A dad has allegedly beaten an old man to death with a shovel and a moose antler over suspicions the paedophile pensioner was stalking his daughter.
The drunk 27-year-old then handed himself in at a local police station covered in his victim's blood, court documents have revealed.
Levi Axtell has been charged with second-degree murder over the death of 77-year-old Lawrence Scully, who had previously been jailed for sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl.
Police were called to the victim's house in Grand Marais, Minnesota, US, shortly after 4.45pm on Wednesday March 8 to reports someone had pulled up in a minivan, ran inside before screaming was heard.
The witness then saw the van leave.
Gangsters ‘call for ceasefire’ after deadly Christmas Eve pub shooting
Axtell then arrived at the Sheriff's Office to hand himself in.
Axtell had previously complained about Scully (Facebook)He was covered in blood, dropped to his knees in the lobby and "put his hands on his head and said that he had murdered [Scully] with a shovel", the court filings said.
Officers went to Scully's house to find him "obviously dead from the serious nature of his head wounds".
Axtell told police he had grabbed a shovel, hit the victim 15 to 20 times, and "finished him off" with further blows from a large moose antler.
In 2018, Axtell had accused Scully of stalking his then 22-month-old daughter, sitting outside her daycare.
Scully was killed in Grand Marais, Minnesota (Google Maps)He wrote in the court request for an order of protection: "He has been there many times stalking children in his van.
"He is a convicted paedophile, and him stalking and attempting to groom my daughter is completely inappropriate and needs to stop."
The request was temporarily granted but dismissed just a few weeks later.
Scully had been convicted in Kanabec County, Minnesota, in 1979 for sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl.
He left prison in 1982 and not long after moved to the North Shore.
Four human skulls wrapped in tin foil found in package going from Mexico to US
Axtel had known Scully for a while "and believed him to have sexually offended against children in the past", the complaint read.
It continued: "[Axtell] said he had observed [Scully] parked in the vehicle at locations where children were present and believed he would reoffend."
Axtell had previously posted on Facebook a snap of someone pointing a gun along with the words "only cure for paedophiles. A bullet".
He commented underneath: "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."
Cook County resident Axtell seen in a Facebook snap (Facebook)In Axtell's first hearing County Attorney Molly Hicken asked Judge Michael Cuzzo to set bail at $1 million, saying: "This was a brutal attack without provocation on an elderly man."
He remains in jail but will return to court on April 10.
The local Sheriff acknowledge there had been further allegations against Scully over the years "but an investigation didn't reveal anything. Most of the reports were regarding harassment".
In 2018 Axtell pleaded guilty to a felony in 2018 for vandalising a pastor's car.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
