Michelle Martinko Case: Family Releases Statement; More Revealed [VIDEO]

A day after Cedar Rapids Police made an arrest in the 39-year-old murder case of Michelle Martinko, her family released a statement. Michelle's sister, Janelle, and her husband John Stonebraker released the following:

Janelle and I are very pleased and grateful for the work of several generations of Cedar Rapids uniformed police and detectives in bringing Mr. Burns to justice. From the leadership on down, they never gave up. The community can be very proud of its law enforcement, and for the tremendous comfort and support area residents have extended to our family over the thirty-nine years since Michelle’s death. Our heartfelt thanks to everyone. The family will have no further comment until a later date. Mr. Burns is presumed innocent, and we look forward to the evidence showing otherwise.

In an interview five years ago, Janelle told CBS 2 that Michelle had never been to Westdale Mall before the night she was killed. The mall had opened just two months before, on October 4.

During the uncut interview below, Janelle and her husband talk about the phone call they received with the earth-shattering news of Michelle's death. A phone call made by Michelle's mom herself. Janelle revealed during the interview that her sister had been stabbed 19 times in the chest and face and had defensive wounds on her hands, signaling she fought back against her attacker. Janelle also shares the heartbreaking news that her mom had a premonition that Michelle would be killed. In the interview, she said,

Within about two weeks, she said I wasn't surprised... Right away when my sister did not come home she knew exactly what happened because she had had a dream and there was a newspaper and it said Michelle was murdered.

Cedar Rapids Police arrested 64-year-old Jerry L. Burns of Manchester, Iowa Wednesday and charged him with Murder in the First Degree in Michelle Martinko's death. He is being held at the Linn County Jail in Cedar Rapids on a $5 million cash bond. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Friday, December 28 at 8:30 a.m.

A post on the Cedar Rapids Police Department Facebook page today shed more light on what led to Burns' arrest. You can see the post at the bottom of this story, directly below Janelle and John's 2013 interview with CBS 2.