Possible Connection In Michelle Martinko and Jodi Huisentruit Cases

I am always amazed by how much progress is being made with DNA testing and the Michelle Martinko case is one of many cold cases that have finally been solved thanks to DNA and genealogy. What makes this case even more interesting is that it’s possibly connected to another cold case that we’ve followed.

Fancy talked about these cases yesterday in her True Crime Tidbit. If you missed it, I’ve got you covered!
Here’s the gist of what she had to say:
Several months ago, we talked about the June 1995 disappearance of 27 year old Jodi Huisentruit. The pretty blonde was an anchor at KIMT television in Mason City, Iowa. On the morning that she went missing, she left her apartment to head to work but she never made it. She vanished from the parking lot of her apartment building. Even though the case got nationwide news coverage it wasn’t solved and 25 years later, Jodi Huisentruit still has not been found. Over the years the case has been featured on Unsolved Mysteries and America’s Most Wanted which led to hundreds of calls and tips for investigators to look into, but none of them led to finding her.

Earlier this month, CBS News reported on the possibility of a connection between Jodi Huisentruit’s disappearance and the 1979 murder of a high school student who’s murder was a cold case for almost 40 years.
18 year old Michelle Martinko was murdered on December 19th 1979. After attending an event for her church choir, the pretty blonde drove to the Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to look for a new coat. Authorities believe that after leaving the mall she walked back to the parking lot and as she got in her car, her attacker was able to get in as well.

Michelle’s body was found in the car with 29 stab wounds. Due to the amount of stab wounds and the brutal nature of the murder, it seemed like a very personal crime done by someone in a rage. Her friends and family believed that an ex-boyfriend of hers, Andy Seidel had killed her. They dated for about 2 years and after they broke up, it seemed that Andy was always around, wanting to know Michelle’s every move, but according to law enforcement he was never a serious suspect in the case and there was never any evidence linking him to the murder.

The case eventually went cold but in 2005 a cold case investigator was reviewing the files of the case and found unidentified blood. A DNA profile was put together and it was determined that it was male DNA. The DNA profile was entered into CODIS ( Combined DNA Index System) but there were no matches found.

Matt Denlinger of the Cedar Rapids Police Department was just a little boy when Michelle was murdered and his dad, Detective Harvey Denlinger, was working the case at the time. In 2015, 36 years later, Matt who is now a detective himself, took over the case. In 2018 he read about Joseph DeAngelo, the Golden State Killer, finally being caught with the help of genetic genealogy and he began connecting with genealogy companies to see if they could find a match to someone related to Michelle Martinko’s killer.

Detective Denlinger started working with Parabon NanoLabs, a company that uses genetic tracing and has since become a big part in helping police solve cases using DNA. They were able to find a distant relative that had uploaded her DNA to a website to find her own family history. This woman was a second cousin once removed and Detective Denlinger and Parabon were able to narrow the search down to 3 brothers from Iowa; Ken, Don and Jerry Burns. All 3 would have been young men in 1979.

Denlinger followed the 3 brothers until he was able to secure discarded items from each of them that would have DNA on them and sent them off to the crime lab. Ken and Don were not matched to the DNA found in Michelle Martinko’s car or on her dress, but Jerry Burns was a match.

In December 2018, Burns was arrested but he denied everything. His denial meant nothing, because the DNA match was enough to convince a jury of his guilt. On February 24, 2020 he was found guilty of first degree murder in the death of Michelle Martinko and on August 7th, 2020 Jerry Burns was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Now, here’s where the possible connection to Jodi Huisentruit comes in. When Jerry Burns computer was looked at by investigators, they found a search history that showed a big interest in the “murder of blonde women” and “porn with blonde women”. When Burns was being interviewed by Detective Denlinger, he brought up Jodi Huisentruit for no apparent reason. When the Detective reminded him that they were talking about Michelle Martinko’s murder that happened in 1979, Burns replied “It was a big deal. I don’t exactly remember what happened, seen something about Jodi Huisentruit recently.”

Why would Burns bring up Jodi’s name when being questioned about Michelle? When you look at the two cases, there are significant similarities. Both Michelle and Jodi were pretty, young blonde women from Iowa. Both cases involve them going to their cars that were parked in parking lots. Is this all just coincidental or could Jerry Burns have something to do with Jodi Huisentruit vanishing 25 years ago? Jerry Burns was born in 1953, and he killed Michelle Martinko when he was 25 years old. He was 42 at the time of Jodi’s disappearance. He is now 67 years old.

According to CBS, authorities have no evidence linking Burns to Huisentruit but Mason City Police wouldn’t disclose to them if they were looking at Burns as a suspect in her disappearance. Which, you know what we like to say, if they weren’t looking into him being a suspect, wouldn’t they have just said no? Of course, I will keep you posted on any updates.

The advancement of investigation techniques using DNA has been phenomenal and we think that DNA will continue to be a huge tool in not only helping to convict the guilty, but also to exonerate the innocent and wrongfully accused. We believe it will progress, getting better and better as time goes by and new advancements are made. We are already seeing things happen that were impossible not so long ago.

We recently spoke with David Mittleman who is the CEO of Othram Industries. Their slogan is Justice Through Genomics and they are utilizing cutting edge technology with things like touch DNA, hair with no roots and very old bones to solve cases that go back as far as even 100 years ago.

Like I said at the start of this post, I’m so amazed by the new techniques being used in DNA testing. It absolutely fascinates me and I’m sure it’s just as fascinating to some of you. What can all these advancements mean for all of the cold cases that have been waiting years to be solved? For cases like Jon Benet Ramsey’s, where someone has gotten away with murder for years and the case of America’s Unknown Child, the little boy who was found in a box in Philadelphia in 1957. The identity of both the little boy and his killer is still unknown over 60 years later. There are so many doors that DNA testing can open in these and so many other cold cases and I’m extremely hopeful and excited to see what the future has in store for them.

As far as the possible connection between the Michelle Martinko and Jodi Huisentruit cases, like Fancy said there are some similarities between the women and the circumstances in their cases. The extreme interest that Jerry Burns seemed to have in sex with and violence toward blonde women is quite interesting. There is both a sexual attraction and a rage toward blonde women. I’d love to know which blonde woman played a key role in his life during his childhood and teenage years. Was it his mom? A teacher? A girl he liked that wasn’t interested in him?

Whether the two cases are connected or not doesn’t change the fact that Jerry Burns is a murderer. So, does he have other victims that we don’t know about yet? I believe that this is something the investigators are probably looking into, as well as why Burns even mentioned Jodi Huisentruit in the first place. As always, we will keep you updated on any developments in these cases.

For more true crime, check out our YouTube channel, Murder by Design and our podcast, The Good Wives Guide To True Crime.

Originally published at http://madgingerentertainment.com.