District Attorney: Teen Captured 200 Selfies with Glasses from Deceased Woman

An Iowa man who allegedly helped his friend kidnap and murder a woman whom the pal used to date snapped 200 photos of himself wearing her glasses, with prosecutors showing the alleged selfies at his ongoing trial, reports say.

The photos of Dakota Van Patten, 19, of Cedar Rapids, were accompanied by videos of him posing and vaping while wearing the eyewear, which belonged to 20-year-old Melody Hoffman, who had been dating Van Patten’s friend McKinley Louisma, according to Linn County prosecutors. A medical examiner testified this week about how Hoffman was either pregnant or recently had been at the time of her death, according to local ABC affiliate KCRG.

“Is it possible that Melody Hoffman missed a period by this point?” asked Linn County attorney Monica Slaughter on Tuesday.

“Yes, it’s possible,” said Dr. Kelly Kruse, the medical examiner.

“So there’s a possibility that if this was a new pregnancy, this was something that she could have realized was happening to her body?” Slaughter said.

“Potentially, yes,” Dr. Kruse replied.

Louisma, 24, was convicted last year of first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony.

Most of the pictures and videos that Van Patten is accused of taking were captured on the Snapchat app, per Cedar Rapids-based CBS affiliate KGAN, and were allegedly found during a search of his phone. Investigators discovered 268 photos in total — and 200 of them were selfies of Van Patten in Hoffman’s glasses, according to The Gazette newspaper.

The young man is facing the same charges that Louisma was found guilty of last November, when jurors took less than two hours to convict.

The pair allegedly attacked Hoffman at a pond in Amana, an unincorporated area around 19 miles southwest of Cedar Rapids, then bound her with duct tape and then strangled her to death before dumping her body in the water.

The Iowa County Sheriff’s Office responded on Feb. 18, 2024, to the pond at 220th Trail and 38th Avenue after Hoffman’s body was found. An autopsy determined that in addition to dying by strangulation, Hoffman also suffered stab and slash wounds throughout her body.

Detectives connected Louisma and Van Patten to the killing by talking to witnesses and tracking Hoffman’s movements through data from her iPhone and Apple Watch, as well as Van Patten’s phone.  They learned that the pair allegedly picked her up at 11 p.m. on Feb. 17 and took her to Morgan Creek Park in Linn County. While at the park, Hoffman’s Apple Watch showed that her heart rate intensified before it either stopped or the device was deactivated, detectives wrote.

Louisma allegedly admitted to cops that he and Van Patten bound Hoffman’s wrists with duct tape, as she begged them to let her go. The two men allegedly beat and stabbed Hoffman, then strangled her, according to police. They then placed her in the trunk of Louisma’s car and drove her around to several locations, per investigators.

Louisma told cops he ripped off Hoffman’s clothes and dumped her body in the pond. Cops recovered a phone case, an Apple Watch with blood on it, a bungee cord, towing rope and clothing matching what Hoffman was wearing the night she died. Prosecutors say they believe Louisma and Van Patten used the towing rope, which was shown in court, to kill Hoffman.

Hoffman and Louisma were dating before her murder, but he also was intimate with another woman, detectives said.

Prior to picking up Hoffman, Louisma and Van Patten allegedly went to a Walmart where they bought gloves and two machetes, according to prosecutors. A third person who was with them, but not charged, reportedly told several people that they were planning on killing someone. Prosecutors say that after killing Hoffman, Louisma and Van Patten allegedly went to a convenience store to buy cigars.

Van Patten’s trial is expected to wrap up by the end of this week.