By RODNEY HART

Herald-Whig Staff Writer

LAGRANGE, Mo. -- Local authorities say there's no proof of domestic issues between a man charged with double homicide and his slain wife.

Christopher Piersee, 24, was charged with two counts of second-degree murder in connection with the deaths of his wife, Patricia, and 5-month-old son, Landon. Their bodies were found inside their home at 409 N. Main Tuesday morning, and Christopher Piersee was arrested inside the residence a short time later.

Christopher Piersee is at a Missouri Department of Corrections facility receiving a psychiatric evaluation. Lewis County Sheriff David Parrish said Piersee will be returned to Lewis County for arraignment at a later time.

Investigators are not commenting about possible motives or what was found inside the house. Lewis County Prosecutor Jake DeCoster said in his filed charges that Piersee is accused of shooting his wife to death and beating his son to death with either his fists or an object.

Christopher Piersee was born in Keokuk, Iowa, and married Patricia Yarbrough in 2007 in Burlington, Iowa, authorities said. They moved to LaGrange in the fall or early winter of 2008.

LaGrange Police Chief Larry Penn said during a press conference earlier this week that officers had been sent to the residence in recent months to investigate a possible domestic situation.

But Penn said Friday the call turned out to be for peace disturbance and no citations were issued. Penn did not say if the Piersees were the ones investigated, or when officers responded.

Police have responded to domestic calls at the address before, Penn said, but they did not involve the Piersees.

Parrish said Lewis County Sheriff's deputies never responded to any calls there while the Piersees lived in the house.

Court records show Christopher Piersee had several brushes with the law. He legally changed his last name from Turley to Piersee in 2007, the Keokuk Daily Gate City reported Thursday.

In 2004, Piersee Turley was charged with assault in Champaign, Ill., for shooting a man in the buttocks with a BB gun. Court records show Piersee received 12 months probation, which was successfully discharged in October 2005.

In June 2007, Piersee was arrested for aiding and abetting fifth-degree theft, according to South Lee County records in Keokuk. The theft involved three men receiving $144.62 in pizza from a delivery driver.

Piersee pleaded guilty two weeks after the incident, agreed to pay joint restitution and was fined $260.

Except for a traffic ticket, Piersee does not have a record in Missouri.

The Daily Gate City also reported Piersee's father was a police officer in Keokuk, as was his grandfather. His parents divorced about a year after Piersee was born, the paper reported.

Funeral services for Patricia Yarbrough Piersee and Landon Piersee will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Arnold's Funeral Home in Canton.

-- rhart@whig.com/221-3370