1, 2021 3:52 pm608d ago, Caleb McCullough Health Care and Medicine Jun. Janelle Stonebraker, Michelle's older sister, thinks that by fighting so vehemently that the suspect wounded himself and left his DNA behind, Michelle contributed to the investigation into her own murder. Prosecutor Nick Maybanks/Cedar Rapids Police Department, "Murder at the Mall: The Michelle Martinko Case,". Jerry Burns. I've been reading up on this case and was wondering if they profiled this guy? ), Press J to jump to the feed. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette), Jeff Holst, an investigator with the Cedar Rapids Police Department, looks at a report he made which was entered into evidence as he testifies during the continuation of a suppression hearing for evidence in the case of Jerry Burns of Manchester at the Linn County Courthouse in Cedar Rapids on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020. [12] Martinko, who was a senior in high school when she was killed, had plans to attend Iowa State University to study interior design. Jerry Burns on Trial AP Jerry Burns of Manchester, Iowa, is led into the courtroom during closing arguments for his trial at the Scott County Courthouse in Davenport, Iowa on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. The detective looked through the case files and found what he thought to be the murderer's blood. During the trials, Burns was found to contradict his own statements. [28] The defense also requested that evidence pertaining to Burns' cell phone browser history be suppressed. [10] A police spokesman estimated that in the week after Martinko's murder, more than 200 people responded to the detectives' appeals in the news for information concerning the case. Denlinger began contacting genealogy companies for help in trying to find a family tree that could lead to the person whose DNA matched that found at the crime scene. An obituary for Burns' wife, Patricia, says that she died in June 2008 at the age of 55 . They then started to locate all the people that they had originally interviewed in the investigation and collected DNA samples from over 100 different people. To learn more about the murder of Michelle Martinko, watch Dateline: Unforgettable on December 22, at 10:00 pm on Oxygen 79. Police said they were able to connect Burns to the case with DNA evidence. Accountability doled out to suspects. [32] Prosecutors also played a video of a police interview of Burns, in which he denied being at the crime scene on the night of Martinko's murder, and could not explain how his DNA had been found at the scene. Your login session has expired. His ex-wife, Patricia, committed suicide in 2008, and his cousin Brian Burns astonishingly disappeared. The prosecution did not resist either request, and the trial was rescheduled for February 10, 2020 in Scott County. "He had told me if I keep beating him, in pinochle, he was gonna have to 'take me to the mall,'" Allison said on the witness stand Tuesday. Jerry Burns is still behind bars on a $5 million cash bond, charged with first-degree murder in the 1979 murder of Michelle Martinko. [2][3][4] Burns was arrested and, on February 24, 2020, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Martinko. [2] Once there, she perused the stores and spoke with friends and other people she knew who worked there. "I talked to myself and didn't know what to do Then you have to pray.". Offender records are public information pursuant to Section 904.601 (1)Iowa Code (1999). 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. She was stabbed 29 times in the face, neck, and chest. 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. In earlier testimony, Matthew Denlinger, a Cedar Rapids police investigator who testified last week, was recalled to testify about Burns' interview with police Dec. 19, 2018. Investigators had reviewed Burns' 2018 internet searches and found that he regularly visited websites showing blonde women being raped, stabbed, and strangled, and which depicted sexual intercourse with murder victims. Burns also built himself a new home on his parents' land and opened a gas station and convenience store nearby. He lived in Manchester at the time of his arrest in 2020 and owned a powder coating business in the city. Even though the police were tipped over 200 times in the weeks following the murder, the case eventually grew cold as investigations stretched on. The woman communicated her information to the daughter of the secretary of the Public Safety Commissioner and believed that it would be passed on to police if it was important. Jerry Lynn Burns, 65, is set to face a jury in February, bringing momentum to a case that was left cold for years. Exactly 39 years after her death, police took a Manchester man into custody after matching his DNA to blood found at the crime scene. [2], On October 29, 2018, an investigator observed one of the brothers, Jerry Lynn Burns, drink multiple sodas using a plastic straw. "The family never gave up hope that this case would be solved," Jerman said in a statement Wednesday. Burns originally refuted every charge of involvement in this crime during interrogation by claiming he was unable to provide the authorities with a "plausible explanation" for why his DNA was found at the crime site. Burns was arrested on Dec. 19, 2018. Burns' defense team objected to the wording of one of the prosecution's questions, which they claimed implied unequivocally that Burns' blood had been at the scene. 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. 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. On August 7, 2020, Burns was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Police found impressions from rubber gloves inside and outside the car, indicating that the assailant had likely planned his attack and hoped to escape unidentified. [9] The killer left no fingerprints, which led police to believe they had worn gloves. "I am thrilled for her sister, Janelle, and wish her parents were alive to see this," Michelle Martinko's high school friend, Elizabeth Laymon, told The Des Moines Register. Doris Homerline Clower died Saturday . [26] He was not able to provide an explanation for why his DNA would have been present at the crime scene. Oral Argument Schedule. The detective on the case, Matt Denlinger, gave me some interesting details. Now, the solving of another long-cold casea young blonde woman murdered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, two hours away may shed new light on Huisentruit's disappearance and presumed murder. Prosecutors played a covertly recorded interview that investigators conducted with Jerry Lynn Burns in December of 2018. 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. Ken and Don were not a match but Jerry Burns' DNA was a match, to an almost perfect scientific certainty. William Brangham: Turns out the murderer was a distant, distant relative of Jennings. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Blond / All American Girls - Jodi was a bit older. 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. December . [2], Martinko had been stabbed 29 times in her face, neck, and chest. Lives in Brentwood, Arkansas. This "tragic case" had been "haunting this community for 39 years," Cedar Rapids Police Chief Wayne Jerman said Wednesday. . . 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. Now in his late 60s, Burns is currently behind bars and will stay there till he dies. While these occurrences sounded suspicious, the police didn't believe Burns had anything to do with them. And he had the daunting task of trying to figure out who that could be, armed only with an unidentified sample of blood DNA. The Delaware County Sheriff said it did review the case after Burns' arrest and "feels that was clearly the case.". [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. He was convicted of first-degree murder and received the mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. On the way, Burns continued to talk. [28], After two days of jury selection, the murder trial began on February 12, 2020. 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. Dave Franzman, a longtime reporter at ABC Cedar Rapids affiliate KCRG, Michelle Martinko's high school friend, Elizabeth Laymon, told The Des Moines Register. A struggle followed in which Michelle was stabbed and sliced by a knife almost 30 times in a horrific murder that police initially believed had to be a crime of passion. 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. According to Reusse, Burns would generally be a bit more careful with his language during a press conference or whenever there were cameras . Family and friends of Jerry Burns are seated in the courtroom at a sentencing hearing for Jerry Lynn Burns at the Linn County Courthouse in Cedar Rapids on Friday, Aug. 7, 2020. Linn. He was sentenced to life on August 7 without the possibility of parole. Visitation for Jim will be held on Monday, March 13, 2023 from 4:00PM until 6:00PM at the Peacock Family Chapel. His voice was always turned up to full volume. His cousin, Brian Burns, went missing on the 19th of December 2013. "I read the article and it talked about genetic genealogy. Could Jerry Burns have committed murders other than Michelle Martinko's? Her death was ruled a suicide. [4] Documents concluded that fewer than one in 100 billion people would match the DNA profile. timing. And I went 'bingo'.". Jerry Lynn Burns, 64, was charged with first-degree murder and is scheduled to appear Thursday in Linn County Court. When the police executed a search warrant for Burns home and office, they found a computer search history that included blonde females, assault, rape, strangulation, murder, abuse and rape of a deceased individual, and cannibalism.. He has worked for promotions such as World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), NWA Total Nonstop Action (NWA TNA), and Ring of Honor (ROH). [38] Burns is currently imprisoned in the Anamosa State Penitentiary. Cellmate recounts multiple outbursts in Jerry Burns murder trial, The Christmas Project is back raising money for local non-profits, 3-year-old Cedar Rapids child confirmed dead from accidental drowning, The Carson King saga, a legendary Iowa tale of giving back, Active police investigation in Cedar Rapids, SIX MONTHS LATER: Derecho cleanup, recovery, replanting continues, Hawkeyes roll by North Carolina A&T 112-71. The case had remained a mystery for 39 years until police say new DNA genealogy technology identified Burns' DNA at the scene. After the arrest this week of Jerry Burns in the 1979 killing of 18-year-old Michelle Martinko, an Iowa city is left shocked, saddened, and skeptical. Michelle Martinko, pictured in a photo released by the Cedar Rapids Police Department, was stabbed to death in December 1979. The murder of Michelle Martinko in the parking lot of Cedar Rapids' Westdale Mall has some eerie connections to the Huisentruit case. Yeah, it's really really good! The police never received the information, and the woman did not contact police until months later, when they reissued a call for any information connected to the murder. Be the first one to comment on this story. Jerry Lynn Burns granted independent journalist, Steve Ridge, an exclusive Christmas Eve interview, in which Burns also said he will seek a new trial in the Martinko murder. It wasn't until decades after the killing that investigators began to link the emotions of a motive with the science of DNA. Identities returned to Does. Reporter covering state and federal courts. 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. 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. In 2018, the company entered the DNA data from the case into the public genealogy website GEDmatch, where it found a familial DNA match. Burns denied any involvement in the murder. CEDAR RAPIDS - Police investigators couldn't find evidence that Jerry Burns and Michelle Martinko knew each other. The murder of Michelle Martinko in the parking lot of Cedar Rapids' Westdale Mall has some eerie connections to the Huisentruit case. A article mentioned that the police found his Internet search history had stuff like 'murder, rape, harm of blonde women'. He had followed them and secretly recovered their DNA. Fifty-five-year-old Brian "Farmer" Burns was reported missing to the Delaware County Sheriff's Office in Manchester, Iowa, on Friday, Dec. 20, 2013, and the sheriff's office is asking for the public's help in locating him. "Murder at . Jerry Lynn Burns, 64, was arrested on Wednesday after police said he was linked by DNA from blood found on Michelle Martinko's clothing and elsewhere in the car at the crime scene. At the time of arrest, Burns had his own power-coating company called Advanced Coating Concepts. Denlinger then told him he had a search warrant for his DNA. Through his research, he discovered that a woman named Brandy Jennings had uploaded her DNA to a website service to trace her own family history. The next day, she was found stabbed to death in the mall parking lot. 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