A 27-year-old Minnesota man is accused of fatally beating an elderly sex offender to death on Wednesday, using a shovel and moose antler.
Officials charged Levi Axtell with second degree murder in the death of 77-year-old Lawrence Scully, who was killed inside his Grand Marais home, NBC Los Angeles reported Saturday.
The elderly victim was convicted of molesting a six-year-old girl in the late 1970s, according to Fox News.
Following the killing, the suspect went to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office where he told authorities what happened, all while he was covered in blood.
An image shows the suspect and what appears to be antlers:
Minnesota dad kills elderly sex offender with moose antler: report https://t.co/2D8zZNhVIw pic.twitter.com/M6dDswWmyV
— New York Post (@nypost) March 12, 2023
Bail was set at $1 million during a recent hearing. However, Axtell had no serious criminal history before the recent incident, and he was considered a minimal flight risk thanks to his longtime relationship with the community, per defense Attorney Dennis Shaw.
Right now, the suspect is being held in jail, awaiting his next court appearance.
The NBC report continued:
In 2018, Axtell alleged that Scully was stalking his 22-month-old daughter and other children in his van, which he parked near her Grand Marais daycare.
Axtell sought an order of protection, which was granted but then dismissed within several weeks, according to court records.
After Scully was convicted of sexually assaulting the six-year-old girl in 1979, he was released from prison three years later.
Following the recent incident, deputies found the victim inside his residence dead from head wounds, and Axtell admitted hitting Scully approximately 20 times with the shovel, then ending it with the antler.
The suspect reportedly knew Scully, and also believed he had sexually offended against children in previous years.
Axtell claimed he saw the man park in a vehicle in areas where children congregated, and felt he would reoffend against someone.
On what appeared to be a family member’s Facebook page on Saturday, a woman named Katrina Axtell wrote to the community, saying she was overwhelmed by the support they have received since the recent incident.
“I would like to welcome you to share your words in support of Levi and our family. If you have a story of your own you would like to share that has come up in response to this event, I would be eager to hear it. I will not share anything written to us outside of our family,” she wrote:
My Dearest Cook County,I am overwhelmed by the amount of support I am seeing online right now in light of Wednesday’s…
Posted by Katrina Axtell on Saturday, March 11, 2023
According to Cook County Sheriff Pat Eliasen, there were recent allegations against the victim, but an investigation did not uncover anything. Eliasen also noted that the majority of the reports concerned harassment.
Meanwhile, the sheriff told Fox News the killing was “quite a shocker” for the community.
