Joshua Jokinen

The man who allegedly beat a 78-year old woman to death in August 2013 was at her Cloverdale home stacking wood, according to a search warrant affidavit recently obtained by The Bulletin.

The affidavit submitted by Deschutes County Sheriff’s Deputy Jayson Janes describes finding blood spatter patterns in the home where Carolyn Burdick’s body was found with her “head and face … disfigured,” according to responding Deschutes County Sheriff’s Deputy Eric Kozowski.

Joshua Jokinen allegedly beat Burdick to death with a shovel in her home between Sisters and Redmond in the Cloverdale area. He was arraigned on a single murder charge in September 2013 and pleaded not guilty in November. Jokinen, 30, is being held without bail at the Deschutes County jail.

The affidavit also stated that Burdick’s then-7-year-old grandson was at her home during the incident and came out of the house crying. A witness at the scene reported the boy “was very upset and crying, saying something like ‘grandma is dead.’”

Jokinen and several other people were at Burdick’s house to stack wood. After going inside Burdick’s home to clean the fireplace, Jokinen exited the home about 10 minutes later “acting strange,” according to his brother, Seth Jokinen, in an interview with authorities summarized in the affidavit.

Jokinen reportedly told at least one person at the scene he’d killed Burdick and said he was going to need a tarp.

Jokinen, his brother, the grandson and a woman then left the scene and drove to Redmond, where they dropped the female and the child off with the boy’s mother, according to the affidavit. Jokinen and his brother then left, and Seth Jokinen told investigators that “while he was trying to get Joshua a cigarette,” Joshua Jokinen apparently disappeared, alone, in the pickup.

Seth Jokinen told authorities he got a ride to a Madras hotel where he called the police to report he thought “his brother may have killed someone,” the affidavit states.

Joshua Jokinen went into the Jefferson County jail and reported to law enforcement that he had “committed a murder” in Sisters, according to the affidavit. He was reportedly turned away by jail staff, so he went to the Tiger Mart in Madras and called dispatch to report the incident.

Madras Police Officer Ryan Grote contacted Jokinen outside of the Tiger Mart where Jokinen was “sitting on the sidewalk, drinking a beer,” according to Grote’s statement in the affidavit. Jokinen then “told him he hit someone with a shovel in Sisters.” Grote didn’t arrest Jokinen immediately, instead passing the information to law enforcement in Deschutes County and offering Jokinen a ride outside Madras, according to the affidavit.

Jokinen’s brother told authorities Jokinen had left the scene in a green Dodge pickup. Grote located the pickup parked at the store and said in the affidavit that he saw “what appeared to be dried blood near the door lock on the passenger side of the truck.”

Jokinen had begun walking away when Grote said he learned Jokinen’s probation officer put a detainer on him for drinking alcohol. Grote then transported Jokinen to jail.

Jokinen in 2006 was sentenced to nearly six years in prison for beating a man with a trailer-hitch ball at a home in Madras. The man suffered a skull fracture and lacerations in the attack, according to Bulletin archives. Jokinen fled but was apprehended 10 days later and later pleaded guilty to attempted murder and second-degree assault.

—Reporter: 541-383-0376, sking@bendbulletin.com