LINN COUNTY, Iowa (KCRG) – Witnesses say the man accused of murdering a Marion woman asked them to lie and say he was with them at the time she died.

After the body of 20-year-old Melody Hoffman was found near a lake in Amana, McKinley Louisma is being charged with kidnapping and murder.

Hoffman, who was Louisma’s ex-girlfriend, was with him the night she disappeared.

Prosecutors argue he killed her because he was in a relationship with another woman who was pregnant.

But the defense says McKinley wasn’t the one who killed Hoffman, but rather the other man he was with.

And testimony from state witnesses says McKinley attempted to conceal her whereabouts the night she died.

“He stopped right in the landing area of ​​my house. And then he said, ‘If anyone comes up to you and asks you questions, tell them I was here all night playing video games.’ And it was like, you know, it raised questions in my mind.” said Trevor Weis, one of McKinley’s acquaintances and one of the state’s witnesses.

The jury also viewed surveillance video showing Louisma, along with two other men connected to Hoffman’s death, purchasing two machetes and two pairs of gloves just hours before Hoffman died.

The trial continues and witness statements are expected to continue Tuesday morning.

If convicted of kidnapping or first-degree murder, Louisma automatically faces a sentence of life behind bars.

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