Illinois firefighter accused of staging a house fire to cover up a murder — and a secret

This story initially aired on Nov. 30, 2024. It was up to date on Jan. 31, 2026.

Earlier than the hearth that set Melissa Lamesch‘s dwelling ablaze on Nov. 25, 2020, the day had began with excited anticipation. Melissa was attributable to give delivery to a child boy in simply two days, and Thanksgiving was a day away.

Cassie Baal: She was gonna have a pleasant non-public Thanksgiving with dad. So, I gave her a name the morning of the twenty fifth and we talked for about two-and-a-half hours.

Cassie Baal and her sister Melissa had heaps to speak about.

Cassie Baal: We talked so much concerning the future. We talked about what was gonna include the infant. … The dialog ended as a result of she appeared exterior the window. … She stated, “you gotta be kidding me.”… She’s like, “he is freaking right here once more. I advised him he is gotta cease doing this.”

On the door was 33-year-old Matthew Plote, the expectant father of Melissa’s child.

Cassie Baal: She stated … “I am going to let you know what he needed. I am going to offer you a name proper again, bye.” Hung up.

Nikki Battiste | “48 Hours” contributor: Did she ever name again?

Cassie Baal: No, my sister by no means known as again.

Melissa Lamesch and Matthew Plote met and have become associates seven years earlier, whereas every was in faculty. They maintained an off-the-cuff relationship. The friendship, says the Lamesch household, cooled off as soon as Melissa let Plote know concerning the being pregnant. Melissa advised her household he didn’t share her curiosity in changing into a mum or dad.

Cassie Baal: He needed her to get an abortion. She did not need that. He blamed her, ghosted her. … It did come to … upset Melissa as a result of they had been associates for thus lengthy.

Nikki Battiste: She thought he’d a minimum of wanna — be concerned slightly bit?

Cassie Baal: Sure. Melissa thought that he would need one thing to do with the infant. To that time, she thought he was a reasonably good man. … then she noticed a special facet of him and that basically upset her.

MELISSA LAMESCH LOOKS FORWARD TO BECOMING A MOTHER

Deanna and Gus Lamesch had been totally ready to assist their daughter with no matter she wanted for the infant.

Deanna Lamesch: I had stated, if he would not wanna be part of the infant’s life, you already know, do not push, the infant is your baby.

Gus Lamesch: I advised her, no matter you wanted, I am going to show you how to financially.

Deanna Lamesch: She knew she had loads of household help. All the pieces would have been nice.

The Lamesch household was a big one. Melissa had 4 siblings, she was already an aunt, and was recognized for following her personal path.

Cassie Baal: Melissa was … unapologetically herself, and that’s what she was. … She’s an ideal mixture of sugar and spice. … Not too spicy, not too sugary, it was simply good.

Deanna Lamesch: Melissa was sturdy. She was fierce. She was a go-getter.

Melissa appreciated to reinvent herself — by hairstyles — and careers. Most not too long ago, the 27-year-old had been working as an EMT.

Gus Lamesch: Melissa form of fell into the road of labor. She had an expertise in faculty that that took her to an emergency room. … And … she actually appreciated how she was handled and she or he needed to do the identical for different individuals.

Nikki Battiste: You had been proud?

Gus Lamesch: Sure. … That was her job and she or he took it significantly.

As her due date neared, Melissa needed to cease working. To make issues simpler, she moved into her childhood dwelling together with her dad. Her mother and father had divorced a number of years earlier. Melissa grew more and more enthusiastic about changing into a mother, despite the fact that she and Plote had little contact.

Cassie Baal: Melissa would proceed to ship him like, sonograms or issues would occur … typically he would reply slightly bit, however she did not know actually the place he stood precisely. However … Melissa needed her child to have the choice of getting the mom and the daddy … so she saved the communication with him. He typically shut down.

Plote wasn’t simply shutting out Melissa. He saved the truth that he was going to be a father a secret — together with from his coworkers and Chief Rob Schultz on the Carol Stream Fireplace District, a number of counties away from Melissa’s dwelling.

Chief Rob Schultz: We’re right here 24 hours a day. And … it is a — only a regular, uh, course of being a firefighter … that you simply discuss your loved ones, your private life, and what is going on on good, unhealthy, or detached. … I knew Matt as … a single man … that did not have any children.

Even Plote’s personal mother and father didn’t know concerning the being pregnant — till Melissa advised them.

Cassie Baal: Melissa needed them to have the chance to be a part of their grandchild’s life.

Nikki Battiste: How did Melissa say his mother and father responded to the information of a grandson?

Cassie Baal: Melissa stated that his mother and father had been very good, that, um, they stated, let me know what you want, I am going to show you how to any means we are able to.

Nikki Battiste: How did Matthew discover out that Melissa had advised his mother and father they had been having a child?

Deanna Lamesch: I imagine that the mother and father then approached him … however it was not lengthy after that that she had stated “he is mad I advised them.”

Nikki Battiste: As a result of he had saved it a secret?

Deanna Lamesch: Sure.

Melissa celebrated the upcoming delivery with household and associates at a child bathe. She had let everybody know she was having a boy. It was a contented time — till almost two months later, on that fateful Thanksgiving eve.

Deanna Lamesch: It was simply all so surreal.

Whereas Melissa’s household tried to course of their loss, investigators had been hoping to supply them with solutions about what had occurred.

Lt. Brian Ketter: The hearth particles is all over the place.

Brian Ketter, then the lead detective on the Ogle County Sheriff’s Workplace, headed to the kitchen, the place Melissa had been discovered.

Lt. Brian Ketter: All the pieces’s lined in smoke. … Ceilings, partitions, have fallen down and every thing’s a large number.

Ketter and different investigators additionally headed exterior, to an ambulance, to view Melissa.

Lt. Brian Ketter: We … observed that she did not have an entire lot of fireside injury to her.

Nikki Battiste: What does that say?

Lt. Brian Ketter: That the hearth did not kill her.

WHAT CAUSED THE FIRE?

Michael Poel, then a particular agent with the Illinois State Fireplace Marshal’s Workplace, was making an attempt to ascertain whether or not the hearth at Melissa’s Lamesch’s dwelling was unintentional or deliberately set.

Michael Poel: We would have liked to establish the realm of fireside origin and what might have induced that fireplace.

Nikki Battiste ( photographs): What are you in search of?

Michael Poel: The place the best injury is at, the place the hearth patterns are at. … We’re every thing and every thing on this image that will have one thing to do with the origin of the hearth.

Nikki Battiste: The place do you suppose the hearth began?

Michael Poel: Uh, I imagine the fires over right here. Really it is in these cupboards — the place these cupboards was once above the range space.

However when Poel examined the range, considering that maybe cooking flames induced the cupboards to catch hearth, he noticed that neither the oven nor the burners had been turned on.

Michael Poel: All of the controls are within the off place and there’s no hearth injury within the inside of this oven to point out that this was some kind of cooking hearth.

Poel additionally didn’t discover any electrical points.

Michael Poel: So, we’re beginning to run out of unintentional causes … And we may establish a minimum of three quite simple and simple methods to exit this residence.

A lot of the home, moreover the kitchen, remained accessible, so Poel thought Melissa may have discovered a means out.

Michael Poel: It was what I’d name a survivable hearth. … This younger woman was a paramedic. She is used to coping with emergencies. … For her to completely lose her perspective and stand there and try to combat that fireplace. … Whenever you begin placing all this stuff collectively, you begin developing with, OK, this is mindless.

Whereas Poel was inspecting the home, investigators talked with the Lamesch household. Ketter realized concerning the cellphone name that day between Melissa and Baal, that Melissa ended when Plote arrived on the home.

Lt. Brian Ketter: We realized from the household that he … was a fireman.

Melissa’s brother Karl Lamesch advised investigators he had already spoken on the cellphone to Plote, telling him he knew he had been on the home that day. Karl Lamesch additionally advised Plote concerning the hearth, and that somebody had died, however not that it was Melissa. Investigators did that once they requested Plote to come back in for an interview that night.

DEPUTY: Melissa is deceased.

MATTHEW PLOTE: Oh. OK

Nikki Battiste: As you watched his interview, what did you consider his demeanor, his responses?

Lt. Brian Ketter: Impassive. Very comfortable spoken. … Matthew stated he went … to speak to Melissa. He needed to speak about cash … about being allowed on the hospital when she was set to be induced in two days. And that is why he was there.

In that interview, Plote made a reference to a deadline when explaining his choice to go to the home that day: 

MATTHEW PLOTE: I imply, there is a deadline for — for that. So, we had been making an attempt to —

DEPUTY: A deadline for what?

MATTHEW PLOTE: For being pregnant there is a deadline.

It was a phrase that investigators did not fairly know methods to interpret.

Nikki Battiste: Was Matthew, a suspect at that time?

Lt. Brian Ketter: No, He was not a suspect.

Nikki Battiste: What are the following steps within the investigation?

Lt. Brian Ketter: We have to decide the reason for loss of life. We do not know if — if Melissa had a medical episode or … if any individual did one thing to her or if the carbon monoxide from the hearth killed her, we do not know.

To get these solutions, two autopsies can be carried out: one, two days after Melissa’s loss of life, after which one other, about two weeks later whereas lab work was accomplished. The outcomes: regular carbon monoxide ranges, and no soot was present in her system. What was discovered was proof of strangulation, together with hemorrhages round her neck. Melissa, it was decided, had been murdered.

Deanna Lamesch: We have now to plan a funeral and whereas we had been nonetheless ready for issues, it was almost three weeks.

On Dec. 14, 2020, the Lamesch household held a funeral for Melissa and her unborn child, whom Melissa was going to call Barrett.

Deanna Lamesch: We did not get to kiss his brow, contact his cheek. The primary time we bought any form of contact, they had been in a casket. And the primary time I touched his hand. … I simply bear in mind gasping, simply (gasps) … and I made a decision I used to be going to maintain holding his hand, one thing Melissa did not get to do.

Melissa’s household was satisfied that Matthew Plote was chargeable for their profound grief — that he killed Melissa, just because he didn’t wish to turn out to be a father. Plote, investigators would study, had been juggling a number of girls in his life.

Gus Lamesch: I imagine he did it as a result of he is egocentric and it was gonna change his life, having a toddler.

Nikki Battiste: Melissa wasn’t asking him for something, no cash, nothing. He may have walked away. So why?

Cassie Baal: I believe it was his satisfaction. … He needed to maintain it a secret.

With no different suspects, and with Plote admitting to being at Melissa’s dwelling that day, investigators had been additionally circling in on Plote, however had been nonetheless gathering proof.

Lt. Brian Ketter: We had collected DNA proof on the post-mortem and we despatched that to the crime lab. We had gotten search warrants for cellphone data. We had been within the strategy of getting that data again.

They had been additionally ready to get data again from Amazon, about potential recordings from an Echo Dot that Ketter had observed and was retrieved from the hearth broken kitchen.

Lt. Brian Ketter: We had been hoping it might file conversations or … one thing from the day … between the 2 of them.

Nikki Battiste: That Amazon Echo Dot may flip this case round.

Lt. Brian Ketter: Might have — it may have recorded Melissa screaming for assist, yelling out his title. … We did not know what it might be.

QUESTIONING MATTHEW PLOTE

When Carol Stream Fireplace Chief Rob Schultz returned the decision, he could not imagine what he was listening to.

Chief Rob Schultz: I used to be contacted by our police chief …  to offer him a name instantly that he had one thing essential, delicate to speak about. … Considered one of our firefighters was being investigated .. as a suspect in a homicide that occurred … about two hours from our hearth district’s boundaries.

It was now 9 months since Melissa Lamesch’s loss of life in a home hearth that had despatched shockwaves by the group in Mt. Morris the place her dwelling was positioned. However firefighters the place Matthew Plote labored in Carol Stream, about 75 miles away, had been unaware of the hearth. Plote had stated nothing.

Nikki Battiste: Whenever you heard the title Matthew Plote in that decision, what did you suppose?

Chief Rob Schultz: I used to be you already know … there is no such thing as a means this might be Matt …they’ve one thing improper right here.

However that disbelief began to vary when Chief Schultz checked to see if Plote labored the day of fireside and realized he had known as out sick.

Chief Rob Schultz: The knot in my abdomen, like actually needed to throw up.

The hearth chief’s sinking feeling solely bought worse when he realized that investigators believed Plote killed Melissa and their unborn baby as a result of he didn’t wish to be a father — after which set the home on hearth in hopes of destroying proof.

Chief Rob Schultz: We had positioned Matt instantly on paid administrative go away. … Once I known as Matt in to — to inform him I simply stated … “I am being advised that you simply’re below investigation for a homicide of … your estranged girlfriend and the infant that you are a father of.”

Nikki Battiste: Did you ask him why he hadn’t talked about it?

Chief Rob Schultz: Did not really feel that it was, uh, one thing that he needed to speak about and … he felt it was a private matter and did not wish to disclose it.

Whereas on go away, on Aug. 28, 2021, Plote was known as in once more for questioning. (BRIAN KETTER 209.01/00:11 My title is Brian. I am a lieutenant with the sheriff’s workplace.)  Plote willingly appeared with out an lawyer.

MATTHEW PLOTE (Sheriff’s Workplace interview): I needed to contribute to the — within the lifetime of our baby.

Over the course of the seven-hour interview, he defined to investigators why he was at Melissa’s the day of the hearth.

MATTHEW PLOTE (Sheriff’s Workplace interview): So, we talked about, you already know, what I may pay her and that we might — we simply stated we would work it out later to visiting.

He stated when he left that afternoon, Melissa was speaking about making lunch.

MATTHEW PLOTE (Sheriff’s Workplace interview): She talked about cooking some meals or one thing, however I — I did not keep round.

A lot of the seven hours was stuffed with investigators asking questions and Plote saying little or no.

LT. BRIAN KETTER (to Plote): So, did you go there to kill her, or did you simply go there to speak to her and one thing occurred?

Lt. Brian Ketter: We saved … accusing him of issues … and he by no means stated I did not do it. … He by no means stated you guys bought the improper particular person. … He was simply impassive and he would not talk. … Not as soon as in seven hours, not as soon as did he get upset. … Most individuals would’ve advised us … I am accomplished, however he simply sat and listened to us.

Nikki Battiste: Had you ever skilled an interview … like that earlier than?

Brian Ketter: By no means.

It wasn’t simply the shortage of communication that made Ketter suppose Plote was responsible, however on the uncommon instances Plote did discuss, the weird means he phrased issues.

LT. BRIAN KETTER Did you propose to kill her?

MATTHEW PLOTE: I had no intention of wounding Melissa.

Lt. Brian Ketter: Throughout that seven-hour interview, at one level, Matthew did say ” I had no intentions of wounding Melissa.”

Nikki Battiste: Did that make you do a double take?

Lt. Brian Ketter: Sure. ‘Trigger in our opinion, which means I damage Melissa, however I did not intend to do it.

But it surely was not an act of contrition, so Ketter needed to see if Plote would say something extra and made an uncommon request of Fireplace Chief Schultz.

Lt. Brian Ketter: We requested Chief Schultz if he would put on a … listening system. In order that he would have a dialog with Matthew, we’d be capable of hear it and file it and attempt to acquire some proof that means.

Chief Rob Schultz: When Brian asks this of me, I am fairly greatly surprised … And initially I stated, “no means,” and I did some enthusiastic about it and known as him again and stated “sure.”

Nikki Battiste: You’ve got plenty of tasks as a fireplace chief, however I am unable to think about you ever thought carrying a wiretap can be certainly one of them.

Chief Rob Schultz: No. … and I do not freely discuss it … It is not one thing that I am happy with. It was one thing that wanted to be accomplished within the hopes of serving to the investigation. … There is a grieving household on the market that is in search of solutions.

So, on Sept. 9, 2021, Chief Schultz known as Matthew Plote and requested him to come back in to speak.

Chief Rob Schultz: And he agreed. He says,” I might like to come back discuss to you.”

Plote got here in later that day. The hearth station was rapidly cleared of all different personnel, and Ketter and different investigators headed over. They had been capable of place a tool that simply recorded audio on a cellphone on Fireplace Chief’s Schultz’ desk and listened in from exterior the hearth station and from an adjoining workplace.

Nikki Battiste: How had been you feeling?

Chief Rob Schultz: Nervous. Very nervous. A bit scared.

Schultz tried to study what occurred to Melissa, by interesting to Plote on a private degree.

ROB SCHULTZ (to Plote): I am looking for solutions and I am making an attempt that can assist you. … Assist me — assist me — stroll by — I imply, what — what occurred?

However the almost two-hour dialog yielded little or no data from Plote, with him once more barely talking concerning the day Melissa died.

Chief Rob Schultz: I bear in mind saying … “fill in all of the blanks for me.” … And “is not it odd that nobody right here is aware of that you will be a father.” Like that is — that is one thing we have fun right here.

Nikki Battiste: What did he say?

Chief Rob Schultz: Nothing. … Uh, head was down, uh, plenty of the dialog.

Nikki Battiste: Did he ever say I did not kill Melissa and my child?

Chief Rob Schultz: He didn’t.

With not one of the interviews leading to a confession, there was nonetheless no arrest — one thing that exasperated the Lamesch household.

Gus Lamesch: It was excruciating. And, I imply, we had been pestering the police continually.

There have been a number of causes for the delay. There was the look ahead to the hearth marshal’s report — which concluded that “the hearth trigger is more than likely incendiary in nature, probably the results of a fireplace being deliberately set in an effort to hide a possible murder.” And getting data from Amazon on whether or not Plote’s voice was recorded on that Echo Dot they retrieved from the kitchen took time.

Lt. Brian Ketter: It did reveal voices, however nothing that proved useful for our case. … It wasn’t even on the day of the homicide.

Investigators had additionally waited to acquire Plote’s DNA till after the August 2021 interview, hoping he would first confess to killing Melissa.

Lt. Brian Ketter: We bought the outcomes again saying … that it was his DNA … below her fingernails.

On March 9, 2022, after a year-and-a-half of investigating Melissa Lamesch’s loss of life, Matthew Plote was arrested on expenses together with homicide, the intentional murder of an unborn baby and arson.

John Kopp: The motive that the State painted, was … simply an inaccurate portrayal of Matt. By the point of Matthew Plote’s arrest, he had employed lawyer John Kopp.

John Kopp: They painted him to be this monster that … on the drop of a hat, after a profession of saving individuals, determined to instantly begin killing individuals.

John Kopp: The proof would not present that Matthew Plote murdered Melissa Lamesch or their unborn baby.

MATTHEW PLOTE ON TRIAL

Allison Huntley: Melissa Lamesch was cherished. … This isn’t somebody who had enemies lined up across the block who needed to see her deceased. Fairly, there was one particular person and one particular person solely … and that was Matthew Plote.

Assistant State’s Attorneys Allison Huntley and Heather Kruse had been a part of the group prosecuting Matthew Plote.

Heather Kruse: All indicators pointed towards Matthew Plote from the very starting.

John Kopp: What we needed to painting to the jury is that he was a — a man …  saving lives for his complete profession.

Protection attorneys John Kopp and Liam Dixon say their shopper was misunderstood — and as a firefighter, was a accountable particular person, not a assassin.

John Kopp: Matt’s plan was to financially help her. He had supplied her cash earlier than. … His plan was to be there.

Plote pleaded not responsible to all expenses. On March 18, 2024, greater than three years since Melissa’s homicide, his trial started in Ogle County, Illinois. The prosecution argued that Plote murdered Melissa and their unborn baby as a result of he did not wish to be a father.

Allison Huntley : He was retaining a secret — the truth that he fathered a child — within the hopes that the kid would not be born.

The protection advised the jury there isn’t any proof Plote harmed Melissa, and that he had gone to see her that day simply to speak.

John Kopp: They mentioned their funds; they mentioned what would occur with the delivery of the kid … after which Matt left as she was making some lunch.

Heather Kruse: I imagine, from the very starting, he was making an attempt to arrange a narrative that there was an unintentional home hearth, that she had been cooking one thing. … I imagine that was how he laid out the scene … which might clarify why her physique was discovered within the kitchen.

Prosecutors known as Fireplace Investigator Michael Poel to testify about his findings. He advised the courtroom that he discovered no proof of {an electrical} or cooking hearth.

MIKE POEL (in courtroom): And also you begin ruling these — these numerous various things out.

Nikki Battiste: How sure are you that this fireplace was deliberately set?

Michael Poel: I am sure that it was deliberately set.

Nikki Battiste: Little doubt.

Michael Poel: Little doubt.

Throughout cross examination, the protection steered that Poel was uncertain of his findings, citing language in his report resembling “more than likely” and “it’s believed.”

JOHN KOPP (in courtroom): You used the phrase “it’s believed” as a result of that is an unsure opinion. Appropriate?

MICHAEL POEL: It is the way in which I described it.

JOHN KOPP: However that is an unsure opinion. Appropriate?

MICHAEL POEL: To not me.

Poel says he was simply utilizing normal phrases used throughout hearth investigations.

The State additionally known as forensic pathologist Dr. Amanda Youmans, who had carried out one of many autopsies.

DR. AMANDA YOUMANS (in courtroom): There was no soot in her airways … And her … measure of carbon monoxide within the blood was inside regular limits. So she was deceased previous to the hearth.

Youmans testified that Melissa’s physique confirmed proof of a violent battle. The jury heard concerning the hemorrhages round Melissa’s neck — a particular kind of damaged blood vessels known as “petechial hemorrhages” which in response to Youmans, is a telltale signal of strangulation.

DR. AMANDA YOUMANS (in courtroom): That is essentially the most petechial hemorrhages I’ve ever seen in a strangulation case.

Deanna Lamesch: To sit down by trial was past devastating.

Deanna Lamesch got here to courtroom day-after-day.

Deanna Lamesch: I had been prepped by the victims’ advocate. … Issues had been going to be grotesque. I used to be going to see so much.

Deanna Lamesch says she at all times saved Melissa and her child Barrett in her ideas.

Deanna Lamesch: She was so strong-willed and had such satisfaction. That child was gonna be a powerful man.

Plote’s mother and father additionally attended the trial.

Nikki Battiste: They have been by his facet all through this?

John Kopp: Sure. Each courtroom date.

Some of the essential witnesses to testify was Melissa’s sister, Cassie Baal, speaking concerning the day Melissa died and that decision which Baal says was interrupted by Plote.

ALLISON HUNTLEY (in courtroom): What was the very last thing your sister stated to you throughout that cellphone name?

CASSIE BAAL: Sorry (emotional). She stated she would make the dialog fast and she or he would name me proper again.

ALLISON HUNTLEY: Did Melissa name you again?

CASSIE BAAL: No.

Jurors watched these recorded interviews with investigators, the place Plote admitted he was on the home.

DEPUTY: How lengthy had been you on the home?

MATTHEW PLOTE: It wasn’t greater than an hour I do not suppose

Prosecutors needed jurors to listen to that phrase Plote used —

MATTHEW PLOTE: I imply, there is a deadline for — for that.

— referring to the delivery of his son as a “deadline.”

Allison Huntley: He stated, there is a deadline to those sorts of issues. That was his deadline to homicide Melissa.

Heather Kruse: So, if you consider it logically, Thursday’s Thanksgiving and Friday is her due date, his deadline. The one time to do that was Wednesday. So he took off work and accomplished his purpose.

The prosecutors discovered much more telling what Plote did not say — particularly throughout that seven-hour interview — 4 hours of which had been performed for the jury.

Allison Huntley: What’s chilling … is the truth that he by no means denied murdering Melissa. And he by no means denied killing her child boy, not one time. It is chilling from a private perspective, however that is additionally glorious proof that the defendant could not convey himself to lie about that reality.

John Kopp: Over the course of a number of interviews for a number of hours, he was calm and reserved.

His silence, the protection says, truly factors to his innocence — not his guilt.

Prosecutors needed jurors to listen to that phrase Plote used —

MATTHEW PLOTE: I imply, there is a deadline for — for that.

— referring to the delivery of his son as a “deadline.”

Allison Huntley: He stated, there is a deadline to those sorts of issues. That was his deadline to homicide Melissa.

Heather Kruse: So, if you consider it logically, Thursday’s Thanksgiving and Friday is her due date, his deadline. The one time to do that was Wednesday. So he took off work and accomplished his purpose.

The prosecutors discovered much more telling what Plote did not say — particularly throughout that seven-hour interview — 4 hours of which had been performed for the jury.

Allison Huntley: What’s chilling … is the truth that he by no means denied murdering Melissa. And he by no means denied killing her child boy, not one time. It is chilling from a private perspective, however that is additionally glorious proof that the defendant could not convey himself to lie about that reality.

John Kopp: Over the course of a number of interviews for a number of hours, he was calm and reserved.

His silence, the protection says, truly factors to his innocence — not his guilt.

QUESTIONING THE INVESTIGATION

John Kopp: The State’s skilled did not do a fraction of what he ought to have accomplished to correctly decide the reason for the hearth. … This could have been an undetermined hearth.

To attempt to poke holes within the prosecution’s case, the protection known as just one witness: retired firefighter and impartial inspector John Knapp. He was not on the scene of the hearth however did examine experiences and photographs.

JOHN KNAPP (in courtroom): I felt like there was most likely extra data that would have been gathered that wasn’t …

He disputed the prosecution’s declare that Plote set the hearth. He testified that the proof collected would not show that the hearth was deliberately set by anybody.

JOHN KNAPP (in courtroom): I could not make that dedication as to whether or not — what the reason for the hearth needs to be aside from undetermined.

Michael Poel: Whenever you’re not there on the scene, you do not see what we have seen, not at all times does each little tidbit find yourself in a report.

Poel says the protection’s skilled is improper, and that his investigation was thorough.

Michael Poel: We’re in search of something and every thing that would have contributed to the origins of this fireplace. … They weren’t there. … You wanted to be there once we had been doing the examination.

Plote waived his proper to testify. Throughout closing arguments, the protection accused investigators of getting tunnel imaginative and prescient.

John Kopp: The whole lack of investigation … of every other particular person is surprising. I’ve by no means seen such a poorly investigated case.

Liam Dixon: They did not follow-up on every other leads that will have occurred. Some other boyfriends, every other — anyone else.

Allison Huntley: If there had been one other lead, investigators definitely would’ve adopted it. There merely wasn’t..

Prosecutors advised the jury that the proof was clear:  Melissa Lamesch was strangled to loss of life by the one one who had a motive to kill her, Matthew Plote, who was juggling a number of girls and did not wish to change his life-style.

Allison Huntley: He clearly … didn’t wish to be concerned on this child’s life. That is somebody who actively hid the truth that a girl in the neighborhood was carrying his baby.

John Kopp: He … clearly had made some decisions about having … a number of relationships however didn’t make him a killer. 

The trial lasted per week. After two hours of deliberation, the jury returned with a verdict: responsible of all expenses.

Deanna Lamesch: I may hear individuals sobbing and gasping … however like, I — I could not even raise my head …

Nikki Battiste: What did you’re feeling?

Deanna Lamesch: Shock. Shock.

The decision was a reduction for Chief Schultz. He says the case had lengthy weighed on him and everybody on the firehouse who had labored with Plote.

Chief Rob Schultz: There was an enormous closure right here when Matt was discovered responsible. … You continue to have the household on the market that misplaced a daughter or misplaced a grandson … You are by no means going to vary that.

Three months later, on June 27, 2024, Melissa’s household and associates gathered on the courthouse for sentencing. Plote listened with little response as sufferer affect statements had been learn:

GUS LAMESCH (in courtroom): We misplaced Melissa within the prime of her life. … Melissa and Barrett ought to nonetheless be alive and having fun with life together with her loving household. 

CASSIE BAAL (in courtroom): I should not have spent Thanksgiving that 12 months feeling like there was nothing to be grateful for. … This should not be actual, however it’s actual. It’s all actual as a result of one man determined to make the choice that Barrett and Melissa weren’t wanted or needed.

DEANNA LAMESCH (in courtroom): None of this needed to occur, all he needed to do was stroll away.

Plote additionally addressed the courtroom with this temporary assertion:

MATTHEW PLOTE (in courtroom): To say something aside from I share the ache and the unhappiness and the lack of Melissa and Barrett.

Nikki Battiste: Do you imagine him?

Gus Lamesch: Oh, no, undoubtedly not.

Cassie Baal: For him to … say, “I too have ache and loss for Melissa and Barrett,” like that — what a joke.

Choose John Roe imposed the utmost sentence: life behind bars.

Nikki Battiste: Matthew Plote will probably die in jail. Does that offer you any kind of peace?

Deanna Lamesch: No. … I do know it is the justice system and we obtained our justice, however nothing about that is simply. Nothing about that is honest. No punishment on the planet brings them again.

Melissa’s sister Julialyn Shedd tries to carry onto fond reminiscences.

Julialyn Shedd: I miss her character. … I believe it is her sass. … Melissa was — I imagine nonetheless is the most effective individual that I’ve ever met.

Nikki Battiste: What do you miss most about your daughter and there is a grandson you by no means bought to fulfill?

Gus Lamesch: The place do you begin. I imply … he was gonna come into my dwelling. … I used to be trying ahead to elevating him.

By way of all of their grief, the Lamesch household honors Melissa in some ways.

Deanna Lamesch: We took toys to an area homeless shelter.

Nikki Battiste: To honor Barrett?

Deanna Lamesch: To honor Barrett. … We donated cash to the no-kill shelter that Melissa bought her cat from.

In addition they sponsored a tree at an area arboretum that Melissa cherished.

Deanna Lamesch: Yearly … on the holidays, this tree will at all times be lit as a part of their show.

Shining brightly, like Melissa at all times did.

Cassie Baal: Melissa was sturdy. She was fierce. She was highly effective. Nothing was gonna cease her. And he or she was at all times gonna show herself and she or he’d do no matter it take to do it.

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“48 HOURS” POST MORTEM

“48 Hours” contributor Nikki Battiste and producer Ruth Chenetz talk about the connection between Melissa Lamesch and Matthew Plote, the protection’s try to forged doubt on the investigation, and the touching story of how Melissa’s household found the title she had chosen for her soon-to-be-born child boy.    

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Produced by Ruth Chenetz and Emily Wichick Hourihane. Michelle Sigona is the event producer. Michael Baluzy and Phil Tangel are the editors. Anthony Batson is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the chief story editor. Judy Tygard is the chief producer.

In: