Man convicted of rape, assault in St. Paddy’s attack

A Clark County jury on Wednesday found a Portland man guilty of beating, raping and choking his former girlfriend inside her Vancouver home on St. Patrick’s Day last year, but the jury acquitted him of attempted murder.

Charles E. Paschal, 34, was convicted Wednesday of first-degree assault, first-degree rape, unlawful imprisonment and two counts of second-degree assault.

He is scheduled to be sentenced June 25 by Superior Court Judge Suzan Clark.

Deputy Prosecutor Michelle Nisle alleged that Paschal intended to kill the 32-year-old woman when he attacked and tortured her for hours inside her home. She eventually escaped by running out of the house’s back door when Paschal was distracted. Wearing only a bra and heavily injured, she scaled two fences and banged on the door of a nearby home, where residents helped her call 911 at about 4 a.m. March 17, 2013.

During his trial, Paschal, who is a former Oregon state wrestling champion, admitted on the stand to striking the woman five times in the face. He said he reacted in anger when she slapped him during a spat over his smoking cigarettes indoors. However, when confronted with a photograph of the victim’s face, swollen beyond recognition, Paschal denied he had caused all of the injuries shown.

His attorney, Gregg Schile, argued that Paschal was guilty only of second-degree assault.

Clark County sheriff’s detectives Kevin Allais and Beth Luvera, who were involved in the investigation, described it as one of the worst domestic violence cases of their careers.

The investigators found blood spattered on the woman’s kitchen cabinets, dishwasher and living room carpet. Her clothes and his boxers were found on the living room floor, where the woman testified the rape took place.

After the woman ran away, Paschal said he went to a friend’s house to collect his thoughts and then decided to turn himself in later that morning by returning to the woman’s house, where detectives were already investigating.

Nisle said the woman still had injuries 10 days after the attack, including fingerprint bruises, marks on her neck, black eyes and broken blood vessels in her eyes.

She showed the jury before-and-after photographs of the woman; she was unrecognizable after the attack, Nisle said.

The 12-member jury deliberated for about 16 hours, beginning Friday and ending just before 2 p.m. Wednesday.