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Research website by Alice de Sturler

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You are here: Home / Case of the Month / Case of the Month: Michelle Martinko

Case of the Month: Michelle Martinko

December 1, 2013 By Alice

Michelle Martinko
Michelle Martinko

Case of the Month: Michelle Martinko was found murdered around 4am on December 20, 1979 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Police discovered her body in the parking lot of the Westdale Mall. The Kennedy High School senior (18) had been stabbed to death in the family Buick.

Michelle’s murder remains ever present for her family members.“I think more of the season than the exact date,” said Janelle Stonebraker, Martinko’s sister. “But it’s always with us.”

Michelle’s parents, Janet and Albert Martinko, never recovered from her death.”Before the murder, Janet Martinko had been a lively, outgoing woman. Afterward, she didn’t want to be seen in public. She was reluctant even to go to the grocery store. Both Martinkos plunged themselves into painful seclusion and suffered from health problems until their deaths — Al in 1995, Janet in 1998.

There is DNA in Michelle’s case. Police will not tell you where they found it but they are convinced it was left behind by the killer. And there are more developments in the Martinko case.

Whoever stabbed Michelle to death had a personal relationship with her. Michelle had been repeatedly stabbed most notably in her beautiful face. This is a clear sign of a personable murder.

Michelle’s crime scene seems to say that she had to be erased from life, never to be remembered again. Michelle was not sexually assaulted and all her money was still in the car. This eliminates a number of motives for this crime and indicates (at least to me) that whoever killed Michelle was not a stranger.

People are still discussing this case and police is still actively involved. If you have any information, please contact Det. Doug Larison at (319) 286-5412.

R.I.P. Michelle Martinko

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Filed Under: Case of the Month, Unsolved Tagged With: Case of the Month, Cedar Rapids, DNA, Michelle Martinko

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  1. Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) & DNA Phenotyping - The Daily Coin says:
    December 22, 2018 at 11:46 am

    […] reading back through some of the old cold case files, including one from 2013, I […]

  2. Holiday Tragedies - Defrosting Cold Cases says:
    December 22, 2017 at 1:07 pm

    […] the same day they we lost Barbara, we lost Michelle Marie Martinko. Michelle was found dead at 4am on Dec. 20, 1979. She was repeatedly stabbed most notably in her […]

  3. Sum it Up! #47 says:
    October 31, 2015 at 10:13 am

    […] year, we made waves on the cold front of unsolved murders. By blogging about and sharing my posts on other social media […]

  4. Remembering Michelle Martinko says:
    October 29, 2015 at 9:28 am

    […] Michelle Martinko who was found murdered around 4am on December 20, 1979 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The police discovered […]

  5. Help the Cedar Rapids Police says:
    April 10, 2014 at 7:55 pm

    […] Police to get in touch with an anonymous person who contacted the Linn County Crime Stoppers about Michelle Martinko‘s cold […]

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Author Notes

On this website, I write about old, unsolved cases. Most are from the pre-DNA era and are in need of renewed media attention. I only do research and leave the active investigation of these cases to the professionals.

My posts are about homicides, missing and unidentified people, wrongful convictions, and forensics as related to these cases.

On book reviews: I only review select works of true crime, crime fiction, and historical fiction/mysteries. The stories have to fit my website's theme and research. It remains my prerogative to not review a book.

My database has over 325 cases listed by the victim’s last name. You will find a brief description there as well. The database will always be free to the public to use. You cannot buy ad space on my website, ever.

All writing suggestions that come in by email are added to my to-do list in the order in which they were received. Please be patient. My to-do list is very long but no case gets dropped and I will get back in touch.

Defrosting Cold Cases is NOT an organization. It is my brainchild.

If you have any questions about my website please check the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page, the about page, and the tabs in both menu bars. If you still cannot find the answer there, please contact me.

Thank you,

Alice de Sturler

Copyright

If you use my work, please add a link back. Let your readers know where you found your information. I do the same for you. Thank you!

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In March 2015, the Connecticut State Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Richard lapointe. On Oct 2, 2015, International Wrongful Conviction Day, Richard was set free. The judge ruled that he cannot be retried for the 1987 rape-murder of Mrs. Bernice Martin. Richard Lapointe died on Aug 4, 2020 of Covid19 complications.

In 1987, someone killed Bernice Martin. I hope that she will not become a forgotten file.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright: Please add a link back if you use my work. Let your readers know where you found your information. I do the same for you. If you need help with this, just contact me. Thank you, Alice de Sturler

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