40-Year Cold Case Solved: DNA Cracks Iowa Mall Murder

Michelle Martinko, an 18-year-old from Iowa, was discovered murdered in her car on December 20, 1979, outside the Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids. She had been brutally stabbed 29 times in an attack that left investigators suspecting a stranger. Despite having cash on her and no signs of sexual assault, the case remained unsolved for nearly four decades, leaving her family searching for answers.

The investigation received a significant breakthrough in 2006 when a detective located blood scrapings from the crime scene, which were finally sent for testing. The analysis revealed male DNA, but it took another decade to identify a suspect. Utilizing genetic genealogy, investigators compared the crime scene DNA to public ancestry databases, leading them to Jerry Burns, whose DNA was an exact match.

Jerry Burns was arrested in 2018, on the 39th anniversary of Martinko's death. He was convicted of first-degree murder in February 2020 and subsequently sentenced to life in prison without parole. Burns' appeal was denied by the Iowa Supreme Court in March 2023, confirming his conviction for the decades-old crime.