In a world where the criminal justice system is about as broken as our nation’s voting system, every now and again feel good stories like this are worth the read. Now, the following is all “alleged” until the court verdict comes in otherwise, but it should be pretty simple, touch a kid with perverse intent, lose your life. But for now, we will have to remain a society who leverages due process in hopes that a jury or judge do the right and lawful thing.
A Minneapolis father was charged with second-degree murder after allegedly using a shovel and moose antlers to fatally attack Lawrence V Scully, a convicted pedophile whom he suspected was stalking his daughter. The victim was discovered deceased in his home, and Levi Axtell, 27, was arrested and charged with the crime.
According to information given, Axtell was concerned about Scully, who had been convicted of sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl in 1979, and feared for his own daughter’s safety.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that in 2018, he accused Scully of parking his van outside his child’s nursery in Grand Marais, Minnesota. He filed for a restraining order, which was granted, but subsequently dismissed a few weeks later.
During the hearing, information was revealed that Axtell arrived at the sheriff’s office with blood on his person and informed the authorities that he had killed Scully with a shovel. He confessed to striking Scully 15 to 20 times with the large tool and then finishing the assault with a large moose antler.
Upon investigation, the police found the convicted pedophile, who had been released from prison in 1982, deceased in his home, with severe head injuries consistent with the attack. Although there had been previous allegations of harassment made against him shortly before his death, an investigation yielded no significant findings.
According to information, Axtell applied for a restraining order in 2018, said that his child was being stalked. In his statement, he stated that “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.”
Judge Michael Cuzzo granted Axtell’s request for an order of protection on a temporary basis, prohibiting Scully from approaching within six blocks of Axtell’s residence. However, the judge denied the permanent order, stating that the allegations were not substantiated.
On last Saturday, a woman who is believed to be Axtell’s sister stated that the family had received substantial support from the local community and planned to establish an online fundraiser. In a Facebook post, Katrina Axtell expressed her gratitude for the overwhelming support that she was witnessing online in the wake of the tragedy that occurred on last Wednesday.
Axtell is currently detained in Cook County and is due to appear in court on April 10. His defense attorney, Dennis Shaw, pointed out that Axtell had no significant criminal record prior to this incident and deemed him a low flight risk. However, his bail was set at $1 million dollars.
