Paula Townsend featured on Court-TV

By Jerry Sena

jtsena@wataugademocrat.com

Former Watauga County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Paula Townsend is a featured investigator on “Forensic Files,” on Court-TV, next Wednesday night.

Townsend was the lead investigator in the murder of Viktor Gunnarsson whose nude body was found  Jan. 7, 1994  in a wooded area off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Deep Gap.

Gunnarsson vanished from his Salisbury apartment the night of Dec. 3, 1993. He’d been shot twice by a .22 caliber gun.

Gunnarsson’s kidnapping and murder are the subject of the network’s popular criminal forensics show in an episode titled, “To the Viktor.” It’s set to air June 14 at 9 p.m.

Gunnarsson, a Swedish national and right-wing activist, was noted for his implication in the 1986 assassination of Swedish prime minister Olof Palma. He was held briefly as a suspect in Palma’s murder, but later released.

Townsend headed the investigation which involved detectives from the State Bureau of Investigation, and the Rowan and Watauga county sheriffs’ offices and led to the arrest and conviction of a 20-year veteran of the Salisbury Police Department, Lamont C. Underwood.

Underwood is currently serving a life sentence plus 40 years in Marion Prison for Gunnarsson’s kidnapping and murder.

Since his arrest, Underwood has maintained his innocence.  But, Townsend said Underwood had a history of domestic violence with several women and killed Gunnersson out of jealousy.

Townsend said Underwood’s conviction has been upheld by the state’s Court of Appeals and Supreme Court.

In 2005, Townsend’s employment at the Sheriff’s Office ended without explanation by either Watauga County Sheriff Mark Shook or Townsend.