The Pottawattamie County Community Foundation is establishing the fund, which will provide financial help to students who are interested in technology. Year in Review: Who shot Micalla Rettinger? 15-year-old Erin Pospisil of Cedar Rapids left her home that day with Curtis Padgett, a friend of her brothers. August 30, 2019 | By Grace Stetson, NBCNews.com. Ive had to endure so much. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime. May 6, 2019 | by Amie Rivers, The Waterloo Courier / The Gazette. What was the reason what was the purpose. He was declared missing two days later. Quinto is alleged to have possessed a firearm with an obliterated serial number and possessed a firearm while being a drug user. Burns was arrested Wednesday and charged with first-degree murder in the 1979 death of Michelle Martinko. It was 27 years later that technology provided new avenues for investigators who had never given up hope of unraveling a killing that shocked and haunted the community. Doty, a 12-year veteran of the sheriffs office, said there was something peculiar about Farvers sudden need for a break from everyone she cared about. Fingerprints, DNA, dental records and other scientific methods are the standards for filling in the blanks but are not always possible. MUSCATINE A deadlocked jury led to a mistrial Tuesday in the murder trial for Annette Cahill. On a warm summer evening a little more than one year ago, 16-year-old Jovanita Jovi Jones was struck by gunfire during a drive-by shooting in a liquor store parking lot. To date, officers have followed up on more than 900 leads. The unresponsive male was taken to a nearby hospital. WATERLOO, Iowa (KWWL) Its likely one of the biggest mysteries of 2019: who shot and killed Micalla Rettinger? The complaints and indictments filed against McGhee, Kelly, Cizek, Braggs, High, Raymond, Caston, Henderson, Richmond, Carter, Donley, allege that these defendants were felons who were unlawfully in possession of a firearm or ammunition. The jury ordered Carter to pay $10 million to Shirleys estate. Their goal: to crack the mysterious case of the missing 37-year-old mother that remained unsolved. So perhaps it was no surprise King also was there when Rettinger was memorialized Friday in Lenexa, Kan. The dog was at the funeral Mass. Most of the indictments tough focused on drug possession, with 16 indictments handed down for that. Lock Tiny models of cars he wouldve loved to drive. If convicted on these charges, all defendants face at least a possible maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, $100 in special assessments, and three years of supervised release following any imprisonment.. Leon Spies, defense attorney for Jerry L. Burns, 64, charged with first-degree murder, in his motion Friday for the delay said the prosecution of Burns has been a lengthy and complex investigation that has included uncommon investigative and forensic measures, such as the genetic genealogy that cracked this 39-year-old cold case. Jury selection began Tuesday in the highly anticipated criminal case, which was moved from Marion County to Pottawattamie County because of pre-trial publicity. Council Bluffs police have released the identity of the body found in a vacant Council Bluffs grocery store in January. Investigator Matt Denlinger won the award at the Iowa Police Chiefs Association banquet in Coralville Thursday. She was a former softball player at the University of Northern Iowa who was driving home from work at a bar with two passengers when the shooting happened. Contact Us. Press Release. She has no criminal history and has continued her longtime job with the Police Law Institute, an Iowa-based company that helps train police officers nationwide, while awaiting trial. In the midst of his anger, he said, he repeated what Jason Carter had told him: That Shirley Carter was cold and stiff. Just days after, Rettingers parents would make a tearful plea for the person who fired the shot to come forward. She stopped going home to her family, who immediately grew concerned. Now, authorities say Facebook profiles she created remain online and they want them removed. Police and the Iowa DCI are continuing to investigate an Iowa cold case out of Franklin County. The suit names the newspaper and its corporate parent, Gannett Co. Inc. Enter the income or loss from federal Schedule F. Include a copy of federal Schedule F. The IA 4562 A&B may need to be completed if the taxpayer claimed depreciation or section 179 deductions on the federal return. The Appeals Court found Purks claims of ineffective counsel, improper evidence and the verdict was not supported by sufficient evidence were all insufficient. 1880s Sioux City is one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. Court records state he may have been there to meet two men about an issue with money not much else is known. Its one of the 19 of the strangest unsolved mysteries of all time. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Iowa, Offender Reentry and Crime Prevention Efforts, More Than Thirty Charged Across Eastern Iowa With Federal Gun Law Violations, Sioux City Felon Sentenced to Five Years In Federal Prison For Illegally Possessing a Gun, Waterloo Man Sentenced to Over Seven Years in Federal Prison for Unlawfully Possessing Four Guns, Distributing Methamphetamine and Possessing Firearms Results in Prison Sentence. Saturday marks seven years since two Evansdale cousins, 10-year-old Lyric Cook and 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins, disappeared. 111 7th Ave, SE Luckily for him, the authorities looking into the case determined that Kava was not a threat to society. Michelle Martinkos murder haunted the Cedar Rapids community for 40 years. The trial for Jerry Lynn Burns, whos been charged with first-degree murder in the 1979 killing of Michelle Martinko, will begin at 9 a.m. Oct. 14 at Linn County Courthouse, according to online court records. There was evidence that the killer put their feet up on the desk, and that they carved a piece of soap. For nearly five months after the disappearance, law enforcement agencies and residents mounted an enormous search for the girls. He died in the hospital the following day. March 26, 2019 | by Meredith Roemerman, Muscatine Journal. DISAPPEARANCE/MURDERS OF FIVE CEDAR RAPIDS TEENS STILL UNSOLVED, Dubuque man convicted of 2nd-degree murder for killing Bellevue resident, Trial set for Iowa man accused in 1979 killing of Michelle Martinko, Murder trial of Jason Carter, man accused of killing mother, moved to western Iowa. An official website of the United States government. She worked in Omaha as a computer programmer and had a strong bond with her son, who was in high school at the time. Cahill, 56, is an unusual defendant. The shooting happened on the 500 block of Sumner Street in Waterloo. Law enforcement agencies across the state continue to make communities safer by partnering to reduce gun related crimes and violence. The first trial of 56-year-old Annette Cahill ended in a mistrial March 12 because of a hung jury. Look into a former newspaper employee named Jack J. Lazeroff, the readers said. Rita Janelle Papakee was last seen Jan. 16, 2015, at the Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel, and searches in the years that followed have come up empty. On Wednesday, tribal officials announced theyve raised the reward for information on her whereabouts from $25,000 to $50,000. Amy told Dateline she told Tammy no, but said she did remember asking, Is everything OK?, August 27, 2019 | By Jessica Watson, KCAU TV9, siouxlandproud.com. She was excited to return to Grinnell for her senior year in August 1992, according to her mother, JoAnn Zywicki. The most recent disappearance occurred on June 3, 2001. The cases were brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). No witnesses have reported seeing the pickup Padgett was driving, or a black Cavalier, in the neighborhood that night. The 27-year-old real estate agent was gunned down while holding an open house at a West Des Moines townhome. April 8, 2019 | by Laura Terrell, KCCI.com. The trial date is tentative, as Spies said Burns intends to a request a venue change. Miller was charged in May with possessing a firearm as a felon and possessing an unregistered firearm. The verdict brought an end to the nearly three-week trial. The State Lab was able to make a positive identification by analyzing DNA collected from Murillos biological parents. Also, on April 5, of this year, Washington-Roby was in a vehicle involved in a shots-fired investigation. The 18-year-old was found stabbed to death in her familys car outside Westdale mall. Anthony Kava is kind of a mad scientist. COUNCIL BLUFFS Jurors decided prosecutors failed to prove that Jason Carter killed his mother Shirley Carter on June 19, 2015. Both have since pled guilty. Ryan Avis, Investigator Jim Doty and Special Deputy Anthony Kava of the Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Office to join forces in April 2015. A locked padlock Investigators remain hopeful they will find the person or persons responsible for the childrens deaths, he said. June 3, 2019 | By Trish Mehaffey, The Gazette. Rettinger was driving southbound on Highway 218 between Waterloo and Cedar Falls on April 28. The section has added a full-time investigator this year, bringing the total to nine. But another person, an employee who worked security for the company Kava hacked for free internet, gave him another kind of talk. None of these are necessarily unsolved, said Lt. Kyle Chisholm, who oversees the detective bureau for the Davenport Police Department. CEDAR RAPIDS A straw used to sip soda led authorities to the Manchester man two months later they would charge with fatally stabbing 18-year-old Michelle Martinko in 1979. About three years prior to Shirley Carters death, a nearby methamphetamine lab was busted and the nearby public was told to lock their doors and keep a lookout, Bill Carter remembered. At the five year anniversary of Johnsons death, police told KWWL they had possible suspects but were waiting on the right piece of information that could lead to an arrest. The autopsy indicated no signs of trauma to Murillo-Moncada, police said. Convicted felons, drug users, and those who have committed domestic violence are simply not allowed to possess guns or ammunition. June 24th, 2022 by Chris Parks Council Bluffs, Iowa - Five Cass County, Iowa residents were arrested on federal indictments charging Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl. But long before Kava was busting bad guys on the world wide web, he was a just kid who was fascinated by computers. The United States Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Iowa Victim/Witness Unit is dedicated to making sure that victims of federal crimes and their family members are treated with compassion, fairness and respect. That doesnt mean we dont know who did it., June 6, 2019 | by Bill Lukitsch, Quad-City Times. October 21, 2019 | by Steve Orr, democratandchronicle.com. Democrat and Chronicle reporters did begin an investigation and have found evidence that Lazeroff, who worked in the newspapers circulation department in the 1980s, might have been a sexual predator and Democrat and Chronicle paperboys might have been among his prey. Browning, 65, was found stabbed to death early April 5 in her Iowa City home. In March of this year, Wright and Wilson were both charged with being a drug user in possession of a firearm. A tip line scrolled across the bottom of the screen. The crunch on resources began earlier this year with the investigation into the death of JoEllen Browning. Ridge is one of the few people who Vansice has opened up to. imprisonment. Prosecutors, at arraignments last month for two defendants, Danielle Busch and William L. Yancey, said they are waiting for approval from the U.S. Justice Department to pursue the death penalty if the defendants are found guilty. Burns, 65, is accused of killing the 18-year-old Martinko outside of a Cedar Rapids mall in December 1979. The case became active again in 2017 25 years after Wienekes death after a woman approached investigators with new information. Jennings was mentioned in a search warrant obtained last week by The Gazette, but Jennings only learned about the connection a few days ago after people on a Facebook group devoted to the Martinko case called or messaged her about it. We miss him so much, his mother, Marjorie Hatcher, said Wednesday. The lawyer for Jerry Burns, 64, and two prosecutors, in a case management hearing Monday, said evidence materials were still being shared and there were no pending motions to discuss. MAQUOKETA, Iowa Jurors on Wednesday found a Dubuque man guilty of second-degree murder for killing a Bellevue resident. The jury from Pottawattamie County, where the trial was moved due to publicity, deliberated just two hours Thursday before finding Jason Carter not guilty of first-degree murder. I want someone to have to do time if (he/she) did something like that. January 30, 2019 | by Mike Bell, The Daily Nonpareil. CEDAR RAPIDS Its not unusual for a county prosecutor to handle more than one pending homicide case within a year, but eight being resolved in 2018 is a much a higher rate than in the last several years, one Linn County prosecutor says. Read More. Now a woman in her 50s stands trial for his murder. Before she died, she was able to stop the car at the Greenhill exit. Those who do violate federal law and will be held accountable.. STACS DNA is a sample-tracking software company that has implemented rape-kit tracking to several other states. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. It behaved itself, said Steve Rettinger, Micallas father, in a weekend interview with the Courier. The murderer also left one word written on the bathroom mirrorthis. Making things even creepier, there was a mortician convention in town with many attendees staying at the Inn. This case file is 19-mj-168. Little Chicago however decided to openly defy the new law to continue to gain income from alcohol sales. ), October 21, 2019 | by Trish Mehaffey, The Cedar Rapids Gazette, Michelle Martinko (Courtesy Robert J. Riley). First Assistant Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks said these kinds of cases typically take a year or two before making it to trial, so to have all but one end in convictions and at least two resulting in life sentences shows how effective the Linn County Attorneys Office has been when it takes a case to trial. The case that went cold for 39 years wasnt jump-started until investigators learned in May 2018 they could use genetic genealogy. Taxpayers who had to make adjustments for Iowa's nonconformity to federal law in 2018 or 2019 may need to complete form IA 101 in 2020 and later years. August 26, 2019 | By Lee Hermiston, The Gazette. Cedar Rapids, IA 52401, Telephone:(319) 363-6333 CEDAR RAPIDS The October trial remains on track for a Manchester man accused of fatally stabbing 18-year-old Michelle Martinko in 1979. Burns of Manchester went on to become a father and business owner. The next morning, the housekeeper found the couple murderedand there are some strange facts. His death left behind a widow, Christine. Now hell stand trial for murder. IOWA CITY Complex and violent crime cases taken on by the Iowa City Police Departments investigations section this year have led the department to bolster the ranks in that unit and rely more heavily on outside agencies for help. WATERLOO, Iowa (KWWL) Its been 30 years since the murder of Jeffery Jo Jo Zolliecoffer, whose body was found in a Waterloo river with multiple gunshot wounds. April comes to this cross nearly every week. Cedar Valley Crime Stoppers announced on Tuesday, July 30, 2019, a new $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case. The trial remains set for Oct. 14 in Linn County District Court. But, like dozens of other open homicide investigations in the Quad-Cities, no arrests have been made in Jones case even though the assigned investigators say they have a pretty good idea of who killed him. December 7, 2022. According to Count 1 of the Indictment, from at least as early as 2016 and continuing in 2017, in the Southern District of Iowa and elsewhere, Reznicek and Montoya conspired to knowingly and willfully damage and attempt to damage the property of an energy facility involved in the transmission and distribution of fuel, or another form or source of energy, in an amount exceeding or which would have exceeded $100,000, and to cause a significant interruption and impairment of a function of an energy facility. This is one of those cases where I remember where I was when I got the call, West Des Moines police Sgt. (Photo Courtesy of Rettinger Family and WCFCourier.com). Maybanks said they had consulted with an expert that may testify at trial but that information is being reviewed at this time. The 21-year-old had spent much of the summer of 1992 abroad in Madrid studying for her bachelors degree in Spanish. There are remains to be handled, next of kin to be contacted, services to be arranged, an obituary to write and, in most cases, a burial or ceremony to hold. If the request is granted and the trial is moved out of Linn County, the trial date could move again. The profiles were used as evidence in the trial. The cases were investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Division of Narcotics Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Cedar Rapids Safe Streets Task Force (composed of representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Marshal Service, and the Cedar Rapids Police Department), the Waterloo Federal Task Force (composed of the Waterloo Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms assisted by the Black Hawk County Sheriffs Office and Cedar Falls Police Department), the Dubuque Police Department, the Linn County Sheriffs Office, the Charles City Police Department, and the Winneshiek County Sheriffs Office. Corey Lee Wieneke was found beaten to death Oct. 13, 1992 in his West Liberty home. The parents of a Council Bluffs man who was murdered 12 years ago have not given up hope answers may yet surface and bring a small measure of peace. FAYETTE, Iowa (CBS2/Fox28) The blue cross on Highway 150 outside Fayette is filled with Kaiden Estlings favorite things. A pistol was found in that vehicle. Using an unconventional technique that relies on DNA submitted to online genealogy sites, investigators have solved dozens of violent crimes, in many cases decades after they hit dead ends. If anyone has any information that could lead to a rest, youre asked to call either Waterloo Police at 319-291-4383 or Cedar Valley CrimeStoppers at (855) 300-8477. After their death, rumors circled about the possible killer. After all, everyone eventually faces it. When we all had a chance to kneel down and say goodbye to her, the dog went up with Adam and licked the marble around the urn, Rettinger said. Se Luckily for him, the Cedar Rapids left her home that day with Curtis Padgett, a of. 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