A trial has begun after an Iowa woman was found dead with “all kinds of marks on her back”.
McKinley Louisma is facing charges including first-degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy in the death of his ex-girlfriend Melody Hoffman. Louisma’s trial began on Monday in Linn County.
During opening arguments, Linn County attorney Nick Maybanks recounted Hoffman’s final hours. Hoffman was last seen on February 17 with her ex-boyfriend Louisma and an alleged accomplice, Dakota Van Patten.
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Maybanks described Hoffman’s last hours as a “sinister plan” that resulted in “unspeakable trauma.” He suggested she was first taken to Morgan Creek Park where she was bound and beaten.
The attorney then suggested Hoffman was taken to Lily Lake in Amana, where she was strangled with a paracord. Her body was left on the shore.
The prosecution also played the 911 call made by Amy Robasse, who discovered Hoffman’s body on February 18. “There’s a dead body here. She’s just wearing underwear,” she said.
The 911 dispatcher asked: “Is she breathing?” Robasse replied: “Does not look like it. There are are all kinds of marks on her back, like slashes.” Robasse took to the witness stand where she recounted finding Hoffman’s body.
“She had the most beautiful, pale, perfect skin and glorious curls. She was not moving in any way, shape, or form. Her hands were curled in a way that they shouldnt have been,” she said.
Just hours before Hoffman disappeared, two men were seen on surveillance footage at a Walmart in southwest Cedar Rapids purchasing machetes and gloves. Prosecutors alleged these items were later used in the attack on Hoffman.
Deputy Mark Tiedt, who responded to the scene at Lily Lake, told the court Hoffman appeared to have suffered extensive injuries. He said: “She was lying face down on the ground. Her head was to the east, her feet were to the west. She had lacerations across her back and some stab wounds.”
He also suggested the lack of blood at the scene meant Hoffman’s death may have occurred elsewhere. “To me, it was almost as if that’s not where the scene occurred. There was no blood pooled anywhere on the ground,” Tiedt told the court.
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