How DNA solved the Michelle Martinko cold case

Over the years, I had seen the photograph of an attractive 18-year-old named Michelle Marie Martinko. She looked like a neighbor or someone you could call your daughter. She could have headlined a story about a local girl who received a scholarship or had received an award for her charity work.

Her photo appeared in the article only because she had been murdered and her case was unsolved. Michelle Martinko, 18, drove to the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Westdale Mall on December 19, 1979, to buy a winter coat.

Michelle would not return home.

She would be found dead the next day around 4 a.m. inside her family's 1972 Buick Electra. Michelle had been stabbed to death in the mall's parking lot. Her killer had stabbed her over twenty times. The defensive wounds on her hands indicated that Michelle tried to fight off her attacker. It was all hands-on deck. Every police officer who was available went to the mall to investigate the murder. Detective Harvey Denlinger was among the officers who arrived at the scene.

Because of the brutality of the murder, detectives originally thought it was a personal attack. There were no fingerprints at the scene, and there was no indication that robbery was involved. The police considered Andy Seidel, Michelle's ex-boyfriend, a suspect. He remained a suspect for many years.

The murder outraged the community. The police received calls and letters from residents. They wanted to know who killed the young high school student. Law enforcement interviewed over 100 people and pursued several leads. However, none of the leads produced any results. The case went cold.

DNA technology did not exist at the time, but police were able to collect and preserve physical evidence. Detective Douglas Larison began investigating the cold case in 2005. He was once a classmate of Michelle's. Now he was trying to figure out who killed her. Michelle's dress and steering wheel were eventually used to obtain DNA. Despite not identifying a killer, the DNA excluded Jason Seidel, who had been a suspect for many years.

In 2015, law enforcement finally caught up with Michelle's killer. Det. Matt Denlinger was assigned to the case. In 1979, his father was one of the original detectives working the case. Detective Denlinger contacted Parabon NanoLabs and asked for their assistance. A composite sketch was created using the suspect's DNA. Using genetic genealogy, the suspect was located through a female relative. The DNA was eventually traced to a man named Jerry Burns.

Burns was arrested on Dec. 19, 2018, and charged with the murder of Michelle Michelle Martinko. At the time of his arrest, Burns, the father of three, had been living in Manchester, a town north of Cedar Rapids. Burns was convicted and sentenced to life without parole. He has denied being involved in the homicide. But he cannot explain why his DNA was found at the crime scene.

With modern technology, many cold cases from the past are coming back to haunt killers who are now in their later years. Many of these killers have children, grandchildren, and have achieved success. Unfortunately, they denied their victims the same opportunities they had received.

Even though justice may take years to be served, I am still happy to see these killers captured and sent to prison for the rest of their lives. It’s good knowing that many of these hidden killers are looking over their shoulders and worrying about the police knocking on their doors.

Marc is a longtime resident of Clermont County and an avid reader. Contact him through his website at www.themarcabe.com or through Facebook: www.Facebook.com/themarcabe or his twitter account @themarcabe. Marc also has a podcast called Catch my Killer where he interviews family members seeking justice for their murdered loved ones. You can listen at www.catchmykiller.com.