Burns' wife, Patricia . [22][12] From that, police were able to build a partial DNA profile. 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 A. Burns, age 69, of Bryan, Texas went home to be with the Lord on Thursday, September 29, 2022 at 10:56 p.m. Log in or sign up for Facebook to connect with friends, family and people you know. ", Whoever the killer was, he had come prepared. [11][18] In the year after the killing, the number of people interviewed by police reached the hundreds, and up to 30 people were interviewed under hypnosis. He was born on December 09, 1952 to Harold Eugene and Virginia Burns in Osceola, Arkansas. 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. Linn. Rumors began to circulate about the crime. 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. KWQC Jerry Burns' mugshot and a family photo of Michelle Martinko. 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. v. Jerry Lynn Burns. We need somebody from their family to have tested in order to resolve these cases.". 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. Burns is accused of killing Cedar Rapids teenager Michelle Martinko in 1979. [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. At the time of the murder, Burns was 25 and lived in Manchester, Iowa. Jerry Lynn Burns was arrested in the 1979 killing of Michelle Martinko. [2] The police received more than 100 tips following the release of the new images. 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. His ex-wife, Patricia, committed suicide in 2008, and his cousin Brian Burns astonishingly disappeared. The victim was the younger of two daughters of Albert and Janet Martinko. Thank you!! [6] In September 2020, Burns filed a notice of appeal. 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. 19, 2018. Burns was read his Miranda rights and taken to the police department. He was arrested Wednesday on the exact day Martinko was last seen alive. 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. Doris Homerline Clower died Saturday . [28] The defense also requested that evidence pertaining to Burns' cell phone browser history be suppressed. The images looked considerably different from the 1980 composite sketch and showed a man with blond hair and blue eyes. Prosecutors played a covertly recorded interview that investigators conducted with Jerry Lynn Burns in December of 2018. The trial for Jerry Lynn Burns, who's been charged with first-degree murder in the 1979 killing of Michelle Martinko, will begin at 9 a.m. Oct. 14 at Linn County Courthouse, according to online court records and the Des Moines Register. 1, 2023 9:40 am7h ago, Crime and Courts Feb. 28, 2023 5:22 pm23h ago, Crime and Courts Feb. 28, 2023 5:19 pm23h ago, Jeff Linder High School Basketball 21m ago21m ago. They then used genealogical data as well as a covertly collected DNA sample from Burns to positively identify him, authorities said. Roberta Williams' Phantasmagoria, a group of 39 people. 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. Her father died in 1995 and her mother died in 1998. 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 is accused of the 1979 cold case murder of Michelle Martinko in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Although the tip did not lead to any suspects, the investigator discovered what he believed to be the killer's blood while he was reviewing the case files. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette). Gerald Edward "Jake" Merriner, 92, of Jane Lew passed away on Monday, February 27, 2023 in the Stonewall Jackson Hospital. Her mother, Janet, died in 1998. What began to turn the case around was the emergence of DNA as a forensic tool for crime fighting in the late 1990s. 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. [33] Prosecutors called a criminalist to contradict the defense's witness; the criminalist said that the storage of Martinko's clothing was not unusual. JERRY M. LYNN "Bear" Crown Point, Indiana Jerry M. "Bear" Lynn, age 59, of Crown Point, IN passed away on April 4, 2010. He said Burns had no memory of being at the crime scene. CEDAR RAPIDS - Police investigators couldn't find evidence that Jerry Burns and Michelle Martinko knew each other. "I talked to myself and didn't know what to do Then you have to pray.". 1, 2021 3:52 pm608d ago, Caleb McCullough Health Care and Medicine Jun. People around him considered him to be a professional but everything fizzled out shortly after. 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. Lives in Brentwood, Arkansas. The Delaware County Sheriff said it did review the case after Burns' arrest and "feels that was clearly the case.". "Burnsie was laying siege to New Orleans," said Lynn. 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 defense brought only one witness, a self-described forensic DNA consultant, who testified on the possibility that police could have mishandled the evidence. 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 . Jerry Burns is still behind bars . The case was appealed and was eventually decided by the Iowa Supreme Court in favor of the mall owners. She was seen inside the mall by friends and coworkers because Martinko worked in the mall. The next day, she was found stabbed to death in the mall parking lot. 24. Some thought that Martinko had received harassing phone calls before her death, but police stated that they did not think so. Familial matches let them narrow down the suspect list to three brothers from Manchester, Iowa. 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. Sign Up. 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. He would have been around 25-years-old when he killed Michelle Martinko in December of 1979. 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. This evidence was inadmissible at trial but was the subject of a public suppression hearing. The prosecution emphasized the unlikelihood of the DNA evidence matching someone other than the person who left it at the scene. Holst said that in reviewing Burns' computer, he found hundreds of searches and website visits - a pattern that happened several times a week. Be the first one to comment on this story. 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. 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. While that tip did not yield any new leads, it did cause Det. Sonny arrives at his restaurant and gives Dex, who is there, the night off. 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. Jerry knew he was called to be a preacher at the age of 13 and after many years of arguing with God. 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 . Jerry Lynn Burns' DNA sample was collected from a plastic straw he drank soda with. Visitation for Jim will be held on Monday, March 13, 2023 from 4:00PM until 6:00PM at the Peacock Family Chapel. [39], Last edited on 20 February 2023, at 04:20, "Michelle Martinko's murder 'haunted' the Cedar Rapids community for 40 years. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. 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. He was preceded in death by his wife of 50 years, Joan C. Plum Merriner, who passed away on January 4, 2019. . 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 company also produced approximations of how the man would have aged in the years since the crime. In 2017, Cedar Rapids police said they reached out to Parabon NanoLabs to help build a suspect profile based on the crime scene DNA. See Photos. 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. A jailhouse informant also testified in the case Tuesday. While being questioned about . His ex-wife, Patricia, committed suicide in 2008, and his cousin . They wanted to try to get an explanation for why Burns' DNA was found at the crime scene and to get a DNA sample from Burns to confirm the DNA obtained from the drinking straw. KWQC 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. Michelle Martinko, Kennedy High School yearbook photo, 1979. Burns pleaded not guilty at his February 2020 trial but the jury deliberated just three hours and returned a guilty verdict. Investigators also showed Burns two renderings DNA labs had supplied them of possible suspects; he questioned their likeness to him. [1][5][6], Michelle Marie Martinko (October 6, 1961 December 19, 1979) was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Thanks to advances in technology and DNA evidence, a jury in an Iowa courthouse . The majority of the search activity and history on Burns' computer was sexually graphic and more 'deviant in nature, said Holst, who investigates sex crimes and internet crimes against children. 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. Her case went cold for decades until DNA testing finally brought her family some peace and put her murderer behind bars. 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. [2][5] Her hands bore defensive wounds, which police said to indicate that she had fought back against her killer. But he said he and another investigator had no plans to arrest Burns that day. Jerry Lynn Burns (born December 23, 1953 [13]) was 25 years old when he killed Michelle Martinko in December 1979. Jerry Lynn Burns, 64, was charged with first-degree murder and is scheduled to appear Thursday in Linn County Court. 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. timing. After several trials and errors, the suspects were narrowed down to three brothers who had grown up in Manchester, Iowa. Court documents said blood on clothing worn by Martinko and a blood stain on the gear shift of the car, where the teens body was discovered, were analyzed and found to belong to someone else. "We are reviewing the case and at this time have not uncovered any additional information that would implicate Jerry Burns in that disappearance," Sheriff John LeClere told TV9. Police said they were able to connect Burns to the case with DNA evidence. The DNA was uploaded to the law enforcement database called Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, but investigators never found a match, police said. Denlinger said he intentionally chose that day to interview Burns because it was the anniversary of Martinko's death. [9][2], Police had few leads and appealed to the public for tips. He is survived by his wife, Lydia Lynn; his oldest son, Scott Lynn; and his ch I've been reading up on this case and was wondering if they profiled this guy? 2. Hi! 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. I miss all her singing and her beautiful music. Allison also recounted a time when Burns tried to tear down a cellmate's bunk bed because he was snoring too loudly. Around 4 a.m., Martinko was found inside her familys Buick Electra. "Well, I kind of think you do a little bit," Denlinger responded in the video interview. The family of the man suspected of murdering Michelle Martinko 39 years ago said the arrest came "as a complete shock.". 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. 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. Mason City police won't disclose whether or not they are now looking at Jerry Burns as a suspect in that case. In 2012, while serving a life sentence for an unrelated attack, the man died in prison from colon cancer. Jerry Burns may be a hitched man, having a . Jerry Lynn Burns. After weeks pursuing a wide range of possible blood relatives, Parabon helped him narrow the search down to three middle-aged brothers in Iowa who would have been young men back in 1979: Ken, Don and Jerry Burns. As reported by CBS News, Burns was not arrested until 2018, when DNA evidence confirmed he was responsible for Martinko's death. In fact, his father Harvey, now 85, had been one of the original officers on the case 40 years earlier. Dr. Obrecht Learns if She's a Bone Marrow Match for Willow Plus, Nikolas' Whereabouts Are Revealed. Months before his February . We would also like to extend our sympathy to the Martinko family.. He then contacted a member of a third branch, and a DNA test determined that they were first cousins with the killer. The final nail in the coffin was when a witness gave his statement to the court. He asked Burns for a sample of his DNA, but Burns said no - not without an attorney. 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. The police then began procuring evidence secretly. Investigators used the blood samples to develop a partial male DNA profile. [15], On the evening of December 19, 1979, Martinko attended a banquet for the Kennedy Concert Choir at the Sheraton Inn in Cedar Rapids. [11] As the investigation dwindled, a $10,000 reward was offered for information that would lead police to the killer. [30] The doctor who performed Martinko's autopsy and investigators in the original case, all now retired, took the stand to testify to how the investigation was conducted, and to Martinko's cause of death. Burns is accused of murdering Michelle Martinko in 1979. . During the trial, he initially denied knowing Martinko but his statements were found to contradict when his defense argued that evidence had been mishandled back in 1979 and that different articles of clothing from the crime scene should not have been stored together in one evidence bag. His first wife, Patricia, died by suicide in 2008. [7] Eventually, more than 125 people would have their DNA swabbed and compared against samples taken from the scene. Prosecutor Nick Maybanks/Cedar Rapids Police Department, "Murder at the Mall: The Michelle Martinko Case,". Burns also built himself a new home on his parents' land and opened a gas station and convenience store nearby. During this time, according to the testimony, he made a reference to 'blacking out but didn't explain it. [14] Burns's cousin, Brian Burns, went missing on December 19, 2013 and has not been found. Staggering snowfall in California mountains leaves residents trapped for days, SpaceX launches new crew on flight to space station, Garland testifies before Senate panel amid ongoing special counsel probes, Colon cancer rates rising in younger age group, study finds, Firefighter dies battling blaze in downtown Buffalo, mayor says, Several hospitalized after Lufthansa flight diverted to Dulles due to turbulence, Explosive found in checked luggage at Pennsylvania airport, feds say, Prosecution wraps its case at Alex Murdaugh murder trial, Top McCarthy aide, House Oversight chair each met with Ashli Babbitt's mother, Sneak peek: Murder at the Mall: The Michelle Martinko Case, Michelle Martinko, left, and Jodi Huisentruit. State of Iowa. December . He previously co-owned a truck shop and worked for John Deere. Unfortunately, this led the police nowhere at the time and the case gradually got cold. 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. [25] He refused to voluntarily provide a sample of DNA, but was compelled to do so with a search warrant. The sketch looked like a man in his 20s, weighing 165-175 pounds, and standing at around 6 feet. She had looked into the parking lot as she drove by to check for her daughter's car because her daughter worked at the mall and had had car trouble before. Burns made an initial court appearance via video Thursday morning and said he would fill out an application for a court-appointed counsel. 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. 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