Pod Insights Criminology Melissa Lamesch About this episode On November 25, 2020, just one day before Thanksgiving, multiple residents called 911 to report a fire at a house in Mount Morris, Illinois. Inside, first responders found twenty-seven-year-old Melissa Lamesch, who lived at the home with her father. Join Mike and Morf as they discuss the murder of Melissa Lamesch. Melissa was pregnant and due to be induced two days later. All fingers began pointing at the baby's father, Matthew Plote, a firefighter and EMT. The revelations during the investigation were startling. You can help support the show at patreon.com/criminology An Emash Digital production
Transcript 0:00 Speaker 00 Criminology is a true crime podcast that may contain discussion about violent or disturbing topics. Listener discretion is advised.
0:37 Speaker 01 Hello everyone and welcome to episode 356 of the Criminology Podcast. This is Mike Ferguson.
0:43 Speaker 02 And this is Mike Morford.
0:45 Speaker 01 Mr. Morford, how you doing this week, buddy?
0:47 Speaker 02 I'm doing good. I was looking this morning at our, you know, how far we've come on criminology and I just realized that we're closer to 400 episodes than we are 300 episodes. So, you know, time really flies.
1:01 Speaker 01 It does. It does. I mean, we've been doing it for years and sometimes it seems like a long time. And then sometimes it seems like it was just yesterday that we started. And so, and I think that, you know, that goes along with a lot of things in your life. Sometimes it feels like you've been doing something, let's say married. You know, you've been married for a long time. Other times it doesn't feel that long.
1:27 Speaker 02 Yeah. And actually, you know, along the same lines, it's been eight years since we were doing season two, when the Golden State Killer was arrested this week, eight years ago. So I, it blew my mind that we've been doing the show that long and, you know, we're still going strong.
1:45 Speaker 01 Yeah, that's amazing. Amazing. Well, speaking of amazing, let's do our Patreon shout outs. We had Aaron Carey, Laura Corando, and Ender Strika. So some great new support. We really appreciate it.
2:00 Speaker 02 Yeah, thanks to everyone that takes the time to support the show. It really helps us out. For anyone else that would like to, you can do so by going to patreon.com/criminology.
2:09 Speaker 01 All right, we're diving right in. And this week, we're talking about a case that is layered in tragedy. A young woman lost her life and her child, just days away from being born, died with her. The community also lost a first responder, as the victim was an emergency medical technician. They actually lost two first responders, because as we'll talk about, the killer in this case was a firefighter. We're talking about the murder of Melissa Lamish at the hands of the father of her baby, Matthew Pallotti.
2:47 Speaker 02 At 4:29 PM on November 25, 2020, just one day before Thanksgiving, multiple residents called 911 to report that there was a fire at 26 South Hanna Avenue in Mount Morris, Illinois, and that one of the people who lived there might still be inside. Smoke was billowing away from the scene and the shrill sound of smoke detectors inside the house were piercing the air. After breaking down the door to gain entry to the home, firefighters discovered a body lying face down on the floor in the kitchen. It was 27-year-old Melissa Lamesch, who lived at the home with her father. She had moved back home just one month earlier because she was nearing the end of her pregnancy and wanted
3:28 Speaker 02 to be closer to her family. Firefighters discovered that Melissa had been lying on the floor long enough that her body was coated in soot from the fire. Some of the roof had collapsed, covering her body in debris. Authorities loaded her into an ambulance, preparing to treat her for smoke inhalation or carbon monoxide poisoning. There was no electrical activity at all. In her heart, according to their equipment, the time to help her had long passed. Melissa Lamesch was pronounced dead at 4:54 PM. The fire was out by 5:10 PM, but the home was determined to be uninhabitable with an estimated $125,000
4:12 Speaker 02 worth of damage that needed to be repaired. This was truly a tragic situation for Melissa's family. She had come home to be closer to them as she prepared for her baby to arrive. And now she and the baby were dead and her dad's house was destroyed. Even if the home had been safe to live in, Melissa's father, Gus Lamesch, could not bring himself to go back inside, knowing that his daughter had been lying on the kitchen floor dead. While the house was on fire, Gus frantically tried to find Melissa. Her brother Carl received a call from Gus that day while he was at work. In an interview with Oxygen, Carl said that his dad told him, "The house is on fire and no one has heard from her, seen her."
4:53 Speaker 02 He told Oxygen, "And right then I knew it was just something in my gut that she was gone and I couldn't feel her."
5:01 Speaker 01 So Morph, no doubt, this was a terrible tragedy. You have a 27-year-old woman who was pregnant at the time. She's dead, her baby is dead. But you know, authorities don't really know what they have in the beginning of a situation like this. They have a house fire, they have someone who's passed away. There's going to need to be, you know, some extensive investigation, right? To figure this out. One thing that that I did want to talk about is, you know, when you have a tragedy inside the home, whether it's somebody who died in a, an accidental fire,
5:47 Speaker 01 or whether it was someone who was murdered, even if that home can be repaired, how tough is it going to be to move back in, to live there again? With the knowledge that, you know, your loved one died there in a, what oftentimes is a horrific way?
6:08 Speaker 02 Yeah, that can't be easy to, to think about going into that place where such a tragedy happened. And I'm trying to put myself in Gus's shoes. You know, if you're, if there's a fire at your home, you're going to be devastated, you're going to be upset. But I think if you look around and see your families there where they're supposed to be in there, they've gotten out, there's a sense of relief because you know you can rebuild that house, you can start over, but not seeing your family member safe and out of the house after that, that's gotta be a whole nother level of dread. And I'm sure Gus was really panicking when Melissa wasn't out of the house.
6:49 Speaker 01 Well, it's like that old saying, right? You know, things are replaceable. Yeah. Would it be devastating to lose your house in a fire? Absolutely. But you, like you said, you can rebuild. You can't replace human lives. At first, it seemed like this would turn out to be a terrible and tragic accident while Melissa was cooking, but soon the investigation would prove otherwise. Investigators determined that the fire had started in the kitchen where Melissa's body was found. It initially appeared that she may have been cooking something when flames broke out and she was overcome by smoke. An autopsy and then later a second ended up
7:32 Speaker 01 revealing what really happened to Melissa that day. The only thing found in Melissa's system at the time of her death was diphenhydramine, the generic name for the active ingredient in Benadryl. There were no elevated levels of carbon monoxide, which you would expect to see with someone who was unconscious near a fire. According to forensic pathologist Dr. Mark Peters, in an interview with ShawLocal.com, there was no soot in her lungs or airways. The lack of soot in her airways and carbon monoxide buildup in her blood both proved that Melissa had stopped breathing before the fire began.
8:16 Speaker 02 So if Melissa didn't succumb to smoke and fumes from the fire, what actually happened to her? Investigators wondered if some sort of health complication from her pregnancy had killed her while she was cooking, but before a fire broke out. But there was no indication that Melissa was anything other than healthy before her sudden death. Even a pulmonary embolism was ruled out as her cause of death because she had no blood clots in her lungs. There was however, plenty of evidence that a struggle and an assault occurred before Melissa died. There was hemorrhaging around her throat. According to ShawLocal.com, multiple abrasions were found on her face and scalp, her lower legs, and her thighs were covered in bruises. And there was an abrasion on her vaginal wall
8:59 Speaker 02 that was consistent with sexual assault. Forensic pathologist Dr. Amanda Yeoman, who performed the second autopsy, thoroughly cleaned Melissa's body, removing the soot that had still been present during the first autopsy. Dr. Yeoman's found additional injuries, including blunt force trauma, consistent with multiple blows to her head.
9:19 Speaker 01 So I said earlier, right, there's gonna have to be an extensive investigation into what happened. And, you know, as we kind of go through some of that, a lot of it is fascinating. Even though you're talking about a tragedy, you're talking about loss of life, but the determination about whether someone had, you know, soot in their lungs, carbon monoxide, and then that determination of whether they were alive or not when the fire started. That all of that forensic pathology type stuff is just fascinating to me. I think I've said
10:03 Speaker 01 it before more. If I could go back to, you know, 18, 19, getting out of high school, starting college, that would probably be the road I would go down. Because to me, that stuff is just so very interesting.
10:21 Speaker 02 Yeah, I think it takes a special person to be able to do that kind of work. Someone that's has a lot of patience and obviously is squeamish because of the stuff they're going to be dealing with.
10:34 Speaker 01 But it's also clear, right, by the things that come out that this was no accident. Not only were there multiple injuries, including blunt force trauma to the head, but there was also evidence of a sexual assault. Since Melissa was pregnant at the time of her death, very far along, nine months into her pregnancy, and she was scheduled to be induced into labor on November 27th, just two days after her death, it didn't seem likely that she would have willingly participated in consensual sex and certainly not likely rough sex that would have caused the abrasions she had.
11:19 Speaker 01 It was clear to investigators that the bruising on her legs were not from bumping into things or from something hitting her legs. The bruising was from pressure. This could have happened during the assault and during the murder, which multiple forensic pathologists believe was due to being strangled.
11:39 Speaker 02 The injuries painted a pretty clear picture of Melissa being attacked and falling or being dragged down to the ground, held down, assaulted and killed. She fought for her life. Dr. Yeoman's told ShawLocal.com, "This is the most petechial hemorrhaging I've seen in strangulation. It would not have been quick death. It's estimated that just the strangulation, not the actual attack or anything that led up to it, took four to six minutes and Melissa's unborn child must have been on her mind the entire time. The fear in her last moments is unimaginable. Sadly, Dr. Yeoman's explained that Melissa's baby, who appeared to be a full-term, healthy male, died sometime shortly after she did.
12:22 Speaker 02 It would have taken minutes without oxygen from Melissa for her baby to die from asphyxiation. To Dr. Yeoman's, this was two clear cases of murder.
12:31 Speaker 01 And I want to talk about strangulation for just a minute. You have the pathologist saying it would have taken four to six minutes. And this is completely separate from the rest of the attack, just the strangulation. And we've heard this in other cases, you know, when you watch a crime show or a movie where someone is strangled, it often happens very quickly. But in real life, as killers have attested to, it's not as easy as they make it look on TV. It takes a lot of pressure.
13:15 Speaker 01 It takes time to strangle someone to death.
13:19 Speaker 02 Yeah, the movies make it look like it happens in seconds and that's just not the case. So for someone to have the clear mind to sit there strangling her for several minutes, it just very cold and calculated, no remorse. They could have stopped anywhere along the way and said, why am I doing this? But they did, they just kept going and held that pressure on her throat until she was dead. And then of course, you know, her baby died as a result.
13:50 Speaker 01 And you can't help but think what she was going through, what she was thinking about in those minutes where she's being strangled to death. And I'm sure a lot of those thoughts went to her unborn baby. It was very apparent to investigators that Melissa had been killed and that the fire at her home was no accident. It had been set in an attempt to cover up evidence of a homicide, both at the scene and on her body, while also creating the narrative that she had died in the fire. It was meant to be one of those cases where it looked like a simple accident.
14:28 Speaker 01 And Melissa's killer hoped that the authorities wouldn't investigate too far and just accept things at face value. But there were practically no thermal injuries to Melissa's body. And all scientific evidence proves that she was dead before the fire. Whoever killed her was probably counting on the flames, actually making it to her body before first responders arrived and destroying any evidence that may have been left.
14:57 Speaker 02 Melissa and her older sister, Cassie Ball, spoke to each other on the phone just before her death. They were close, born only three years apart. The sister spoke all the time and had been on the phone for two hours that day. Knowing that it was not an accidental death was shocking to Cassie. She told People Magazine, Melissa didn't have any enemies. And as it turned out, Cassie did have an important piece of information for investigators. When she and Melissa were talking that day, her sister hung up the phone because she had an unexpected visitor. It was the father of Melissa's baby, Matthew Pelodi, a Carroll Stream Fire District firefighter, EMT. The two had known each other since 2013, when they met while they were attending college, even though he was about six years older
15:42 Speaker 02 than Melissa. They became friends and over time, ended up being what you would call friends with benefits. They also both went into jobs as first responders. Melissa worked as an EMT with Trace Ambulance Service in the Tinley Park area, while Matthew was a firefighter, EMT in Carroll Stream, and a volunteer firefighter in Malta, his hometown. The care she received from EMTs during a medical emergency while she was in college inspired Melissa to follow in their footsteps. She wanted to help others in need, and she knew how the people she supported during their own emergencies were feeling.
16:17 Speaker 01 And you know, it's always interesting how people choose their career path. Some people know from an early age what they want to be, but I think the majority of people, you know, they figure it out along the way. And I think some people like Melissa have some experience in life that makes them want to do something, right? She has a medical emergency, she's attended to by first responders, and she thinks, okay, this is something I'd like to do. I'd like to help people the way they help me. When Melissa realized that she was pregnant and told Matthew that April,
16:58 Speaker 01 he informed her that he wanted no part in having a child with her. He also asked her if she would consider having an abortion, but she refused. That was not going to be an option for her. It was an upsetting surprise to her at the time. Cassie told MSN, Melissa thought he would want something to do with the baby. To that point, she thought he was a pretty nice guy. The relationship between the two really soured after this. Cassie said that Melissa saw a different side of him, and that really upset her. While Melissa was upset about Matthew not wanting to be a father, others in her life saw it as a blessing in disguise.
17:40 Speaker 01 Cassie told People Magazine, "I thought Melissa was better off", explaining that she was a strong woman and that she could do it. She knew ahead of time and could plan her life as a single mother with help from her supportive family. According to CBS, Melissa's mom, Deanna, told her, "If he doesn't want to be a part of the baby's life, don't push. The baby is your child." And Melissa's dad backed that sentiment up, telling Melissa, "Whatever you need, I'll help you financially." And I'll, I'll speak for you, Morph, because I know what type of father you, you are. I can't imagine either one of us not wanting to be a part of,
18:24 Speaker 01 you know, our children's lives. I understand this, they're, they're not married, but you created a life. She's going to have this baby. It's your baby. How could you not want to be a part of it? To me, that just screams out selfishness. And that's what we see from a, a lot of these individuals, right? They don't want their life turned upside down. And they also don't want the financial burden that comes with, you know, having a child.
19:00 Speaker 02 Yeah, it's a- You know, a difficult situation for two people to find themselves in and not be on the same page with each other. And obviously can create some frictions because if one person wants one thing and the other person wants the other thing, you know, they've got to work through that or there could be a lot of problems. And a lot of times, these kinds of situations, you see them lead to, to issues.
19:29 Speaker 01 Well, yeah, this is a big deal, right? This is not someone's messy and someone's a, a real tidy person and they're struggling with that. This is, we're having a baby and you don't want anything to do with it. That's, that's tough in any relationship. I don't know how you make it past that. But I think the other thing that you see here is Melissa's family being just absolutely, fully supportive of her emotionally, financially, they're all in.
20:05 Speaker 02 Yeah, that had to be a big relief for her to know that she had that support system versus being all alone and trying to do everything solo.
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21:32 Speaker 02 Ultimately, Melissa did decide to do it alone without Matthew in the picture. She knew it would just be her and her son with no involvement from Matthew. She also didn't expect any financial support from him. But she didn't cut him out of her life. She kept him loosely involved in her pregnancy, just in case he would end up coming around later and want to be part of the son's life. She still texted him the occasional sonogram or update. Cassie told MSN, sometimes he would respond a little bit, but she didn't know really where he stood exactly.
22:04 Speaker 01 The fact that Melissa was on her own is why in October, just one month before her due date, she decided to move from her home in Oak Forest into her father's Mount Morris home. She was on maternity leave at the time of her death. Matthew's unexpected visit on November 25th was the second time in days that he had dropped by the home unannounced. While they were talking, Cassie told People Magazine that Melissa saw Matthew when she looked out her window and then said, "You've got to be kidding me." Melissa told Cassie, "You know what? I'll make this quick. I'll let you know what he wanted." She then hung up the phone and it was the last time she ever spoke to her sister.
22:49 Speaker 02 Obviously, police wanted to question Matthew Pelodi. When authorities finally did speak to him, he admitted that he did stop by the house that day, but he denied having any involvement in Melissa's death. He told investigators that he stayed at the home for about an hour before he left. According to CBS News, one of the first things that stood out to them was that when detectives notified Matthew that Melissa was dead, he replied, "Oh, okay." That wasn't the only thing that seemed very suspicious considering the circumstances. According to Ogle County Assistant State's Attorney Allison Huntley, Matthew hadn't told anyone that he was going to be a father. In fact, according to People Magazine, he was actually keeping a secret, the fact he fathered a baby,
23:33 Speaker 02 in the hopes that the child wouldn't be born. Two of his coworkers recall that in the days after Melissa was killed, Matthew didn't mention anything about the fire, her death, or the death of his would be firstborn son. Not even on November 28th, just three days later, and the day after he would have been made a father. Not only did he not talk about Melissa or their son, he seemed to be acting completely normal. It didn't seem to anyone that anything was bothering him. His coworkers weren't even aware of the fire because it wasn't in their jurisdiction. It was about 75 miles away.
24:07 Speaker 01 And to me, you know, it's not surprising at all that Matthew is on police radar. You have someone in Melissa's sister, who I'm sure told police that she was talking to Melissa on the phone. Melissa said that Matthew showed up at the house. So they know he was there that day. But to me, it's, it's this showing, you know, relatively no emotion, or really no emotion, that jumps out to me. Man, anyone listening can think about losing a loved one or a very important person in your life.
24:48 Speaker 01 Oh, okay, is not going to be your response.
24:53 Speaker 02 Yeah, I think we've mentioned in several cases where somebody's response might not be what you think it would be, or they don't seem that shocked or upset. But to be that matter of factly is, you had to scream to investigators that something's not right here. This guy is just not even interested in knowing what happened or, you know, what caused this. So I'm sure that caused him to immediately become somebody they wanted to look closer at.
25:29 Speaker 01 And then I think you couple that with, you know, the way that he was acting around coworkers, not even talking about it, the fire, Melissa's death, or the death of, you know, what would have been his firstborn son, just acting completely normal. I mean, I don't know what else you have to do more to put yourself on the radar. When Matthew's boss, Chief Schultz, learned about it and that Matthew, one of his own firefighters, was a suspect, he knew that there had to have been some kind of mistake. He checked the schedule, sure that Matthew was at work the day of the fire,
26:11 Speaker 01 but he was wrong. Matthew had been scheduled to work, but he called out sick that day. Chief Robert Schultz told CBS News, upon finding out Matthew was off that day, "The knot in my stomach, I literally wanted to throw up." He then put Matthew on paid administrative leave, pending the results of the law enforcement investigation. Chief Schultz added, "We're here 24 hours a day, and it's just a normal course of being a firefighter, that you talk about your family, your personal life, and what's going on, good, bad, or indifferent."
26:49 Speaker 02 Matthew has always maintained that Melissa was alive and well when he left, and he always included the detail that she was making lunch when he last saw her. To authorities, this was just Matthew's way of staging the scene, specifically mentioning details that would explain why her body was found in the kitchen. Ogle County Assistant State's Attorney Heather Cruz told CBS, "I believe from the very beginning, he was trying to set up a story that there was an accidental house fire, that she had been cooking something."
27:18 Speaker 01 Matthew told investigators that he and Melissa had sex on the couch in the living room during his visit. And I think more of you gotta stop and think about this and ask the question, how realistic is that? That Melissa would choose to have sex with the guy who essentially has abandoned her and her baby just two days before she was due to give birth. We already know she seemed irritated by the visit based on what she told her sister when she hung up with her. It's not to say that it couldn't happen. It just doesn't seem all that plausible.
28:00 Speaker 01 Now, you're two days away from being induced. But I think even more than that, this is a person that you're not happy with and haven't been for some time. Right? Melissa has known his feelings for a while now. And it doesn't seem as though they changed at any point during that time. How does all of that kind of end up in sex on the couch? It's just kind of hard to wrap your mind around.
28:34 Speaker 02 Yeah, the one thing that jumps out to me is the fact that he's a firefighter and there's this mysterious fire there. He seems like someone that would know how to try and make it look less suspicious. And maybe start the fire in a way that would destroy evidence. Maybe damage Melissa's body so they couldn't do a full autopsy. So that part to me makes him look even more suspicious as if, as opposed to her dying in some other fashion. The fact there was a fire involved, it makes him look guiltier to me.
29:13 Speaker 01 Well, and you know, authorities had to be thinking the same way. You know, is this a coincidence? That he's a firefighter and there just happens to be a fire. According to WIFR.com, Matthew also told detectives he was sorry. He went to the house that day and insisted that he had no intention of hurting Melissa. According to ShawLocal.com, Matthew claimed he had stopped by to see Melissa that day to work things out because he had finally changed his mind about not wanting to be involved with his child. Now he claimed that both he and his parents wanted to be in his son's life.
29:56 Speaker 01 They lived in Malta about 45 minutes away from her father's home in Mount Moritz.
30:03 Speaker 02 Matthew's parents wanting to be involved in their grandchild's life was surprising to most people because he had been hiding the pregnancy from them too. It was Melissa who finally informed them that she and Matthew were expecting a child. Of course, he was extremely angry when he learned about this. It totally blew whatever plan he had to continue his lifestyle with no changes or responsibilities. Matthew also claimed that he wanted to talk to Melissa about finances, child support, and eventual visitation, as well as to ask her if she would allow him to be in the hospital room when her labor was induced. According to CBS, when Matthew was asked why he showed up unannounced instead of calling Melissa,
30:44 Speaker 02 setting up a meeting, he replied, I mean, there's a deadline for for that. This puzzled the detectives who asked him to clarify what he meant. He then responded saying, for pregnancy, there's a deadline.
30:57 Speaker 01 So there's two things here for me. You know, that that's a strange phrasing, you know, for pregnancy, there's a deadline. Well, obviously that is true, but when you use a word like deadline, first of all, it's it's a little cold, but it's also in my mind, a little calculating. You could almost read into it that, you know, I only have so much time because this thing is about to happen. And and I do want to go back to Matthew not telling his parents. It seems to me that Melissa telling them about it while he was trying to hide it from them would have changed things up.
31:42 Speaker 01 You can only imagine. You know, what conversations he must have had with his parents? I'm sure they were asking him, you know, why didn't you tell us about this?
31:54 Speaker 02 And that to me seems like another motives of something that would push him to confront her about that, why he, she told his parents. And just one more thing that makes him look guiltier because he's, you know, shown no interest this entire time. And then all of a sudden he's over to her house twice in, within a couple of days unannounced. It just seems like something set him over the edge to where he went over there and did something to Melissa.
32:27 Speaker 01 Yeah, and you can see, you know, a couple of potential triggers, right? The deadline, as he calls it, his parents finding out. I think you have to look at all of that. It seems Matthew really felt pressured about the deadline, again, as he called it, and impending birth of his son. He was running out of time if he wanted to stop what was happening. He had tried early on when he asked Melissa about the possibility of an abortion. And now November 25th was his last chance to take things into his own hands. That day, Melissa would be surrounded by family for Thanksgiving. And the day after that, it would be too late.
33:11 Speaker 01 She would go to the hospital to have their child. It seems Matthew went that day to see Melissa because he felt the pressure of the impending birth and may have snapped if he felt Melissa was dismissive of him.
33:27 Speaker 02 Michael Poole, an investigator with the state fire marshal's office, determined that the fire in the kitchen had been started intentionally. He found that the origin of the fire was the wooden cabinets above the stove's exhaust hood. The fire had not started from anything on the stove or in the microwave. In fact, the stove top wasn't even damaged. According to Old County State's Attorney Mike Rock, State Farm had a policy on the home and conducted their own investigation into the fire. He explained that the fire could not have been started by an appliance because State Farm checked all the appliances and they were all clean. The oven and all the stove burners were off when the fire started. The interior of the oven was in perfect condition.
34:09 Speaker 02 Investigators found that even if a fire had started in the kitchen, there was no reason that Melissa should have been found dead inside the home. There were multiple available escape routes. She dealt with stressful situations and emergencies all the time as part of her job. She should have been able to make her way outside or call for help.
34:26 Speaker 01 And I think this is an interesting point to make. Right? She was in a very stressful job. She had a lot of training. If a fire had broken out in the kitchen and you know, she's not incapacitated, you would think this is a person who, you know, wouldn't have panicked to the point where they just completely shut down and couldn't make it out of the house. You know, her, some of her training would have kicked in with multiple escape routes. She should have been able to make it out.
35:04 Speaker 01 And then on top of that, you know, this investigation revealing that, you know, the appliances were all in working order. The stove top's not damaged. Okay. How is this fire starting in the kitchen? And it sounds to me more of like they couldn't find any plausible way that an accidental fire could have started.
35:31 Speaker 02 And I go back again to Matthew is the last one there. He knows about fires. He's upset about the baby situation. I mean, there's plenty of, no pun intended, smoke there to think that there could be something to him being involved.
35:50 Speaker 01 It makes me think a little bit of that movie Backdraft. That's a great movie, but you have, and okay, I'm going to give some of it away, but if you haven't seen it, the movie's 20 plus years old. You have a firefighter starting fires in a way that you can tell he really knows his stuff. He knows how to set these fires, either in a way to create maximum damage or to not get caught. He's just using his knowledge.
36:23 Speaker 01 DNA samples taken from fingernail scrapings and from semen recovered from Melissa's body were all mixed samples containing her DNA as well as the DNA of Matthew Pallotti. There were no other DNA profiles found at the scene. An Amazon Echo Dot was on the kitchen counter relatively intact. Authorities collected it, hoping there could be key information stored. Lieutenant Brian Ketter told CBS News, "We were hoping it would record conversations or something from the day between the two of them," adding, "It could have recorded Melissa screaming for help, yelling out his name.
37:05 Speaker 01 Unfortunately, while it did reveal voices, the stored recordings weren't even on the day of the murder." And I'm leery morph about these, uh, these Amazon Echoes, the dots, all these different things. I swear they're listening to me because my wife and I will be talking about a product and the next time I get on my computer, the ad for that product pops up. It scares me.
37:34 Speaker 02 Absolutely. I'm with you 100%. Now, some people say if you're like browsing or on Facebook or whatever you're on and you come across that product, you'll see ads from that in the future, which I understand. But when you're talking about something and not like surfing the web, looking for stuff. My wife and I were talking about DuckDuckGo for some reason. And she said, "Oh, this thing doesn't have all these trackers and you don't have to worry about malware and all that stuff." And I swear every day after that, I've seen DuckDuckGo ads pop up on YouTube when I watch YouTube shows.
38:11 Speaker 01 Yeah, between the, the Amazon products, your, your iPhone, your Android, whatever it is, I think there's a lot of stuff listening to us.
38:21 Speaker 02 It's scary. Police needed to nail Matthew and his boss, Chief Schultz, agreed to wear a listening device to talk to Matthew to try and get information for detectives. He later told CBS, "It's not something that I'm proud of." And he went on to explain that he did it because it was something that needed to be done in the hopes of helping the investigation. Matthew never denied any of the accusations against him, but the recorded conversation didn't yield any useful information either. Despite not having a confession, police felt that they had enough to build a case, and Matthew Plote was arrested on March 9, 2022. A bond was set at $10 million. According to ShawLocal.com, Matthew's motion for pretrial release was denied because
39:06 Speaker 02 the Olga County Judge John Ben Rowe found that no conditions or a combination of conditions can mitigate the real and present threat to persons or the community. As Assistant State's Attorney Heather Cruz explained, "When it comes down to it, Matthew Plote was accused of strangling a woman to death who was pregnant with his son, and then he lit the house on fire the day before Thanksgiving."
39:30 Speaker 01 Yeah, that's someone who, you know, if they really did it, you really, you know, you don't want them out on the street. A $10 million bond, that's sizable.
39:41 Speaker 02 You don't hear them that high very often.
39:43 Speaker 01 And maybe it just goes to, you know, how much evidence they really did have against Matthew. Matthew maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty to all charges. Four counts of first degree murder, three counts of intentional homicide of an unborn child, residential arson, aggravated domestic battery, and concealment of a homicidal death. In the time between Melissa's death and Matthew's arrest, her mother, Deanna, lived in fear. Like Matthew and his family, she lived in Malta. Not only did she have to worry that if she or a loved one had a medical emergency, it would be Matthew responding.
40:28 Speaker 01 She was also very aware that he knew where she lived and was sure that she saw him driving past her house on more than one occasion. She would tell ShawLocal.com, "I felt we were being watched." And Morf, I'm not sure this is something that you and I talk about a lot. But you have family members of someone who's been murdered. They're suspicious of a certain person, but that person has not yet been arrested. And you can only imagine the fear that that would induce. I mean, this person's out, they're doing their thing, they're still working.
41:09 Speaker 01 They know where you live, most likely because they possibly could even have been to your house. That's a scary proposition.
41:19 Speaker 02 Yeah, and even if they haven't been charged yet, if you're suspicious of them and you all of a sudden you see them cruising by your house. It's gotta unnerve you a little bit, I'm sure. Matthew's trial would last just five days. And during the trial, more details and secrets would emerge. One of these details was that at the time of Melissa's murder, Matthew was seeing multiple women. Well, Melissa wasn't forcing him to stop or requesting any financial support. She had apparently already proven that she would go behind his back and tell people things he didn't want them to know. Like when she told his parents about the upcoming baby. What would stop her from sending messages to women he was dating, claiming that he was a deadbeat dad?
42:01 Speaker 02 Living and working so near each other, it wouldn't be long before word got out that their son, that Melissa's son was his child. And eventually that could get back to his dates. Prosecutors argued that Matthew didn't want to give up his carefree Playboy lifestyle.
42:17 Speaker 01 And I gotta be honest with you, Morf, some of these cases are the ones that infuriate me the most. I mean, we talk about a lot of murders and obviously that's never good. But these guys who are so selfish that they're willing to kill because they don't want their lifestyle to change, or they don't want to be burdened financially. Those especially tick me off, I gotta be honest.
42:49 Speaker 02 Yeah, and I, I get ticked off especially with people that target women and women that are pregnant or, you know, that in a situation where it's hard to defend themselves, maybe. It seems like these cowards that we talk about like to target women that they can control or maybe they can, they can overpower and that kind of infuriates me.
43:15 Speaker 01 John Kopp, one of Matthew's attorneys, said that the motive that the state painted was just an inaccurate portrayal of Matt. The things they were saying were just beyond belief. The attorney asked the jury, how could Matthew be this monster that at the drop of a hat, after a career of saving people, decided to suddenly start killing people? Well, attorney Kopp insisted that the evidence doesn't show that Matthew Pallotti murdered Melissa Lamesch or their unborn child. Assistant State's Attorney Allison Huntley said that there was one person and one person only who wanted to see her deceased. And
43:57 Speaker 01 that one person was Matthew Pallotti. His attorneys argued that investigators had tunnel vision and didn't even look into any other potential leads or suspects.
44:09 Speaker 02 The one key bit of clear evidence was that even if Matthew hadn't been the father of Melissa's child, he was still at the house shortly before the fire began. He placed himself there and had told police that they had sex. And not only did Melissa's sister confirm that she said Matt was there over the phone to her, but there was also a neighbor who saw him arrive and go inside. If Melissa did experience any kind of medical event, Matthew could have given her emergency care, but he said everything was fine. He didn't mention her feeling woozy or lightheaded or tired. She even felt well enough, according to him, to have sex. It just didn't add up to most people in the courtroom or to the
44:50 Speaker 02 jury. Matthew decided not to take the stand to testify on his own behalf. After just two hours of deliberation, a six-person jury found Matthew guilty on March 22, 2024, just over two years after his arrest. He reportedly had no reaction when the verdict was read.
45:08 Speaker 01 In June of 2024, Matthew Pilodi was sentenced to life in prison, plus an additional 15 years for arson and 60 more years for the murder of his unborn child to be served concurrently. Melissa's mother, Deanna Lamesch, called the sentence "a little bit of relief." In an interview with WIFR.com, Matthew's only statement to the court before being taken back to prison, where he will spend the rest of his life, was, "I shared the pain and the sadness and the loss of Melissa and Barrett." Obviously, none of Melissa's loved ones believed it.
45:49 Speaker 02 A motion to reconsider Matthew's life sentence was denied. Despite the fact that Matthew had no prior criminal history, the things he was convicted of were cruel and violent. His attorneys argued that the life sentence and additional years were cruel and unusual punishment, and it shocked the moral sense of the community. It seems that the murder of a pregnant woman, a pregnant paramedic at the hands of a firefighter, just two days before their child is born, would be the real shock to the moral sense of the community. Chief Rob Schultz summed it up best to People Magazine, saying, "We put fires out. We don't start fires. We help people. We don't hurt people." Matthew Pilodi, now 37, is currently serving his life sentence at Menard Correctional Center in Menard, Illinois.
46:34 Speaker 01 And that statement by Chief Schultz is a really good one. You know, anytime that we have one of these cases that involves a person in a position of authority, trust, whether it's a doctor, a nurse, in this case, you know, a firefighter, EMT, sometimes those are even a little bit more shocking.
47:01 Speaker 01 Because, you know, these are people who have devoted their lives to helping people. And now they're charged and convicted of killing someone. But for me, it's the reasoning behind it that, you know, just blows me away. I mean, you said it, right? The real shock to the moral sense of the community is that this guy would do what he did for the reasons that he did it and, and to the person he did it to.
47:33 Speaker 02 You know, what's so mind boggling about it to me is that Melissa wasn't asking him for anything. She wasn't forcing him to pay her any money. She didn't, wasn't forcing him to be in the baby's life. He could have just gone on about his business and Melissa seemed happy to raise the baby on her own. So why he felt the need to even do this, it just, I just don't get it. It doesn't make sense.
47:59 Speaker 01 One thing is for sure, holidays will never be the same for Melissa's family. The day she was killed, her family was getting ready for Thanksgiving, which was on the 26th that year, and for the birth of her son, which was scheduled for the 27th. She planned to name him Barrett. Instead, the day before Thanksgiving, they lost Melissa and her son was never born. The day for being with family and giving thanks now falls during a time that is a reminder of loss, grief and sorrow. Melissa's mother, Deanna, said to People Magazine, how do you come back from that? Her only memory of her grandson is holding his hand in his casket.
48:43 Speaker 01 She told CBS News, I just remember gasping and I decided I was going to keep holding his hand. Something Melissa didn't get to do.
48:53 Speaker 02 Melissa's family took Barrett's toys, the ones he never got to use, to a homeless shelter. They also donated money to the animal shelter where Melissa found her beloved cat, Antonio, who died in the fire. Antonio's death was the only casualty actually due to the smoke and the flames. He was found in his hiding spot under Melissa's bed, hoping that she would come to help him. Sadly, she couldn't, because she had already died at the hands of Matthew Pelotti. If you or someone you know are experiencing domestic violence, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 to speak with someone who can help. All calls are free and confidential. You can also visit the hotline.org.
49:36 Speaker 01 So Morphe, as we wrap this one up, it is an infuriating case to me. I think you just touched on it. You know, it does seem as though Melissa was kind of set and okay with moving forward, with having Barrett, raising him on her own, asking nothing of Matthew. So this thought that he killed her because he didn't want his lifestyle to change, or he didn't want to be burdened financially, unless there's something we don't know about
50:17 Speaker 01 that that maybe changed that day, I'm not even sure any of that was going to have to happen. It almost, you know, makes it even more senseless when you look at it from that perspective.
50:32 Speaker 02 Now, it seems like he's got his entire life to think about it behind bars and to reflect on what he did. And maybe someday he'll recognize what he did and take responsibility for it and own up to it.
50:50 Speaker 01 But you know, I would be shocked if he ever does. I mean, this is again, to me, just a very selfish person and probably not a person who is ever going to get to that point where they're going to admit to what they've done. I could be wrong. This guy could. Have a change in his way of thinking throughout the years in prison, but I wouldn't be too hopeful for that.
51:18 Speaker 02 And a lot of times it seems like somebody that suddenly does show they're sorry. It's not always that they're sorry for what they did, but sorry that they got caught and they're in prison now. So, you know, even if he eventually shows some kind of sorrow, you'll have to sort of sort out, sorry for himself or sorry for Melissa and their baby.
51:40 Speaker 01 Or you have those inmates who come around conveniently just prior to maybe, uh, you know, coming up before the parole board. And I don't know if that's something that will happen for him or not, but I'm always leery of those individuals as well. Right. You denied it for, let's say 20 years. And then all of a sudden you realize, oh, I'm going to have to own up to this if I've got any chance at parole. I don't know more of just, uh, you know, it's a tragic case, but it's also an infuriating case. I mean, it really made me mad as we were researching it.
52:25 Speaker 01 Just how selfish one person can be.
52:29 Speaker 02 And if he would have stopped for a minute to really think about it and realize that Melissa wasn't asking for anything. She was willing to do things on her own. She wasn't forcing him to change his lifestyle. You know, that maybe he would have decided that he didn't need to do what he did. But who knows, maybe in the back of his mind, he's thinking, well, that's what she's saying now. What if she changes her mind down the road, but either way it doesn't excuse or explain why he would do what he did.
53:02 Speaker 01 No, it absolutely doesn't. I also wonder how much his parents finding out about it played into it. Because, you know, once they know, is there going to be pressure from them, you know, saying, hey, you need to be in this child's life. That, that could have been a major factor as well. Not, not to blame them at all, because. I would be the same way. But that's it for our episode on Melissa Lamish. If you love the show, but haven't done so yet, take a minute, go out, leave us a review or rating. Also, keep telling your friends that word of mouth about the criminology podcast really goes a long way.
53:46 Speaker 02 If you want to find us on social media, we're on X with the handle at CriminologyPod. You can also find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/criminologypodcast. And you can join our Facebook discussion group, Criminology Podcast Discussion and Fans.
54:01 Speaker 01 So that's it for another episode of Criminology, but Morph and I will be back with all of you next Saturday night with a brand new episode. So until then, for Mike.
54:10 Speaker 02 And Morph.
54:11 Speaker 01 We'll talk to you next week.
54:13 Speaker 02 Take care, everyone.
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