Bloodied Minnesota Father Confessed To Beating Sex Offender To Death With Shovel And Moose Antler
A Minnesota dad reportedly confessed to beating a sex offender with a shovel before he "finished him off" with a moose antler, allegedly believing that the ex-convict was stalking his toddler-aged daughter in the past.
Levi Axtell, 27, turned himself in on March 8 and allegedly confessed to the murder of Lawrence V. Scully, 77, saying he struck the man 15 to 20 times with a shovel before delivering a final blow with the antler, according to court documents cited by FOX News. Covered in blood, Axtell reportedly fell to his knees, put his hands on his head and demanded he be restrained, threatening violence if he wasn't handcuffed.
On Friday, the father was arraigned via Zoom on a second-degree murder charge, the outlet reported. He is being held on a $1 million bond, despite arguments from his attorney Dennis Shaw that he has no criminal history and is not a flight risk due to his strong ties in his community. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 10.
Axtell told police he observed Scully, who served three years in prison after he was convicted of molesting a 6-year-old girl in 1979 in Kanabec County, "park[ing his] vehicle at locations where children were present," including his daughter's daycare, "and believed he would reoffend," according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by FOX.
The 27-year-old said he had known Scully for a long period, and "believed him to have sexually offended against children in the past," the affidavit read.
Around 5 p.m. on March 8, shortly before the Minnesota man surrendered himself to police, a 911 caller told Cook County Sheriff's Office dispatchers that someone "smashed" their car into a vehicle parked in the 77-year-old's driveway in Grand Marais and "[ran] into [Scully's] house," police wrote in their affidavit.
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The caller then told the dispatcher that they heard screaming coming from the house. "About a minute later," the caller told police that the attacker had gotten back into their vehicle and would drive to the police station about three blocks away.
Cook County Sheriff's Deputies responded to Scully's home after Axtell's confession, where they found the elderly man "obviously dead from the serious nature of his head wounds" with "wounds on his arms consistent with defensive wounds."
Despite recent allegations against Scully for harassment, Cook County Sheriff Pat Eliasen told the Associated Press that a police investigation "didn't reveal anything" that could justify his arrest.
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An order of protection, filed by Axtell against Scully, was granted by a judge in 2018 after the father claimed the older man was "attempting to groom" his then-22-month-old daughter at her daycare, according to local outlet WTIP. For reasons that are unclear, that restraining order was dropped two weeks later, according to Fox News.
According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Axtell posted on Facebook two years later, "Only cure for pedophiles? A bullet."
