Levi Axtell, charged with
the murder of Larry Scully.
(Photo courtesy of Cook County
Sheriff’s Department)
Levi Axtell, the Cook County resident charged with murdering a Grand Marais man in 2023, is mentally ill, dangerous, and not competent to stand trial at this time, according to the state of Minnesota and the lone judge presiding over the North Shore.
In June of this year and again in mid-August, Cook County/North Shore Judge Steve Hanke ruled that Axtell remains incompetent to stand trial.
“Axtell is currently not competent to proceed because he suffers from ongoing delusions that prevent him from rationally consulting with his legal counsel and participating in his legal defense,” Hanke determined.
Meanwhile, these determinations continue to rack up costs for local taxpayers. Cook County and state officials confirmed with the Northshore Journal this month that Axtell’s legal proceedings and housing at a mental-health facility in Minnesota have cost local taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.
On March 10, 2023, Axtell was charged with second-degree murder following the death of Larry Scully. According to the criminal charges, Scully was murdered using a shovel and a moose antler. The murder took place at Scully’s home in Grand Marais. Axtell was first found to be incompetent to stand trial in 2023.
The Aug. 15 ruling from Hanke also stated that Axtell remain at the Forensic Mental Health Program in St. Peter, Minn., a facility for adults with mental illness, some of whom are also accused of committing crimes.
The Northshore Journal asked Cook County officials, including County Attorney Jeanne Peterson, Public Health and Human Services Fiscal Supervisor Plamen Dimitrov, and
County Administrator Kristen Trebil-Halbersma, about the costs to local taxpayers to house Axtell. Based on information provided in their response, Cook County pays 10 percent of the $1,252 cost per day to house Axtell at the Forensic Mental Health Program at St. Peter. This has been the case since 2023. Axtell is currently being held by the Cook County Sheriff’s Department, though he has spent most of the time since his arrest housed in St. Peter.
In addition, local taxpayers have covered some of Axtell’s legal fees stemming from the alleged crime. Kyle Christopherson is a communications specialist with the Minnesota Judicial Branch office in St. Paul. He told the Northshore Journal on Oct. 21 that “there is no information in the court record regarding how attorney fees are being paid in this criminal case.” However, Christopherson noted, “Axtell also has a civil commitment case in Cook County and is represented by a court-appointed attorney.” Local taxpayers covered approximately $4,950 for those civil commitment cases, according to state officials.
“Please note that the criminal case is completely separate from the civil commitment cases,” Christopherson told the Northshore Journal last week. “They are conducted under different statutes, court rules, and procedures. While Mr. Axtell is a criminal defendant in (one case), he is also a patient or respondent in the two civil commitment cases.”
Regarding the ongoing criminal case, state and local officials could not confirm if a recent ruling by the Minnesota Supreme Court would require Cook County taxpayers to pay Axtell’s legal fees. That court opinion from Oct. 8 determined that counties are responsible for the legal fees of defendants who file petitions to force the state to place them in a treatment facility. It was Axtell’s attorney, Christa Groshek, who made the request for a mental health evaluation in 2023. The Northshore Journal reached out to Groshek to see how the defense is being paid for and did not immediately hear back.
Regardless of where Axtell spends his days moving forward, there will likely be a cost to local taxpayers. The cost per day for a patient at the Forensic Mental Health Program at St. Peter is $1,252, of which the county is responsible for 10 percent. At $1,252 per day, it costs Minnesota taxpayers approximately $457,000 annually to house a person at the facility in St. Peter, including those who are accused of crimes.
In Minnesota, it costs an average of $56,210 to house a prisoner for a year in a state prison, according to officials from the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) who we emailed with for this story. To put things in local context, the Northshore Journal asked officials from the DOC for the approximate cost to local taxpayers for Kirk Bigby, the man who pled guilty to murdering a card dealer at Bluefin Bay Resort in Tofte in 2015. Bigby was sentenced Aug. 9, 2017, to a term of 150 months (equivalent to 12 years and 6 months), with 610 days of jail credit applied. Aaron Swanum is a media information officer for the state DOC. While he did not comment specifically on the costs to house Bigby in a state prison, he told this newspaper Oct. 28 that Bigby’s sentence expiration date is June 8, 2028, though he was put on supervised released in April 2024. That puts the sum of Bigby’s inmate stay at just under $400,000. It’s worth noting, Swanum said, that the DOC is funded by the state’s general fund and is part of the public safety & judiciary budget.
Criminal acts aren’t always associated with a monetary cost to local taxpayers, though they typically do come with a financial component. The complexities of the legal system, particularly where it intersects with mental health, are challenging to navigate when it comes to a financial picture and the costs for local taxpayers.
Locally, there were varying opinions on Scully’s murder, with some calling acts of vigilante justice unreasonable, while others supported Axtell and the crime he is accused of. Bumper stickers with “Free Levi” were seen around Grand Marais and Cook County after the murder. The murder of Scully also drew national attention. Candace Owens is a podcast host and author who described Axtell in March 2023 as “a dad in Minnesota (who) killed a 77-year-old sex offender.” Owens said Scully was “stalking” Axtell’s daughter, though she had no proof to support the claim.
“This man is a hero in my book,” Owens said.
Prior to the murder, Axtell and Scully had a history of legal wrangling, including issues related to the safety of children, according to court documents reviewed by the Northshore Journal. Court filings show that Axtell sought a protective order against Scully on behalf of his then 22-monthold daughter in April 2018. However, now-retired Judge Michael Cuzzo denied the request for a harassment order in May 2018 after he found “no indication” of “repeated unwanted or intrusive acts” by Scully against Axtell or his daughter. Scully ran for mayor in 2014, though during the campaign many called into question his past behavior
as a convicted sexual predator. He was convicted in March 1979 for molesting a 6-year-old in Kanabec County, Minn.
Looking back, in her report submitted to the court, which was reviewed by the Northshore Journal earlier this month, Minnesota-based psychologist Mischelle Vietanen found that Axtell “appears to see himself as a ‘hero’ for having killed the alleged victim, and believes that others are likely ‘relieved this was taken care of.’”
Owens and her podcast were not the only national attention the situation garnered. The Atavist magazine also published a feature following the murder, claiming that “nothing has captivated local conversation quite like what happened between Larry Scully
and Levi Axtell in March 2023. A shocking act of violence attracted international attention and split the town over questions of truth and justice. Grand Marais is still trying to piece itself back together.”
In addition, a duo of documentary filmmakers based in California are currently working on a film about the murder. The focus of the film is the duality of the North Shore as both a beautiful, natural setting, as well as a place where dark and unusual events also occur. The film is currently in pre-production.
Moving forward, another mental health evaluation for Axtell will occur before Dec. 5, according to Hanke’s ruling. The next court date for Axtell likely won’t come until January 2026, pending further mental health reviews and updates from the state.
