Pod Insights True Crime with Kendall Rae EMT Killed by Emotionless Monster Days Before Giving Birth!? About this episode Melissa Lamesch was a 27-year-old mother to be. She was scheduled to be induced for childbirth in just two days. But it was in these final days of her pregnancy that she was murdered, and found dead in her burning house. Investigation into her death revealed that the house didn't just catch fire, and Melissa didn't even die as a result of the fire–she was killed and the fire was set after. Police soon discovered the man at the center of the heartless crimes, Melissa's ex partner and fellow EMT, Matthew Plote.
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Transcript 11,852 words · 14 speakers
Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
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1:36 Kendall Rae? Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of True Crime with Kendall Rae. Thank you so much, as always, for joining me. And if you are new to the show, then welcome. Thank you for stopping by. Okay, guys, so today we are getting into one that is beyond words upsetting, devastating, completely unnecessary, ridiculous, enraging. I feel that you are all going to be, when you hear the details, as pissed off as I have been while researching this case. Today, we're going to be talking about the murder of two people, actually, because we're talking about Melissa Lamesch. And when she was murdered, she was very close to giving birth. She was nine months pregnant. With her son Barrett, who never even got a chance to make it into this world.
2:21 Kendall Rae? Barrett was gonna be Melissa's first son, and she was very excited about becoming a mother. And I truly believe she would have been a fantastic mother. Melissa was very down to earth, very capable, strong woman, also beautiful. And it's just enraging to think about how completely unnecessary this was. And it's also just wildly disturbing because of the circumstances of the murder. I mean, it honestly was just, there's no other way to describe it other than like demonic. Melissa and Barrett should be here today. Melissa should be raising her son, and they're not because of the actions of a truly sick, disgusting, vile, waste of life human.
3:06 Kendall Rae? And I don't even want to utter his name yet. We will wait until we have to. And I have no doubt that you guys are gonna have the same opinion as me on this one. Let's just get into it, starting with me telling you more about Melissa. So Melissa was born on Mother's Day, May 10th of 1993. And God, I actually just realized her and I were less than a month apart in age. She was one of five siblings to be raised by their parents, Dina and Gus, in Mount Morris, Illinois. Her siblings Carl, Cassie, Brian, and Julia Lynn were all very close, and they have nothing but positive things to say about their sister. Melissa was caring, very unselfish, strong, fierce, and she was someone who would truly do anything for anyone. And I love this way that they described her.
3:49 Kendall Rae? They said that she was the perfect mix of sugar and spice. And those are the people in life I tend to be, you know, drawn to. Her mom says that the two of them were a lot alike, maybe even more so than either of them would like to admit. Specifically, when it came to her independence and her stubbornness. Melissa was also very outspoken. She was incredibly bright, funny, and was quite the perfectionist, actually. Her brother Carl says that everything she did, she did to a T. So it would make sense that whenever she applied herself to something, she did it well. Which was exactly the case when she decided that she wanted to become a mother. An EMT, which is a perfect career for her because it does require a lot of strength
4:31 Kendall Rae? and passion and commitment and, you know, just going at it full force every day. And also, it requires the compassion and empathy to help people, which Melissa truly wanted to do. Now, how she ended up getting into this career field is kind of interesting. She had an incident in college that ended up with her in the ER. And she had a really good experience with the EMTs who helped her. And that's sort of what inspired her and sparked her interest into going into that career path. She had also been hosting trivia nights at a local bar where a lot of first responders went, and that also encouraged her to go back to school to become an EMT herself.
5:13 Kendall Rae? And her family says that entering the paramedic program for her was really a defining moment in her life. And to say that they were proud of her would truly be an understatement. Melissa got a job working for Trace Ambulance in Tinley Park. And after graduating from her program in January of 2020, her mom says that she was part of the ambulance crew that transported the first COVID patient in Chicago. And I imagine that it must have been a truly crazy and chaotic time to get into that field right at the beginning of the pandemic in general. And it was also around this time that she found out that she was pregnant. And Melissa was very, very excited about this pregnancy, even though it was unplanned.
5:54 Kendall Rae? She was 27 years old, and she had the full support of her family behind her, which was also a huge blessing because the baby's father, Matthew Plote, felt the complete opposite and was very vocal in asking her to terminate the pregnancy. But of course, that is not Matthew's choice, and she wouldn't do it. She was so excited about becoming a mom, and she didn't want to let his absence stop her from going through with it and being the mom that she wanted to be. And in fact, everyone in her family agreed that Melissa was better off without him. She truly didn't need him. She was very, like I've been saying, capable, strong, smart. Like, she had all of the qualities, not to mention empathetic, loving, caring, and...
6:36 Kendall Rae? Just overall, I think would have been an excellent mother if she had gotten the chance to be one. But what's interesting, though, is her family didn't actually know who he was. Melissa just wasn't very open with her family about who the baby's father was, and it actually sort of drove them nuts for a while. But eventually, though, they were able to figure it out on their own. Her sister Cassie was able to figure it out just by picking up on hints and going through Melissa's social media, and then others only found out who he was after what happened. But for the sake of this episode, I'm not going to be hiding the fact that the father is Matt Plote, and, I mean, everyone knows it now.
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8:59 Kendall Rae? And he was actually someone that Melissa knew for a while before becoming pregnant. They met back in 2013 at one of those trivia nights that Melissa hosted. And as I mentioned before, they were hosted at a bar where first responders tended to go. Well, Matt worked for the Carroll Stream Fire District as a paramedic and volunteer firefighter, and he was one of those people who frequented the bar. So they met there and became friends, and they never dated in any official capacity. And from what I was able to gauge, they were just friends with benefits, basically. They would just hook up from time to time. So when Melissa ended up getting pregnant, it was a surprise to both of them. But on her end, it was a surprise that she was welcoming with open arms.
9:42 Kendall Rae? Her mom, Deanna, says that Melissa was born to become a mother herself. And just by the way that she was preparing to bring her baby boy into this world, it's very obvious that she really would have been a great one. And to be a great mom, she knew that she would need the support of her family. So in October of 2020, she decided to move back into her childhood home with her dad. Melissa's parents had been divorced for a while, but they were both equally as excited about helping her in whatever way that she needed. And I'm truly thankful that Melissa had such a supportive family. And from all the interviews I've seen of them, they all seem like wonderful people who were truly just there to have Melissa's back at every turn of her life. Now, she had also had a few health-related issues towards the end of her pregnancy,
10:27 Kendall Rae? things like high blood pressure and fainting spells. So living with her dad was also just to make sure that both she and the baby were safe in those last few weeks. But no one could have ever imagined that Melissa and baby Barrett were far from safe, because just two days before she was supposed to be induced, and one day before Thanksgiving, the two of them were... Brutally killed. It was November 25th of 2020 and because of COVID and because she was about to give birth, her doctors recommended that she not spend Thanksgiving with a bunch of people. So from what I understand, that Wednesday before Thanksgiving, the plan was that she was going to prep herself to head to the hospital the day after Thanksgiving and, you
11:11 Kendall Rae? know, pack up all of that. And then the following night, that Thursday, she would just have Thanksgiving dinner at home with just her dad. But she never even made it that far. So let me explain. At 4:28 PM on the 25th, a 911 call was placed by her father Gus's neighbor after they saw smoke pouring out of his house. And this, you guys, was no small house fire. When firefighters arrived and broke through the locked front door, they had to crawl on their hands and knees to make their way through the house. There was only about five inches of visibility in front of them and they went in there under the belief that someone was inside. Not just because there was a car parked in the driveway, but because the fire chief,
11:53 Kendall Rae? who happened to know Gus personally, called him to ask him if anyone was there. And Gus said that the chief sounded incredibly panicked when he asked if anyone was inside the house. And when he explained that Melissa was there, that's when he learned that the house was on fire. And can you imagine the panic that he experienced in those moments trying to get back to the house after hearing that news, knowing that your daughter, who is about to give birth, is in that home? So he rushes home as soon as he could, but by the time he got there, it was too late. When firefighters crawled their way through the house, they found Melissa's body lying face down on the kitchen floor. And because of the smoke, they had to drag her out, hoping that they would be able to
12:35 Kendall Rae? save her and the baby, but devastatingly, both of them were already gone. And during all of this, her mother, Deanna, got a similar, very frightening call. It was from her son Carl, asking if she had heard from Melissa that day, which she hadn't. And for a brief second, she didn't think anything of it. But then Carl explained that he wasn't just asking casually. He was asking because their dad's house, where Melissa was staying, was on fire and no one could get a hold of her. And In that moment, everything just came crashing down. Deanna was with Melissa's younger sister, Julia Lynn, whose 17th birthday just so happened to be that day. And it was obviously not a day that they got to end up celebrating.
13:20 Kendall Rae? They were actually at the store getting cake when they got the call, but the moment they heard about the fire, they dropped everything to rush to Mount Morris. When they were about halfway there, though, a call from her other son, Brian, came in. And before even answering, she knew what it meant. Both she and Julia Lynn had a gut-sinking feeling that Melissa was gone, and they were right. And this was the same feeling that her older sister, Cassie, got as well. She and her husband were also at the store when Carl called, and Cassie just said that her whole world collapsed in that parking lot. Like the rest of her family, she rushed to the house as fast as she could. But like I said, Melissa and her baby were already gone. And as you probably could have guessed, the first order of business here was determining what started this fire.
14:03 Kendall Rae? And more importantly, determining if the fire was Melissa's cause of death. Because at first, before any investigators were able to step inside the house, it was assumed that Melissa likely died as a result of smoke inhalation. You know, maybe it was a situation where she was cooking and had one of her fainting spells that she was experiencing in pregnancy and wasn't able to escape all that smoke. Which at the time sounded reasonable enough. But the thing is, though, as soon as investigators and the fire chief were able to go inside, they realized that that could not have been the case. It was obvious right away that the fire started in the kitchen based on how most of the damage was concentrated in that area. And you would think that this would confirm their theory that Melissa was cooking, a fire started,
14:48 Kendall Rae? and she just somehow couldn't get out. But the closer they looked, the less this looked accidental. When looking at the stove, all of the burners were switched off, and the oven was completely empty, suggesting that she wasn't cooking anything when the fire started. And then after that, experts looked at the circuit breaker. They wanted to see if there was some kind of electrical problem there, but it appeared perfectly fine. So it wasn't electrical, and it wasn't because of something that Melissa... Melissa was cooking, so what happened here? Because they could tell that the fire originated from the cabinet area just above the stove. And so after ruling out any accidental causes, that left only one other option. That this fire was set intentionally.
15:33 Kendall Rae? And what was also immediately strange was that this fire was described as a survivable fire, despite how bad it was, meaning that if someone were inside the house, they would have, should have been able to escape. And you got to think about the fact that Melissa was an EMT, and there were several routes that she could have escaped from. So they had no doubt that she would have walked out of that house if she could. Of course she would have. So all of that is suggesting that she was likely incapacitated before the fire was set. And obviously, they didn't know this for certain at this point, but that was definitely how it was looking. Plus, when lead investigator Brian Ketter went inside the ambulance to look at Melissa, he realized that her injuries were not consistent with dying in a fire.
16:18 Kendall Rae? So from that point forward, they had to consider that this could have been a homicide. So their next step here is to question her loved ones, to learn more about her life, and see if there was anyone that they knew of who would have wanted her dead. And naturally, of course, the baby's father came up. Now, through their conversations with the family, it became clear that Matt was not supportive of her keeping the baby and that he had made zero effort at all to be involved. In fact, after he was pressuring her to terminate the pregnancy and she wouldn't, he just completely ghosted her, according to her family. Now, she would still include him in, you know, updates and what was going on with the pregnancy and the baby every once in a while,
17:02 Kendall Rae? because she did want her son, at the end of the day, to have the option of having his dad in his life if he wanted to and if Matt wanted to. But it didn't seem like Matt wanted that at all, because he would rarely respond to any of that. And to be perfectly clear here, it was not like Melissa even wanted him to be her boyfriend or anything like that. She... I think knew the reality of who Matt was and that he likely wouldn't be involved much at all, but she wanted the door to be open for her son in the event that maybe he would change his mind and have interest in being involved in his own child's life. But he didn't, not at all. And of course, that felt like a huge red flag to investigators.
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19:45 Kendall Rae? But the biggest red flag, though, at least in terms of what they learned in those first few hours, was what Melissa's sister Cassie had to say. So it turns out that earlier that day, the two of them were on the phone, and they were actually two and a half hours into their phone call. And then, out of nowhere, Melissa abruptly ended their conversation and said something like, "You've gotta be kidding me. Matt is here. I'll make this quick and I'll let you know what he wants." Now, that's not a direct quote, but essentially Cassie's understanding was that Matt just showed up unannounced and that Melissa was going to see what he wanted and then give her a call right back. But that call, of course, never came. And that means that Matt was likely the last known person to see Melissa alive.
20:29 Kendall Rae? And so, of course, they brought him in for questioning that same night. And in full transparency, they couldn't yet call him a person of interest at this point. And the point of bringing him in was really just to gauge his story, hear what he had to say, see if they could learn anything new. And right off the bat, Matt's energy was strange, to say the least. And to explain what I mean by that, just an example. When investigators told him that Melissa was dead, meaning his baby was also dead, he just sat there for a few seconds and then, I mean, he was just sitting there in silence and then suddenly goes, "Okay." I mean, that's all he had to say. Which is just shocking to see someone act this way.
21:11 Kendall Rae? Whether you wanted this baby or not, whether you wanted to be in Melissa's life or not, you would think that someone that you had just stopped by to see the day that they died and who was in your life in some capacity, you would have a bit more emotion.
21:39 Kendall Rae? Now Melissa's brother Carl did call Matt that evening to let him know that there had been a fire and that someone had died, but Carl didn't say who it was. So I guess you could maybe say that it wasn't a big shock to him because he had already figured that Melissa had died in the fire. But even still, I mean, there's really no excuse for it. He was way too casual about the whole thing and alarm bells were going off for investigators right off the bat with him. There were no tears. There was no, "Sorry, I need a moment." He didn't even ask a single question, didn't even show any emotion or shock, just nothing, nothing. He just proceeded with the interview as if everything was normal,
22:19 Kendall Rae? like they just told him that Subway was closing down. I don't know. Like, the lack of reaction here is shocking. And not only is it just shocking in the way of, like, why would any human act this way, but also just, how stupid do you have to be if you are trying to come across as innocent to have, like, most people, even when they have committed a murder, will try to drum up some emotion, put on a little act, a little show to try and make themselves seem less guilty. But Matt didn't even do that. And he was cooperative in answering questions, but his demeanor and his words were just cold. I mean, the dude literally used the term "deadline" to describe the pregnancy, which, to me, says
23:04 Kendall Rae? so much. I mean, a deadline for pregnancy? Who says that? I mean, most people, I think, are familiar enough with how pregnancy works to understand the term "due date." Like, I have never heard someone say "deadline." And I think that really tells you everything you need to know.
23:20 Speaker 04 When did she notify you that she was pregnant?
23:24 Speaker 04 May or April. Should've been at any doctor's appointments or anything else with her? I don't, no, I have not. Okay. What was, I guess, what was the situation? You notified me or April or May that she's pregnant? We didn't have a good relationship, but for a while, um, there was a lack of communication.
24:00 Speaker 05 I was with my parents in the last
24:06 Speaker 05 two months.
24:12 Speaker 05 Just trying to
24:15 Speaker 05 and there's a deadline for that, so we were
24:19 Speaker 04 A deadline for what?
24:20 Speaker 05 For pregnancy, there's a deadline.
24:25 Speaker 04 Were you guys considering abortion?
24:27 Speaker 05 Um, I asked her about it and she said no.
24:32 Kendall Rae? If you ask me, the type of person who would talk about a due date as a deadline is the type of person who isn't expecting a baby to be there at the end, almost like it's a deadline for himself to take care of it. And the more investigators dug into Matt, both during the interview and after, they also realized that the deadline he was talking about wasn't Melissa giving birth. It was his own personal deadline for making sure that she didn't. But during that interview, he said what he could to make it seem like he went over there for innocent reasons. He actually tried to say that the reason he went over there in the first place was because he had come around to the idea of being involved, like, really dude?
25:13 Kendall Rae? Like, the day before she's supposed to be induced, or two days before that's when you decide to be involved? How believable is that? Just in the first place. But he claimed that he dropped by to talk about finances and things like that. And he also said that after talking in the kitchen for about an hour, they proceeded to have sex. And just take a listen.
25:35 Speaker 04 So what did you guys talk about today?
25:39 Speaker 05 Um, I didn't.
25:44 Speaker 05 We talked about it before and
25:50 Speaker 05 I previously wasn't really on board, I but today, uh, I was a little bit sorry.
26:05 Speaker 05 Wanted to be involved and so today I in wanting to revisit that and be more involved. And my parents want to be involved.
26:17 Speaker 04 What was the conversation in the house?
26:21 Speaker 05 Uh, we decided to get to Tilla.
26:26 Speaker 05 And then her, um,
26:29 Speaker 05 cat was all around.
26:32 Speaker 04 Was there anybody else in the house? Were you there?
26:35 Speaker 05 No.
26:37 Speaker 04 Anybody in between? Coming home?
26:42 Speaker 04 Why, I mean, did anybody knock on the door, stop over?
26:46 Speaker 04 Say a conversation at the kitchen table, um, for about an hour? Then what?
26:52 Speaker 05 Um,
26:56 Speaker 05 we, um,
27:00 Speaker 05 uh, we had sex.
27:07 Speaker 04 Was she in sexual intercourse?
27:09 Speaker 05 Uh, no.
27:10 Kendall Rae? Now, the idea that the two of them had sex just really didn't add up to investigators, especially when they thought about what her family had said. They had told investigators that her pregnancy, especially in those last couple of weeks, was really, really tough. She was hardly eating anything and spent most of her time asleep. So the idea that she and Matt had sex just did not seem very likely at all. However, despite all of their suspicions at this point, they really had no reason to hold him, so Matt was allowed to leave. And what they needed in order to move forward here was the results of her autopsy. Investigators needed to see, one, if she had soot in her airways, and, two, what levels of carbon monoxide were in her blood,
27:54 Kendall Rae? because both of these would tell them whether or not she was alive when the fire was set. If she was alive, of course, that might rule out homicide. But if she wasn't, that would pretty much confirm that someone had killed her.
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29:42 Kendall Rae? Now, that autopsy, or at least the first one, which I will explain, took place on November 27th. And the problem was it was going to take 10 to 14 business days to get the results back. And they really didn't have time to wait around because every minute in a murder investigation counts. So they decided that they were going to bring a vial of her blood to the local hospital to quickly screen for carbon monoxide. And within five minutes of doing that, they learned that her levels were completely normal, which of course strongly suggested that she died before the fire was set. And this was further confirmed after the second autopsy that was performed on December 8th. Because during that autopsy, they learned that Melissa's true cause of death
30:25 Kendall Rae? was strangulation. Yes, you heard that, right? A Beautiful, wonderful woman who was nine months pregnant was strangled to death right before she was about to give birth to her first child. A medical examiner found evidence of severe petechial hemorrhaging in her neck and in her cheeks, as well as signs of blunt force trauma. Plus, and this is horrible, you guys, but it was determined that she'd likely also been sexually assaulted. Now, as we know, Matt did tell investigators that the two of them had sex. But based on her other injuries, they were not convinced at all that this was consensual sex. So they performed a sexual soul kit and collected swabs from under her nails as well, and sent that all out for testing.
31:08 Kendall Rae? And by this point, Matt was their number one suspect, but they didn't want to rush to an arrest. And even if they wanted to, it's not like they could, because even though it might have been the end of 2020, and I can't remember how bad things were towards the end of 2020. And obviously, there were a lot of ups and downs during the pandemic. But COVID at this point was still slowing things down significantly when it came to getting lab results. So even if they wanted to arrest him, they couldn't. And quite frankly, this was a huge disappointment to Melissa's family. By this point, with everything they knew, they felt very confident that Matt was responsible. And to just know that he was out there living his life, it was terrifying and infuriating. Matt was someone who was supposed to be out there saving lives.
31:53 Kendall Rae? Yet he was responsible, allegedly at this time, of taking two. One being his own child. And I don't think there are enough words in the English language to describe how disgusting you need to be to do that to a pregnant person, let alone someone who is pregnant with your child. And it's really just devastating to think about how excited Melissa was as she was gearing up to give birth and then become a mom. She was so excited about her future and had so many plans for herself and her son. Only for it to be taken away before it ever began. And she was actually keeping Barrett's name a secret from her family, which is very, very common. Most people, it seems to me, most people will keep their baby's name a secret until
32:36 Kendall Rae? they announce it after the baby is born. Sometimes families know, of course, sometimes they don't. It's a surprise for everyone. And I don't know what her reasoning for that was. I know for a lot of people, it's like they don't want anyone to put doubts in their head about the name that they have chosen. But for whatever reason, she was really excited to eventually tell them the name that she had decided on. Now, her family did know that his nickname was going to be Little Bear. So they had been taking guesses, but it wasn't until after she died, when they were going through her things, that they learned what it was actually going to be. Police had given them access to the house a few days after the fire. And when they were going through her stuff, Cassie found a note that confirmed that his
33:20 Kendall Rae? name would be Barrett. And as devastating as that is to think about what that moment must have been like for them, I'm very thankful that they had the opportunity to learn what his name was going to be and get to know him like the tiniest bit, since they never got to actually meet him while he was alive at least. And I cannot imagine what it would have been like going through that house, especially because, I mean, this was a family home for them. There were so many memories. And then for it to become this place of tragedy and to see all of Melissa's belongings, all of the baby toys that she had already picked out, blankets and, you know, things that she was planning on building memories with her son, that she never had the chance.
34:04 Kendall Rae? And with all of them, I mean, I cannot imagine what a heavy situation that would have been. Everything was covered in soot, if not completely melted. And in those moments, the weight of losing both of them was even more painfully real than it already was. And then there was the funeral, which took place on December 14th. And because of COVID, they only did a small family service. And they did decide to have an open casket. And this is heartbreaking, you guys, but Deanna said that she wanted to hold her grandson's hand, knowing that her daughter, his mom, never had the chance to do that herself. And she said she practically gasped when she touched him the first time, but once she did, she never wanted to let him go. Deanna was actually the last to leave. The cemetery, after all was said and done.
34:49 Kendall Rae? The strength it took for all of them to carry on each day after this was beyond difficult, but they weren't going to give up their fight for justice. Even if the reality was that it was going to take a while, which they knew it probably would, but they called investigators at least once a week while they were waiting for the arrest to be made. And that was a drastic difference from Matt, who never once reached out about the investigation, which also tells you a lot, right? I mean, if he were innocent, you would think, you would hope that he would want to know who killed his child and the mother of his child, right? But no, he didn't seem to give a fuck. All Matt cared about, because he is a selfish pig, is moving on with his own life at this time.
35:33 Kendall Rae? And that's exactly what he did. Investigators got a search warrant for his and Melissa's phone records to see if there was any communication between the two of them that stood out. But honestly, it was his communication with other women that stood out even more. Because it turns out that Matt, over here, was quite the player. Shocking, I know, especially when you consider, you know, his face. But yeah, despite him not being the best-looking lad out there, it looked like in addition to Melissa, he had a number of other women that he was sleeping with, including a girlfriend who it appeared he was living with. And once they saw this, investigators started to piece together a motive. I mean, it was all coming into place here. The picture was being painted.
36:16 Kendall Rae? What if Matt killed Melissa because having a baby with her would prevent him from living this bachelor lifestyle that he currently had? Which is ridiculous and stupid logic on his part, because she wasn't even forcing him to be in their lives. That's what's so mind-blowing about this case, is nobody was asking him to give up literally anything. Because somewhere in his stupid little rat brain, he thought that killing her would make him better off. And thankfully, investigators were closing in on him, even if it was taking a while. So, six months after the DNA and sexual assault kit was sent off for testing, the results showed that there was male DNA under Melissa's fingernails, which is a telltale sign. That a victim fought back.
37:01 Kendall Rae? And there was also male DNA found in her vagina. And it didn't tell them whose DNA it was, but they got a search warrant to swab Matt because they strongly believed it came from him. But they didn't actually go and get that swab right away because first they wanted to talk to his fellow firefighters. And I'm sure most of you know that your, I don't know the correct term, but your, I believe, squad, your fire squad, your team, you all spend a lot of time together. I mean, they are spending overnights together, days on end, and fire units end up becoming very close. Fire departments, maybe I should say. Sorry, I don't know the correct terminology there. But I know, I do have a friend who's a firefighter, and I know how much he spends with his fellow firefighters
37:46 Kendall Rae? and how close all of them are. And more specifically, they really wanted to talk to his captain, Robert Schultz. And what they learned from Rob was very interesting.
38:01 Speaker 06 Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At the Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel.
38:16 Speaker 07 People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation to I'm deathly allergic in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood.
38:27 Speaker 06 And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.
38:32 Speaker 08 One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.
38:38 Speaker 06 So join us and hear their stories and more because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At the Table, the food allergy podcast on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At the Table and start listening on the free iHeart Radio app today.
39:03 Kendall Rae? It turns out that nobody at the fire station, despite how close they should have been, right? Knew anything about Melissa or about her pregnancy and the fact that he was the father. Now, Matt, I guess, was known as being one of the quieter guys, but still, this is a group of men who celebrated fatherhood. So when Rob found out about all of this, he was in, I mean, shock. He was in disbelief. And he also just couldn't even wrap his mind around the fact that Matt was being investigated as a suspect. I mean, he, at first, thought investigators maybe had the wrong guy. But then it all really clicked for him when he looked back at the calendar and saw that on November 25th, Matt had called out of work that day. Something about a leg injury, which obviously was a lie.
39:48 Kendall Rae? But that just all clicked for him in that moment. I mean, the whole thing, he said, made him feel sick to his stomach, especially because it had now been nine months since everything had happened and nobody at the station knew a thing about it. Not about Melissa, not about the pregnancy, but even more shocking, he hadn't told anyone that both of them had died in a house fire, of all places. I mean, they're a fire department and he doesn't even mention this? And it wasn't just the guys at the fire station that he didn't tell. It was everyone. I mean, he didn't tell a single person in his life about Melissa, or the baby, or the fact that they died, including his own parents. But his parents actually did know about it. And it turns out that Melissa was the one who initially told them.
40:32 Kendall Rae? And she said she did this because she wanted them to have the opportunity to be part of their grandchild's life. And I'm guessing she also wanted there to be a possibility of her son knowing his grandparents. And I guess Matt was pissed at her when she did that, which with his track record is not shocking, right? But the fact that this was kept a secret only made the investigator's theory seem much more likely. So they decide to bring him in for a second interview, hoping that maybe they could get him to just confess. I mean, with how long things in the lab were taking, they knew that getting a swab from him and matching it to the DNA was Going to take a while, so they were just hoping that with all the circumstantial evidence they had against him, maybe they could just get him to talk.
41:17 Kendall Rae? But Matt, being Matt, did pretty much just the opposite of that. On August 28th, 2021, he was pulling out of his driveway with another woman in the passenger seat when he was stopped by investigators and told to come into the station. And by this point, he had already been put on administrative leave at work, so he likely knew that the walls were closing in on him. Despite that, though, he stayed almost completely silent during that seven-hour interview. And they did not take it easy on him. They straight up accused him of murder, and at no point did he ever deny it or try to defend himself. He just sat there like a bump on a log staring at them, or staring at the floor.
41:56 Speaker 04 Was it an accident?
42:02 Speaker 04 As a man, just let's talk. Verbalize with me, man, please.
42:18 Speaker 04 Can you, can we, can we look at each other, please? All right. I'm giving you, we've given you courtesy. We're talking to you as adults, right? As men, all in this room. Can you at least look at me and verbalize? Can you do that for me?
42:41 Speaker 04 Matt? Yes? Can we talk?
43:02 Kendall Rae? Now, I apologize to any of my audio-only listeners for all that silence in that clip, but that tells you exactly how it went, if it wasn't already obvious. That was Matt not responding to anything that the investigators were asking. And I could play 50 clips, probably more, that sound exactly like that, but I think you get it. Matt was not going to confess. And to be clear, he wasn't mute the entire time, but he was still very selective about when he chose to speak. And at one point, they even asked him if he intended to kill Melissa. To which he responded, "I had no intention of hurting Melissa." Which of course, isn't technically an admission of guilt, but investigators definitely took it as him saying that he hurt her in some capacity.
43:47 Speaker 11 Your answer was, "No, I didn't intend to hurt her." That's what your answer was, okay?
43:54 Speaker 11 Okay, so was this an accident then? Was her death an accident?
44:00 Speaker 11 Yes or no?
44:08 Speaker 11 Matt, was this an accident? Yes or no?
44:19 Speaker 11 Yes or no, Matt?
44:23 Speaker 11 Would it be easier for you to not?
44:30 Speaker 11 Was this step an accident?
44:40 Kendall Rae? There was even a point where he was going over the timeline again, and he mentioned that when he was leaving, that Melissa was about to go make some food, which obviously, he is just trying to set up the scene, right? He is trying to set up a story of how the house caught on fire. But keep in mind, and I'm sure you already are, that he is a firefighter and he has the knowledge on how to set a fire and make it look like an accident. And I mean, that alone is just something you can't ignore. But one thing that really popped out to me is, what an idiot he had to be to have all the experience he has in that industry and to not realize that they are going to quickly realize that she didn't die in the fire,
45:22 Kendall Rae? since she didn't have any carbon monoxide in her system. He just really wasn't doing himself any favors with this whole interview, and it only ended after seven hours when he asked for an attorney. And I'm surprised it took him that long to do so. And by that point, you can just tell how pissed those investigators were.
45:40 Speaker 11 You think you'd like to talk to an attorney? Or do you want to talk to an attorney? Because I think I'd like a fucking ham sandwich right now, but I don't see a ham sandwich anywhere around here. So do you think you want to talk to an attorney, Matt? Or do you want to talk to an attorney?
46:04 Speaker 11 Yeah.
46:06 Speaker 11 Yeah, what? Yeah, why? Yes. I would like to talk to an attorney. Yes, you would like to talk to an attorney? Yes. Have a seat.
46:15 Kendall Rae? Now, after that, they did decide to go ahead and take those DNA swabs. But once again, it was going to be a waiting game, unfortunately. The lab was moving at what felt like slower than ever, and her family was understandably growing impatient. And quite frankly, so were investigators. And they weren't moving slowly for fun or because they were being lazy. They wanted justice, but they had to do this right. But they had one final trick up their sleeve that they hoped would seal a confession. They basically knew that Matt was never going to confess to police, but investigator Ketter thought maybe he would confess to someone he trusted. So in late August, they decided to give Robert Schultz a call. And this time, they asked him if he would be willing to wear a wire. And at first, he said no, which I get where he was coming from.
47:00 Kendall Rae? It's understandable to agree because he didn't like the idea of getting in the middle of it. And I think more than anything, he knew that if Matt was capable of killing someone, that this could potentially be a dangerous situation for him. And I think having hesitations about it is natural. But Rob really seems like a good dude. And at the end of the day, after he had time to think about it, he realized that even if he didn't want to do it, it was something that needed to be done. Because even if there was a chance that it could help Melissa and her family, he was willing to take that risk. So on September 9, 2021, Rob called Matt into the station to talk. Investigators put a listening device on his phone, which he just sat down on his desk, and then had a few guys in an adjacent office, just in case things went south.
47:42 Kendall Rae? But once again, Matt sat there practically in silence. And I don't know if it was because he guessed that maybe there was a wire or because he was so ashamed of himself, or I don't know what his deal is. But at one point, Rob was just pleading with him to come forward. But he didn't even flinch. He just sat there, emotionless, with his head down like a big bitch, and waited until it was over. Which was really unfortunate because that just left investigators with no choice but to wait out the results of the DNA test.
48:20 Speaker 06 Hi, I'm Jenna Oshkowitz. You might know me from Glee. This is At the Table, the food allergy podcast, a show about food, connection, and what it really looks like to live with food allergies. Each episode, we hear stories from real people like Daniel.
48:34 Speaker 07 People would always think I was lactose intolerant, so I just kind of shortened my explanation to I'm deathly allergic in a big way that defined a lot of my childhood.
48:45 Speaker 06 And while there are challenges, there are moments that remind you you're not alone.
48:50 Speaker 08 One of the best guys that I dated, he made a point to memorize all my food allergies.
48:56 Speaker 06 So join us and hear their stories and more, because living with food allergies isn't just about what you can't eat. It's about still having your seat at the table. Brought to you by Genentech and Novartis. Listen to At the Table, the food allergy podcast, on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow At the Table and start listening on the free iHeart Radio app today.
49:21 Kendall Rae? And this is also really interesting because I had no idea that the Amazon devices, like the Echo and the, I can't remember the other names for them. I don't have, it's Alexa, Alexa, right? Like any of those Alexa devices. I don't have any of those, but I didn't realize that they actually record audio. And there was an Amazon Echo at the house and they collected it from the scene. So they were also waiting for the contents of that to be searched. And they thought that it was possible that maybe it picked up some of the audio of what happened. And I kind of got my hopes up when I first heard about that. But I'll let you know now that it didn't end up picking up anything, which was very unfortunate. They also had to wait for the fire marshal's report, which ultimately confirmed that the fire was set intentionally,
50:04 Kendall Rae? specifically with the intent of concealing a homicide. So that was good news for investigators, but it wasn't enough. They really just needed that DNA to come back as a match to Matt if they were going to arrest him anytime soon. And finally, in March of 2022, it did. And it turns out, no big surprise here, but the DNA under Melissa's fingernails was a match. To Matthew Plote, indicating that she struggled with him. She fought back as he was taking her life. The DNA from the sexual assault kit also came back as a match to him. And given her injuries, they did not believe that this was a consensual encounter like he was suggesting. So on March 8th, the warrant was issued for his arrest. And on the 9th, they finally got his sorry ass.
50:48 Kendall Rae? In total, he was facing 10 counts, including four counts of first degree murder, three counts of intentional homicide of an unborn child, one count of residential arson, one count of aggravated domestic battery, and one count of concealment of a homicidal death. They held him on a $10 million bail, which he unsuccessfully tried to get reduced in April of that year. And it didn't matter if he had no prior convictions. The judge recognized the threat that he posed to society and was not willing to risk letting him get out, even if it was just temporarily. Which was a decision that their family was very grateful for. And I'm sure the whole community was as well. Overall, they were happy to know that Matt was behind bars. And he was actually arrested on her dad's birthday, which I thought was kind of cool.
51:31 Kendall Rae? But obviously, an arrest is just the start. They knew that there was a lengthy judicial process ahead of them, which was anything but straightforward. In November of 2023, over 19 months after his arrest and three years after the murder, Matt still hadn't even gone to trial yet. And this is when he and his attorney tried to get the charges thrown out altogether. They argued that too much time had passed between the alleged crime and Matt's arrest. But luckily, the motion to dismiss was denied because it is just absolutely ridiculous. And a trial date was finally set just shortly after that for March of 2024. Now, to you and I, and to all of her loved ones, friends, and family, it was pretty damn obvious that he did this, right?
52:15 Kendall Rae? But his defense attorneys definitely tried, tried being the key word, to paint a different picture. They tried to say that Matt was an upstanding citizen who served his community as a volunteer firefighter and paramedic. And why would someone like that all of a sudden turn around and take the life of a pregnant woman? They also pointed out that as a firefighter, he would have set a better fire if he was truly guilty, which is honestly kind of funny that they tried to make that argument because they were just basically pointing out that he is an idiot, that he doesn't know what he's doing, even though that's his job. Yeah, they basically tried to argue that he would have set a fire that would have completely burnt down the house, the, all of the evidence, leaving no room for doubt.
52:58 Kendall Rae? They also tried to say that the prosecution falsely painted him as a monster and zeroed in on him without even focusing on other suspects. But guys, just look at this man. This is a monster. And with everything we know about him, it's ridiculous for them to say, oh, you tried to paint him out to be a monster. He's this great guy. Sometimes I hear the arguments from the defense and I'm just like, do they really think that this is going to work? That the jury is going to be stupid enough to buy this? And do I need to remind you that nobody else had any motive whatsoever to want Melissa dead? And Matt had a very clear motive. And that was a big part of the prosecution's argument. I mean, Matt was the only person who benefited from Melissa's death
53:43 Kendall Rae? and the death of his own son. They argued specifically that he killed her in order to protect his playboy bachelor lifestyle, which would have been hindered by having a baby. And let's not also forget that he told nobody in his life about her, which prosecutors argued was strategic. Basically, they're arguing that his mindset was if nobody knows that he's having a baby, nobody will ask when the baby doesn't arrive. Now, in terms of testimony, the prosecution called several witnesses to the stand over the course of three days. And I won't go through it all, but I'll give you some of the highlights. Starting with the main fire investigator, who determined that this fire was intentionally set. His name is Michael, and he testified that there was no evidence to indicate
54:27 Kendall Rae? that the fire was electrical or related to some kind of cooking accident. Now, the defense, of course, cross-examined him pretty hard because his report used words like most likely, and it is believed. And they tried to argue that that left room for doubt. They even brought- brought in their own fire inspector who contradicted Michael's testimony, but he did admit that he never went to the scene himself, that he just reviewed evidence through pictures. Both of the forensic pathologists who conducted her autopsies also testified, and they confirmed that Melissa was killed before the fire was ever set. There was no soot in her airways, her carbon monoxide levels were completely normal. The injuries to her body confirmed that her cause of death was strangulation. And one of the pathologists actually said that Melissa's body
55:11 Kendall Rae? had the most petechial hemorrhages that she had ever seen in a strangulation case, which just tells you the force that this maniac used on her. And God, dude, just thinking about what had to be going through her mind in the moments that she was being strangled, knowing that there was nothing she could do to try and save her baby. I mean, she fought back as hard as she could, but to, ugh. Just so vile. I don't know how you could do that to someone, let alone someone who is carrying your child. I think to do something like this, you have to be completely demented. You have to be evil. Like I said earlier, he's, he's a demon. And then I also wanted to mention that a neighbor also took the stand
55:55 Kendall Rae? because on the day that Melissa was killed, he actually witnessed a man entering her house. He said that the guy was wearing a hat and he didn't get a good look at who he was. But at first he thought he was like a salesperson or something like that. But then he watched Melissa let him inside, which he thought was strange. He even talked to Gus about this shortly after the murder, and he thought it was weird too, because Melissa was on strict orders not to be around other people before she gave birth because of COVID. Now, the last piece of testimony I want to go over, because it is extremely important, was from Melissa's sister, Cassie. If you remember, the two of them had that phone call on the day that she died, when Matt unexpectedly just showed up at her door. And Melissa said she would call her sister right back after seeing what he wanted. But as we all know,
56:39 Kendall Rae? Melissa never made that call back to her sister, and that's what Cassie testified to. And I'm sure you all understand why what she had to say was so important. Clearly, Melissa would have called Cassie back if she could have, but she couldn't because the person who interrupted their call killed her before she had the chance. And Cassie's testimony was actually heavily disputed before the trial even began. During a preliminary hearing, the defense tried to get it thrown out because they said it was hearsay, but the judge obviously allowed it because why wouldn't they? He also allowed four hours of that seven-hour interrogation to be played, and boy, was that powerful. The defense was super against this because they felt like prosecutors were trying to make it seem like Matt's silence was some kind of admission of guilt,
57:22 Kendall Rae? when in reality, of course, he did have the right to remain silent. And they basically tried to say that his silence meant nothing and that jurors should recognize that Matt had always been forthcoming about why he went to her house in the first place, because he wanted to help out with the baby. But ultimately, the jury was smart, and they sided with the prosecutors. After five days of testimony and only two hours of deliberation, Matt Plote was found guilty on all 10 counts.
57:50 Speaker 12 Matthew Plote, the man accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend, the mother of his unborn child, is found guilty of first-degree murder Friday evening after nearly two hours of deliberation. A jury convicts 36-year-old Plote on all 10 charges, including premeditated first-degree murder and intentional homicide of an unborn child. Plote is showing no emotion as the verdict is read to the court. This comes after four days of witness testimonies. The state's final argument maintains Plote was the only person with the motive to kill Melissa Lamech and their unborn child. Lamech's mother, Deanna, says there is no coming back from the loss of their daughter and grandchild.
58:29 Kendall Rae? And I'm sure you can imagine that when that verdict was read, Melissa's family was just overcome with a massive sense of shock and relief. And I just, the emotions had to just be unbelievable for them. I mean, for years, they didn't even know if he was going to be arrested. So finally getting a guilty verdict that they had hoped for, all of this time was just... There really are no words for what they were feeling, I'm sure. And what's difficult, though, is they did really think that this was the end. Deanna explained in an interview that she thought, once he was found guilty, the hearings and motions and all that stuff would end too. But sadly, that wasn't the case. In April of 2024, Matt and his attorneys tried to petition for a new trial.
59:14 Kendall Rae? They basically were upset about the admission of certain evidence, but this motion luckily was dismissed. But even still, it was hard for her family to feel like they were being thrown back into it when they thought it was all over. Thankfully, though, it was over for real this time in June. On June 27, 2024, Matthew Plote was sentenced to life in prison plus an additional 75 years. I mean, they came down on him hard, and I am so happy to see that. Melissa's loved ones had the chance to read victim impact statements before this, and it always really inspires me to see how much courage these families have. I mean, to sit there and speak directly to the person who is responsible for killing your loved one, it takes a lot of bravery.
59:59 Kendall Rae? I'm sure there is so much emotion, and to maintain your composure in those moments, I'd imagine, is incredibly difficult. Not only that, they also had to listen to Matt, who spoke. And this sicko, this monster, actually had the audacity to say that he shares in their pain of losing Melissa and Barrett. Like, literally, shut the fuck up. I can't even believe he had the nerve to say that. And if I was in that courtroom, if I was a family member, I would lose my damn mind. To try and make yourself seem like a victim in this as well is just truly mind-boggling.
1:00:44 Kendall Rae? There's just really no words for Matt. No one believes your sorry ass and you're really only making things worse for everybody. And I'm sure you will not be surprised to hear that Matt has tried to appeal his conviction since then, but for now, his efforts have been unsuccessful and I don't see that changing. I hope not, for the sake of Melissa's family. I hope it stays that way forever. Now, the way that her family has chosen to honor her memory is truly beautiful. And also, the memory of baby Barrett, it's something that I was just blown away by. So before wrapping up today, I wanted to tell you about what they've done. For starters, they've collected children's toys and made donations to local homeless shelters in Barrett's name. And I thought this was especially beautiful, but they also
1:01:29 Kendall Rae? have made donations to the No Kill Animal Shelter where Melissa got her cat, Antonio. And it's always really hard to share information like this because I know a lot of you are really sensitive about hearing about animals who die as well, but I should probably let you know that her cat also died in the fire. And aside from her son, Antonio was really like her baby. I mean, she loved that cat. So her family wanted to give back to the shelter where she got him. It's called Animal House Shelter, and I'm actually going to leave the link to their website in the show notes in case any of you guys want to make a donation in her memory as well. Another thing that they have done is sponsor a tree at the Morton Abritorium, which is a tree-focused botanical group and research center. And this was one of Melissa's favorite
1:02:13 Kendall Rae? places to go, so they sponsored a beautiful magnolia tree that will be lit up during the holiday season every year for her. They were also able to get a memorial stone put in nearby, which has a quote from her favorite band, which is also one of my favorite bands, The Script, and it says, "Love is why we do it. Love is worth the pain. Love is why we fall down and get back up again. Love is where the heart lies. Love is from above. Love is this. This is love." They also previously started a GoFundMe to help raise money for the efforts, as I mentioned above. And I'm going to link it below because with what they've lost, I know that additional funding will still go to good use. But as wonderful as all of this is, though, nothing will bring back Melissa. Or give Barrett a chance at life.
1:02:56 Kendall Rae? Melissa was a kind, fierce, strong and independent person who deserved so much more than what she got at the end of her life. And at the very, very least, I'm so glad that the monster who stole her life and her sons will spend the rest of his miserable existence behind bars where he belongs.
1:03:18 Kendall Rae? That is going to be it for me today, guys. Thank you for joining me for another episode and make sure you follow the show on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. It really does help me out. If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked, or you can just search Kendall Rae. I will be back with another episode soon, but until then, stay safe out there.
1:03:46 Speaker 00 She's been thinking about this sleepover all week, but I think about her food allergies all the time. Fortunately, her doctor prescribes Zolair, omalizumab. It's proven to significantly reduce allergic reactions if a food allergy accident happens.
1:03:59 Speaker 01 Zolir 150mg is a prescription medication used to treat food allergy in people one year of age and older to reduce allergic reactions due to accidental exposure to one or more foods. While taking Zolir, you should continue to avoid all foods to which you are allergic. Don't use if you are allergic to Zolir. Zolir may cause a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction called anaphylaxis. Tell your doctor if you ever had anaphylaxis. Get help right away if you have trouble breathing or if you have swelling of your throat or tongue. Zolir should not be used for the emergency treatment of allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis. Zolir is for maintenance use to reduce allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, while avoiding food allergens. Serious side effects such as cancer, fever, muscle aches and rash, parasitic infection or heart and circulation problems have been reported. Please see zolir.com for full prescribing information. Ask an allergist about Zolir.
1:04:42 Speaker 01 This is an advertisement for Zolir, paid for by Genentech and Novartis.
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