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Father tells daughter’s killer he isn’t human, he’s a ‘monster’ who will be forgotten
Dakota Van Patten sentenced to two life sentences
Nov. 14, 2025 5:31 pm, Updated: Nov. 14, 2025 5:49 pm
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CEDAR RAPIDS — The father of Melody Hoffman, who was kidnapped, beaten and fatally strangled last year, said Friday he didn’t know how to describe the pain he, her mother and their family have endured.
“I’m not sure words even have the power to described it,” T.J. Hoffman said during the sentencing of Dakota Van Patten, 19, of Cedar Rapids. “When a life is taken, it is not just a single thread that is cut — it is an entire tapestry torn apart. The death of a pregnant woman does not only end her story, but also the lineage of generations that came before it and yet to come.
“In this case, five bloodlines — centuries of ancestors who endured famine, plague, war and genocide — found their journey ended in a single moment of senseless violence,” the father said in his victim statement. “Such a loss transcends personal grief; it is a wound to human continuity itself.”
T.J. Hoffman told Van Patten he didn’t deserve the word “human” because humans “feel empathy, know compassion and value life. You have none of that.”
“You are not human. You are a monster — but even monsters have names. Your name has already been forgotten.”
Megan Hoffman, Melody’s mother, in her victim impact statement, told her daughter’s killer she knew Melody would want her to forgive him but she wasn’t sure that would happen.
“And if it does, it’s only for her — not you,” Megan said.
Megan said Van Patten had taken so much from her, their family, friends and even strangers that never had the chance to meet her “kind, caring, organized, silly, artistic, music-loving, slime-making, selfie-taking, video-making, supper-cooking, animal-loving girl we all remember.”
She doesn’t believe that McKinley Louisma, who was also convicted in Melody’s attack and murder, made Van Patten do anything or that Van Patten made Louisma do it. Megan said they were both “cowards” and neither had the courage to stand up and do the “right thing.”
“I also know you two are the most naive and stupidest criminals that have ever walked this planet,” Megan said.
She pointed out how they left Melody’s belongings in Louisma’s car trunk, Van Patten linking his cellphone to Megan’s, putting Megan’s cellphone password in his phone, and being seen together on surveillance videos after the crime.
Megan also chastised Van Patten for taking more than 200 selfies wearing Melody’s glasses, which he likely took after the killing as a trophy or souvenir. The evidence that helped “put you away for the rest of your life.”
“I am relieved to know that there will never be another innocent victim with your name attached to them,” Megan said. “A much higher power will get the final justice. I have no doubt that when your time comes, you will not be allowed into the same place we all know Melody is in now, with her sister, Ellie. Safe and far away from everything evil, like you and McKinley.”
Sixth Judicial District Judge Chad Kepros sentenced Van Patten to two life sentences for first-degree kidnapping and first-degree murder. He ran the 10-year sentence for conspiracy to commit a forcible felony concurrently to those.
Kepros said the sentences were appropriate because these were “violent and cruel acts” and he was running them consecutively because the kidnapping was a separate act from the murder.
He also ordered Van Patten to pay $150,000 to Melody Hoffman’s heirs or estate required by Iowa law.
Van Patten declined to make a statement during sentencing.
Prosecution closing argument
During closing arguments, Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks said the evidence showed Van Patten and Louisma, who was convicted last year and is serving a life sentence, were partners in this “heinous real life horror story” in which Melody suffered “unspeakable atrocities.”
She was “beaten, tortured, strangled and mutilated,” Maybanks said. There is “no conceivable way” Van Patten could have done it without Louisma and no way Louisma could have done it without Van Patten, he said.
Maybanks said there isn’t a “single piece of evidence to suggest” Van Patten was an “innocent bystander,” as his defense implied throughout the trial.
“That is fiction,” Maybanks said. “Van Patten didn’t even say it. That assertion isn’t based on evidence. Quite frankly, it’s ridiculous. He assisted and was directly involved.”
Melody was a “vibrant and energetic” young woman, Maybanks told the jury. She was “caring, loving and compassionate.” Melody wasn’t a typical 20-year-old because of a mild intellectual disability, which made her mind more like a 14-year-old’s.
The young woman was “susceptible to manipulation and control at times” and Louisma took advantage of this, Maybanks said. The two, who’d been dating, broke up in January 2024, but he continued to string her along, even after he got back together with his former girlfriend, who was pregnant at the time and gave him an ultimatum to choose her or Hoffman.
On Feb. 17, 2024, Louisma had arranged to secretly meet Hoffman and enlisted Van Patten, who was “more than happy” to help him, Maybanks noted.
Logan Kimpton, who also is charged in this case, told police there was a plan to kill Melody, but he backed out after going with Louisma and Van Patten to Walmart to purchase machetes and gloves.
Maybanks said the prosecution presented evidence — some minute by minute — which included cellphone location and health data and surveillance video, of what happened that night. Louisma and Van Patten restrained, assaulted and strangled Melody at Morgan Creek Park in Cedar Rapids and then mutilated her body as she was dying or after death, at Lily Pond in Amana.
The location information from Van Patten’s phone showed he was with Louisma and Melody. Van Patten also obtained Hoffman’s cellphone password, which he had in a photo, and her phone was connected to his internet hot spot.
Van Patten admitted to police that he entered his password into a phone with a “flower case” — Hoffman’s phone — because he needed to give an explanation of how that happened, Maybanks said.
Van Patten also documented Hoffman’s assault by taking a photo of her with duct tape over her mouth. She had a bloody nose in the photo, and appeared to be crying.
The prosecution also had DNA evidence of Van Patten’s involvement in the crime. His DNA was found inside a glove and on a roll of duct tape, which also had Hoffman’s blood on it.
Maybanks said a paracord, used to strangle Melody, had DNA from three individuals. And the bundle of cord, pieces of which were found in Louisma’s trunk, was found in Van Patten’s basement.
The knife used to stab and slash Melody’s back also showed DNA from three individuals.
Maybanks said Van Patten also took a “souvenir from this nightmare” — Melody’s glasses. They were “covered” in his DNA, and investigators found more than 200 selfies Van Patten took while wearing the glasses.
Trish Mehaffey covers state and federal courts for The Gazette
Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com
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