Josh Hawley announces Barry County man found guilty in double murder

Attorney General Josh Hawley announced on Friday that Christopher Paschall, 40, was found guilty of murder, parental kidnapping and armed criminal action.

Hawley said in 2015, Paschall shot and killed his ex-girlfriend Casey Lee Brace and her grandfather Herb Townsend while kidnapping his two-year-old daughter.

Hawley said that despite a gunshot wound to the head, Townsend survived long enough to name Paschall as the killer before dying.

“My office has zero tolerance for violent crimes and the criminals who commit them,” Hawley said. “I am grateful to law enforcement and the prosecutors who worked on this case. I hope the family of the victims can find some solace in this conviction.”

Paschall faces life imprisonment without the possibility of parole on each murder count, up to seven years imprisonment on the parental kidnapping count and a minimum sentence of three years on each armed criminal action count.

The case was tried in Newton County on a change of venue from Barry County.

Paschall is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 19.