GUILTY MO - Casey Brace, 29, & Herbert Townsend, 67, murdered, Washburn, 5 Jan 2015

Investigators think Christopher Paschall of Springdale, Ark., killed a woman; shot and critically injured her grandfather; and then drove away with his 2-year-old daughter from a home north of Washburn. Barry County Sheriff Mick Epperly says the woman who was shot to death was the mother of the girl, but he doesn't believe the shooter and the woman were married.

Click to expand...

Epperly says autopsies show Townsend was shot five times and Brace was shot three times, possibly with a .38-caliber gun. When the first deputy arrived at the home about 15 minutes after Townsend made a 911 call, Townsend was holding a rifle and managed to say it was Paschall who shot him and his granddaughter, before Townsend passed out.

Epperly says Paschall had made threats against Brace over several days, and she had gone to court to try to get a judge to issue an order of protection for her against Paschall. Epperly said deputies had made extra patrols by Townsend's home to try to protect the family; he said a deputy was at the home on Monday morning.

Click to expand...

Paschall was originally charged with single counts of first-degree murder, assault and armed criminal action. Prosecutors amended the charges recently to two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of armed criminal action and one count of parental kidnapping.

Click to expand...

A second requested mental examination hasn't been completed for Christopher Lee Paschall, according to prosecutors. Circuit Judge Mark Lindsay reset the case for Feb. 29, 2016.

Click to expand...

It's been one year since a double murder in Barry County took the lives of Herbert Townsend and Casey Brace. Their family continues to wait for justice.

They know where, when and how the crime happened. There is also a suspect in custody, but he has not yet appeared in court to answer for his actions.

So the family is left to remember Herbert and Casey as they continue to grieve.

Click to expand...

Prosecutors relied heavily on Herb Townsend's purported dying declaration to convince a judge to order Chris Paschall bound over for trial Friday in the slayings a year ago of Townsend and his granddaughter Casey Brace.

Circuit Judge Robert Foulke found probable cause for Paschall, 38, the father of one of Brace's three children, to stand trial on first-degree murder charges following a preliminary hearing in Barry County Circuit Court.

Click to expand...

The special prosecutor leading the double murder case against Christopher Paschall has waived the right to seek the death penalty, instead seeking life in prison.

Click to expand...

On Sept. 2, Goodman denied the motion to dismiss, offering a trial date of March 22, 2017. The case was then reset to Sept. 19, where Paschall would be able to confer with counsel and decide if he would like the earlier trial date. On that day, Paschall agreed to a five-day jury trial on March 27, 2017, and Moore also filed the intent to seek life.

Click to expand...

Brace had been found dead in her living room in front of the back door by Barry County Sheriff's Deputy Bill Watkins, who was responding to a 911 call from the house. While checking Brace's pulse, he heard a moan from farther inside the house, he had testified during an earlier hearing. When he saw Townsend lying on his back with a rifle pointed at him, he ducked away, pulled out his service weapon and waited to see if Townsend would shoot.

When he heard Townsend drop the rifle, he approached him and saw that he was severely wounded. When Watkins asked, "Could you tell me who did this?", Townsend told him "Chris Paschall."

Click to expand...

Jurors were able to see photos of the crime scene for the first time on Tuesday. The state showed them photos of Brace's body in the living room, with a cordless phone in her hand wedged underneath her stomach and blood on a nearby block of wood. An abandoned pack of Pall Mall cigarettes had blood on it, as did a double-bit ax. Hanging above the door in the living room was a 22-caliber rifle on a set of hooks next to a pair of empty gun hooks.

None of the physical evidence at Townsend's home put Paschall there, his attorney, Andrew Miller, pressed. Police did not have a murder weapon, he added.

Click to expand...

A Springdale man was found guilty a double-homicide in the Newton County Circuit Court on Thursday (Sept. 28).

Christopher Paschall, 39, was facing two counts of first-degree murder in the 2015 slayings of Casey Lee Brace and Herbert Townsend.

Prosecutors say Paschall killed his ex-girlfriend and her grandfather at their Barry County, Missouri, residence before kidnapping his 2-year-old daughter.

Paschall was also found guilty on three counts of armed criminal action and one count of parental kidnapping.

Click to expand...

"Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! Guilty!" a member of the extended family of Casey Brace and Herb Townsend declared with obvious elation Thursday as she emerged from the courtroom after the reading of the verdicts in the trial of Christopher Paschall.

After dismissing the jury, Circuit Judge Jack Goodman set Paschall's sentencing hearing for Dec. 19.

"Two angels got their justice today," Brace's mother, Cathy Townsend, said after the verdicts.

Click to expand...

Forty-year-old Christopher Paschall was scheduled for sentencing this week, but Judge Jack Goodman permitted the exam after a motion from the defense and no objection from the state.

Paschall is now scheduled to return to court in Neosho on March 21st. The case was moved to Newton County on a change of venue.

Click to expand...

A second mental evaluation is being requested by the defense attorney for a man from Springdale, Arkansas convicted of murdering his former girlfriend and her grandfather in Barry County in 2015.

Docket entries show Judge Jack Goodman denied a recent request for furlough, and the case is now set for review on May 22nd. Paschall was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder last September and had been scheduled for sentencing this week.

Click to expand...

The sentencing of Christopher Paschall in the double homicide of Casey Brace and Herb Townsend has been postponed indefinitely pending resolution of concerns with the mental competence of the defendant.

Circuit Judge Jack Goodman this week denied a defense motion seeking to have Paschall transported to California for a brain scan and an appointment with an expert there. Defense attorney William Fleischaker said the judge ruled that the defense instead should seek a brain scan and second opinion on the mental competence of the defendant in state and set a hearing in September to review the findings.

Click to expand...