Evan Rosen
New York Daily News
Levi William Axtell turned himself into police Wednesday, saying he had beaten a 77-year-old to death because he believed the man to be sexually “offending” children.
Axtell, a 27-year-old father, alleged the elderly man had “stalked” his 22-month-old daughter, reports NBC News.
According to a criminal complaint filed by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office in Minnesota, Axtell used a moose antler and shovel to fatally beat the man after he broke into his Grand Marais home. He then drove to the police station and turned himself in.
Axtell claimed he found the shovel on the victim’s deck and proceeded to strike the man 20 times over the head, then “finished him off” with a moose antler.
A witness told the Sheriff’s Office they saw a man pull into the victim’s driveway around 5 p.m. on Wednesday, smash into a vehicle and enter the residence. They said they heard “screams” coming from inside the home then, shortly after, watched the man drive away from the scene.
When Axtell turned himself in at the police station, he entered covered in blood and holding his hands on his head. He told police that he had known the victim for a long time and “believed him to have sexually offended against children in the past,” the complaint said.
The victim’s body was found in his home, with the bloody shovel next to it. Preliminary medical evidence showed the 77-year-old had died from blunt force injuries to the head.
Cook County Sheriff Pat Eliasen said in the statement that Axtell and the victim had “experienced some conflict in the past,” but that law enforcement have yet to look into Axtell’s claims in depth.
The victim was arrested in 1979 for molesting a 6-year-old girl and spent two years in jail, according to the Cook County Herald.
Authorities have charged Axtell with second-degree murder. As of now, there is no attorney information available.
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