Murderer snared by drinks straw decades after brutal crime

Michelle Martinko's final act of courage led to her murderer's arrest 39 years after her death

There were just a few weeks to go before the arrival of 1980. The 1970s had been a dynamic era in lowa, and there was excitement about the coming decade. Michelle Martinko, 18, was the epitome of a 70s teenager, with her flicked blonde hair and love of fashion. She lived in Cedar Rapids, lowa, with her parents Albert and Janet, and her older sister Janelle.

Michelle was a senior pupil at Kennedy High School, where she was a member of the cheerleading squad and choir. She performed in theatre productions, too, and hoped to study interior design at university.

On the night of 19 December, Michelle went to a choir dinner before heading to the new Westdale Mall in her parents' 1979 Buick. She was wearing a black dress, black tights, heels and a waist-length white and brown fur jacket and planned to pick up a winter coat.

But at 2am, when she hadn't returned home, her parents reported her missing. About two hours later police officers found the Buick in the mall car park. Michelle was inside it, dead. Her body was in the passenger seat footwell, she'd been stabbed several times in the face and chest and was covered in blood. Wounds to her hands indicated she had fought her attacker but had been overpowered.

Investigators could find no weapons or fingerprints at the scene. There was some DNA, although Michelle hadn't been robbed or sexually assaulted. It seemed the killer had cut his hand during the attack - his blood was on the gear lever and Michelle's dress.