Minnesota Man Killed Sex Offender for Allegedly Stalking His Daughter

A Minnesota man has been charged with second-degree murder after he killed a sex offender who he claims was stalking his 22-month old daughter.

NBC News reports Levi William Axtell, 27, turned himself in to police this week after he killed Lawrence V. Scully, a 77-year-old who was convicted of molesting a 6-year-old girl in 1979. Axtell told law enforcement that he’d known Scully for a long time, and “believed him to have sexually offended against children in the past.”

Axtell told police that he killed Scully by beating him over the head with a shovel “about 20 times,” before he “finished him off” by hitting him in the head several additional times with a large moose antler. Police found the bloody shovel at the victim’s home. 

A medical examiner’s report confirmed Scully had defensive wounds on his arms and died from blunt force head injuries.

Shortly after committing the murder, Axtell drove himself to a police station and admitted to killing Scully. Axtell was covered in blood and “put his hands on his head and said that he had murdered (Scully) with a shovel,” police said.

Back in 2018, Axtell filed a restraining order against the victim, which was initially granted but later dropped. “(Axtell) said he had observed (Scully) parked in the vehicle at locations where children were present and believed he would re-offend,” the complaint stated.