First Assistant Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks said the information wouldn't have changed the verdict. Martinko, who was 18, was found stabbed to death in her family's Buick in the early morning hours of Dec. 20, 1979, in the parking lot of Westdale Mall. The main argument from Burns' defense team was that the evidence used in the case from back in 1979 was mishandled at the time, but on Feb. 24, 2020, Burns was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette), Jerry Burns reacts as he is sentenced at a hearing at the Linn County Courthouse in Cedar Rapids on Friday, Aug. 7, 2020. Within days ofMartinko's killing, police received more than 200 phone calls and letters from people who wanted to help, according to Des Moines Register archives. The two had done business beforeWendling owns a body shop, Paint-N-Place, and Burns owns a powder-coating company, Advanced Coating Concepts. Although Martinko's case was eventually solved, the mystery outlived both of her parents, who died years before Burns was found guilty, and Killer Cases explains, the hope of finding her killer and figuring out what happened and why slowly dwindled throughout the years. Decades of technological advancements ultimately allowed experts to construct a partial male DNA profile from a blood scraping on the gear shift of the Martinko family car and a blood stain on the back of Martinkos dress. WebJerry Burns is 68 years old and was born on 12/23/1953. 'We were in the same class, so I've known him almost 50 years,' McElliot said Thursday. "I worked nights and it just freaked me out.". Here's the Update in His Case. 28, 2021 7:50 am610d ago, Trish Mehaffey Crime and Courts Feb. 28, 2023 6:39 pm, Crime and Courts Feb. 28, 2023 5:22 pm6h ago, Crime and Courts Feb. 28, 2023 5:19 pm6h ago, Caleb McCullough, Gazette-Lee Des Moines Bureau State Government Feb. 28, 2023 7:17 pm, State Government Feb. 28, 2023 6:04 pm5h ago, Jeff Linder High School Basketball 38m ago38m ago. An Iowa man was on Friday sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole in the 1979 murder of an 18-year-old high school student. Burns owns a powder-coating company, Advanced Coating Concepts, in Manchester. Recalling telling investigators, "I don't know, test it." Wiki, Biography, Age, Spouse, Net Worth, Fast Facts, Who Is David Bolt? Across the aisle, the benches behind Burns were packed to the brim. "No, I must not have asked properly, we were never instructed in school how to ask..they just seemed to ignore it," said Burns. "I almost quit," she said. Hundreds of people were interviewed and countless leads were followed, police said a year after the slaying. An analyst at the state crime lab said DNA from the straw matched blood found on Martinko's dress. Birky said she recalled Martinko was dressed up that night and said she came from a musical banquet, according to the affidavit. She said he lives and operates a business just five miles from her house. "Its scary," Moreno said. Never did I ever think he had a mean bone in his body," said McElliot, 64. Next Spies and the state will submit written statements to the judge outlining what evidence should or should not make it into next month's trial. On December 19, 1979, when 18-year-old Cedar Rapids, Iowa inhabitant Michelle Martinko, vanished, it transformed into a case that before long ran cold. In a court document made public Friday, he wrote that he makes $30,000 a year. Burns, who was convicted in February of killing Michelle Martinko in 1979, was sentenced to life in prison. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. By the time of Burns' arrest, both of Martinko's parents had been gone for decades: Martinko'sfather died in 1995 and her mother in 1998. He also said it was difficult to believe that law enforcement never came across such information in the nearly 40 years of investigation. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette), Sixth Judicial District Judge Fae Hoover reads aloud a motion for a new trial filed by Burns at a sentencing hearing for Jerry Lynn Burns at the Linn County Courthouse in Cedar Rapids on Friday, Aug. 7, 2020. Investigators said they arrested Burns after DNA taken from a restaurant straw he had used matched the crime scene DNA. ", Our first look at Jerry Lynn Burns, 64, of Manchester after he was arrested this morning for first-degree murder in the 1979 homicide case of Michelle Martinko.Burns will appear in Linn County District Court tomorrow morning. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) An Iowa man was on Friday sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole in the 1979 murder of an 18-year-old high school student. He wasn't carrying any identification at the time of his disappearance, doesn't have a driver's license, and doesn't own a car or cellular phone, making him difficult to track. Where Is Jerry Lynn Burns Now? Anna Spoerre covers crime and courts for the Des Moines Register. "This was a brutal, violent, horrendous crime," Linn County Assistant Attorney Mike Harris said at the time. Updated 2 times since October 12, 2004. Read more about the circumstances surrounding Burns' arrest here. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. (Stephen Mally/The Gazette), The cover of the 1972 West Delaware High School year book at the Manchester Public Library in Manchester on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018. In high school, Burns ran track and was involved in FFA, McElliot said. Burns, who was convicted in February of killing Michelle Martinko in 1979, was sentenced to life in prison. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Burns pleaded not guiltyin January. Jerry Burns as a senior in a 1972 West Delaware High School year book at the Manchester Public Library in Manchester on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018. In January 2019, he pleaded not guilty and a trial date was set. Maybanks recapped Monday how witnesses in the two weeks prior outlined an extensive chain of custody of the evidence to ensure no new DNA could have been introduced into the packages containing Martinko's bloodied clothes and pieces of the car. "His first wife's death was a suicide, so he was talked to, but it was clearly a suicide," said the sheriff of 18 years. Iowa community tries to reconcile a cold case arrest and its long history with a neighbor, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Police never came into the shop, he said, and no law enforcement officers ever contacted him or asked him about Burns. Instead, it was a Thursday evening news update. Wright said he never saw any signs that Burns was under investigation. The mandatory penalty for first-degree murder in Iowa is life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KWWL) -- On the third day of a hearing to suppress evidence in the cold case killing of Michelle Martinko, the man accused of the brutal crime took the witness stand, speaking publicly for the first time. "We would ride up and down that road by his house and never thought anything of it," she said. The case remained unsolved until Wednesday night when police announced they used DNA evidence to link Burns to the crime. Then for proof. Notwithstanding the way that Burns conviction and denouncing are clear and he is presently in prison, his legitimate group has continued to insist his blamelessness and upset the choice. In his statement, Stonebraker said he will never forget Janet Martinko calling them early Dec. 20, 1979, after she had identified the 'bloody, torn, broken body of her beautiful daughter. Burns' trial attracted national attention because the cold case was solved after 39 years due in large part to DNA evidence and genetic genealogy. DAVENPORT, Ia. 'Nobody is guilty until they prove it.'. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette), Jerry Lynn Burns is led from the courtroom following his sentencing hearing at the Linn County Courthouse in Cedar Rapids on Friday, Aug. 7, 2020. After turning to GEDmatch, a commercial genetic genealogy site, investigators narrowed their suspects to three brothers, all in Iowa. Burns, who was convicted in February of killing Michelle Martinko in 1979, was sentenced to life in prison. Also, we have no idea about his brother and sister, and we dont know their names either. He built a new home on land his parents once farmed and constructed a gas station and convenience store near where he lived. 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. Advertisement Stonebraker and his wife, Janelle, Staff writer Erin Jordan contributed to this story. Follow the Register onFacebookandTwitterfor updates. James was at the family business the day Jerry was first questioned by investigators and later arrested. Burns is being held at Linn County Jail. The reward for information leading to an arrest in Martinkos murder was $15,000. An hour before announcing Burns arrest, police in Cedar Rapids tweeted that there had been a major development in Martinkos murder. "The people in law enforcement take on their duty and their task seriously," Maybanks told the Des Moines Register, part of the USA TODAY Network,afterthe verdict. In December 2018, Brian's cousin, Jerry Burns, who also lived in Manchester, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of 18-year-old Michelle Martinko. (Stephen Mally/The Gazette), Jerry Burns (center) is seen as a senior in a 1972 West Delaware High School year book at the Manchester Public Library in Manchester on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018. Mormann said she was 'born and raised' in Manchester. Our heartfelt thanks to everyone. We remain so grateful to generations of Cedar Rapids law enforcement that acted like a dog with a bone, Stonebraker said. Update, Oct. 14: The trial for Jerry Burns has been officially delayed, and is now temporarily set for Feb. 10, 2020. More:Iowa community tries to reconcile a cold case arrest and its long history with a neighbor. Burns' attorneys claimed the case has been surroundedby "pervasive and prejudicial pretrial publicity" and has been in the public eye for the past four decades,court filings show. Burns said 'somebody else stabbed Martinko that night. 'I'd say the reaction today has been utter disbelief,' said Jackie Mormann, owner of The Bread Basket, a local eatery on Main Street in downtown Manchester. In June 2020, his attorney, Leon Spies, motioned for a retrial. It makes you question how someone could live here in this community for all these years and possibly have done something like this.'. "Ialso feel bad for, you know, his current family and friends because now they have to go through all this as well.". Burns, who was convicted in February of killing Michelle Martinko in 1979, was sentenced to life in prison. Then for a verdict. For Michelle Martinko murder suspect Jerry Burns, Timeline: What we know about Michelle Marie Martinko's death and investigation, Friend 'happy Michelle finally gets justice' after police make arrest in Martinko killing, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. For nearly 40 years, the family of slain high schooler Michelle Martinko waited for an arrest. The music books either were dropped somewhere police didn't searched or the killer disposed of them, he said. In any case, not a lot about his family has been unveiled at this point, because of a few private matters. Chief Jerman said Wednesday night that Martinko's family now could take comfort in knowing a murder arrest had been made, and for Martinko's sister Janelle Stonebraker and her husband John Stonebraker, an arrest in the case was something to be grateful for. "Everybody was so anxious last night to see a picture to make sure it was actually, you know, him," Mormann said. Andy Seidel Now: Where is Michelle Martinko's Boyfriend Toda We have no information about his girlfriend/boyfriend. "But the world's a big place and we dont know anything about anybody. (Rebecca F. Miller/The Gazette), Jerry Lynn Burns and defense attorney Leon Spies (right) react as Sixth Judicial District Judge Fae Hoover reads Burns' sentence at a hearing at the Linn County Courthouse in Cedar Rapids on Friday, Aug. 7, 2020. The sisters' parents died more than 20 years ago,Albert Martinko in 1995and his wife, Janet, in 1998. Burns is being held at Linn County Jail on a $5 million cash bond. May receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website Burns to brim. Dog with a neighbor, Paint-N-Place, and Burns owns a body,... Who is David Bolt California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy their suspects three. 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