Genetic testing is what finally brought the case of Michelle Marie Martinko in court. Jerry Lynn Burns (66) was found guilty of Michelle’s 1979 murder based on genetic testing of DNA. He is awaiting his sentencing hearing. It will be the mandatory life sentence. In the meantime, his attorney, Leon Spies, is working on the […]
Forensics
Zeigler: moral right denied
The Tampa Bay Times reports that the Florida State Attorney Aramis Ayala has rejected the appeal made on behalf of William Thomas Zeigler to have his pre-trial evidence from the 70s tested with modern DNA technology. Ayala denied this request “even though her conviction integrity unit urged her in April to grant it, saying it […]
Remembering Gwen Vivian Miller
Gwen Vivian Miller (Nov 4, 1907 – Feb 29, 1968) was murdered inside her home in Rapid City, South Dakota. She was 60 years old. She never married and had no children. Gwen worked as a hospital pharmacist at the Bennett-Clarkson Memorial Hospital (now Rapid City Regional) in Rapid City. Her colleagues went to her […]
Daniel Dougherty: third trial
On March 27, 2019, the third trial started for Daniel Dougherty. In 2000, Daniel Dougherty was found guilty of the 1985 arson that killed his two sons, Danny (4) and Johnny (3). Police arrested Dougherty in 1999 after his estranged wife and mother of the two children claimed he had confessed. A jury found him guilty […]
The Ethics of Forensic Genealogy
Introduction Lately, we have seen numerous cases that were unsolved for decades, where the use of forensic genealogy provided authorities with answers. Checking people’s family trees based on characteristics from the DNA sample on file has given us a string of cases where a suspect has now been identified. The media started to pick up […]
Arrest in 1993 Sophie Sergie murder
On Feb 15, 2019 Alaska State Troopers made an arrest in the 1993 murder of Sophie Sergie. “Steven H. Downs, 44, of Auburn, Maine, was arrested and charged with sexual assault and murder in the death of 20-year-old Sergie, the state troopers said in a news conference in Anchorage Friday. Downs was employed as a […]
Michelle Martinko: background information
Jerry Lynn Burns is facing first-degree murder charges for the Dec 20, 1979 murder of Michelle Martinko. He is held at the Linn County Jail (Iowa). Burns Burns has his own company Advanced Coating Concepts in Delaware County, Iowa. It is a powder-coating shop but they are also a Hustler turf equipment dealer. Burns was […]
Keith Combs and Eugene Ellis
WARNING: this post has crime scene and autopsy photography from both Keith Combs and Eugene Ellis. Introduction On the morning of Sept. 25, 1993, people riding off-the-road motorcycles found the bodies of Keith Edmond Combs (Aug 20, 1970 – Sept 25, 1993) and Eugene Clifford “Cliff” Ellis (June 21, 1973 – Sept 25, 1993). They […]