Malta man convicted of killing Mt. Morris woman and her unborn baby in 2020 wants new trial

OREGON — A Malta man wants a new trial after being found guilty in March of murdering a Mt. Morris woman and her unborn baby and then setting her home on fire in an attempt to conceal the deaths in 2020.

Matthew T. Plote, 36, was convicted March 22 of killing Melissa Lamesch, 27, on Nov. 25, 2020, just one day before Thanksgiving and two days before their full-term baby was to be born.

Jurors deliberated for two hours before finding him guilty of four counts of first-degree murder, three counts of intentional homicide of an unborn child and one count each of residential arson, aggravated domestic battery and concealment of a homicidal death.

Plote was the baby’s biological father and showed no emotion as the verdict was read. He also chose not to take the stand during the trial held at the Ogle County Judicial Center.

On April 19, Plote’s attorneys, Liam Dixon and John Kopp, filed a motion asking for a new trial – which is common following trials that result in a conviction.

Plote and Dixon appeared before Judge John “Ben” Roe on Thursday for a post-trial motion hearing.

Ogle County State’s Attorney Mike Rock requested 14 days to respond to the defense motion and asked for a June date to argue the motions. He also asked that enough time be allowed for a sentencing hearing to be held at that time if the defense’s motion was denied.

Roe set the next hearing date for 1:30 p.m. June 27.

In the six-page motion, Dixon and Kopp list several reasons for a new trial. Some relate to what the defense claims were hearsay statements that should not have been included as testimony while others question testimony given by two state’s expert witnesses – an investigator with the Illinois State Fire Marhsal’s Office and a forensic pathologist.

The defense argues in the motion that testimony given by Lamesch’s sister while she was on the phone with her when Plote appeared at her home, should have been determined as hearsay and not allowed to be presented as evidence.

Cassie Baal, Lamesch’s older sister, told jurors that she was on the phone with her sister when Plote appeared at the family’s childhood home on the day she died. “She said she would make the conversation quick and would call me right back,” Baal testified.

Prosecutors said Lamesch never called Baal back because Plote had killed her and then set the home on fire.

The defense motion also questions Roe’s decision to allow the jury to hear four hours of Plote’s interrogation by Ogle County sheriff’s detectives on Aug. 28, 2021, that they say introduced “prejudicial evidence” that violated the defendant’s right to cross examine the witness.

During the trial, jurors watched the video recording during which two detectives accused the Carol Stream paramedic of strangling Lamesch and her unborn baby because he didn’t want the birth of his son to interfere with his “carefree playboy lifestyle”.

“The police spoke of cell phone evidence and geolocation of the defendant’s phone that was never introduced by the state during its case in chief, other than through then-published video,” the motion claims. “The state had a Verizon business records custodian under subpoena, but never called them as a witness.

“The state was able to present prejudicial and irrelevant material, such as the fact the defendant had sexual intercourse with another woman the night before the alleged murder. The state had the name of the alleged sexual partner listed as a potential witness, but never called her to testify. The state also used this unproven hearsay allegation as substantive evidence in its closing,” the motion claims.

The motion argues Plote had a right to remain silent during the interrogation and that by allowing the interrogation to be heard, jurors would hear the officers’ statements as evidence “merely because the defendant remained silent”.

Two forensic pathologists, Dr. Mark Peters and Dr. Amanda Youmans, told jurors that Lamesch was strangled to death before firefighters recovered her from her burning home.

They testified abrasions on Lamesch’s face and scalp and bruises on her legs and thighs all occurred before she died and no elevated levels of carbon monoxide found in Lamesch’s blood. Her “full-term male fetus” had no abnormalities. Lamesch also had minimal thermal wounds, they testified.

Youmans said Lamesch’s neck, face, eyes and larynx all showed signs of strangulation; hemorrhages in the muscles in her neck were also caused by pressure being applied to that area; and when she cleaned soot and debris from Lamesch’s body she discovered more injuries that she said were consistent with “blunt force.”

Those injuries, Youmans said, were found on Lamesch’s forehead, head and temple and were consistent with “multiple blows to her head.”

Jurors were shown autopsy photos of Lamesch’s injuries along with a photo of the baby boy wrapped in a blue blanket.

Mt. Morris firefighters testified they were called to the Lamesch home, 206. S. Hannah Ave., about 4:30 p.m. and forced their way into the home, where they found Lamesch laying on the kitchen floor not breathing and covered with soot and debris.

When she was dragged from the burning home and placed into an ambulance, there was no electrical activity in her heart, and she was pronounced dead at 4:54 p.m., firefighters said.

In an initial police interview on Nov. 25. 2020, Plote told detectives that Lamesch had wanted him to be involved with the baby, but he initially “wasn’t on board”, but went to her home to “work things out”.

Plote said he stayed “about an hour” at Lamesch’s home and they talked at the kitchen table before moving to the couch to have what he described as consensual sex. He said he then left the home by walking out the front door.

A forensic scientist with the Illinois State Police Forensic Lab in Rockford, testified that Plote’s DNA was found in fingernail scrapings taken from Lamesch’s right and left hands. He also said semen found in Lamesch’s vagina also fit Plote’s profile as did cheek swabs taken from the dead baby.

Prosecutors said the DNA linked Plote to the violence done to Lamesch, disputing his claim that they had had consensual sex.

Lamesch was a 2011 graduate of Oregon High School and an emergency medical technician at Trace Ambulance Service in Tinley Park. She moved back into the family home in October 2020 and was scheduled to have her labor induced Nov. 27.

Plote continues to be be held in the Ogle County Correctional Center awaiting sentencing.