s apartment, during which a paracord similar to the one found in the green bag in Louisma’s car was found near Van Patten’s bed in the basement, along with Hoffman’s glasses.

Also living in the house at the time was Logan Kimpton, who faces a charge of conspiracy to commit a violent crime. Authorities said he was with Louisma and Van Patten when they planned the crime.

The investigators also found a knife with a white handle and serrated edge in a freezer in the basement. Pope said Van Patten’s clothes, which he was seen wearing that night in Kwik Star surveillance video, were also found in the basement.

Van Patten’s brother also lived in the house, and investigators found a machete under his bed, a locked container containing a handgun, holster and ammunition in his bedroom, and a chest containing knives. Investigators are interested in the knives found because Hoffman was also stabbed and slashed in the fatal attack, Pope said.

Marion Police Sgt. Adam Paulsen testified that, according to a receipt and surveillance cameras, surveillance cameras at the Kwik Star store showed Louisma and Van Patten buying cigarettes and a cigar and also using the restroom at about 3:20 a.m. on Feb. 18.

Linn First Assistant District Attorney Monica Slaughter asked Paulsen if Louisma appeared to be giving the two a tour of the store, and he said yes. Louisma also paid for the cigarettes and the cigar.

When the two return to the car, a video shows Louisma taking the green bag from the back seat and putting it in the trunk.

Slaughter asked if the men appeared to be afraid of each other or if Louisma had tried to get help at the store. Paulsen said no.

Paulsen also testified about Hoffman’s health data from her Apple Watch that showed her heart rate was elevated around midnight – “an extreme upward change.” But then it was shut down. He said it was either separated from her body or her heartbeat stopped because she died.

Paulsen noted this in his report, but was unable to forensically download the information. Hoffman’s iPhone was damaged after it was left on the road on Highway 100, where it was possibly hit by a car.

Sergeant. Thomas Peterson, also a Marion police investigator, testified about cell tower location analysis of Hoffman, Louisma, Van Patten and Kimpton’s phones, which also showed their movements on Feb. 17 and into Feb. 18.

Kimpton’s cell locations did not indicate he was traveling with Louisma and Van Patten, he said. For the most part, it appeared that he was instead in the area of ​​his girlfriend’s residence.

Peterson said the paracord found in Louisma’s car contained Hoffman’s DNA, according to testing by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. He also concluded that the paracord that Louisma had and that was found in Van Patten’s apartment came from a paracord that had been purchased at Menards. The receipt was found in Louisma’s car.

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