Dateline NBC “And Then There Were Three” December 20 2025 Recap & Preview

Dateline NBC revisits a haunting cold case that remained unsolved for nearly four decades in the all-new episode And Then There Were Three, airing Saturday, December 20, 2025, at 9/8c. Correspondent Dennis Murphy reports on the shocking murder of 18-year-old Michelle Martinko, whose body was found stabbed to death in her family’s car just days before Christmas in 1979.

Martinko had gone to Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to pick up a winter coat she had on layaway. When she didn’t return home that night, her parents became worried. Police discovered her body in the front seat of the family’s Buick parked outside the mall. She had been stabbed 29 times, with wounds focused on her face and chest. The violent nature of the attack suggested it was personal, yet the killer left behind no fingerprints, no witnesses, and no clear motive.

For years, investigators chased leads and rumors, but the case went cold. Then, in 2006, a cold case detective uncovered preserved DNA at the scene. It would take another decade before advances in genealogy and DNA technology led police to Jerry Lynn Burns. A discarded straw collected covertly in 2018 provided the final match. He was arrested exactly 39 years after the murder and convicted in 2020.

Dateline features interviews with those closest to the case and delves into the remarkable forensic journey that led to Burns’ arrest. From cutting-edge DNA phenotyping to the use of public genealogy databases, the case stands as one of the most compelling examples of justice delayed but not denied.

Tune in for And Then There Were Three this Saturday on NBC, or stream it the next day on Peacock.