Martinko then went to the mall alone, carrying $180 and intending to finalize the purchase of a new winter coat that was on layaway. However, the case gradually grew cold as the investigation stretched on. [34], On February 24, 2020, after three hours of deliberation, the jury found Jerry Lynn Burns guilty of first degree murder of Michelle Martinko. Investigators struggled over the years to connect DNA collected at the scene to a suspect. The Cedar Rapids teenager was found stabbed to death in her parents car parked at Westdale Mall. [20], On June 19, 1980, police released a composite sketch of a man believed to have killed Martinko, which they formed from descriptions provided by two witnesses under hypnosis. Jerry Burns. Did you listen to the DNA: ID episode on the Martinko case? On December 19, 2018, exactly 39 years after Martinko's murder, the police confronted Burns and arrested him after his DNA matched the one found on Martinko's clothes. Jerry Lynn Burns will raise two child. Investigators matched DNA found in the car to Jerry Burns and arrested him in 2018. This sounds like a serial killer. The sample was put into a national computer database and was used to clear more than 70 of Martinkos acquaintances, according to NBC News. Allison said he and Burns had a good relationship at first but it eventually turned sour. Jerry Burns mentioned Jodi by name while speaking to an investigator shortly before his arrest. He also wished the Burns family well, saying they now have to pick up the pieces of their lives just like the Martinko family did. Now, her suspected killer is set to go on trial", "Search warrant shows how relative's DNA led police to Manchester man in Michelle Martinko's death", "40 years later: What we know about Michelle Martinko and the arrest that re-opened the cold case", "Jerry Burns found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Michelle Martinko", "BREAKING: Jerry Burns, convicted of killing Michelle Martinko, officially sentenced to life in prison", "30 years ago: Murder of teen haunts those who knew her", "Distant relative learns her DNA led to arrest in Michelle Martinko slaying", "Friends of man arrested in Martinko murder shocked", "Iowa community tries to reconcile a cold case arrest and its long history with a neighbor", "One-time suspect in unsolved Cedar Rapids homicide dies in prison", "Police collected DNA from dozens while investigating 1979 killing of Michelle Martinko", "UPDATE: Tips coming into CRPD since Martinko press conference", "39 years later, man charged in cold-case killing of high school student Michelle Martinko", "Jury Finds Burns Guilty Of First Degree Murder In Killing Of Martinko", "Trial for Jerry Burns, charged in the 1979 killing of 18-year-old Michelle Martinko, moved out of Linn County", "No delay in trial for man accused of killing Michelle Martinko", "Burns' Second Hearing Focuses on Pornography", "From the crime to conviction, a timeline of events in the murder of Michelle Martinko", "Witnesses describe murder scene in trial of man accused of killing Michelle Martinko in 1979", "Witnesses describe procedure in collecting, storing, and tracking evidence as part of cold-case murder trial", "Jerry Burns defense calls one witness, rests its case after testimony from self-defined forensic DNA consultant", "After denied mistrial motion, testimony in Michelle Martinko murder case concludes", "Iowa man guilty in 1979 killing of high school student", "Lawyers for Jerry Burns file motion for new trial", "Jerry Burns attorney files for new trial", "Burns Files Appeal on Murder Conviction", "Offender Information | Iowa Department of Corrections", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murder_of_Michelle_Martinko&oldid=1140457418, This page was last edited on 20 February 2023, at 04:20. [10][11] She was also a talented performer, joined the twirling squad as a sophomore, and performed in choirs and theater productions. On cross examination, Spies asked Holst if he had expertise in psychology or forensic psychology. God finally won. Thank you!! At the time of arrest, Burns had his own power-coating company called Advanced Coating Concepts. The Delaware County Sheriff said it did review the case after Burns' arrest and "feels that was clearly the case.". Jerry Burns, of Manchester, is led into a courtroom at the Scott County Courthouse in Davenport for closing arguments in his murder trial in February 2020. Burns pleaded not guilty at his February 2020 trial but the jury deliberated just three hours and returned a guilty verdict. The Delaware County Sheriff's Office says Brian Burns remains an active missing person case but, at this point, has no link to his cousin. What we know about Jerry Burns and the woman he's accused of killing 40 years earlier Dec 19, 2019/ updated Feb 17, 2020 Four decades ago, 18-year-old Michelle Marie Martinko was found stabbed to death in the family's car in the parking lot of a Cedar Rapids mall. Jerry Lynn Burns appeared in Linn County this morning on a video monitor from jail where he had his bail set at $5 million. In December 1979, Martinko, a high school senior who was on the twirling squad at Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, went to the recently opened Westdale Mall after her choir banquet at school to buy a new winter coat. appeal from the iowa district court for linn county honorable fae hoover grinde, district court judge brief of amici curiae: american civil liberties union american civil liberties union of iowa electronic frontier foundation in support of defendant-appellant *pro hac vice application pending jennifer lynch* With genetic genealogy, an unknown killer's DNA from a crime scene can be identified through his or her family members, who voluntarily submit their DNA to a genealogy database. Want a job? Last . Thus began the quest to finally nab Martinko's killers. You have permission to edit this article. [23] Out of more than 80 potential suspects that had been identified over the years, more than 60 people were tested and cleared of suspicion. Updated on: August 4, 2021 / 2:29 PM On December 19, 2018, 39 years after Michelle Martinkp was murdered, Det. "It's always the boyfriend, the girlfriend, the husband someone really close to the person. 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. The prosecution emphasized the unlikelihood of the DNA evidence matching someone other than the person who left it at the scene. UPDATE: Trial set for Iowa man accused in 1979 killing of Michelle Martinko . 19, 2018. Even though the police were tipped over 200 times in the weeks following the murder, the case eventually grew cold as investigations stretched on. Burns told the investigator about 25 times to test him, Denlinger said. He was born on December 09, 1952 to Harold Eugene and Virginia Burns in Osceola, Arkansas. Ahead of the Dateline NBC episode about her death, heres what you need to know about the crime, the perpetrator, and what sentence he received at trial. But he never asked for an attorney, Denlinger said. When the detectives first investigated this case, they thought of the homicide as being personal in nature - based on the 10 stab wounds . [28], After two days of jury selection, the murder trial began on February 12, 2020. He began working with Parabon NanoLabs, now a leading company helping police solve crimes through genetic tracing. [31] The defense argued that DNA evidence had been mishandled,[31] and that different articles of clothing from the scene should not have been stored together in one evidence bag. The sketch looked like a man in his 20s, weighing 165-175 pounds, and standing at around 6 feet. 24. At 4a.m., police found the Martinko family's tan and green 1972 Buick Electra in the northeast corner of the mall parking lot by a JCPenney. Jerry Burns. She will be remembered as a wonderful mother and wife, loving to spend time with her granddaughter . [9] Martinko was found inside collapsed over the passenger seat and stabbed to death. 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. Jerry Burns Wife: Who Is He Married To? At long last, in 2018, Jerry Lynn was caught and blamed for the teen's manslaughter and, in spite of the fact that it had been a very long time after the wrongdoing, the once cool case is right now a subject of discussion on A&E's executioner cases. According to KWWL, at the sentencing, Stonebaker said that Burns stole those 39 years and many more from a sweet smart, talented girl who never got her chance at college, a career, marriage, children and by now, even grandchildren.. Michelle Martinko, pictured in a photo released by the Cedar Rapids Police Department, was stabbed to death in December 1979. On August 7, 2020, Burns was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Mail, proper postage prepaid, addressed to Jerry L. Burns, No. 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. Over 40 years ago, teenager Michelle Martinko was stabbed to death outside a mall in Cedar Rapids . DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWWL) - State prosecutors called a former cellmate of Jerry Burns in his murder trial, which continued Tuesday in Scott County. His ex-wife, Patricia, committed suicide in 2008, and his cousin Brian Burns astonishingly disappeared. [10] She wore a black jersey dress and black scarf, black tights and heels, and a waist-length white and brown rabbit fur jacket, and she carried a brown leather purse. [2], Martinko had been stabbed 29 times in her face, neck, and chest. 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. As reported by CBS News, Burns was not arrested until 2018, when DNA evidence confirmed he was responsible for Martinko's death. According to the investigator, "Burns showed almost no emotion during the interview, even when he was eventually told he was being arrested. He entered a plea of not guilty. Be the first one to comment on this story. [26] When the DNA sample was tested, it matched the blood sample found at the crime scene. Martinko was 18, a senior in high school in 1979, when she was accosted as she was getting into her car on a chilly night in December following a trip to the mall. Cases previously considered unsolvable have been getting their answers, & Joseph DeAngelo's arrest (EAR/GSA/ONS) is proving to be just the first of many getting resolved. Jerry Burns stands with his lawyer Leon Spies (right) during a recess in the continuation of a suppression hearing for evidence in the case of Burns of Manchester at the Linn County Courthouse in . He was also ordered to pay $150,00 in restitution to Martinkos estate, according to KWWL. She had goals for herself, things she wanted to do with her life, and she would write them down and achieve them., I dont know if Ill ever get over this, Mrs. Martinko added. While being questioned about . The case was appealed and was eventually decided by the Iowa Supreme Court in favor of the mall owners. The case was solved, but there were lingering questions about Jerry Burns. [2] Police determined from the lack of blood outside the car that Martinko had been killed while in the car, and the medical examiner later estimated she had died between 8 and 10p.m.[17] The murder weapon was "sharp-pointed" but not definitively a knife, and the medical examiner could not determine its size. Some thought that Martinko had received harassing phone calls before her death, but police stated that they did not think so. 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. Jerry Lynn Burns, 64, of Manchester, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder on Wednesday, nearly 40 years after the brutal murder of 18-year-old Michelle Martinko in the parking lot of . In 2018, the company entered the DNA data from the case into the public genealogy website GEDmatch, where it found a familial DNA match. Ha ha. Jerry was married to his second wife at the time of his arrest. During this difficult time and as the justice system runs its course we ask that our privacy be respected.. A funeral service for Jerry Calvin Lynn, 78, will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, July 16, 2022, at Rose-Neath Funeral Home, 2201 Airline Drive, Bossier City, Louisiana. [14] Burns's cousin, Brian Burns, went missing on December 19, 2013 and has not been found. Glad you are liking it! v. Jerry Lynn Burns. The final nail in the coffin was when a witness gave his statement to the court. Exactly 39 years after her death, police took a Manchester man into custody after matching his DNA to blood found at the crime scene. Burns is being held at the Linn County jail on a $5 million cash-only bond. His cousin, Brian Burns, went missing on the 19th of December 2013. Please logout and login again. "I was speechless," Denlinger says, recalling the moment the lab told him the results. Jerry Lynn Burns is accused of the 1979 cold case murder of Michelle Martinko in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He had followed them and secretly recovered their DNA. In 2018, Jerry Lynn Burns was finally arrested and charged with the teen's murder and, although it had been decades after the crime, the once cold case is now a subject of discussion on A&E's Killer Cases. Doris Homerline Clower died Saturday . 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. JERRY M. LYNN "Bear" Crown Point, Indiana Jerry M. "Bear" Lynn, age 59, of Crown Point, IN passed away on April 4, 2010. [16] Another rumor emerged that a second stabbing had happened in the following days and that police were keeping it secret, which police denied. Her mother, Janet, died in 1998. We need somebody from their family to have tested in order to resolve these cases.". Burns made an initial court appearance via video Thursday morning and said he would fill out an application for a court-appointed counsel. Spies, on cross examination, asked if Denlinger had permission from Burns' two brothers and a distant cousin to access their DNA in developing a suspect pool. [2] She did not have many close girlfriends or confidantes, which was speculated to be caused by jealousy from other students over her beauty and stylish clothes[11] or conflict over a boy she had dated. A composite sketch of the suspect was released in June 1980 with the help of two witnesses. Almost 40 years later, with the help of DNA Technology, the culprit was nabbed and justice was finally served to Martinko and her grieving family. "I read the article and it talked about genetic genealogy. A Manchester man convicted of first-degree murder has announced he has hired a new attorney who will seek to exonerate him of the crime, a private investigator has told the Manchester Press . Denlinger followed each of the brothers around clandestinely, waiting for them to discard an item containing their DNA, and then sent the collected samples to the crime lab. Jerry Lynn Burns, 64, was charged with first-degree murder and is scheduled to appear Thursday in Linn County Court. In fact, his father Harvey, now 85, had been one of the original officers on the case 40 years earlier. During the investigation, the police assumed that there were personal motives involved in the murder due to the nature of Martinko's stab wounds. [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. Jerry retired from the Army National Guard and retired as a Master Plumber. The police considered the murder personal in nature based on the manner of death, according to Little Village magazine. Be the first one to comment on this story. She was a beautiful singer, and I miss all this. He testified last week he took the straw after it was discarded. Roberta Williams' Phantasmagoria, a group of 39 people. . The man charged with killing Michelle Martinko 39 years ago is not a suspect in the death of his wife or disappearance of his cousin, according to investigators. At the time of his arrest, Burns ran a powder-coating business called, Advanced Coating Concepts. "That threw us all off," Allison said about the incident. Denlinger said they were uploaded to GEDmatch by Parabon NanoLabs, a private company the department worked with. Hi! Sexual Assault of Unnamed Victim (12) . Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. On the eve of December 19, 1979, an 18-year-old high school student named Michelle Martinko was discovered dead in her family's car outside a mall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Vikings Ring of Honor Coach Jerry Burns passed away Wednesday at the age of 94. / CBS News. "In a genetic genealogy database we can reverse engineer the [suspect's family] tree from their distant" relatives who have submitted DNA, Moore said. Allison said he and Burns had a good relationship at first but it eventually turned sour. Months before his February . [2][16] At 2a.m., since Martinko had still not returned home, her father reported her missing. Jerry Lynn Burns, 64, was apprehended and charged with first-degree murder after authorities matched his DNA with blood samples found on the Martinko family car's gear shift knob. Respectfully submitted, /s/ Nicholas Curran . 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. Then in 2018, DNA phenotyping company GEDmatch, a public genealogy website that famously helped catch the Golden State Killer, started creating a family tree based on the killers DNA. In October 2018, an investigator was able to snag a straw used by one of the three brothers, Jerry Lynn Burns, and tested it against the sample, getting a match. Jerry Burns, busy back in Minneapolis, wasn't on the guest list that time. Police looked at numerous suspects during the initial investigation, including a man who raped a woman at knifepoint and later died while in prison for that crime, but DNA testing ruled him out. When Burns disposed of the straw, the investigator collected it and tested it for DNA. Martinko then asked another acquaintance to go to the mall with her; that friend said yes at first but later changed her mind. Ken and Don were not a match but Jerry Burns' DNA was a match, to an almost perfect scientific certainty. A Felony. Lighthouse: The Dark Being, a group of 43 people. Jerry Lynn Burns, the suspect in the 1979 murder of Michelle Martinko, makes a court appearance via video in Linn County, Iowa, Dec. 20, 2018. 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