Girlfriend of slain St. Paul law clerk remembers 'an unbelievable man'

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) - At his initial court appearance on Monday, bail was set at $1.5 million for the man accused of killing 23-year-old law clerk Chase Passauer at a St. Paul law firm.

St. Paul police were called to the 300 block of Selby Avenue around 4 p.m. when officers found the law clerk in his chair with six gunshot wounds, in his second-floor office above W.A. Frost.

"I knew what he was thinking without saying a word," Chase's girlfriend Molly Woodruff told Fox 9. "He knew what I was thinking. He was an unbelievable man. Always caring. He cared for everybody."

According to court documents, Ryan David Petersen, 37, was a disgruntled client of the North Star Criminal Defense law firm and unhappy about his representation. Attorney Daniel Adkins just started representing him in a case in which Petersen was accused of punching a Woodbury police officer who was arresting him for DWI.

On April 7, Petersen fired the attorney via text message and demanded his money back. Petersen expressed a belief that Adkins was ignoring his messages, but Adkins was in court at the time of the messages and could not respond.

Passauer lived in Hastings and hoped to attend the University of Minnesota Law School.

“Oh, he could litigate,” his friends said. “Yeah, he could go for hours on any topic, didn't matter what it was.”

A funeral service will be held on Friday, April 15 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Phillip's Lutheran Church, 1401 W. 15th Street in Hastings. A visitation will be held on Thursday, April 14 from 4 to 8 p.m. at church one hour prior to the service on Friday.

A gofundme page has been set up for Chase. To help, click here.