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Home / News / Crime and Courts

The Murder of Michelle Martinko: A video summary of the 1979 Cedar Rapids case and Jerry Burns’ 2020 conviction

Bailey Cichon

Jul. 13, 2021 1:23 pm

On December 19, 1979 18-year-old Michelle Martinko was stabbed to death in the parking lot of Westdale Mall. For nearly 40 years, Cedar Rapids police searched for her killer. DNA evidence provided the breakthrough needed to close the case.

Select articles related to this case:

◼️ Investigator: Jerry Burns' 'fetish' for violent internet sex shows possible motive for killing Michelle Martinko

◼️ At murder trial, friends recount seeing Michelle Martinko for the last time

◼️ Forensic consultant said DNA transfer could explain how Jerry Burns' DNA was found on Martinko's dress

◼️ Jerry Burns found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Michelle Martinko

◼️ Michelle Martinko’s sister: Decades of heartache before hope

◼️ Meet Matthew Denlinger, the man who was on a mission to solve the Michelle Martinko murder

◼️ Jerry Burns hires ‘Making a Murderer’ lawyer Kathleen Zellner for appeal in Michelle Martinko murder