Matthew Plote (left in Ogle County Jail mug shot) was convicted of murdering his pregnant girlfriend, Melissa Lamesch (right in handout from family).
An Illinois volunteer firefighter has been convicted of murdering his pregnant girlfriend and starting a fire at her home.
Matthew Plote, 36, is guilty of charges including first-degree murder and concealing a homicidal death, according to Rockford CW affiliate WIFR. Jurors reportedly took two hours on Friday to determine that he in fact killed Melissa Lamesch and her unborn child.
Lamesch, an EMT, had been on maternity leave and preparing for the arrival of her first child. Firefighters found her unconscious on the floor of her kitchen.
Investigators at first believed that she died of asphyxiation amid the house fire, but over the course of 14 months of investigating, they determined that Plote, a firefighter and EMT at the Malta Fire Department, killed her and also sparked the flames.
Investigators said that Plote had strangled her.
Melissa’s elder sister, Cassandra Baal, testified that she was speaking with the victim on the day of the tragedy, according to WIFR.
Lamesch told her that a man named “Matt” had come over, and she would call right back. But Melissa never called back.
During an interview with authorities on Aug. 28, 2021, Plote said he did not intend on hurting Lamesch and he was “sorry we went to the house that day.” Retired Ogle County Lieutenant Brian Ketter, who participated in the questioning, testified that Plote never confessed to carrying out the murder.
A pathologist reportedly testified that the victim had no soot in her lungs or airways — she was strangled.
There was no soot in Melissa Lamesch’s lungs or airways, pathologists for the prosecution said at the trial of Matthew T. Plote, accused in her death.
— Sauk Valley Media – Shaw Local (@saukvalley) March 21, 2024
The defendant was the father of the baby, Lamesch’s brother reportedly said.
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