![Prominent Iowa City Lawyer To Defend Jerry Lynn Burns](http://townsquare.media/site/43/files/2015/05/RS5285_176810772-scr-1.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Prominent Iowa City Lawyer To Defend Jerry Lynn Burns
It's a case that took local authorities 39 years to the day after it happened to crack. On December 19th, 64-year-old Jerry Lynn Burns was found and arrested for the alleged murder of Michelle Martinko.
Now, an Iowa City attorney with a 40-year history of handling high-profile clients in the state will take on a case that has haunted Iowa for decades.
Leon Spies entered his appearance as Burns' attorney on Christmas Day, according to the Gazette. Spies ran the defense in the assault trial of former University of Iowa football player Cedric Everson against a female student-athlete, and managed to negotiate a plea deal to decrease Everson's sentence to one week in jail, according to ESPN.
He was also involved in the defense in the first-ever capital murder case in Iowa, in 2004 against Dustin Honken, who was sentenced to death for killing his girlfriend and remains on death row today.
Burns' preliminary court hearing is set for this Friday.
More From 104-5 KDAT
![Former UNI Basketball Star Teams Up with Lebron for Olympics](http://townsquare.media/site/726/files/2024/07/attachment-GettyImages-2163497789.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Iowa Mom Pleads Guilty To Charges Related to January 6th](http://townsquare.media/site/675/files/2022/12/attachment-riot.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Iowa Veggie Can Killer Convicted of Murdering Girlfriend](http://townsquare.media/site/673/files/2022/11/attachment-Untitled-design-89.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![New Trial Ordered in Iowa Fisticuffs That Led to Death](http://townsquare.media/site/673/files/2022/11/attachment-dan-burton-nRW4I8kuyd8-unsplash.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Man Convicted in High-Profile Iowa Murder Case Files New Appeal](http://townsquare.media/site/673/files/2022/01/attachment-RS24511_GettyImages-487297776-scr.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Iowa Man Charged in Murder of Woman Whose Skull Was Found on Stick](http://townsquare.media/site/675/files/2022/08/attachment-Mitchell-County-Sheriffs-Cerro-Gordo-County-Sheriff.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Murder of Cedar Rapids Veteran Remains a 39-Year-Old Mystery](http://townsquare.media/site/673/files/2022/08/attachment-setyaki-irham-NZVpeGESAgc-unsplash.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Murder Just South of Iowa Border is One Out of a Horror Movie](http://townsquare.media/site/725/files/2022/07/attachment-Adair-County.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![U.S. Marshals Arrest Man Wanted For Two Cedar Rapids Murders](http://townsquare.media/site/675/files/2022/05/attachment-childress-feature.jpg?w=980&q=75)