Blood, Shovels, and Antlers: Decoding a Disturbing Crime Scene
Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan
CrimeOnline and iHeartPodcasts
4.8 • 1.8K Ratings
🗓️ 6 April 2023
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Levi Axtell, a Minnesota man, murdered elderly Lawrence V. Scully, whom he accused of stalking his young daughter. Scully was convicted in 1979 of sexually assaulting a 6 year old girl and went to prison for 2 years. When carrying out the crime, Axtell used unconventional weapons in his attack – a shovel and a large moose antler – leaving a gruesome crime scene behind.
In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack discuss the perplexing case of a brutal attack involving a shovel and moose antlers. They explore the difficulties faced by forensic investigators in differentiating between injuries caused by these unconventional weapons, while also examining the chaotic nature and rapid timeline of the assault, as well as the psychological aspects driving the attacker to use such odd weapons, and how the investigation unfolded in this bizarre and gruesome case.
Show Notes:
0:00 - Intro
1:05 - Background and overview of case
2:22 - Moose antlers being used as weapons.
3:55 - Levi Axtell and Lawrence Scully had been in conflict for years and Axtell eventually got an order of protection from him. What does that mean and what does it take to get an order of protection?
6:45 - Finding registered sex offenders in your area.
8:00 - Axtell got an order of protection from Scully which was then dismissed leading to heightened frustration and alertness.
10:10 - Scully’s criminal history.
13:05 - Axtell’s previous offenses.
13:50 - How did the whole situation escalate?
14:25 - Imagine a scenario where a blood-covered man confesses to murder at a police station.
15:30 - The role of 911 in reporting crimes.
16:40 - The police must ensure the safety of the suspect and others in the vicinity.
19:40 - Start asking questions.
21:10 - The suspect is agitated, how does that affect his interaction with the police?
22:30 - The use of a shovel in this case and how that may be used as evidence by Axtell's defense.
24:25 - Has JoScott Seen people use garden tools as weapons?
27:00 - How do forensic experts analyze and decipher complex crime scenes with widespread blood, defensive injuries, and splatter?
31:35 - How do forensic experts distinguish wounds from unusual weapons?
36:00 - How does the unique shape and weight of a moose antler influence its use as a weapon and the resulting injuries compared to other blunt force weapons?
39:10 - How the short time frame and frenzied nature of the attack may impact how police or forensic experts approach and investigate the crime scene.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan |
| 0:19.6 | Many of us find ourselves in positions throughout life where we use the things that are at |
| 0:24.7 | our disposal. We use those items that we have access to in order to complete a task perhaps. |
| 0:31.9 | I guess that some people would call these tools of convenience. I'm going to speak about |
| 0:38.0 | something that we refer to in forensics as weapons of convenience. Today we're going to talk |
| 0:44.3 | about a man who out of sheer anger and rage and maybe a healthy dose of suspicion. |
| 0:52.8 | Attacks another man and ends this fellow's life with a mousse antler. I'm Joseph Scott Morgan |
| 0:59.7 | and this is Body Bags. Dave Mack, my buddy who's crime reporter for a crime online, I don't know |
| 1:12.0 | that I ever envisioned myself speaking about a case involving a mousse antler. When I saw the story |
| 1:21.6 | and I began to dig into it a little bit, I was shaking my head saying that I just read this |
| 1:26.3 | correctly. I'm kind of a frustrated historian and I love history. I love Native American history |
| 1:31.2 | and I love learning about tools and things that were used and I'm thinking who in the world would |
| 1:36.1 | even have access to a mousse antler. And as I began to dig further and further, this story just |
| 1:41.9 | really captivated me and I began to think about instrumentalities of death and boy do we have one |
| 1:48.6 | today usually when you are talking about a crime boy you don't want to say killing people is normal |
| 1:53.7 | but there are normal aspects to a murder things that we are accustomed to hearing certain types |
| 1:58.7 | of weaponry comes to mind but when you start mentioning a mousse antler when I picture an antler |
| 2:05.7 | I think of a deer antler with a hard bony tribe structure with points on the end and in that I |
| 2:13.2 | could see how somebody might use that antler as a weapon but mousse antlers aren't like that are |
| 2:21.3 | they they're kind of flat they're dish-like in shape I guess to a certain degree or bowl-like |
| 2:28.0 | presentation and kind of concave I guess rolling outward and they have prongs all along the edge |
| 2:34.8 | but they're not necessarily sharp prongs but you can look at this thing and tell that if this animal |
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