Father turns himself in to police after killing child sex predator with shovel and moose antler

Grand Marais, Minnesota: On Wednesday, March 15, 2023, 27-year-old Levi Axtell reportedly walked into the Cook County Sheriff's Office covered in blood, "put his hands on his head and said that he had murdered (someone) with a shovel."

Deputies responded to the location of the crime and found 77-year-old Lawrence V. Scully "obviously dead from the nature of his head wounds."

Axtell is said to have told officers that he had hit Scully in the head 15-20 times with a shovel and then " finished him off" with a large moose antler.

The criminal complaint goes on to state that Axtell had known Scully for a long time "and believed him to have sexually offended against children in the past."

In 1979 Scully was convicted in Kenabec County on charges that he had sexually assaulted a 6-year-old girl. He was released from State Prison at Bayport, Minnesota in 1982.

Previously, Axtell told investigators that he had observed Scully parked outside of the daycare where his 22-month-old daughter was being cared for.

"He has been there many times stalking children in his van," Axtell wrote in his petition for an order of protection in 2018. "He is a convicted pedophile, and him stalking and attempting to groom my daughter is completely inappropriate and needs to stop."

The order of protection was initially granted, then dismissed several weeks later. Sheriff Pat Eliasen explained that the reason for dismissal was because "an investigation didn't reveal anything."

Axtell, who is the nephew of Todd Axtell, former police chief in St. Paul from 2016 until 2022, has a limited criminal history that involves vandalizing a pastor's car in 2018. Axtell plead guilty to the charge and after he served three years probation, the charge was dismissed.

Axtell has been charged with second-degree murder and remains in custody in lieu of $1 million bail. His next court date is scheduled for April 10, 2023.

Prayer points:

• Healing for the community, Axtell's family, Scully's victim
• Provision for his family as they adjust to life without him
• Exposure of all the truth in this case
• A fair and speedy trial