Newton, IA He began to search for her, as did the police. CLA8RC@AOL.COM. On Sept. 7, 2016, Courtland Clark was sentenced to 21 years in prison for his role in Tony Canfields death. John Bloomfield dies while awaiting trial: Nov. 6, 2014. In a statementannouncing the arrest, police said Burns was questioned at his job Wednesday in Manchester and denied killing Martinko. [31] The defense argued that DNA evidence had been mishandled,[31] and that different articles of clothing from the scene should not have been stored together in one evidence bag. 38 YOA On Thursday, August 31, 2017, a federal judge ruled Mitchell finally competent to stand trial, although Christopher Nathan, Mitchells lawyer, asked that the court be closed for discussion about setting a new trial date because it involves trial strategy that he didnt want to make public at this time. Because his business was illegal and involved interstate commerce, Sioux City police and the Woodbury County Attorneys Office referred the case to the United States Attorneys Office, and federal prosecutors were able to claim jurisdiction in the case. One man was in his 50s and the other was maybe in his 30s, and investigators believe the two men worked together to kill Brian and rob the store, the Gazette reported. Turney was fined, though Cisneros cannot be tried again due to double jeopardy. On Monday, March 3, 2014 exactly 31 years to the day when Melisa and Stevens bodies were found the Jasper County Sheriffs Office held a press conference to announce theyd arrested Fishers estranged wife, Terri Supino, and charged her with two counts of first-degree murder. Case # 92-08083 After nine years, Des Moines police announced on Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021, that theyd made an arrest in Stanley Golinkskys brutal murder. [10] She wore a black jersey dress and black scarf, black tights and heels, and a waist-length white and brown rabbit fur jacket, and she carried a brown leather purse. Route 1 Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. Ridnour is also listed on the Iowa Sex Offender Registry for a 2013 conviction of disseminating obscene materials to a female age 13 or under. Date of Crime: April 4, 1999 On Friday, April 29, 2011, someone stabbed Cedar Rapids cab driver Catherine Ann Cathy Stickley 18 times in the neck and head before stealing the cab fare money from the 54-year-old mother of four children and five grandchildren. Perpetrator: Thomas O. Freeman of West Frankfort, Ill. Missouri authorities executed Six in 1997 for the 1987 kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Kathy Allen. Murder of Michelle Martinko - Wikipedia SE in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Shed been strangled. More than 30 years later, Fisher's estranged . Jody Ewing is the founder of Iowa Cold Cases, a website dedicated to cold cases around the state. Cora Ann Okonski, a 23-year-old young mother engaged to be married the following month, went missing from her Tama, Iowa, home around 9 p.m. on Palm Sunday, April 16, 2000. Guess I just needed to know why . Case Number: 03-004354 Investigators believe shed been killed in her home on Sept. 20. Remains Found: Nov. 5, 2012 Cold Case Murder Solved. Smith was an acquaintance of Farleys at the diner where she worked. [15], On the evening of December 19, 1979, Martinko attended a banquet for the Kennedy Concert Choir at the Sheraton Inn in Cedar Rapids. Last Seen Alive Nov. 13, 2012, in Omaha, Neb. Investigators had linked Cisneros to the crime via solid DNA evidence found on the toddlers pajama bottoms. Investigating Agency: Fayette County Sheriffs Office Lee Rotatoris graduation photo. The cases listed below represent Iowa cold cases where arrests have been made since we first began tracking the states unsolved cases in December 2005. A fisherman discovered her body Tuesday afternoon in the Mississippi River, floating in a small cove near the Southside Boat Club. At 11:08 a.m. on Friday, October 24, 2008, Marburgers partially nude remains were discovered in a ditch in the Rock Creek Cabin area at 2829 U.S. 67 in Camanche. 50 years later, teen's cold-case slaying solved in Iowa - CBS7 DNA technology unavailable at the time of Farley's killing allowed police to confirm that Smith was Farleys killer. Her coworker discovered her lifeless body in her. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison. In 2018, the company entered the DNA data from the case into the public genealogy website GEDmatch, where it found a familial DNA match. Arrest Made: Feb. 25, 2021, Mykel Roberts, 29, from Modesto, Calif., charged in Meeks death. And Im quite happy to say that 30 years after the fact, we did not give up and we did not settle on suspects that were frankly not the right guys., 51 YOA Iowa cold case: Police make arrest in 1979 Iowa killing of Michelle Contact Us. Cedar Rapids police have identified Maureen Brubaker Farley's killer as George M. Smith. Pilcher will receive credit for the two years served since his arrest, and also will quality for reductions for good behavior. SE. Investigating Agency: Cedar Rapids Police Department [9] She was fully dressed, and the medical examiner determined she had not been sexually assaulted. Mason City, IA 23 YOA Scott County Date of Death: Sept. 21, 1971 Sentenced: On Monday, Jan. 23, 2023, U.S. District Judge Leonard Strand found Mitchell premeditated and intentionally killed Stickley, and robbed her to buy crack cocaine April 29, 2011. On June 7, 2012, Judge Brad Harris sentenced Pursel to life in prison without the possibility of parole the mandatory punishment under state law. Went Missing From: Mount Pleasant, Iowa, on July 16, 2000 Michael is charged with homicide by vehicle-reckless driving, and leaving the scene of an accident death. The cremains were presented to McMahons ex-wife Nancy and family Nov. 12, 2014, and Dr. Schmunck credited both WHO-TV and Iowa Cold Cases for helping to solve the case. [20], On June 19, 1980, police released a composite sketch of a man believed to have killed Martinko, which they formed from descriptions provided by two witnesses under hypnosis. Weve really put our best effort into reaching a conclusion and helping the family get some answers, and this is as close as we are able to come.. Shenandoah, IA 2216 27th Avenue, Rm #106 During an interview with the Des Moines Register, Laymon called the arrest "amazing" news and said she was relieved. He is currently being held in the Linn County Jail on a $3M bond. CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KWWL) -- The Cedar Rapids Police Cold Case Unit on Tuesday confirmed a DNA match for a suspect in the murder of 17-year-old Maureen Brubaker Farley. George M. Smith of. On Monday, Dec. 9, 2019, a judge agreed to relocate the trial to Scott County, stating in a filing that pretrial publicity made it unlikely Burns could receive a fair trial in Linn County. Dexter Lashun Meeks, 22, known to his friends as Big Ham, was shot in the early morning hours on Sunday, June 26, 2011, near the front door of his apartment building at 211 15th St. She, too, had died from blunt force trauma to the head. 2023 FOX News Network, LLC. In December 2016, Preston was found shot to death in a field near Johnson Avenue and 225th Street. At 11 p.m. Sunday, May 1, 2011, three men Courtland Clark, 26, of Flowery Branch, Georgia, Robert Beaver, 35, of Sioux City, and Devery Hibbler, 26, of Dumas, Arkansas entered the 1401 George St., Sioux City apartment belonging to Dana and Tony Canfield in order to rob Tony of his marijuana and cash. Utah, Iowa, Arkansas, West Virginia and Florida, are pitching school . The Kennedy High School senior droveto the mall after a school choir banquet to shop for a new winter coat. 1 Arrest Made: March 3, 2014 Home | Iowa Cold Cases #4 [2], On December 19, 2018, exactly 39 years after Martinko's murder, Burns was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Found: Area of Rock Creek cabins at 2829 U.S. 67 The company created a family tree starting with four sets of the woman's great-great-grandparents and reported that the killer was most likely descended from one of those couples. Sentencing was originally scheduled for April 17, 2020, but the coronavirus led Iowas court system to delay criminal court proceedings; the date was pushed back the first time to June 19. In November 2014, the woman checked out the story again on the iowacoldcases.org website, and was sure the body belonged to her ex-husband, Robert Bryan McMahon. 22 YOA Killed: June 28, 2018 His trial was originally scheduled for October 14, 2019, but in September the defense requested a delay in order to gather more evidence and interview witnesses. In 2017, a company specializing in DNA phenotyping was hired to produce a new approximation of the killer's appearance based solely off the DNA sample. She was unsure her information would be of any use because she had read that the murder happened between 10p.m. and midnight, and it was 2a.m. when she drove by. 14 YOA The murder of Michelle Martinko occurred in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on December 19, 1979. Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues, and much more. 1319 Second Ave. Investigators say Johnson and Preston were together in Johnsons Toyota Corolla on the day of Prestons death. Case Number: 84-01854 Police arrested Jerry Lynn Burns, 64, on Wednesday morning, Dec. 19, 2018, in the decades-old fatal stabbing. He lived in Manchester at the time of his arrest in 2020 and owned a powder coating business in the city. Date of Death: January 22, 2012 "I am thrilled for her sister, Janelle, and wish her parents were alive to see this," Laymon said. Iowa teen's 50-year-old cold case murder finally solved, police Alford Plea Entered: June 23, 2016 for Voluntary Manslaughter. [28] The defense also requested that evidence pertaining to Burns' cell phone browser history be suppressed. Through Iowa history, a dark path of evil has wound through woods, along rivers and streams, across farm fields, near barns, beside highways and railroads, into small settlements, and up to the doors of homes. The defense brought only one witness, a self-described forensic DNA consultant, who testified on the possibility that police could have mishandled the evidence. Guilty Verdict: May 24, 2017. Mangler has been charged with Murder in the First Degree in violation of Iowa Criminal Code Sections 707.1 and 707.2(1). Alysia Kay Marburger, 27, was last seen alive leaving a friends apartment with Andy Cole of Clinton about 2:15 a.m. October 7, 2008. Des Moines, IA [11] As the investigation dwindled, a $10,000 reward was offered for information that would lead police to the killer. Cedar Rapids, IA June 25, 1982 Im gonna pray for you my you find peace within yourself and not judge as there is only one true judge our God in heaven. Four. [7] Eventually, more than 125 people would have their DNA swabbed and compared against samples taken from the scene. Crime Date: October 13, 1992 Nearly 2 years to the day that a teen was killed while driving his moped south of Fayette, the Fayette County Sheriffs Office announced an arrest in the case. Mississippi Terrance Mark Koster disappeared from Sac City, Iowa, sometime during the summer of 2009 and reported missing to the Sac City Police Department July 4, 2009. Firozeh Dehghanpour. In 2012, while serving a life sentence for an unrelated attack, the man died in prison from colon cancer. As of 2023, there have been no arrests made and the case is now considered cold, but remains open.. His mother, Noreen Gosch, said that Johnny escaped from his captors and visited her . Wapello County Rural Fire and Rescue and the Hedrick Fire Department were called and responded to the scene. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Lade, like the others, had died from blows to the head. 1912: Moore family and guests (Villisca) Josiah and Sarah Moore, their four children and two visiting girls were bludgeoned to death with an ax late June 12. [23] Out of more than 80 potential suspects that had been identified over the years, more than 60 people were tested and cleared of suspicion. The police never received the information, and the woman did not contact police until months later, when they reissued a call for any information connected to the murder. Arrest Made: June 26, 2020. Conviction Date: April 17, 2012. The sketch indicated a white man in his late teens or early 20s, weighing between 165 and 175 pounds, and standing about 6 feet tall. A triple homicide committed 50 years ago has been solved after the Watauga County Sheriff's Office in North Carolina received information revealed by . On Thursday, Dec. 22, 2016, Omaha police announced theyd arrested 41-year-old Shanna Goylar at her home in Persia, Iowa, and charged her with first-degree murder in Cari Farvers death. Detectives used genetic genealogy to tie Thomas O. Freeman to DNA found on Rotatoris body. The prosecution did not resist either request, and the trial was rescheduled for February 10, 2020 in Scott County. On Feb. 20, 2015, Black Hawk County jurors acquitted Supino in both counts of first-degree murder. Weve done all we can do on this case, he said. Last edited on 20 February 2023, at 04:20, "Michelle Martinko's murder 'haunted' the Cedar Rapids community for 40 years. The murder was closely followed within her community, and the police received more than 200 tips in the weeks following her killing. Both the suspected killers were living in Cedar Rapids at the time Brian was slain while working at a Kum & Go on Mount Vernon Road SE, Denlinger said. Schapperts throat was slashed and he also sustained multiple stab wounds to his back. [11] They described a white man in his late teens or early 20s, around six feet tall and weighing 165175 pounds, with brown eyes and curly brown hair. Then we went through a little bit of anger, I think, because he was allowed to live his life without facing justice in this world," Schenzel said. He did not yet have an attorney listed in court records who could be reached for comment. On Aug. 14, 2017, the judge overturned the guilty verdict, and Purk went to trial for a second time on Nov. 6, 2017. Date of Death: Oct. 18, 2005 [11][18] In the year after the killing, the number of people interviewed by police reached the hundreds, and up to 30 people were interviewed under hypnosis. Subscribe to the Des Moines Register. There is no way she left her dog at home and walked the half mile to the river without her shoes or other personal items (teeth, jacket, etc.).. Coralville, IA Wienekes fiance, Jody Hotz, also of West Liberty, last saw him alive around 8:15 a.m. that morning and discovered his beaten body in his bedroom at 6 p.m. Tuesday evening. Charged: Christopher Johnson, 49, of Cedar Rapids. Date of Crime(s): April 13, 1984 COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) On Friday, the Council Bluffs Police Department announced the identity of Lee Rotatori's killer, closing a case that had been open for nearly 40 years. Investigators believe that Burtch killed DeWoody during this time. Killed: June 26, 2011 Linn County Arrest Made: July 27, 2015 Clinton County Trial Date: March 4, 2019 Although there are a handful of cases from the hawkeye state that gripped the nation many have gone years without notice. Predictions were made for ancestry and facial features, police said. 1401 George St. The images looked considerably different from the 1980 composite sketch and showed a man with blond hair and blue eyes. The. In the early hours of December 20, 1979, the body of 18-year-old Michelle Martinko was found in her car in the parking lot of a mall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 1500 block alley between Second and Third avenues SE He stated that Burns' DNA could have been at the scene due to secondary transfer (such as skin cells transferring to an article of clothing when someone brushes up against another person), although he clarified that it was not his opinion that this was the case with Burns' DNA. Both parents have been gone for decades: Martinko'sfather died in 1995, and her mother died in 1998. [2] No kidding, wow, hard to follow to say the least. On Tuesday, February 14, 2017, Wapello County jurors found Christopher Yenger guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of Messer and Anderson. Woodbury County Iowa Cold Cases has put together case summaries, articles, and updates regarding the many unsolved murders and missing persons all throughout Iowa. Former John Doe 2005 Police Chief Wayne Jerman commended his investigators'persistence in the case and their use of the technology that he said can "aid in the investigation regardless of how long ago the violent act occurred." Two weeks after the verdict, a judge found Turney in contempt of court over her handling of the Michael Cisneros murder trial. Roberts made his first court appearance in Linn County District Court on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, where he was charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and going armed with intent. Date of Crime: April 16, 2000 They soon determined that Golinskys death was a homicide based on his injuries, Des Moines CBS affiliate KCCI reported at the time. [2], Jerry Lynn Burns (born December 23, 1953[13]) was 25 years old when he killed Michelle Martinko in December 1979. On June 25, 2018, Henry County District Court Judge Mark Kruse announced Michael Syperda was guilty of first-degree murder in Elizabeth Syperdas death. [21] Psychics were also consulted early on in the investigation. Estling, 14, of Maynard was driving a moped south along Highway 150 on June 28, 2018 when he was hit by a vehicle. Investigators linked Welsh to Hennes murder through DNA. [Yenger] Found Guilty: Feb. 14, 2017. Nancy Grace featured the cold case in 2010, and the family received a new . SE According to an email Callahans granddaughter, Trish Hall, sent to Iowa Cold Cases on Jan. 12, 2014, her grandmother was bludgeoned and placed in the river. In February 2021, researchers from Parabon and ES Genealogy, who examined familial relationships, concluded that Thomas O. Freeman, of West Frankfort, Illinois, was the source of the suspect DNA. The next day, her parents, John and Leone Marburger, filed a missing persons report with the Jackson County Sheriffs Office. According to the investigator, "Burns showed almost no emotion during the interview, even when he was eventually told he was being arrested. 11612 140th Street Case Breakers calls for police to conduct a DNA test to verify their findings; Fox News' Eric Shawn has the details. Linn County Arrest Made: July 27, 2012 His name is Warren Douglas Clark. My father was murdered in a hotel at pocahontas Ia in 1977. Arrest Date: May 31, 2018 No one has ever been arrested for his murder. 10 Cold Cases Solved - Forensics Colleges Jasper County Attorney Steve Johnson acknowledged there was some known drug activity in the area, but said he personally believed the murders were up close and personal.. The trial began Feb. 10, 2020, and on Feb. 24, the Scott County jury of seven women and five men returned a guilty verdict after deliberating just shy of three hours. James Jim Remakel, 59, was stabbed to death inside his 606 South Riverview Street home in Bellevue, Iowa, on Sunday, December 25, 2016. Rumors began to circulate about the crime. An investigator with the Cedar Rapids police department contacted DNA-tested members of two of the branches of the family tree, and eliminated those branches as containing the killer. [30] The doctor who performed Martinko's autopsy and investigators in the original case, all now retired, took the stand to testify to how the investigation was conducted, and to Martinko's cause of death. Two teenage boys found Farleys body in a wooded ravine in what is now Tait Cummins Park, on Sept. 24, 1971. Body Identified: November 2014. 1613 S. 13th St., Apt. Martinko, an 18-year-old high school student, was found stabbed to death in her family's car in the parking lot of a local mall, where she had gone to buy a new coat. Thomas O. Freeman Identified as Killer of Lee Rotatori - Law & Crime Denlinger declined to release their names. Through investigation and DNA technology, the Cedar Rapids Police Department Cold Case Unit identified and confirmed on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021, George M. Smith as the suspect in the homicide case. Case Solved: January 10, 2014. The defense also requested the trial be moved out of Linn County based on the amount of attention the case had received over the past four decades, as well as "pervasive and prejudicial pretrial publicity". Second Trial: Sept. 9, 2019 in Muscatine Wounds on the teens hands showed she fought her killer, but the medical examiners office said Martinko was found fully clothed and had not been sexually molested. Alford Plea Entered: Feb. 17, 2017. Officials were unable to locate his mother, 41-year-old Sarah Lee Link, to inform her of her sons death, but discovered her body the following Monday, April 16, in a hilly wooded area north of Eldon. (KELO) 23-year-old Wilma Nissen's life was as troubling as her death. The court immediately put a protection order in place. Arrest Made: Oct. 29, 2014 In 2010, WHO-TV Channel 13s Aaron Brilbeck ran a story about the case as part of an ongoing cold case series with Iowa Cold Cases. Relatives of Maureen Brubaker Farley, whose body was found by two. Tama, Iowa The Week in Photos: Two 40-year-old cold-case murders are solved, and crews race to protect L.A.'s water lifeline . And they are dead, he said, never to face criminal charges. Thomas O. Freeman, who authorities allege killed Rotatori, was found buried in a shallow grave four months after Rotatoris murder. Arrest made in Pottawattamie County cold case - KMAland.com Trial Began: Feb. 4, 2019 Waterloo, IA Maureen Brubaker-Farley was reported missing on Sept. 20, 1971. On Wednesday, May 24, 2017, Judge Burns found Golyar guilty of first-degree murder and second-degree arson in Farvers death. Council Bluffs PD solve cold case of Lee Rotatori, murdered in 1982 [33] Prosecutors called a criminalist to contradict the defense's witness; the criminalist said that the storage of Martinko's clothing was not unusual. His initial target was Meeks brother, Andrew, who was shot and killed in a separate incident in 2017. Killed Near: Fayette, Iowa On Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018 the 39th anniversary of Michelle Martinkos brutal murder Cedar Rapids police announced theyd made an arrest in her unsolved homicide. He lay face up on the floor of an open-air park shelter, dressed in blue jeans, a blue jacket and tennis shoes. On Nov. 5, 2012, a new homeowner renovating Kosters former Sac City home discovered human skeletal remains concealed in the basement and immediately notified Sac City police. [3] The brothers were placed under surveillance, and investigators began to attempt to collect their DNA secretly. Reported Missing: June 3, 2014 I hope that it gives them a little peace. Linn County Market data provided by Factset. Case Cleared: Feb. 25, 2022 Linn County Cerro Gordo County On Monday, July 15, 2013, Mason City police and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation held a press conference stating that Michael Jason Cisneros, 37, formerly of Mason City, had been charged with first-degree murder in John Snyder Jr.s death. Mr. Syperda waived his right to a jury trial, and his bench trial began May 1, 2018, with closing arguments held May 7, 2018 and a ruling expected June 25, 2018. As the investigation slowed, a $10,000 reward was offered.