The Murder of Michelle Martinko: Justice, Decades Later

In December 1979, 18-year-old Michelle Martinko was found brutally stabbed to death in her family’s Buick, parked outside a shopping mall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The attack was personal, violent — and seemingly without motive. With no robbery, no sexual assault, and no obvious suspects, Michelle’s murder baffled investigators for decades.

But while the case went cold, the rumors didn’t. Especially about her ex-boyfriend Andy, who raised eyebrows when he reportedly climbed into her casket at the funeral, sobbing and begging to know who Michelle really loved. Was he a heartbroken teen… or something more sinister?

In this episode, we follow the tangled threads of the investigation — from high school gossip and suspicious behavior to the decades-later DNA breakthrough involving a discarded straw that finally brought justice for Michelle.

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