Abuse ends with murders

Brace
Brace

A Springdale, Ark., man was arrested Monday, Jan. 5, 2015, on suspicion he shot two people in the Washburn area and kidnapped his 2-year-old daughter.

Christopher Lee Paschall, 37, was arrested Monday afternoon at 2324 Hidden Lake St., which Springdale Police Lt. Shane Pegram said was the home of an unspecified relative in a news release Monday evening. His daughter, Alli, was found in good health and was in Department of Human Services custody, the release said.

Law enforcement officials in Barry County say Paschall fatally shot his ex-girlfriend and wounded her grandfather Monday afternoon near Washburn, Mo., before taking his and the woman's daughter, according to KY3 News in Springfield and other Missouri and northwest Arkansas news outlets. The outlets noted Paschall had a history of criminal behavior and of allegedly harassing the woman.

An AMBER, or America's Missing: Broadcasting Emergency Response, Alert on the girl's kidnapping was issued shortly before Paschall's arrest and was subsequently canceled.

Paschall was arrested by Springdale officers on an unrelated warrant after a tip from the Benton County Sheriff, the release states. It states he was transported to the Washington County Detention Center.

History Of Abuse

Months of threats, abuse and harassment stopped Monday, Jan. 5, 2015.

So did the lives of two people.

Dead are 28-year-old Casey Brace and her 79-year-old grandfather, Herb Townsend. Both were shot at Townsend's home on Farm Road 1055 near Washburn apparently by Casey's ex-boyfriend, Christopher Paschall, now in jail in Washington County, Ark.

Brace was dead when deputies from the Barry County Sheriff's Department arrived, according to deputies. Townsend was taken to a hospital in Springfield, where he later died.

Brace and her 2-year-old daughter were visiting Brace's maternal grandfather on a rural road just outside of Washburn, less than a mile from where she lived with her mother, Cathy Townsend. Casey's two older children, 10- and 4-years-old, were at school.

The shooting was about 1:30 p.m. Monday. Barry County Sheriff Mick Epperly said Townsend was able to tell deputies that Paschall was the shooter.

In the morning before the shooting, Epperly said, deputies made extra patrols at the house and stopped to make sure everyone was okay because of several days of ongoing problems between Paschall and his ex-girlfriend. Epperly said Paschall had been making threats, and the woman had gone to court to apply for an order of protection against him.

Brace, Townsend and other family members suffered at the hands of Paschall, for years, according to her older sister, Brittney Woods of Bunker Hill, Ill.

"She tried several times to get away, there was probably 50 police reports made since summer 2014," Woods said. "He tormented our family every day for months making threats and stalking and destroying our homes and cars. Casey and my mom both had restraining orders on him. He has been abusive since they met in 2008, he has a long criminal history. They lived in Springdale, Ark., up until Casey moved to try to get away in June."

Last August, Brace was living with one of her sister's off Rader Road, east of Pea Ridge, Ark., when Paschall damaged the home.

"Her sister (Brace) was staying with her (Amber Brace Trammel) and the sister's ex vandalized her trailer. Damaged windows, cutup mattresses, damaged appliances, cut cords, pipes, etc.," another relative said on the condition of anonymity.

Online court records show Paschall has received a couple of traffic tickets in Barry and McDonald counties; was arrested in 2011 in Washington County, Ark., on suspicion of driving while intoxicated or impaired; and was arrested in Benton County, Ark., last month on suspicion of contempt of court.

The Barry County Sheriff's Department will now start efforts to return him to Cassville from the Washington County jail in Fayetteville. That could involve extradition if Paschall doesn't waive his right to that process.

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Editor's note: This artice originally ran in 2015 as a result of interviews with the victim's family members.

General News on 10/04/2017