See Photos. [9] Martinko was found inside collapsed over the passenger seat and stabbed to death. Martinko's father Albert and mother Janet died in 1995 and 1998 respectively. At the time of his arrest, Burns ran a powder-coating business called, Advanced Coating Concepts. The victim was the younger of two daughters of Albert and Janet Martinko. Burns pleaded not guilty at his February 2020 trial but the jury deliberated just three hours and returned a guilty verdict. He grew up in Manchester, Iowa, and graduated from West Delaware High School in 1972. On December 19, 2018, he was arrested in Manchester, Iowa, on the 39th anniversary of Michelle's death. 39 years later after the murder, a person named Jerry Lynn Burns was arrested in Manchester, Iowa, and charged with first-degree murder. 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. 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. Over 40 years ago, teenager Michelle Martinko was stabbed to death outside a mall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Like all the cases I cover, Michelle's was solved using forensic genealogy, which led police to Jerry Lynn Burns. . [14] Burns's cousin, Brian Burns, went missing on December 19, 2013 and has not been found. But the jury found the DNA connection convincing and after a nine-day trial, Burns was convicted of first-degree murder. Investigators also showed Burns two renderings DNA labs had supplied them of possible suspects; he questioned their likeness to him. "Hmm, strange," Burns responded when Cedar Rapids Police Investigator Matthew Denlinger told him he was a suspect for Martinko's death. He is survived by his wife, Lydia Lynn; his oldest son, Scott Lynn; and his ch May 12, 2021 at 04:20 PM. The prosecution emphasized the unlikelihood of the DNA evidence matching someone other than the person who left it at the scene. December . Could Jerry Burns have committed murders other than Michelle Martinko's? However, in 2006, a tip came into the Cedar Rapids police department. "It's always the boyfriend, the girlfriend, the husband someone really close to the person. Visitation will be held from 5 Burns denied any involvement in the murder. William Brangham: Turns out the murderer was a distant, distant relative of Jennings. 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. [10] Police considered the killing to be "personal in nature" based on the number and location of stab wounds. "So it doesn't matter that they haven't had their DNA tested through another arrest or crime scene, we don't need their DNA. 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. 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. Denlinger said they went to Burns' business, Advanced Powder Coating Concepts in Manchester, and he agreed to talk with them. Jerry Lynn Burns, 65, is set to face a jury in February, bringing momentum to a case that was left cold for years. Last . [26] He was not able to provide an explanation for why his DNA would have been present at the crime scene. Offender records are public information pursuant to Section 904.601 (1)Iowa Code (1999). State of Iowa. The charge against Jerry comes as a complete shock to us and we are doing our best to carry on with our lives, the family said in the statement on Saturday. 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. Tests eliminated the other two brothers as suspects, but the DNA from Burns' straw matched the blood found on Martinko's clothing. And he had the daunting task of trying to figure out who that could be, armed only with an unidentified sample of blood DNA. Gerald Edward "Jake" Merriner, 92, of Jane Lew passed away on Monday, February 27, 2023 in the Stonewall Jackson Hospital. We would also like to extend our sympathy to the Martinko family.. The case was solved, but there were lingering questions about Jerry Burns. ", Whoever the killer was, he had come prepared. Familial matches let them narrow down the suspect list to three brothers from Manchester, Iowa. What began to turn the case around was the emergence of DNA as a forensic tool for crime fighting in the late 1990s. Burns said when presented with the rendering. My gut tells me there's probably something else out there. 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. And the crucial link is a man named Jerry Burns. His first wife, Patricia, died by suicide in 2008. Burns told the investigator about 25 times to test him, Denlinger said. 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. [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. [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. On August 7, 2020, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 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. 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. A juvenile found carrying a knife was interviewed and ruled out in her murder, as was a shopping center employee who had told police that he enjoyed following women and ogling store mannequins. The company also produced approximations of how the man would have aged in the years since the crime. ", First published on November 6, 2020 / 8:47 AM. "That was big, national news," said Denlinger. His ex-wife, Patricia, committed suicide in 2008, and his cousin . Burns has hired a very high profile attorney and has said he plans to appeal his conviction, which was very largely based on the DNA evidence. The hearing will continue in Linn County District Court, though a date has not been set. 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). [22][12] From that, police were able to build a partial DNA profile. 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. On December 20, 2018, a district judge set his bond 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. 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. CBS "48 Hours" on Saturday will spotlight a 40-year-old Iowa murder case that has raised questions about whether the killer could be linked to Jodi Huisentruit's abduction.. Jerry Burns was convicted last February of killing 18-year-old Michelle Martinko. 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. The case had remained a mystery for 39 years until police say new DNA genealogy technology identified Burns' DNA at the scene. Investigators matched DNA found in the car to Jerry Burns and arrested him in 2018. Jerry was married to his second wife at the time of his arrest. 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. Log In. Respectfully submitted, /s/ Nicholas Curran . People named Jerry Burns. He previously co-owned a truck shop and worked for John Deere. . Hi all - I discuss the case of Michelle Martinko, who was murdered in 1979 in Iowa, this week on DNA: ID podcast. 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. The DNA was uploaded to the law enforcement database called Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, but investigators never found a match, police said. 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. This sounds like a serial killer. Jerry Burns appeals his conviction for murder in the first degree. He was preceded in death by his wife of 50 years, Joan C. Plum Merriner, who passed away on January 4, 2019. 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. "I asked Jerry, 'Did you do the crime?' [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. KWQC Burns coached the Minnesota Vikings from 1986-91. Burns has hired a very high profile attorney and has said he plans to appeal his conviction, which was very largely . Find your friends on Facebook. "The family never gave up hope that this case would be solved," Jerman said in a statement Wednesday. Jerry Burns enters the courtroom in 2020 (Image via We Are Iowa) Burns was born in Manchester, Iowa in 1953 and graduated from West . "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. [9] She was fully dressed, and the medical examiner determined she had not been sexually assaulted. He may be one of the relatively rare "one and done" killers that we have learned about now that we have vastly improved DNA analysis technology. Jerry Lynn Burns is pictured in a booking photo released by the Linn County Sheriff's Office on Dec. 20, 2018. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? Jerry Lynn Burns faces a first degree murder charge in the killing of Michelle Martinko. Michelle Martinko was an 18yr old student from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA. Jerry Lynn Burns was arrested in the 1979 killing of Michelle Martinko. READ NEXT: Serial Killers Ex Thinks There Were More Victims, Parents of Murdered Teenager Did Not Live to See Her Killer Brought to Justice, Please review our privacy policy here: https://heavy.com/privacy-policy/, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. 2. Supreme Court No. A Felony. [2], Martinko had been stabbed 29 times in her face, neck, and chest. His cousin, Brian Burns, went missing on the 19th of December 2013. "Burnsie was laying siege to New Orleans," said Lynn. [2], In 2006, 27 years after Martinko's killing, a new cold case investigator working for the Cedar Rapids Police Department received a tip connected to the case. This really is an excellent true crimes podcast that is different from the many others that are being produced. The final nail in the coffin was when a witness gave his statement to the court. [3] The brothers were placed under surveillance, and investigators began to attempt to collect their DNA secretly. Denlinger had to consider that Michelle could have been murdered by a stranger. [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. An obituary for Burns' wife, Patricia, says that she died in June 2008 at the age of 55 . 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. Life legacy Wallace Jerry Huggins Funeral services will be Tuesday April 11, 2017 at 1 PM from the Chapel of the Taylor Funeral Home with Bro. See if it is.. GEDmatch returned one person who shared DNA markers with the suspect in Martinko's murder, and it determined her to be likely the killer's second cousin once removed. [11], In the mid-1980s, Martinko's father filed a lawsuit against the owners of the Westdale Mall and claimed negligence in not providing "reasonable security" on the night of the murder. 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 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. Lives in Tyler, Texas. "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. Investigators matched DNA found in the car to Jerry Burns and arrested him in 2018. 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 . 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. 20-1150). Glad you are liking it! I am a brokenhearted mother.. Jerry Burns is still behind bars on a $5 million cash bond, charged with first-degree murder in the 1979 murder of Michelle Martinko. He lived in Manchester at the time of his arrest in 2020 and owned a powder coating business in the city. But then Denlinger's supervisor, who had been listening to the recorded interview from across the street with other officers, sent Denlinger text message telling him to arrest Burns. 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. Unfortunately, Martinkos parents did not survive to see her killer brought to justice. The murder was closely followed within her community, and the police received more than 200 tips in the weeks following her killing. A DNA profile was developed from that evidence and entered into the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), but no matches were found. He began to search for her, as did the police. The sample was put into a national computer database and was used to clear more than 70 of Martinkos acquaintances, according to NBC News. [11] As the investigation dwindled, a $10,000 reward was offered for information that would lead police to the killer. Now in his late 60s, Burns is currently behind bars and will stay there till he dies. Doug Larison to reexamine the file and find what he believed to be the killers DNA in blood found on Martinkos dress that was not her blood. 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. 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 Burns may be a hitched man, having a . 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. [26] When the DNA sample was tested, it matched the blood sample found at the crime scene. I've been reading up on this case and was wondering if they profiled this guy? According to Reusse, Burns would generally be a bit more careful with his language during a press conference or whenever there were cameras . 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 . [2], On October 29, 2018, an investigator observed one of the brothers, Jerry Lynn Burns, drink multiple sodas using a plastic straw. Jerry Lynn Burns was finally arrested in October 2018 for the murder of Michelle Martinko, that took place 39 years prior. 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. 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. The detective, Denlinger, told me that he believes Jerry Burns has been reliving the murder in his fantasies ever since, but they have never been able to tie him to any other homicides. [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. There is no known DNA evidence tying Burns to the Huisentruit case and no evidence that he knew Jodi Huisentruit. [9] After the event, she asked her friend and twirling squad teammate if she wanted to join her on a shopping trip to the Westdale Mall, which had recently opened, and where Martinko worked. But by 2 a.m., her father called the police because she had not returned home. 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. Updated on: August 4, 2021 / 2:29 PM 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. 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. And the crucial link is a man named Jerry Burns. 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. Her killer will go undetected for almost 40yrs! KWQC Jerry Burns' mugshot and a family photo of Michelle Martinko. Allison said he and Burns had a good relationship at first but it eventually turned sour. ABC News' Matt Foster and Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report. Burns is accused of murdering Michelle Martinko in 1979. The new technique, started this year with the "Golden State Killer," has identified over two dozen suspects. Her mother, Janet, died in 1998. 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. [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. Powered by. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. The Cedar Rapids teenager was found stabbed to death in her parents car parked at Westdale Mall. I've seen several articles that said he might be tied to other murders. [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. [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. Denlinger said he intentionally chose that day to interview Burns because it was the anniversary of Martinko's death. This evidence was inadmissible at trial but was the subject of a public suppression hearing. Please logout and login again. In a brief interview with the Cedar Rapids Gazette in 1980, Janet said of her daughter, She loved music. Jerry Burns mentioned Jodi by name while speaking to an investigator shortly before his arrest. DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWWL) - State prosecutors called a former cellmate of Jerry Burns in his murder trial, which continued Tuesday in Scott County. [12] Martinko, who was a senior in high school when she was killed, had plans to attend Iowa State University to study interior design. This revealed everything, and Burns was ultimately declared guilty of first-degree murder. In 2012, while serving a life sentence for an unrelated attack, the man died in prison from colon cancer. [25] He refused to voluntarily provide a sample of DNA, but was compelled to do so with a search warrant. 'As far as I know, I wasn't there.. 'If I was there, I don't know, Burns told Denlinger. Jerry Lynn Burns, 64, was arrested Wednesday and . Hernando . But where is this cold-blooded killer now? 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.. 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. Daryl F. Gates' Police Quest: SWAT, a group of 41 people. Jerry Lynn Burns appeared in Linn County this morning on a video monitor from jail where he had his bail set at $5 million. She was a beautiful singer, and I miss all this. "It looks personal, it's a lot of stab wounds, it's overkill," said lead Detective Matt Denlinger of the Cedar Rapids Police Department. Further the Iowa Department of Corrections assumes no legal liability or . In his video interview with police right before his arrest, Burns, unsolicited, mentioned the name of Jodi Huisentruit as he was being questioned about the Martinko case. Denlinger recorded him using a camera that was hidden inside a coffee mug. The detective looked through the case files and found what he thought to be the murderer's blood. Murderer Jerry Lynn Burns was not caught for almost 40 years. And I went 'bingo'.". Investigators struggled over the years to connect DNA collected at the scene to a suspect. [2] A police spokesman said that "everyone's instinct is to say it was a guy", but they were not sure of the sex of the killer. Denlinger interviewed Burns at his business. Sexual Assault of Unnamed Victim (12) . As reported by CBS News, Burns was not arrested until 2018, when DNA evidence confirmed he was responsible for Martinko's death. He then contacted a member of a third branch, and a DNA test determined that they were first cousins with the killer. "I am happy Michelle finally gets justice.". [6] In September 2020, Burns filed a notice of appeal. Martinko then asked another acquaintance to go to the mall with her; that friend said yes at first but later changed her mind. Mason City police won't disclose whether or not they are now looking at Jerry Burns as a suspect in that case. 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