The medical examiner says the murdered Marion woman was pregnant or recently pregnant when she was killed

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Important testimony in the trial against McKinley Louisma indicates that 20-year-old Melody Hoffman of Marion may have been pregnant when she was killed.

On Wednesday, a state medical examiner testified that they found a chemical in Hoffman’s blood that indicated a new pregnancy or that she had recently been pregnant.

The autopsy also revealed that she likely died from strangulation by a rope or an object of similar size. They found marks around the front part of her neck.

There was also evidence of stab wounds and blunt force trauma inflicted before and after her death. And the medical examiner testified that the blood sample indicating a chemical found in pregnant people was low enough to indicate one of two things.

“One was that she was so early in the pregnancy that I just couldn’t tell. Two is that she was previously pregnant, no longer pregnant, had HCG in her system, was slowly clearing it and just hadn’t cleared it, and when I saw her she was not pregnant,” said Dr. Kelly Kruse.

Louisma is accused of both murder and kidnapping,

Closing arguments begin tomorrow.