Man Murdered 'Possessed' Girlfriend with Chainsaw: Cops

31-year-old Paxton Wallace was found. brutally killed in her own home. And. police say, of all people, by her. longtime boyfriend, who reportedly. called 911 himself, claiming he did it. because she was possessed. But this. suspect reportedly has a criminal past. that raises serious red flags, and her. family now believes that Paxton may have. been trying to leave this relationship. We are going to break down the details. of this tragic story with a criminal. defense attorney who has seen cases like. this from every angle. Welcome to.

Sidebar presented by Law and Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber. Real quick, let me say this. Do you know. why we can cover an important story like. this? It's because of the support that. we get from Morgan and Morgan, our. sponsor. I'm talking about America's. largest personal injury law firm. I'm. talking about a firm with over a,000. attorneys who have recovered $25 billion. for more than 500,000 clients. In fact, in the past few months alone, a client. in Florida received $12 million when. insurance offered just $350,000. In. Pennsylvania, another client was awarded.

$26 million. That is 40 times the. insurers's offer. In Morgan and Morgan, they make it so easy to fight for what. you deserve. You can start a claim from. your phone. So, if you're injured, you. can start a claim at. forthepeople.com/lcsidebar. You can click the link below or you can. scan the QR code on screen. This case that is unfolding out of. Phoenix is one of those tragedies that. stops you cold. 31-year-old Paxton. Wallace was found brutally killed in her.

own home. Allegedly at the hands of the. man that she had been with for years, somebody that her family had welcomed. into Holidays, someone that they. seemingly trusted. According to police, her boyfriend, 47-year-old Jeffrey. Raale, called 911 before dawn, claiming. not only that he killed Paxton, but that. he did it because she was quote. possessed. And at the center of it all. is the most haunting question that this. case raises, one that goes far beyond. the word possessed. What was really.

happening behind closed doors in the. months, maybe even the years leading up. to that night. So, here's the case. Paxton Wallace was living in Phoenix. According to her family, she was this. warm, steady presence in their lives. Somebody who loved her faith, loved her. two dogs, always made time for Sunday. breakfast with the people that she was. close to. But she had been in a. long-term relationship with a man named. Jeffrey Rayal. Someone her family says. that they genuinely thought that they. knew. According to statements that they.

made to a family, they'd spent holidays. with him. They opened their home to him. They had all of this time, these. memories with this guy. And while there. were things in his past that certainly. raised questions later, and we're going. to get into that part separately because. there's a lot there. The family says. nothing had ever screamed danger to. them. Not in the way that would make. someone believe something like this. could ever happen. From the outside, nothing leading up to Paxton's death. publicly signaled what was about to. come. But looking back, the family now. says there are elements of this.

relationship that maybe deserve a closer. look. and we're going to unpack what. those moments are. But then you go to. the morning of November 7th, it's a. Friday, and everything shatters. Everything changes. According to a. release from the Phoenix Police. Department, at around 3:40 a.m., police. claim they get a call from Jeffrey Raale. himself. And he reportedly tells the. dispatcher that he has killed Paxton and. then adds a claim that sends this entire. case into this unsettling, almost unreal. direction. He allegedly said he did it.

because she was quote possessed. So when. officers arrive at the house, they walk. into this scene that is chaotic and. horrific. According to court records. that were reviewed by a family, Jeffrey. Rial is still there. He's holding a. hammer and a cross. Inside the home, police find Paxton dead. And this is the. part that is especially unsettling is. how severe her injuries were. So severe. that she's unrecognizable. That's based. on the reports. There was a chainsaw in.

the kitchen. And this chainsaw was. reportedly covered in blood, hair, and. biological matter. So, this guy, Raal, was detained. He was taken to a hospital. first. He was later booked into jail. He's charged with first-degree murder. He's being held on a $1 million bond. And we'll talk about his criminal case. Innocent until proven guilty. Absolutely. What is the evidence against. him? We'll talk about it. But meanwhile, Paxton's family, from a human point of. view, who had been preparing for. Thanksgiving, which they say was. Paxton's favorite holiday, they suddenly.

find themselves planning her funeral. instead. All right, so before we go any. deeper into this case, I wanted to bring. in somebody who can actually walk us. through what all of this means from a. legal, from an investigative standpoint, because there's a lot to unpack here. I. want to bring him back in, uh, criminal. defense attorney Eric Fattis. Eric, thank you so much for taking the time. Um before we even get into this case. specifically, can you explain how, you. know, someone who's been on both sides, right, the prosecution, the defense, you. tend to look at a case like this when.

you're first hearing it, because it's. hard to separate it. There's the human. aspect from it. There's the brutal. nature of it. You have a defendant, yes, who's innocent until uh proven guilty, but you know, how do you first approach. something like this? >> Oh gosh. Well, certainly some chilling. allegations here in this case, Jesse. I. mean, from a prosecutor standpoint, um, one of the first points of contact is. the victim's family. You're you're going. to learn, um, not only how this affected. them, but possibly the history of this.

relationship. You know, on the defense. side, you kind of have to try to have a. detached, objective legal analysis. You. have to explore what avenues you might. be able to pursue notwithstanding the. gruesome nature of the alleged facts. And with your background in special. victims and domestic violence cases, is. this something the the the allegations. right now, is this something that stands. out to you as an outlier or have you. seen, you know, brutal crime scenes like. this before? And again, we'll talk about.

what potential defenses could be. Jesse, unfortunately, in my experience, it is common um that domestic violence. relationships, more so that than almost. any other relationship, um has the. potential for lethality and sometimes it. escalates into, you know, a gruesome set. of circumstances like we have here. Uh. it it's really unfortunately a pattern. that that can sometimes repeat in. communities and um is not terribly well. addressed by the legal system and and.

sort of has an upward trend recently. which is alarming. >> And one of the aspects of this case that. makes it particularly chilling is if the. allegations are true and he did this the. family shocked. There is this sense that. we knew this guy for years. We had no. idea that someone like this would be. capable of it. Again, assuming that he. did this, right? That is something I. think I've seen in a lot of cases. before, like whether it's a domestic. violence case or murder case or what. have you. But domestic violence cases. particular, you have this idea where. there's maybe an image that the public.

sees, that the family sees, that the. friend sees, but you don't know what's. going on behind closed doors or who. somebody really is. >> Oh, exactly. And and that's why these. things can be so shocking. They can be. so shocking for the victim's families. you know, um, domestic violence, like. you said, it's not something that often. happens out in the open. It doesn't. happen in front of a ton of witnesses. Typically, it's often behind closed. doors. It is a private hell that that. that um some of these survivors and and.

unfortunately alleged victims uh have to. experience sometimes for years without. even their closest family or friends. becoming aware of it. It's just a a very. private and sensitive matter and people. are sometimes disincined to speak out. about it as well. >> Can I talk to you about this 911 phone. call because it's strange on a number of. levels, but to have a suspect allegedly. confess over the phone in the middle of. the night, right, in the early morning. hours. Is that common in homicide cases?

>> Um, that one, at least in my experience, is not terribly common. You know, oftentimes the 911 call comes from the. alleged victim, the person who is um on. the receiving end of of of an assault or. or threats or something worse. Um yeah, you know, here the alleged culprit where. um the perpetrator is is expressing what. he's doing and why he's doing it, I. think, is really illustrative. Um you. know, it it does rise to the level of. alleged confession. Certainly.

problematic for the defense. Now, we. have to talk about him allegedly saying. that he did this because she was. possessed. My first thought is, okay, we're talking about Arizona insanity. defense, right? Where a person could be. found guilty except insane. If at the. time of the criminal act, that person. had a mental disease or defect that they. didn't know the criminal act was wrong. So, first, if it's a law school example, you say, "Oh my gosh, you know, they. killed somebody thinking they're. possessed, thinking, you know, they must. not be in the right mind." But to call.

911, that would signify to you, right, they knew what they did was against the. law. They knew what they did was wrong. Or am I not thinking about it the right. way? Or is a criminal defense attorney. going to jump on this? >> No, I hear you totally. I mean, um, that. call kind of shows a consciousness of. guilt. Why would you get police involved. if you didn't do anything wrong? If you. were kind of saving this person from. demonic possession, the call to police. indicates that he appraised the. wrongfulness of the conduct. And then.

you look at the sort of multiple weapons. that are found at the scene. There are. other artifacts like a cross and those. things. Um the hammer, the the the. chainsaw, all of these things together. show that this um there was some thought. put into this. There was some planning. put into this and that cuts against an. argument that that that uh the defendant. was not guilty by reason of insanity. >> How do they test for that? How do they. know? It's not right. It's not a. criminal defendant at this point in time. whether they're insane. It was at the. moment. How do they know at the moment.

whether somebody was afflicted with some. sort of mental disease or defect that. they couldn't appreciate the. wrongfulness of their actions? Is it a. battle between different mental health. experts? Is it trying to understand what. officers observed at that moment? How. long can that mental disease defect that. uh mental affliction um you know be. processed for? Again, what is the test? >> Yes. So, typically how it works, Jesse, is um the defense if they're exploring. that not guilty by reasons defense, they.

will have a a comprehensive mental. health evaluation for their client with. a professional who was trained in in. doing this type of analysis. The. professional usually does an in-depth. interview with the defendant. Um asks. about what happened that day, what. happened in in the um days and weeks. leading up to this. Um they look at. evidence at the scene. they they they. try to um determine if there is some. disconnect between what the defendant is. saying and what the objective reality. is. On top of that, they have to find a.

mental disease or defect. It can't just. be, I was having a bad day or I had a, you know, a um a kind of a panicky break. or something like that. It's usually got. to be more um severe than that. And then. the prosecution would get a chance to do. an evaluation, the findings of which. often differ from the defense's. evaluation. >> Were you surprised that he was. immediately hit with the first-degree. murder charge? I mean, from your. background, what would be factors that. would lead authorities, prosecutors to. immediately go forward with that charge? Because I mean, I'm covering other cases. where you don't see that immediately. It.

takes some time to figure out what had. happened. First-degree murder. What does. that tell you? Uh, you know, one thing it tells me is. the prosecution is taking this. extraordinarily seriously and that they. think even at this early stage, they. have the ammunition to bring the most. serious homicide charge there is, first-degree murder. One potential issue. is that they're going to have to prove. premeditation. They're going to have to. prove that he did this after. deliberation. And while there is some. evidence of planning, I think defense. might argue that, hey, this was like a. psychotic break that happened in the.

spur of the moment for which there was. no history leading up as as the family. has said. Uh and so proving the first. degree murder charge premeditation and. after deliberation um is going to be a. hurdle. I'd say other than the brutal. nature of this, one of the hardest parts. of this story, one of the hardest pieces. of this story to understand, to grasp, and something that only really emerged. after uh Paxton's death is again what. her family now believes she may have. been going through in the weeks, the.

months leading up to all this because in. the immediate aftermath of her death, her sister Alita and her aunt Tiffany, they both spoke to a family about how. Paxton had actually been seemingly. trying to get out of this relationship. Her aunt Tiffany told the outlet, quote, she was trying to get out. She was. trying to reach out for help. There are. shelters. There are places, but there's. a wait list. There's a lottery. It's a. hope you get in. According to the New. York Post, Alita said that Paxton quote. was trying to get out of the. relationship, but was concerned that she.

was actually suffering in silence. She. was not letting her family know what was. really going on. And they didn't really. get into too deep of specifics, but the. way that they described it suggests that. she may have been looking to get help. quietly, maybe even cautiously, the way. a lot of people in difficult. relationships do. Eric, is that true? Is. there difficulty for people to get the. help that they need to get out of a. potentially abusive relationship or. dangerous relationship? You know, Jesse, I've seen it time and again, sadly, um. how just how difficult it can be for.

some of these folks to leave these. abusive relationships. You know, on the. one hand, they often fear, they fear. their abuser and and what could happen. if they try to leave and aren't. successful. In addition to that, often. there's a cycle of domestic violence. whereby the abuser perpetrates but then. soothes and consoles and then the cycle. starts all over again. On top of that, sometimes there are economic. impediments, dependency, um, can can. rear its ugly head and these kinds of. things. So, a number of reasons why it's.

so difficult for these folks to get out. of these relationships even when they. want to. >> And the invisible part of it, right? So, her sister told a family, quote, "No one. wants to say that someone who said they. love them is hurting them." That's a. real statement. Now, from a legal point. of view, Eric, it's not evidence from. investigators per se. It's not something. documented by police, but this is the. family's apparent understanding of what. might have been happening behind closed. doors. Is this a piece of evidence that. would come into a trial? Would they. testify about this? Is it too uh. speculative? How important is it as part.

of the investigation? >> Well, hey, you know, the family can. testify as to their observations of the. nature of the relationship, how the. relationship may have changed over time, that kind of thing. And in the domestic. violence context, as a prosecutor, you. are always deeply investigating. Were. there prior acts? Was there abuse in the. past? Did it escalate over time? Because. that's often how these domestic violence. cases play out. And if there are prior. incidents, prior calls to police, prior.

calls for help, prior observations of. bruises or PTSD like syndromes, all of. those things are potentially on the. table when we get to the jury trial. phase. And going back to something, well, is this a kind of case, and these. are based on their statements, their. recollections, their understanding of. what was going on, but is this a kind of. case where there's so much attention. that they look now into this idea of the. shelters, the lottery system? I mean, are they investigated? Is it true that. there's a wait list? Is this something. that would be explored?

>> Uh, it should be. It it darn right. should be. you know, in in Colorado. where I practice, um there are a number. of resources for folks who are. experiencing this and sometimes it is. difficult to get a bed in these places. Sometimes, uh there are just limited. opportunities in that sense. And so I. think it's important to to look at, hey, are we giving our communities the tools. that they need to protect themselves to. get out of these relationships safely so.

that um someone doesn't get stuck and. god forbid something like this allegedly. happens. >> I got to get into the criminal history. because that's another piece of the. story that apparently didn't come out. until after uh Paxton's death. It's. something her family says they actually. did know about, at least in broad. strokes. We're going to get a little bit. more granular here because they knew. that Jeffrey Rael had a criminal. history. They just didn't think that it. would ever come to something like this. But when you actually lay out what the. record is, and we don't really know if. they knew the specifics of what his. record was, you start to see a pattern.

here, okay? Because according to court. records, apparent earliest major case. goes all the way back to 2012 in. Maricopa County, Arizona. And this. wasn't something small or vague. The. charges on the record were for. aggravated assault, multiple counts. Now, one of those counts resulted in a. guilty conviction. The others were. dismissed seemingly as part of the. process. But right away, more than a. decade before he met Paxton, he already. had a violent felony on his record. You. fast forward 10 years, 2022. He ends up.

facing another criminal case in Arizona. Again, a multi-count complaint. The. problem with this is the details of the. charges. Oddly, they're not actually. listed in the docket. But what we do. know is that one of those counts did end. in a guilty conviction in January of. 2023. The others were dismissed. Eric, when you look at something like that, A, how does that factor into the current. case? Okay. And B, um, how much does. that matter when evaluating risk in a. new relationship? So, you're talking.

about two things here, right? You're. talking about A, how does that factor. legally into the case? and B, as someone. who has experience in this, is this. something you've seen, does it does it. factor into evaluating risk in a new. relationship? >> Sure. So, what appears clear from the. record is that this defendant had a. history of violence. This was in his. past. He has gotten physical before. And. so, especially from a prosecutor's. standpoint, that's aggravating, right? It's it's not something that just came.

out of nowhere some kind of fluke when. this guy was 47 years old. something. that has been apparently in his past. before. And so that may cause. prosecutors to take an even more serious. approach to the case in terms of. approaching a relationship. Gosh, you. know, often times these folks might not. be privy to that information. It's it's. not always easy to find, you know, um. criminal history of a person from 2012, unless you're kind of in the business of. doing that. And so when you have a a an. unwitting young woman who simply is, you.

know, looking for love, uh that might. not be uh front of mind. She might not. even have access to that information. >> This would come out in his trial if he. what if he a is found guilty and during. sentencing, I'd imagine. Or B, if he. were to take the stand, couldn't he be. confronted about his prior criminal. history? >> There are a number of ways it could. potentially come in. So if the prior act. was so similar in nature, for example, if it was also domestic violence, if he. also used a weapon, if it is similar.

enough, the prosecutor could try to get. it in as a prior act in the trial. itself. However, I think that's somewhat. unlikely. If he testifies and he tries. to say something like, "I'm a peaceful. guy. I I wouldn't do this. This is out. of character for me." Or something like. that, they would say, "Well, wait a sec. What What about in 2012? Look at this. court record we have here. aggravated. assault felony, man. Um, lastly, it. could certainly come in at a sentencing. phase. The judge wants to know not only. what happened in this case, but the the.

individual's criminal history and what. kind of risk they might pose in the. future if there was any possibility of. being let out, which it seems kind of. grim right now. >> By the way, just a little legal point of. view, it would be difficult to put it in. the prosecution's case and chief as a. prior act if 2012 because it's so far a. happened so long ago, right? That that's. one of the difficulties, right? >> Oh, absolutely. Yes, it's very. attenuated in time. If this had been. like a a pattern with recency with. respect to the incident, it would be.

easier to try to convince a judge to let. it in, but I think the likelihood is. low. >> Yeah, the 2022 one 2023 maybe. But, um, look, here's another point that I wanted. to address with you. Obviously, this. case is deeply shocking on its own. The. problem is, it seems it also happens to. fit into this broader pattern that. experts are watching across the country. because according to recent data from. the Council on Criminal Justice, violent. offenses in general in Phoenix and other. major US cities, they're actually. declining in the first half of this year. compared to the same period in 2024.

There is one glaring exception, and that. is domestic violence. Because unlike. other violent crimes, DV incidents have. risen by about 3%. Are you surprised by. that stat that we're seeing it rise by. about 3%. >> It's certainly alarming, Jesse. It's. it's it's not the direction we need to. go as a society with this. And and you. know, you look at a domestic violence. case as compared to like a bar fight or. something. And and with the in the DV. context, it can be cyclical. It can be.

repetitive. It can happen over and over. again. Whereas, you know, an assault at. a a bar based on a disagreement or. something is usually an isolated event. So just by the very nature of this. domestic violence context, it does make. sense that there is the risk of of the. trend increasing of this happening at a. greater frequency over and over again. until we get to this level of lethality. uh which is something as a society we. have to try and intervene on. >> The only thing and I I can't say this. for sure because I didn't do the study.

I don't know uh a lot of stats, a lot of. aspects of the study. I guess a silver. lining could be if they're saying. there's an increase in domestic. violence, which is horrible. The silver. lining could be more people are. reporting it. One of the problems that. we see is that it's unreported, that. people suffer in silence. They don't. mention it. So, the only way that they. would know these stats are increasing is. because it is going more reported, which. is a good thing. Am I looking at it the. right way? >> That very well could be a contributing. factor to the statistics that we're.

seeing. Um because like you said, this. happens behind closed doors. Oftentimes, people are embarrassed by it. They don't. want to tell their family that they're. being victimized by a loved one. They. don't want to come out in the community. They don't want to be subjected. potentially to criticism or ridicule or. a harsh cross-examination at trial. This. is an unpleasant process for anybody who. comes forward to report. But the fact. that more people are doing it, that's. the only way we're going to appraise the. nature and severity of the issue and. then look towards insights and answers.

as to how to try to solve it. >> Now, look, let me end on this point. As. Paxton's family continues to process. this tragedy, they have set up a. GoFundMe that we want to put up and it's. a GoFundMe that was helped to cover. funeral costs and other expenses. And. this is how they describe Paxton in this. GoFundMe. quote, "They describe her as. somebody who was incredibly bright, selfless, and beautiful. Paxton was. resilient and had so many dreams left. unfinished. There is no doubt she fought. for her life. It is unthinkable that. someone we let into our home and family.

could take such a precious person from. us. He promised us he would keep her. safe and protect her. And in the end, after years of domestic violence, he. took her life. He has been arrested, and. we will stand as a family to see that he. pays for this crime. as a family. We. appreciate all your continued prayers, support, and help. Eric Fattis, thank. you so much for taking the time. Appreciate it. >> Be with you. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always,

please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcast. You can follow me on X. or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll. speak to you next time.