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. 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. The Cedar Rapids teenager was found stabbed to death in her parents car parked at Westdale Mall. Please logout and login again. 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. Denlinger had found the needle in the haystack. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. In 2018, familial DNA identified a suspect named Jerry Lynn Burns, and the case was finally laid to rest with the accused getting sentenced to life in prison without parole. Law enforcement said Burns hasnt been able to explain why his DNA would be at the crime scene, nor does he remember committing the crime. See if it is.. JERRY M. LYNN "Bear" Crown Point, Indiana Jerry M. "Bear" Lynn, age 59, of Crown Point, IN passed away on April 4, 2010. Ken and Don were not a match but Jerry Burns' DNA was a match, to an almost perfect scientific certainty. On August 7, 2020, Burns was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The murder of Michelle Martinko in the parking lot of Cedar Rapids' Westdale Mall has some eerie connections to the Huisentruit 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. On April 5, 1975, Pat was united in marriage to Jerry Lynn Burns at St. Mary's Catholic Church, Manchester. [2][4][27], In pretrial hearings, Burns' attorneys claimed that police needed a search warrant to gather his DNA from the discarded straw, but the judge determined that discarded property cannot reasonably be considered private. He was born in Hundred, WV on April 24, 1930, a son of the late Robert Lee and Rebecca Taylor Merriner. 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. At the time of the murder, Burns was 25 and lived in Manchester, Iowa. On the way, Burns continued to talk. [2][23] On December 19, 2018, investigators went to Burns' business in Manchester, Iowa, to interview him. His ex-wife, Patricia, committed suicide in 2008, and his cousin Brian Burns astonishingly disappeared. Parabon made predictions for "ancestry, eye color, hair color, skin color, freckling, and face shape," police said, and the department released the composite images to the public in May 2017. Later that day, her body was discovered in her family's car. Her mother, Janet, died in 1998. Yeah, it's really really good! On December 19, 2018, he was arrested in Manchester, Iowa, on the 39th anniversary of Michelle's death. "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. Jeremy Lynn (born June 12, 1963), better known by the ring name Jerry Lynn, is an American retired professional wrestler currently signed with All Elite Wrestling as a producer and coach. Feb. 1, 2019 | The Des Moines Register. Jerry Lynn Burns. Jerry Burns' mugshot and a family photo of Michelle Martinko. This technology helped the FBI arrest notorious serial killer, serial rapist, and burglar Joseph James DeAngelo (nicknamed Golden State Killer) in 2018. The Realm, a group of 34 people. [1][5] Iowan law mandates a life sentence without the possibility of parole for first degree murder. Burns was arrested on Dec. 19, 2018. When Denlinger reminded Burns that Michelle had been killed in 1979, Burns responded, "It was a big deal. The DNA was uploaded to the law enforcement database called Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, but investigators never found a match, police said. Thus began the quest to finally nab Martinko's killers. 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. According to court documents, a judge has ruled internet search history from the man accused in a 1979 murder will not be able to be used during trial. Murderer Jerry Lynn Burns was not caught for almost 40 years. 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. "Murder at the Mall: The Michelle Martinko Case," reported by "48 Hours" contributor Jamie Yuccas, airs on Saturday, August 7 at 9/8c on CBS. He said he remembered the case from seeing it in the news, but didn't know Martinko and didn't have anything to do with it, Denlinger testified. A hearing over whether to allow the evidence at trial continued Thursday for a second day. People around him considered him to be a professional but everything fizzled out shortly after. The case was appealed and was eventually decided by the Iowa Supreme Court in favor of the mall owners. But detectives had been stymied. [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. Like all the cases I cover, Michelles was solved using forensic genealogy, which led police to Jerry Lynn Burns. Holst said he didn't, but department officials and First Assistant Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks did consult an expert who specialized in sex offender assessment and treatment to explain what this evidence indicates in this case. This revealed everything, and Burns was ultimately declared guilty of first-degree murder. Kayla Lemieux, the transgender high school teacher in Canada, has been put on paid leave after pictures emerged of her dressed as a man proving she does not wear the prosthetics all the time. Cedar Rapids police arrested Jerry Lynn Burns, 64, on Wednesday morning and charged him with first-degree murder - 39 years to the day after the killing 18-year-old Michelle Martinko was stabbed . And the crucial link is a man named Jerry Burns. Subsequently he interviewed Jerry Burns, who denied knowing or ever meeting Michelle Martinko. 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. 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. December . [18], For some time, a prime suspect in Martinko's murder was a man who had, the month before, broken into a Cedar Rapids home, raped a woman at knifepoint, and threatened to kill her children. [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. She was stabbed 29 times in the face, neck, and chest. ", Whoever the killer was, he had come prepared. She never had any school problems. The next day, she was found stabbed to death in the mall parking lot. The prosecution did not resist either request, and the trial was rescheduled for February 10, 2020 in Scott County. The victim was the younger of two daughters of Albert and Janet Martinko. ), Press J to jump to the feed. While these occurrences sounded suspicious, the police didn't believe Burns had anything to do with them. 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. [9] Martinko was found inside collapsed over the passenger seat and stabbed to death. Exactly 39 years after her death, police took a Manchester man into custody after matching his DNA to blood found at the crime scene. 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. Burns was read his Miranda rights and taken to the police department. Prosecutors played a covertly recorded interview that investigators conducted with Jerry Lynn Burns in December of 2018. Burns' wife, Patricia, died by suicide in . 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 "Murder at . Her killer will go undetected for almost 40yrs! He was born in 1953 and graduated from West Delaware High School in 1972. I hope you enjoy it!! To learn the entire story of Michelle Martinko's murder, watch Dateline: Unforgettable at 10 pm on Oxygen 79. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. This "tragic case" had been "haunting this community for 39 years," Cedar Rapids Police Chief Wayne Jerman said Wednesday. Michelle Martinko, pictured in a photo released by the Cedar Rapids Police Department, was stabbed to death in December 1979. 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. 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 family of the man suspected of murdering Michelle Martinko 39 years ago said the arrest came "as a complete shock.". Martinko's father Albert and mother Janet died in 1995 and 1998 respectively. Months before his February . "It looks personal, it's a lot of stab wounds, it's overkill," said lead Detective Matt Denlinger of the Cedar Rapids Police Department. Denlinger told him authorities would come back to talk to him after they got the results of the DNA test. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. 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 Cedar Rapids on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020. Jerry Lynn Burns appeared in Linn County this morning on a video monitor from jail where he had his bail set at $5 million. His voice was always turned up to full volume. The similarities were eerie two pretty, young women, both meeting their final fate in parking lots in Iowa, 16 years apart, in cases that went unsolved for decades. 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. The images looked considerably different from the 1980 composite sketch and showed a man with blond hair and blue eyes. 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. Authorities believe Burns stabbed the Kennedy High School senior in the chest and face inside a car parked at Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids. 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 . On Wednesday, after weeks of "planning and strategizing," investigators interviewed and arrested Burns for first-degree murder, Jerman said. Jim was born on April 20, 1933 in Walsenburg, Colorado to Geraldine Hudson McAlpine and Victor Paul Hudson and passed away on February 24, 2023 at his home in Amarillo, Texas with his family by his side at the age of 89. [33] Prosecutors called a criminalist to contradict the defense's witness; the criminalist said that the storage of Martinko's clothing was not unusual. Derek Chauvin's ex-wife . 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. Attorneys for Jerry Burns, convicted of the 1979 murder of Michelle Martinko, are continuing to fight DNA evidence they say the trial court erred in not supressing. 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. Tests eliminated the other two brothers as suspects, but the DNA from Burns' straw matched the blood found on Martinko's clothing. [10][11] She was also a talented performer, joined the twirling squad as a sophomore, and performed in choirs and theater productions. Hi all - I discuss the case of Michelle Martinko, who was murdered in 1979 in Iowa, this week on DNA: ID podcast. Prosecutor Nick Maybanks/Cedar Rapids Police Department, "Murder at the Mall: The Michelle Martinko Case,". 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. But her sister Janelle and Janelles husband John Stonebaker were present at Burns sentencing. CEDAR RAPIDS - Police investigators couldn't find evidence that Jerry Burns and Michelle Martinko knew each other. On May 29, 2020, Burns' attorneys filed a motion asking for a new trial, claiming his constitutional and . KWQC Jerry Burns' mugshot and a family photo of Michelle Martinko. Some thought that Martinko had received harassing phone calls before her death, but police stated that they did not think so. 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.. People named Jerry Burns. Michelle Martinko, 18, was stabbed to death in a mall parking lot in Dec. 1979. Place of rest will be in the Dickson County Memorial Gardens. Authorities pored over 300 pages of internet search terms and 400 pages of website history, according to court testimony Thursday - almost all of it involving blonde females and most web searches starting with queries about blonde strangulation. Reporter covering state and federal courts. 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. 'If I was there, I don't know, Burns told Denlinger. [2], Jerry Lynn Burns (born December 23, 1953[13]) was 25 years old when he killed Michelle Martinko in December 1979. In 2018, the company entered the DNA data from the case into the public genealogy website GEDmatch, where it found a familial DNA match. [15], On the evening of December 19, 1979, Martinko attended a banquet for the Kennedy Concert Choir at the Sheraton Inn in Cedar Rapids. After her parents reported her missing at 2 a.m., police discovered the teen's body in her vehicle about four hours later. Dr. Obrecht Learns if She's a Bone Marrow Match for Willow Plus, Nikolas' Whereabouts Are Revealed. Holst said that in reviewing Burns' computer, he found hundreds of searches and website visits - a pattern that happened several times a week. She claimed to have seen two cars in the lot, one of which was Martinko's, and a man standing next to the open driver's side door of Martinko's car. 2. Yet they had a DNA match linking the Manchester man to the Cedar Rapids teenager, slain in 1979 outside the Westdale Mall. The judge ordered a $5 million cash bond, and Burns is set to return to court for a preliminary hearing on Dec. 28. Dave Franzman, a longtime reporter at ABC Cedar Rapids affiliate KCRG, even covered the case at the time of Michelle Martinko's killing. Even though the police were tipped over 200 times in the weeks following the murder, the case eventually grew cold as investigations stretched on. I just began listening to the DNA:ID podcast. He lived in Manchester at the time of his arrest in 2020 and owned a powder coating business in the city. 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. 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