Iowa Supreme Court upholds man’s homicide conviction in 1979 cold case

An Iowa man serving life in prison for the stabbing death of an 18-year-old woman in 1979 has lost an appeal to overturn his conviction.

The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday rejected 69-year-old Jerry Burns’ argument that law enforcement officers violated his right to privacy while investigating the death of Michelle Martinko in Cedar Rapids.

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Burns argued police should have been required to get a search warrant before obtaining a discarded drinking straw and testing it for DNA. The DNA sample matched DNA on Martinko’s dress, leading to Burns’ arrest and conviction.

Several civil liberties groups filed briefs supporting Burns’ appeal.

In a 5-2 decision, the court found that Burns did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy when he threw a drinking straw into the trash after eating at a Manchester restaurant in 2018, the Des Moines Register reported.

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Martinko’s body was found in her car in a Cedar Rapids shopping mall parking lot. She had been stabbed nearly 30 times, police said. The investigation went cold for decades until DNA technology advancements led to Burns.

Burns’ attorney Nick Curran said in an email that his client continues to maintain his innocence.