A man who police say painted his face like the infamous Joker was arrested and booked into the Uintah County Jail, in Vernal on Monday. (Uintah County Sheriff’s Office)
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VERNAL — A man who police say painted his face like the Joker, broke into a Vernal home and attempted to kill the homeowner, was arrested Monday.
Jonathan Tyler Clark, 24, was booked into the Uintah County Jail for investigation of attempted murder, trespassing, possession of a weapon by a restricted person and intoxication.
Monday night, police say Clark went to an apartment near 1300 West Main Street looking for a man.
“It was described that Johnathan Clark had his face painted like the Joker and had something in his pocket, unknown if it was a weapon,” according to a police affidavit.
Police found Clark near 200 North and 1100 West and noted he had “white face paint, green face paint near the top of his face and in his hair, and red face paint in the form of a smile, similar to the Joker,” the affidavit states.
When officers asked Clark why he was at the victim’s house, he said he was going to kill him, according to the the affidavit. When police asked, ‘why?’ “Jonathan responded by saying, ‘Because he called me names,'” according to the affidavit.
Officers found a folding knife in Clark’s pocket. They also noted his speech was slurred and he swayed as he stood, the affidavit states. Clark told the officers he had recently used drugs.
“Jonathan reported on a scale of one to 10 of intoxication he was a 9,” according to the affidavit.
When police later questioned Clark a second time, he stated that the alleged victim had called him a pedophile and “this made Jonathan mad (and) vengeful. At this point, Jonathan came up with a plan to kill the victim,” the affidavit states .
Police learned that Clark first went to the victim’s house on Sunday and entered the apartment through an unlocked door, according to a police affidavit. The intended victim was not home but his roommate was. The roommate, “after some time,” was able to get Clark to leave, the affidavit states. No one was injured.
Clark said he stole a knife from a local Walmart and intended to stab the victim, painted his face like the Joker and returned to the apartment Monday night, according to the affidavit. At first, he tried to break into the victim’s window. When he was unsuccessful, he simply waited on the porch until someone arrived with a flashlight and told him to leave.
“Jonathan said he was going to kill anyone who got in his way of trying to kill the victim tonight. Jonathan also said if he was out of jail he would try and kill the victim tomorrow,” the affidavit states.
In 2019, Clark was convicted of sexual exploitation of a minor and dealing in harmful materials to a minor and was required to register with the Utah Sex Offender and Kidnap Registry. The registry listed Clark on its website on Tuesday as “non-compliant.”
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Pat Reavy is a police and courts reporter at KSL.com.
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