Search warrant shows how relative's DNA led police to Manchester man in Michelle Martinko's death
Suspect's computer history turns up searches of strangulation, cannibalism
March 12, 2019
"...DNA from two distant cousins led to three brothers, and DNA from one of the brothers — Jerry Lynn Burns, 64 — matched the blood stain from Martinko’s dress, according to a search warrant affidavit.
The probability of finding Burns’ DNA profile among unrelated individuals would be less than one out of 100 billion, according to the document....
Parabon-NanoLabs in Reston, Va., told investigators about GEDMatch, a public DNA database used to help research family trees. The DNA of the suspect was uploaded to the site and showed shared DNA with a known cousin on the site.
Parabon officials told Cedar Rapids police investigator Matthew Denlinger the match was a cousin once removed from the suspect, and the lab had been able to create a family tree with four sets of the cousin’s great-great grandparents at the top, according to the warrant....
Denlinger, in the warrant, said he collected DNA from two branches of the family tree, which were eliminated, but on the third branch a first cousin was identified as sharing DNA with the suspect. Parabon officials told Denlinger that the suspect likely was one of three brothers, which included Burns and his two brothers, the warrant shows.
Denlinger then checked driver’s license records, which revealed all three brothers grew up in Manchester, Iowa. Jerry Burns and one brother lived in Manchester and their other brother had moved to Davenport, according to the warrant....
The warrant also reveals more of the interview that Denlinger and another investigator conducted for more than an hour with Burns at his business, Advanced Power Equipment and Coating Concepts, in Manchester on Dec. 19....
Investigators then issued a search warrant for Burns’s home and office desktop and laptop computers. Investigator Jeff Holst with Cedar Rapids police found Burns’s office computer included search activity involving “blonde females, assault, rape, strangulation, murder, abuse and rape of a deceased individual, and cannibalism.”
Holst pointed out in the search warrant affadvit he believes a person’s browsing history can reveal sexual preferences, desires or fetishes, as well as establish a general timeline of what days and times the person uses the computer and for what purpose...
Burns, who has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, remains in jail on a $5 million cash only bail. His trial is set for Oct. 14 in Linn County District Court."
Search warrant shows how relative's DNA led police to Manchester man in Michelle Martinko's death