She had been stabbed 21 times in the face, neck, and chest. KCRG-TV9: 10PM Newscast, December 19, 2018 Arrest in Michelle Martinko Case, KCRG-TV9 Staff Anchors: Bruce Aune and Beth Malicki Meteorologist: Joe Winters Executive Producer: Aaron Hepker Producer: Ellen Kurt Director: Terri Walter Reporters: Dave Franzman, Forrest Saunders, Chantelle Navarro Photographers: Rebecca Varilek, Jay Greene, Michelle Martinko's Family Speaks to Law & Crime Network About the Jerry Burns Verdict, Michelle Martinko's Family Speaks to Law & Crime Network About the Jerry Burns Verdict #JerryBurns #JerryBurnsTrial #MichelleMartinko, Serial Killers Ex Thinks There Were More Victims. [11] They described a white man in his late teens or early 20s, around six feet tall and weighing 165175 pounds, with brown eyes and curly brown hair. Oral Argument Schedule. When asked that question by "48 Hours," Denlinger replied, "I don't know the answer to that. Martinko's father Albert and mother Janet died in 1995 and 1998 respectively. The organizations filing the brief contend that the collection of Mr. Burn's DNA without a warrant from a discarded straw he used at a restaurant violated the Fourth Amendment, and article I, section 8 of the Iowa Constitution. Investigators say Martinko was murdered on December 19th, 1979 and her body found the next day in a family car in the Westdale Mall parking lot. Anthony Rex officiating. It wasn't until decades after the killing that investigators began to link the emotions of a motive with the science of DNA. In a press conference during which the new image was shared, a former classmate of Martinko exclaimed that the face looked like another one of their classmates, but that classmate had been investigated and was cleared based on a DNA swab several years before. Jerry Lynn Burns, 64, was charged with first-degree murder and is scheduled to appear Thursday in Linn County Court. Jerry Burns' mugshot and a family photo of Michelle Martinko. The lab determined that the DNA collected from Burns was a match to DNA from the blood found on Michelle Martinko's clothing and was consistent with the DNA profile developed from blood found elsewhere in the car, Jerman said. "[2] When asked if he had killed someone that night in 1979, Burns repeatedly told investigators, "Test the DNA". [18][19], Controversy arose five months after the murder, after a woman who was driving by the mall parking lot in the early hours of December 20 came forward with information. A article mentioned that the police found his Internet search history had stuff like 'murder, rape, harm of blonde women'. Jerry retired from the Army National Guard and retired as a Master Plumber. . The primary evidence police had to go on was blood on Michelle's dress and on the car's gearshift that in 2005 was finally identified as male DNA. Log In. People around him considered him to be a professional but everything fizzled out shortly after. Denlinger said they went to Burns' business, Advanced Powder Coating Concepts in Manchester, and he agreed to talk with them. DNA Profiling is a modern investigative technology used to compare criminal suspects' profiles to DNA evidence so as to assess the likelihood of their involvement in the crime. When Burns, of Manchester, Iowa, was questioned, he "denied committing the offense but could offer no plausible explanation why his DNA would be found at the crime scene," police said. This revealed everything, and Burns was ultimately declared guilty of first-degree murder. Authorities believe Burns stabbed the Kennedy High School senior in the chest and face inside a car parked at Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids. But her sister Janelle and Janelles husband John Stonebaker were present at Burns sentencing. Jerry Lynn Burns was convicted of first-degree murder for the 1979 murder 18-year-old Michelle Martinko thanks to DNA he left on a straw after drinking a soda. Burns said when presented with the rendering. In 2017, a company specializing in DNA phenotyping was hired to produce a new approximation of the killer's appearance based solely off the DNA sample. Powered by. The trial was then moved to February 2020. Place of rest will be in the Dickson County Memorial Gardens. Want a job? Burns pleaded not guilty in 2019 and when his trial was supposed to begin in October of that year, his defense team requested additional time to review fresh pieces of evidence and gather witnesses. "Murder at . Burns is accused of killing Cedar Rapids teenager Michelle Martinko in 1979. Burns was arrested on Dec. 19, 2018. [2], Martinko's father, Albert, died in 1995. Might be nothing, but Jerry has a cousin who went missing in 2013 and it has become a cold case and Jerry's wife committed suicide in 2008. The defense also requested the trial be moved out of Linn County based on the amount of attention the case had received over the past four decades, as well as "pervasive and prejudicial pretrial publicity". Convicted murderer Jerry Burns, 66, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday in the 1979 murder of Michelle Martinko, 18. The victim, Martinko, was an 18-year-old high school student from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who was visiting a mall to buy a winter coat. Glad you are liking it! 'If I was there, I don't know, Burns told Denlinger. family - he had 3 kids - tough to sneak away for 4 hours when you have kids unless he was on a business trip. Denlinger took over the case in 2015, part of a second generation of cops who had struggled for decades to solve this seemingly unsolvable murder. His trial was originally scheduled for October 14, 2019, but in September the defense requested a delay in order to gather more evidence and interview witnesses. Burns' wife, Patricia, died by suicide in . He asked Burns for a sample of his DNA, but Burns said no - not without an attorney. Burns' attorney, Leon Spies, also argued in his suppression motion that the computer evidence is irrelevant because it's from 2018 - 38 years after Martinko's death. [15], On the evening of December 19, 1979, Martinko attended a banquet for the Kennedy Concert Choir at the Sheraton Inn in Cedar Rapids. Prosecutor Nick Maybanks/Cedar Rapids Police Department, "Murder at the Mall: The Michelle Martinko Case,". On Dec. 19, 1979, Michelle Martinko, 18, left a school banquet and drove her family's car to the Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to buy a winter coat, Cedar Rapids police said. 24. Jim grew up . The prosecution emphasized the unlikelihood of the DNA evidence matching someone other than the person who left it at the scene. [4] Documents concluded that fewer than one in 100 billion people would match the DNA profile. On Wednesday, after weeks of "planning and strategizing," investigators interviewed and arrested Burns for first-degree murder, Jerman said. [2][23] On December 19, 2018, investigators went to Burns' business in Manchester, Iowa, to interview him. Burns was born in Manchester, Iowa in 1953 and graduated from West Delaware High School in 1972. Michelle Marie Martinko Find-A-Grave: Michelle Marie Martinko Iowa Cold Cases: Michelle Marie Martinko Michelle Martinko stories 40 years later: What we know about Michelle Martinko and the arrest that re-opened the cold case Jury seated in Jerry Burns murder trial Michelle Martinko murder case evidence photos Iowa Teen Was Fatally Stabbed in Mall Parking Lot She was stabbed multiple times in the face, neck, and chest. Some thought that Martinko had received harassing phone calls before her death, but police stated that they did not think so. Martinko then went to the mall alone, carrying $180 and intending to finalize the purchase of a new winter coat that was on layaway. Burns, charged with first-degree murder in the cold case stabbing of Martinko, is asking the court to toss out DNA and other evidence because they were obtained without a warrant and represented violations of privacy and other rights. The wait ended Monday, when a jury convicted Jerry Lynn Burns of first-degree murder in the 1979 stabbing death of 18-year-old Martinko. . Like all the cases I cover, Michelles was solved using forensic genealogy, which led police to Jerry Lynn Burns. The DNA was uploaded to the law enforcement database called Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, but investigators never found a match, police said. Jerry Lynn Burns was finally arrested in October 2018 for the murder of Michelle Martinko, that took place 39 years prior. He said he thought Burns might have a 'conscience.. The judge ordered a $5 million cash bond, and Burns is set to return to court for a preliminary hearing on Dec. 28. 20-1150 APPEAL FROM THE IOWA DISTRICT COURT FOR LINN COUNTY HONORABLE FAE E. HOOVER . Thank you!! Jerry Burns. They had investigated more than 100 people over the years, and all were dead ends. Ha ha. Burns kept pointing to the swab, he testified, and saying, 'Test it. But where is this cold-blooded killer now? After her parents reported her missing at 2 a.m., police discovered the teen's body in her vehicle about four hours later. The images looked considerably different from the 1980 composite sketch and showed a man with blond hair and blue eyes. Daryl F. Gates' Police Quest: SWAT, a group of 41 people. Martinko, an 18-year-old high school student, was found stabbed to death in her family's car in the parking lot of a local mall, where she had gone to buy a new coat. Detectives considered charging the Commissioner with failure to pass along the information to police, but no charges were pursued. Denlinger said they were uploaded to GEDmatch by Parabon NanoLabs, a private company the department worked with. Viewers also wondered if there was a connection to the disappearance of Burns' cousin, Brian Burns. The video of that is on YouTube and is mentioned around the 25:28 mark. He was never charged with the Martinko murder, he denied the accusations, and DNA evidence, found later, did not match his DNA. When Burns disposed of the straw, the investigator collected it and tested it for DNA. Jerry Burns appeals his conviction for murder in the first degree. Burns stated that DNA evidence had been mishandled in 1979 in one instance, but denied ever being present on the night of the murder in another. The murder was closely followed within her community, and the police received more than 200 tips in the weeks following her killing. JERRY M. LYNN "Bear" Crown Point, Indiana Jerry M. "Bear" Lynn, age 59, of Crown Point, IN passed away on April 4, 2010. The family of Jerry Burns would like to thank our friends and the Manchester community for the support we have received since Jerrys arrest, read the familys statement. A spot of blood on the dress had a full male DNA profile and was consistent with the male DNA profile found on the gear shift. Updated on: August 4, 2021 / 2:29 PM William Brangham: Turns out the murderer was a distant, distant relative of Jennings. jerry lynn burns defendant-appellant. [2] A police spokesman said that "everyone's instinct is to say it was a guy", but they were not sure of the sex of the killer. He grew up in Manchester, Iowa, and graduated from West Delaware High School in 1972. 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