DAVENPORT, Iowa — An Iowa man has been found guilty in the 1979 murder of a high school student northwest of the Quad Cities.
Jerry Burns was found guilty of first-degree murder on Monday, February 24 in Scott County District Court. After one afternoon of jury deliberations, the now 66-year-old was convicted in the deadly stabbing of 18-year-old Michelle Martinko, which happened back in December of 1979.
Martinko's body was found the day after her murder, inside her family's car outside a shopping mall.
Burns was arrested in 2018 after his DNA matched the DNA on Martinko's dress the night she was murdered.
Burns, nor any of his family members testified in the trial, which was moved to Davenport because of pretrial publicity in Linn County.
The Associated Press contributed to this report