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. [2][5] Her hands bore defensive wounds, which police said to indicate that she had fought back against her killer. Some thought that Martinko had received harassing phone calls before her death, but police stated that they did not think so. But Denlinger did get consent from Janice Burns, Burns' first cousin, and collected her DNA for testing, he said. While these occurrences sounded suspicious, the police didn't believe Burns had anything to do with them. People named Jerry Burns. Hi all - I discuss the case of Michelle Martinko, who was murdered in 1979 in Iowa, this week on DNA: ID podcast. It was a cold case until 2018, when familial DNA identified a suspect 39 years after the crime who was charged, tried and convicted of her murder.[2]. "The family never gave up hope that this case would be solved," Jerman said in a statement Wednesday. "That was big, national news," said Denlinger. Anthony Rex officiating. 'If I was there, I don't know, Burns told Denlinger. This really is an excellent true crimes podcast that is different from the many others that are being produced. Investigators placed the three brothers under surveillance in an attempt to covertly collect their DNA, according to The Gazette. Michelle Martinko, 18, was stabbed to death in a mall parking lot in Dec. 1979. Exactly 39 years after her death, police took a Manchester man into custody after matching his DNA to blood found at the crime scene. But the jury found the DNA connection convincing and after a nine-day trial, Burns was convicted of first-degree murder. Derek Chauvin's ex-wife . After her parents reported her missing at 2 a.m., police discovered the teen's body in her vehicle about four hours later. Although Burns's arrest in the Martinko case raised questions about the two incidents, police do not believe Burns was involved in either one. He and his wife, who now reside in Florida, said they . Investigators struggled over the years to connect DNA collected at the scene to a suspect. He was born in Hundred, WV on April 24, 1930, a son of the late Robert Lee and Rebecca Taylor Merriner. Please logout and login again. [2], On December 19, 2018, exactly 39 years after Martinko's murder, Burns was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. And he had the daunting task of trying to figure out who that could be, armed only with an unidentified sample of blood DNA. Grab your popcorn & get comfy as we dive into some dusty old cases revitalized thanks to genetic genealogy (& a bit of good ol' fashioned detective work! 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. 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. Yet they had a DNA match linking the Manchester man to the Cedar Rapids teenager, slain in 1979 outside the Westdale Mall. The defense requested the case be declared a mistrial as a result, but the judge denied the request and asked the prosecutor to rephrase the question. [3] The brothers were placed under surveillance, and investigators began to attempt to collect their DNA secretly. 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. Exactly 39 years after Michelle Martinko's body was found, DNA evidence led to the arrest of a Manchester man who was charged with her 1979 murder. He was sentenced to life on August 7 without the possibility of parole. Hi! Jerry Lynn Burns was finally arrested in October 2018 for the murder of Michelle Martinko, that took place 39 years prior. We need somebody from their family to have tested in order to resolve these cases.". [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. Rumors began to circulate about the crime. Police had searched his computer after arresting him, and found a history of searches pertaining to nefarious subjects including the murder of blonde women, and pornographic matter involving blonde women. Reporter covering state and federal courts. After Burns arrest, several viewers questioned whether Burns could be a suspect in the death of his wife, Patricia, in 2008. I don't exactly remember what happened, seen something about Jodi Huisentruit recently.". On February 24, 2020, after three hours of deliberation, the jury found Jerry Lynn Burns guilty of first-degree murder of Michelle Martinko. The sketch looked like a man in his 20s, weighing 165-175 pounds, and standing at around 6 feet. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Jerry Lynn Burns will raise two child. This narrowed down the possible suspects to three brothers - Ken, Don, and Jerry Burns. An investigator with the Cedar Rapids police department contacted DNA-tested members of two of the branches of the family tree, and eliminated those branches as containing the killer. 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. While these occurrences sounded suspicious, the police didn't believe Burns had anything to do with them. The images looked considerably different from the 1980 composite sketch and showed a man with blond hair and blue eyes. In her ruling, Judge Fae Hoover said the . December . 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. 'As far as I know, I wasn't there.. DNA: ID. 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. Jerry Lynn Burns was arrested in the 1979 killing of Michelle Martinko. Works at Target Distribution Center. When the detectives first investigated this case, they thought of the homicide as being personal in nature - based on the 10 stab wounds . This evidence was inadmissible at trial but was the subject of a public suppression hearing. I've seen several articles that said he might be tied to other murders. During this time, according to the testimony, he made a reference to 'blacking out but didn't explain it. Allison, who's being . 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. He had followed them and secretly recovered their DNA. I like that it's just the facts and case without anyone trying (poorly) to be a comedian or talk about their own personal nonsense lol. [2], Martinko had been stabbed 29 times in her face, neck, and chest. He said he thought Burns might have a 'conscience.. Burns maintained that he did not know Martinko and was not there when she died, although an investigator later testified that Burns did not specifically deny killing Martinko. On August 7, 2020, Burns was sentenced to life in prison without parole. [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. The family of the man suspected of murdering Michelle Martinko 39 years ago said the arrest came "as a complete shock.". This "tragic case" had been "haunting this community for 39 years," Cedar Rapids Police Chief Wayne Jerman said Wednesday. Allison also recounted a time when Burns tried to tear down a cellmate's bunk bed because he was snoring too loudly. Want a job? He would have been around 25-years-old when he killed Michelle Martinko in December of 1979. 20-1150). He had worked for John Deere and co-owned a truck stop. His ex-wife, Patricia, committed suicide in 2008, and his cousin . [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. Suspect in Martinko murder not suspected in wife's death or cousin's disappearance, Bobcats and beyond are wearing orange to support Benton Communitys Tatum Schroeder, UIHC library offers resources for and about people with disabilities. 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. Viewers also wondered if there was a connection to the disappearance of Burns' cousin, Brian Burns. He was born in 1953 and graduated from West Delaware High School in 1972. We would also like to extend our sympathy to the Martinko family.. However, the case gradually grew cold as the investigation stretched on. 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 Westdale Mall on December 19, 1979. [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. She thinks this new crime . Updated Sep 20, 2022 at 3:27pm. LEON SPIES: The state's scenario here is that Jerry Burns, a married man with two young children at home, leaves, drives to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in the night, leaving his wife and children behind . Burns made an initial court appearance via video Thursday morning and said he would fill out an application for a court-appointed counsel. "That threw us all off," Allison said about the incident. 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