A Minnesota father slaughtered a 77-year-old convicted sex offender using a moose antler and shovel after he accused the victim of stalking his young daughter.
Levi Axtell, 27, walked into at the sheriff’s office covered in blood and with his head in his hands as he admitted killing Lawrence Scully – who was jailed for molesting a six-year-old girl in 1979.
Axtell, from Cook County, Minnesota, had long been suspicious of Scully parking his vehicle at locations where children were present.
In 2018 Axtell filed an order of protection against the elderly man which was initially granted but later dropped.
Court records also show Scully was committed to a mental institution in 2020 but was later released and prescribed anti-psychotic drugs.
Levi Axtell murdered 77-year-old convicted sex offender Lawrence Scully using a moose antler and shovel after he accused the victim of stalking his daughter
Axtell is pictured with Katrina Axtell, who is believed to be his sister in a Facebook shot
A criminal complaint filed on Friday said Axtell repeatedly struck Scully with a shovel in his own apartment before ‘finishing him off’ with a large moose antler. At some point he is also believed to have smashed Scully’s vehicle.
A criminal complaint states Axtell entered Scully’s home at around 4.45pm and struck him 15-20 times with a shovel he had found on the victim’s deck.
Axtell told officers he finished the job with a large moose antler, according to the complaint.
‘Defendant said he had known (Scully) for a long time, and believed him to have sexually offended against children in the past,’ it states.
‘Defendant said he had observed (Scully) parked in his vehicle at locations where children were present and believed he would re-offend.’
A Cook County sheriff’s deputy entered the property around 5pm on Wednesday and found Scully with ‘major head trauma and surrounded by blood,’ adding he was ‘obviously dead.’
The father had walked into the police station covered in blood and with his head in his hands as he confessed to the killing.
A medical examiner noted that Scully had defensive wounds to his arms.
A neighbor called 911 to also report the incident after watching a van pull up at Scully’s residence and smash a vehicle before running home.
The witness added he heard screaming.
Scully was 33 when he was jailed for molesting a six-year-old girl, also in Minnesota.
He entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to between zero and five years to State Prison at Bayport, Minnesota.
He remained in prison until December 31, 1981 when he petitioned for post conviction relief.
A document from the hearing declared the state had not served any evidence he would present a danger to the public.
In 2014 he filed as a candidate for mayor of Grand Marais, Minnesota.
But by 2018 he was once again facing allegations of sexual misconduct with minors.
Family members revealed they had received a lot of support from the local community following the incident
Scully was killed in his home in Grand Marquis, Minnesota. A witness said he heard screaming from the apartment
That year Axtell sought an order of protection, alleging the stalking of his child.
‘They do not know each other,’ he wrote in the petition.
‘The respondent waits for victim to go on walks from daycare and tries to talk to her. … He has been there many times stalking children in his van.
‘I have seen him parked right next to the school. … He is a convicted pedophile and him stalking and attempting to groom my daughter is completely inappropriate and needs to stop.’
The request was temporarily granted by Judge Michael Cuzzo which forbade Scully from going within six blocks of Axtell’s home.
But a permanent order was later denied as Cuzzo said ‘the allegations are not proven true.’
Axtell had one criminal record to his name involving felony damage to a property case.
Sheriff Pat Eliasen said they had been made aware of allegations against Scully but an investigation ‘didn’t reveal anything.’
On Saturday a woman believed to be Axtell’s sister said she had received lots of support from the local community and the family were planning to set up an online fundraiser to help with the case.
‘I am overwhelmed by the amount of support I am seeing online right now in light of Wednesday’s tragedy,’ Katrina Axtell wrote on Facebook.
‘When a community member is in crisis we often feel at a loss for how to support them. When words don’t feel like enough, it can be easy to err on the side of silence out of a desire to respect the privacy of the family involved.
‘I would like to welcome you to share your words in support of Levi and our family.’
We also have an online fundraiser in the works and will share it shortly.
She added: ‘My hope is that both families involved and the Cook County community as a whole can come together to support one another, hear one another, and heal together.’
Minnesota court records show that in July 2020 Scully was committed to a mental asylum but released the following year.
In June 2021 the court authorized the use of antipsychotic drugs.
