Kidnapping, battery charges dropped against two Northwest Arkansas men

Christopher Paschall
Christopher Paschall

FAYETTEVILLE -- Charges were dropped against two men accused of kidnapping and beating a Springdale man accused of killing two people in Missouri.

Christopher Lee Paschall, 37, claimed in September three men beat and robbed him along Blue Springs Road, a rural stretch of highway northeast of Fayetteville, according to police records.

Extradition

The surrender of a person charged with a crime by one state or country to another state or country. The governor usually will make the request for extradition to the governor of the state in which the accused is present, claiming the right to prosecute. The defendant may “waive extradition” and allow himself to be returned to the state where charges are pending.

Source: uslegal.com

A deputy found Paschall along the side of the road with a fractured skull and other injuries, his car windows smashed and tires slashed, according to a police report. After Paschall was taken to Washington Regional Medical Center, he told an investigator three men kidnapped him at gunpoint and told him to drive toward the south end of Beaver Lake before stealing his money and beating him with a bat, brass knuckles and a stun gun.

Paschall identified two men who were arrested and charged and police said they were skeptical of Paschall's story.

Julio Salazar Gonzalez, 36, a Fayetteville man with distinctive triangle-shaped facial tattoos above and below his eyes, was arrested in October in connection with kidnapping, first-degree battery and first-degree criminal mischief, all related to the Paschall incident. Gonzalez made bond on the Paschall charges but was being held at the Washington County Jail on unrelated charges for a while. Gonzalez has since been released.

Timothy Ford, 35, of Witter was charged with kidnapping, first-degree battery and first-degree criminal mischief in connection with the incident. Ford was arrested in early January and was free on $25,000 bond while awaiting trial.

Prosecutors on Tuesday dropped the charges against Gonzalez and Ford saying the only evidence against them was the identification made by Paschall, who's no longer cooperating with the prosecution.

Dropping the charges against Ford and Gonzalez could hasten Paschall's extradition to Missouri because he's no longer needed as a witness in those cases. However, Paschall is in the Washington County jail awaiting trial on charges that arose from his arrest in January connected to the Missouri incident.

Law enforcement officials in Barry County, Mo., said Paschall shot and killed his ex-girlfriend, Casey Brace, and her grandfather, Herbert Townsend, and kidnapped his and Brace's 2-year-old daughter Jan. 5 near Washburn, Mo., about 20 miles northeast of Bentonville.

Springdale police arrested Paschall the next day at the home of a relative. The daughter was found safe and is in the custody of relatives.

Paschall's charges in Washington County are expected to be resolved before Missouri tries to extradite him.

Paschall pleaded not guilty Feb. 7 in Washington County Circuit Court to charges of possession of a firearm by certain persons, possession of drug paraphernalia, theft by receiving and violating terms of a prior bond. He was given a trial date of May 1. His bond is set at $100,000, but Missouri officials have a hold on him in case he should make bond.

Paschall faces up to 326 years in prison in Arkansas and prosecutors here can possibly dispose of their charges against Paschall faster than Missouri can.

Missouri officials haven't begun extradition proceedings against Paschall nor have they filed formal charges against him but they have plenty of time because there's no statute of limitation on murder charges.

NW News on 02/26/2015

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