CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Court TV) — A state medical examiner said Wednesday that 20-year-old Melody Hoffman was killed by ligature strangulation, and that lab testing pointed to either a very early pregnancy or a recent miscarriage at the time of her death.
Dr. Kelly Kruse’s testimony came on day 5 of the Linn County trial of Dakota Van Patten, charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in Hoffman’s February 2024 death.
A senior portrait taken of Melody Hoffman in 2021. (Court TV)
The day opened with Detective Tom Peterson. He testified that an Ozark Trail glove had Hoffman’s blood on the outside and that swabs from the inside identified Van Patten as the major DNA contributor. He recounted a Feb. 19 interview in which—before investigators said a body had been found—Van Patten asked where a body was found and played down his phone use. Peterson said Van Patten changed tense mid-sentence, starting with “was” and correcting to “is” when describing co-defendant McKinley Louisma’s capacity for murder. He also walked jurors through searches on Louisma’s iPhone around 9:45 p.m. and said both men were at Walmart minutes before a 10:06 p.m. purchase…