On November 25, 2020 — the day before Thanksgiving — 27-year-old Melissa Lamesch, nine months pregnant and due in two days, was found dead after a fire severely damaged her Mount Morris, Illinois, home. An EMT who had moved back in with her father as the due date approached, Melissa had been in a resumed, on-again off-again relationship with 33-year-old Matthew Plote, a firefighter-paramedic who lived and worked about 75 miles away in Carol Stream.
Family members said Melissa kept Plote informed about the pregnancy, sending sonograms and updates, though he apparently concealed the impending fatherhood from colleagues and even his parents. On the morning of Nov. 25 Melissa called her sister Cassie; the call was interrupted when Plote arrived at the house. Cassie said Melissa intended to call back but never did.
Investigators who examined the scene that night quickly found troubling inconsistencies with a simple accidental fire. Initial tests showed Melissa’s blood carbon monoxide levels were normal and there was no soot in her airways — indicators that she had not died from smoke inhalation. Two autopsies and follow-up forensic testing revealed extensive hemorrhaging and petechial hemorrhages around her neck, consistent with violent strangulation. In short, Melissa had been killed before the house was set on fire.
The fire investigation, led by Illinois State Fire Marshal agent Michael Poole, determined the blaze had been intentionally started near the stove. Much of the house remained passable, and investigators described the kitchen fire as ‘survivable,’ suggesting the flames were used to conceal a homicide rather than to cause death. An Amazon Echo Dot recovered from the kitchen held recordings from other days but produced no useful audio from the day of the fire.
Plote was a person of interest from the outset; he admitted he had been at Melissa’s home that day. He told detectives he went to discuss the baby and matters like visitation and finances, and during recorded interviews he referenced a ‘deadline’ when speaking about the pregnancy. While he repeatedly said he never intended to hurt Melissa, he did not give a direct, unequivocal denial of involvement during long sessions with investigators. Lead Ogle County investigator Brian Ketter described Plote in interviews as emotionless and often soft-spoken.
Because of inconsistencies and unresolved leads, officials arranged a recorded meeting in which Carol Stream Fire Chief Rob Schultz, at the sheriff’s office request, wore a hidden audio recorder and met with Plote, who came voluntarily to the station. That nearly two-hour conversation produced little new information: Plote did not deny being at the house that day, nor did he state he had not killed Melissa. Investigators also collected DNA from under Melissa’s fingernails; subsequent testing linked that material to Plote.
Plote, who had called in sick on the day of Melissa’s death, was placed on paid administrative leave in August 2021. After more than a year and a half of investigation — including phone-record searches, DNA testing, fire scene reconstruction, and efforts to retrieve Echo/Alexa data from Amazon — Ogle County detectives arrested him on March 9, 2022. He was charged with first-degree murder, intentional homicide of an unborn child (for Melissa’s son, whom she planned to name Barrett), and arson.
At trial in Ogle County, prosecutors argued Plote killed Melissa and their unborn child because he did not want to become a father and then started the kitchen fire to hide the homicide. Assistant State’s Attorneys Allison Huntley and Heather Cruz told jurors that Plote had kept the pregnancy secret, maintained multiple relationships, and had a motive to remove the impending life change. Fire investigator Michael Poole testified that the fire was deliberately set and that there was no evidence of accidental causes such as a cooking or electrical mishap. Forensic pathologist Dr. Amanda Youmans told jurors Melissa had been dead before the fire and that the neck injuries were consistent with strangulation.
The defense, led by attorney John Kopp with co-counsel Liam Dixon, painted Plote as a committed firefighter and a future father who had been wrongly accused without direct proof. They stressed that Plote never confessed, pointed to cautious language in parts of the fire report — terms like ‘most likely’ and ‘it is believed’ — and argued that other investigative leads had not been pursued thoroughly. The defense called retired firefighter and independent inspector John Knapp, who reviewed photos and reports and testified he could not conclusively say the blaze was arson and would have ruled the cause ‘undetermined.’ Defense experts also suggested that, if Plote wanted to destroy evidence, a firefighter could have set a blaze that consumed the entire house; the relatively limited damage focused on the kitchen, they said, did not necessarily support purposeful evidence destruction.
Prosecutors countered by emphasizing the physical and circumstantial evidence: Melissa’s injuries showed deadly manual strangulation; autopsies showed no soot and normal carbon monoxide levels; fire patterns and damage were inconsistent with an accidental kitchen fire; Plote had been present at the house that day and used unusual language about a ‘deadline’ in interviews. Jurors heard excerpts from a seven-hour recorded interview with Plote and testimony from Melissa’s family. Her parents described her as caring and devoted, her sister recounted the interrupted morning call, and relatives spoke about Melissa’s excitement over the baby she planned to name Barrett.
After a weeklong trial and roughly two hours of deliberation, jurors found Matthew Plote guilty of first-degree murder, intentional homicide of an unborn child, and arson. At sentencing the judge imposed the maximum: natural life imprisonment. Plote spoke briefly in court, expressing shared pain and sadness; Melissa’s family rejected his remarks, saying no punishment could restore Melissa and Barrett.
Melissa’s family has tried to preserve her memory. They held a joint funeral for Melissa and her son in December 2020 and have since sponsored a tree at an arboretum she loved, donated toys to a homeless shelter in Barrett’s name, and supported animal rescues connected to her life. Family members remember Melissa as strong and unapologetically herself — an EMT who cared for others and who had dreamed of becoming a mother. Her death remains a profound loss for those who loved her.