Matthew Plote Wiki – Biography
Matthew Plote is an Illinois man who is accused of murdering his pregnant girlfriend and then torching her home to hide the crime, according to prosecutors.
He faces charges including first-degree murder, intentional homicide of an unborn child, and concealment of a homicidal death, Ogle County State’s Attorney Mike Rock announced at a news conference on Wednesday.
Age
He is 34 years old.
Incident Details
Firefighters found Melissa Lamesch, 27, unconscious on her kitchen floor at South Hannah Avenue the day before Thanksgiving.
According to the criminal complaint, police say Plote strangled Lamesch and then set her house on fire.
According to WMAQ, Lamesch worked as an EMT in Tinley Park, had moved to Mt. Morris from Oak Park to be closer to her relatives, and was on maternity leave from her job with Trace Ambulance.
Rock said Plote and Lamesch were in a relationship.
Charged
Plote, a resident of Malta, was arrested Wednesday morning and is being held on a $10 million bond at the Ogle County Jail.
Those charges stem from the 2020 death of Plote’s girlfriend, Melissa Lamesch. The 27-year-old died just two days before she was born in what authorities initially believed to be asphyxiation caused by a house fire.
A 14-month investigation into the incident suggested otherwise, however, and a grand jury has incited Plote on ten counts, including for the homicide of Lamesch’s unborn child:
Read Next: Jake Reed Wiki, Biography, Age, Involved in Shooting, Condition, Police Report
• First Degree Murder (3 counts)
• First Degree Murder – Premeditated
• Intentional Homicide of an Unborn Child (3 counts)
• Residential Arson
• Aggravated Domestic Battery
• Concealment of a Homicidal Death
Plote, whose Facebook page identifies him as “firefighter/EMT” at the Malta Fire Department (“entirely made up of volunteer members“), was arrested early Wednesday morning without incident, according to prosecutors. Plote’s page also says he went to paramedic school at Kishwaukee College. A person from Malta with the same name as the defendant in 2010 was a member of an ambulance crew involved in a non-fatal crash. Plote was 22 at the time.
The defendant remains held at the Ogle County Jail on a $10,000,000 bond.
