GUILTY IA - Michelle Martinko, 18, stabbed to death, Cedar Rapids, 19 Dec 1979

[Niner]

Other Order HOOVER GRINDE FAE 10/15/2019 10/15/2019 10/15/2019
Comments: COURT NEGLECTED TO INCLUDE TRIAL SETTING ORDER CR GAZETTE
WAS PRESENT FOR TRIL SETTING CONFERENCE

Order for Continuance HOOVER GRINDE FAE 10/15/2019 10/15/2019 10/15/2019
Comments: JURY TRIAL 02/10/2020 09:00 AM; CASE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE
01/27/2020 09:00 AM

Order setting hearing HOOVER GRINDE FAE 10/08/2019 10/08/2019 10/08/2019
Comments: TRIAL SETTING CONFERENCE 10/14/19 @ 9:00

link: https://www.iowacourts.state.ia.us/ESAWebApp/TIndexFrm

 

[jaejae]

Here is a recent report about the legal developments in this case:

Manchester man accused of killing Michelle Martinko wants trial moved out of Linn County

 

[Niner]

Trial for Jerry Burns, charged in the 1979 killing of 18-year-old Michelle Martinko, moved out of Linn County


The trial for a Manchester man accused in the 1979 killing of eastern Iowa teen Michelle Martinko has been moved out of Linn County.

Jerry Lynn Burns, 65, charged with first-degree murder in 18-year-old Martinko's death, will now be tried by a jury at the Scott County Courthouse in Davenport, court records show. Jury selection is still set to begin Feb. 10 despite the venue change.
[.....]
District Judge Fae Hoover on Monday [12/9] agreed to the venue change.

 

[Detective Willy]

The crime was 40 years ago so JLB was 25 years old at the time of the crime and 7 years older than Michelle. I wonder what other evidence LE has apart from DNA? Did he know her can they prove he was in the area? I sometimes worry when people are charged on DNA basis only but I am sure they must have a fair bit more evidence to be running with this. I wonder if JLB has any other history?

 

[SharonNeedles]

The crime was 40 years ago so JLB was 25 years old at the time of the crime and 7 years older than Michelle. I wonder what other evidence LE has apart from DNA? Did he know her can they prove he was in the area? I sometimes worry when people are charged on DNA basis only but I am sure they must have a fair bit more evidence to be running with this. I wonder if JLB has any other history?

In my opinion, this DNA evidence is strong enough to stand alone.

 

[jaejae]

Here is another report about the moving of the trial in this case:

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-st...es-cold-case-murder-trial-to-different-county

 

[iulia]

Man accused in 1979 death of Michelle Martinko argues that DNA, computer search history, be excluded as evidence

The Manchester man accused of killing an 18-year-old Iowa woman wants the DNA used to justify his arrest in a nearly four-decade-old cold case to be excluded as evidence in a trial.
[...]
Spies said in Wednesday's motion that Burns' web browsing and download history conducted 38 years after Martinko's death "is irrelevant and that its relevance, if any, is far exceeded by the likelihood of unduly prejudicing the Defendant."

 

[jaejae]

Here is another recent report about the legal developments in this case:

CEDAR RAPIDS — A Manchester man wants a judge to toss out the key DNA evidence that authorities say links him to a 40-year-old murder — the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Michelle Martinko in 1979.

Leon Spies, defense attorney for Jerry Burns, 65, charged with first-degree murder, in a motion filed this week said authorities didn’t have a warrant when they allowed a private company called Parabon-NanoLabs, in Reston, VA., to upload a DNA profile that was developed from blood stains on Martinko’s dress and the gearshift of her car to the public genealogy database GEDmatch.

Jerry Burns wants court to toss DNA evidence linking him to Michelle Martinko killing

 

[jaejae]

Here is another article about this case:

What we know: Key moments in the Michelle Martinko cold case murder investigation

 

[Legally Bland]

From today's DNA suppression hearing:
_______________


Shannon Moudy

@ShannonMoudyTV
·
4h

At the Linn County courthouse awaiting a hearing for Jerry Burns, accused of the murder of Michelle Martinko 40 years ago. Follow here for updates on the suppression hearing.


@ShannonMoudyTV
·
4h

Burns is now in the courtroom.


@ShannonMoudyTV
·
4h

Friday’s hearing will revolve around the suppression of evidence, including the major DNA link police say points to Burns as Martinko’s killer.
Accused killer Jerry Burns fights DNA evidence tying him to Michelle Martinko murder

 

[Legally Bland]

@ShannonMoudyTV
·
4h

Judge says part of this hearing will have to be done next week due to scheduling conflicts. Date to be decided. Proceeding with motion to suppress evidence now.


@ShannonMoudyTV
·
4h

State calls first witness: CRPD investigator Matthew Denlinger.


·
4h

Denlinger says he has worked in several areas of law enforcement with CRPD, joining cold cases in 2015. Martinko’s was his first assigned cold case.


4h

Denlinger says DNA evidence wasn’t able to be used in 1979 when Martinko was killed. Wouldn’t have the technology for several years. Investigators found chevron-pattern “dishwashing glove prints.” Denlinger says this points to covering up tracks, “pre-meditation.”

 

[Legally Bland]

@ShannonMoudyTV
·
4h

Denlinger says investigators found and kept blood evidence from the gear shifter of Martinko’s Buick, where her body was found. Says it came from killer because glove prints were found in blood. Years later it was sent to DCI labs and yielded partial male DNA profile.


4h

In 2005 blood evidence was found on Martinko’s dress. DCI found a more complete male DNA profile that matched earlier profile, Denlinger says.


4h

Denlinger says police submitted DNA profile to Parabon Nanolabs after “discussing pros and cons,” deciding it could help generate leads or weed others out. No matches had come up on police DNA database CODIS for many years.


4h

Denlinger says when they submitted DNA to Gedmatch database through Parabon in May 2018, as far as he is aware users were alerted their profiles could be used by police. He says there was an option to “opt out” of this.

 

[Legally Bland]

@ShannonMoudyTV
·
4h

From Gedmatch profile police could build a family tree of suspect, then filled out “branches” by using public internet sites like Ancestry. Denlinger says they narrowed it down from a second cousin in Washington to a woman in Lisbon, Iowa who submitted her DNA to CRPD.


3h

With a suspect profile pointing to Jerry Burns as a potential suspect (with two others in his family) Denlinger and another officer followed him to Pizza Ranch. They collected Burns’ straw he drank from and sent it for DNA testing.


3h

Denlinger says DCI told him the DNA from Burns’ straw “could not be eliminated as a major contributor” to blood found on Martinko’s dress. When asking for clarification from DCI, Denlinger says he was told “it’s a match.”

 

[Legally Bland]

@ShannonMoudyTV
·
3h

Warrants filed to get mouth swabs from Burns and two relatives, all identified as potential matches to suspect DNA. Two others were ruled out from those swabs. Burns was a match to suspect DNA from buccal (mouth) swab.



3h

Defense will wait to cross examine investigator Denlinger. State’s next witness is CRPD Lt. David Dostal.


3h

Lt. Dostal says he was in charge of team sent to Manchester to interview Jerry Burns. He says they went to ask “why his blood would be on Michelle Martinko’s dress.”


@ShannonMoudyTV
·
3h

Hearing is adjourning for today due to scheduling issues. Hearing will resume sometime next week. Stay with
@cbs2iowa
@fox28Iowa
for updates.

 

[jaejae]

Here is a report about the developments in this case mentioned in the above posts:

Court fight begins over key DNA evidence in Michelle Martinko killing

 

[Niner]

This was stuck into court site the last minute & yea - I'll be shortening this up a bit.

Friday, January 10th:
*Preliminary (Suppression) Hearing (@ 10am CT) – IA – Michelle Marie Martinko (18) (Dec. 19, 1979, Cedar Rapids, found Dec. 20, 1979 at Cedars Rapids Mall inside her family’s car) - *Jerry Lynn Burns (64/25 @ time of crime) arrested & charged (12/19/18) & arraigned (1/25/19) with 1st degree murder. Plead not guilty. $5M Cash bond.
DNA Parabon Nanolabs DNA Phenotyping SnapShot.
Court information from 12/20/18 thru 6/3/19 reference post #66 here:
IA - Michelle Martinko, 18, stabbed to death, Cedar Rapids, 19 Dec 1979 *Arrest*
Trial set to begin on 2/10/20 with jury selection. Trial has been moved from Linn County to Scott County.
9/16/19 Update: The defense team filed an unresisted motion for continuance Friday asking a Linn County judge to push back court proceedings. Burns' defense team said in the motion that it had received fresh notice of evidence & witnesses as recently as Aug. 5, prompting the need for more time. Nicholas Maybanks, the Linn County prosecutor handling the case, does not the resistance the continuance, the motion states. On 9/29/19 waived speedy trial. Trial Setting Conference hearing on 10/14 instead.
10/14/19 Update: Sixth Judicial District Judge Fae Hoover-Grinde said she would set a hearing to have Burns waive his right to speedy trial. Spies filed the waiver but the judge will have Burns, in person, waive his right Oct. 21 in a short hearing. Burns waived his right to be present at this hearing and Hoover-Grinde waived his presence. Defense will be filing a motion for change of venue also. Hoover-Grinde also set another pretrial hearing for January 27. Trial is tentatively scheduled for 2/10/20.
10/21/19 Update: Burns waived his right to speedy trial Monday and will ask the court to move his trial out of Linn County. The trial was reset to Feb. 10. Next is Case management hearing on 1/27/20.
12/18/19 Update: Burns' attorney, Leon Spies, filed a motion to suppress evidence Wednesday (12/18/19) asking the court to exclude any evidence or expert testimony from the trial which stemmed from Burns' DNA or from his family members' DNA. The straw seizure was done without a warrant, arguing it was a violation of Burns' constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches & seizures. Spies also contends investigators didn't have probable cause to search Burns' cell phone or work computer, the results of which he said should also be excluded as evidence. Spies also wrote that Burns was interviewed at his business & "interrogated" on his way to the Cedar Rapids Police Department, at which time he made statements prosecutors plan to use in trial. These statements, Spies argued, were unconstitutional as Burns' didn't have an attorney present. The trial has been moved from Linn County to Scott County. Suppression hearing on 1/10/20.
1/10/20 Update: Preliminary hearing as the Defense lawyer looked to get evidence against him suppressed ahead of the trail. The hearing had two objectives to review to here Burn's lawyers request to suppress evidence & determine the admissibility of evidence. Today's hearing was cut short due to a scheduling conflict. Burn's lawyer declined to cross-examine the first two witnesses called by the state. State witness: Cedar Rapids Police Investigator, Matthew Denlinger. Burn's lawyer did not cross-examine Denlinger before the state called their second witness, a CRPD Lieutenant, David Dostal. The court did not get to hear from Burn's lawyer on what evidence they want to be suppressed or the reasoning behind the motion. He is expected to cross-examine the witnesses next week, 1/14/20 (MAYBE!). This hearing, when complete, will ultimately decide what the jury gets to hear next month.

 

[Niner]

and looks like one of his attorneys is quitting....

Event Filed By Filed Create Date Last Updated Action Date
Notice MAYBANKS NICHOLAS GEORGE 01/10/2020 01/10/2020 01/10/2020
Comments: OF WITHDRAW AS CO-COUNSEL

link: https://www.iowacourts.state.ia.us/ESAWebApp/TIndexFrm

 

[Niner]

Oops - too late to edit my post #96 - I meant to put Monday's date of 1/13 for "maybe" continued suppression hearing - I miscalculated....

 

[jaejae]

Here is another report about this case:

Man accused of killing Michelle Martinko begins hearing to suppress evidence - KWWL

 

[Niner]

Monday, January 13th:
*Preliminary (Suppression) Hearing (@ 10am CT) – IA – Michelle Marie Martinko (18) (Dec. 19, 1979, Cedar Rapids, found Dec. 20, 1979 at Cedars Rapids Mall inside her family’s car) - *Jerry Lynn Burns (64/25 @ time of crime) arrested & charged (12/19/18) & arraigned (1/25/19) with 1st degree murder. Plead not guilty. $5M Cash bond.
DNA Parabon Nanolabs DNA Phenotyping SnapShot.
Court information from 12/20/18 thru 12/18/19 reference post #96 here:
IA - Michelle Martinko, 18, stabbed to death, Cedar Rapids, 19 Dec 1979 *Arrest*
Trial set to start on 2/10/20 with jury selection. Trial has been moved from Linn County to Scott County.
1/10/20 Update: Preliminary hearing as the Defense lawyer looked to get evidence against him suppressed ahead of the trail. The hearing had two objectives to review to here Burn's lawyers request to suppress evidence & determine the admissibility of evidence. Today's hearing was cut short due to a scheduling conflict. Burn's lawyer declined to cross-examine the first two witnesses called by the state. State witness: Cedar Rapids Police Investigator, Matthew Denlinger. Burn's lawyer did not cross-examine Denlinger before the state called their second witness, a CRPD Lieutenant, David Dostal. The court did not get to hear from Burn's lawyer on what evidence they want to be suppressed or the reasoning behind the motion. He is expected to cross-examine the witnesses next week, 1/13/20. This hearing, when complete, will ultimately decide what the jury gets to hear next month. Case Management hearing on 1/27/20. Trial is set to begin on 2/10/20.