GUILTY: Jury finds Dakota Van Patten guilty of murder in Melody Hoffman’s death

LINN COUNTY, Iowa — A jury finds Dakota Van Patten guilty on all three charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit a forcible felony in the February 2024 death of Melody Hoffman.

Prosecutors argued he helped his friend, McKinley Louisma, kidnap and murder the 20-year-old Marion woman. Louisma was Hoffman’s ex-boyfriend…

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