Man convicted in 1986 murder-for-hire allegedly hits Whatcom woman in head with wooden bat
A man convicted of shooting and killing a woman in a 1986 murder-for-hire in Thurston County, is suspected of hitting a Whatcom County woman over the head with a wooden bat hard enough to shatter the bat. He also reportedly threatened her with a knife during the alleged attack.
The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office booked Daryl James Burns, 56, into Whatcom County Jail Tuesday, Dec. 14, on suspicion of first-degree assault and felony harassment. Jail records show Burns is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail.
According to Whatcom County Superior Court documents filed Dec. 1, sheriff’s deputies were called at 6:39 p.m. Nov. 21 to the 1300 block of Lattimore Road for the report of an aggravated assault after the victim called to report she had been struck in the head with a bat and was bleeding badly.
Deputies arrived and spoke to the victim, who was bleeding from her head and said Burns, whom she was familiar with, had left the area in a vehicle, documents state.
The victim reported that she and Burns had gotten in an argument, before Burns hit her three or four times on the top and right of her head with a wooden bat, adding that the final strike had enough force to shatter the bat, according to documents. Though she said the bat was not a full-sized baseball bat, the victim also reported the hits were hard enough to cause her to “see stars.”
Burns also told the victim he would kill her several times during the alleged attack, according the victim’s report, and he pulled a 3- to 4-inch pocket knife, extended the blade and held it by his side, documents state.
The victim was taken to St. Joseph’s hospital in Bellingham for treatment of her head injuries, documents state.
Court records show Burns was convicted of first-degree murder in a 1986 case in Thurston County.
According to McClatchy archives, Burns, who was originally from Centralia, was sent to prison for being the shooter in the 1986 murder-for-hire death of Joanne Jirovec. Jirovec’s former husband Daniel E. Jirovec, an Olympia businessman, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for arranging for the murder of his wife, who was an administrative assistant at The Evergreen State College at the time.
Burns was incarcerated more than 22 years from Jan. 29, 1988, through May 28, 2010, the Washington State Department of Corrections told The Herald.
Court records show Burns also was convicted of second-degree burglary for a 2014 incident in Snohomish County and served 10½ months in jail for that conviction.
