INVESTIGATIVE CASE DOSSIER: THE MICHELLE MARTINKO MURDER: HOW PARABON DNA SOLVED CEDAR RAPIDS’ 1979 COLD CASE
- Victim: Michelle Marie Martinko (Age 18; High School Senior)
- Date of Crime: December 19, 1979 (Late evening)
- Location of Discovery: Westdale Mall parking lot, Cedar Rapids, Linn County, Iowa
- Perpetrator: Jerry Lynn Burns (Born 1953; Business Owner in Manchester, Iowa)
- Cause of Death: 29 stab wounds to face, neck, and chest
- Breakthrough Method: Parabon NanoLabs Genetic Genealogy (CeCe Moore) & Straw DNA Sting
- Date of Arrest: December 19, 2018 (Exactly 39 years to the day of the murder)
- Sentence: Life in prison without parole (Convicted February 24, 2020)
On the frigid night of December 19, 1979, 18-year-old Cedar Rapids high school senior Michelle Martinko was found stabbed to death inside her family’s Buick in the Westdale Mall parking lot. The savage attack—involving 29 knife wounds—shocked Iowa and sparked one of the longest investigations in state history. In December 2018, exactly thirty-nine years to the day of the crime, Cedar Rapids Police and Parabon NanoLabs arrested 65-year-old Manchester business owner Jerry Lynn Burns, cracking the Michelle Martinko murder through genetic genealogy.
The Westdale Mall Stabbing: December 1979
Michelle Martinko had visited the newly opened Westdale Mall to shop for a winter coat following a high school choir banquet. When she failed to return home by 2:00 AM, her parents reported her missing. Hours later, police located the Martinko Buick in the outer parking lot. Inside, Michelle lay slumped between the front seats, having suffered 29 stab wounds.
The killer took no valuables, leaving money in Michelle’s purse, indicating the attack was motivated by pure violence. In 2005, criminalists extracted a partial male blood profile from Michelle’s dress, proving the killer had cut himself during the violent assault.
The Parabon Genetic Genealogy Breakthrough
In 2018, Cedar Rapids Police Investigator Matt Denlinger submitted the crime scene DNA to Parabon NanoLabs. Genetic genealogist CeCe Moore analyzed the matches on GEDmatch, tracing the genetic lineage to a common set of great-grandparents in northeast Iowa.
Moore narrowed the suspect pool down to three brothers who grew up in Delaware County, Iowa. The oldest brother, Jerry Lynn Burns, was an unblemished local business owner who had never appeared on law enforcement’s radar in 1979.
The Pizza Ranch Soda Straw Sting
In October 2018, undercover Cedar Rapids detectives shadowed Burns to a Pizza Ranch restaurant in Manchester, Iowa. When Burns finished his meal and discarded a plastic beverage cup and drinking straw, detectives retrieved the items.
State Crime Lab analysts extracted DNA from the straw. The result was indisputable: Burns’s DNA matched the bloodstains on Michelle Martinko’s dress with a statistical certainty of 1 in 100 billion.
Arrest on the 39th Anniversary and Conviction
On December 19, 2018—exactly 39 years to the calendar date of the murder—police arrested Jerry Burns at his powder-coating business. In February 2020, a Linn County jury convicted Burns of first-degree murder. Judge Fae Hoover-Grinde sentenced him to mandatory life imprisonment without parole.
Case Timeline & Key Forensic Milestones
| Date / Year | Milestone / Event | Forensic Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 19, 1979 | Michelle Martinko murdered at Westdale Mall | Suspect leaves blood on victim’s dress |
| 2005 | Male DNA profile extracted from preserved evidence | Uploaded to CODIS with no matches |
| May 2018 | Parabon NanoLabs & CeCe Moore build family trees | Identifies Burns brothers in Delaware County, IA |
| Oct 2018 | Undercover soda straw DNA collection | Confirms Jerry Burns as the 1979 killer |
| Feb 24, 2020 | Jerry Burns convicted of first-degree murder | Sentenced to life without parole |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Who killed Michelle Martinko?
Jerry Lynn Burns, a 65-year-old business owner from Manchester, Iowa, was convicted of first-degree murder for killing Michelle Martinko in 1979.
How was Jerry Burns identified after 39 years?
Cedar Rapids Police used Parabon genetic genealogy to narrow suspects to the Burns family, confirming his identity via DNA collected from a discarded soda straw.
What sentence was imposed on Jerry Burns?
Burns was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in August 2020.
