Grand Marais MN – Levi William Axtell, a 27-year-old resident of Grand Marais, has been charged with intentional second-degree murder in the death of Lawrence Vincent Scully, a 77-year-old man.
According to the criminal complaint, Axtell allegedly entered Scully’s home on Wednesday and beat him with a spade-style shovel before finishing him off with a large moose antler.
A Cook County sheriff’s deputy found Scully with “major head trauma” and “surrounded by blood” after receiving a 911 call reporting the incident. Axtell was covered in blood when he walked into the Law Enforcement Center and confessed to the murder.
Axtell had previously sought a protective order against Scully, whom he accused of stalking his 22-month-old daughter. Scully had a history of sexual abuse and had been convicted of second-degree criminal sexual conduct in Kanabec County in 1979.
In April 2018, Axtell was granted a temporary order preventing Scully from going within six blocks of his home and from entering his workplace or the daycare center. However, a permanent order was denied in May 2018 after a hearing, with the judge writing “the allegations are not proven.”
Records show that orders for protection were entered against Scully in at least two other cases, both of which involved allegations of sexual abuse and stalking.
The medical examiner ruled that Scully’s cause of death was blunt force head injuries, and he had defensive wounds to his arms. Axtell has little criminal history, with only one misdemeanor disorderly conduct conviction and a felony damage to property case that was dismissed after he completed probation.
The Cook County Attorney’s Office may consider premeditated murder charges against Axtell at a later date.
