Father bludgeons sex offender to death with moose antler

A father used a moose antler and shovel to fatally bludgeon a sex offender he believed had been stalking his daughter.

Levi Axtell, 27, set about 77-year-old Lawrence Scully and then, covered in blood, drove to the sheriff’s office and turned himself in.

The killing was “quite a shocker” for the community of Grand Marais, a town of just under 1,340 people in Minnesota, said local sheriff Pat Eliasen.

Scully had been convicted of molesting a six-year-old girl in 1979.

There had been ill-feeling between Axtell and Scully for some time.

In 2018, Axtell complained that Scully was spying on his 22-month-old daughter as she was taken for a walk after leaving daycare.

‘Stalking children in his van’

“He has been there many times stalking children in his van,” Axtell wrote in a request for the court to issue an order for protection.

“He is a convicted paedophile, and him stalking and attempting to groom my daughter is completely inappropriate and needs to stop.”

Axtell’s request was originally granted, but then dismissed a few weeks later, the Star Tribune reported.

Then, two years later, Axtell voiced his anger on Facebook.

His post depicted somebody pointing a gun alongside the caption: “Only cure for paedophiles. A bullet.”

He continued: “People always ask me why I hate paedophiles. They assume I’ve been abused. But really I think being protective is just an Axtell trait.”

Last Wednesday, according to court documents, police were called by a member of the public who saw a vehicle pull into Scully’s driveway before the driver smashed a vehicle and ran into the house.

Screams heard

“The citizen then heard screaming coming from the house,” the affidavit says. “While on the call, approximately a minute later,” the citizen told a dispatcher the man was driving to the police station, which is about three blocks away.”

A blood-soaked Axtell drove to the police station then, putting his hands on his head, he admitted killing Scully.

Axtell then demanded to be handcuffed, warning that he was planning to hurt somebody else.

He told police he had hit Scully 15 to 20 times with the shovel, before “finishing off” his victim with a giant moose antler.

According to a court affidavit, Scully had suffered serious head wounds. He also sustained injuries to his arms that were consistent with a struggle.

Axtell, who has been charged with second-degree murder, told police he had seen Scully park his van at places where children frequented.

Released from prison in 1982

Sheriff Eliasen confirmed Scully’s sexual assault conviction, adding that he had been released from prison in 1982.

He said there had been further allegations against Scully, but investigations had failed to reveal any further offences.

“Most of the reports were regarding harassment,” Eliasen said.

“This was a brutal attack without provocation on an elderly man,” said county attorney Molly Hicken, when Axtell appeared in court last Thursday.

Despite objections from Axtell’s lawyer, bail was set at $1 million.

The court agreed with the prosecution that Axtell represented a significant flight risk, even though he had no serious criminal history beyond convictions for disorderly conduct and underage drinking.

Unable to make bail, Axtell has been remanded in custody.  The next court hearing is scheduled for April 10.