Man found mentally incompetent to stand trial in brutal killing of Loring Park store clerk

A man with a history of mental illness accused of stabbing an acclaimed ballet dancer and friendly fixture of the Loring Park neighborhood was found mentally incompetent to stand trial.

Taylor Justin Schulz, 44, refused to appear Tuesday for a virtual Hennepin County District Court hearing. But judicial officer Danielle Mercurio proceeded without Schulz and ruled on his mental competency evaluation ordered in the aftermath of the gruesome killing last month.

Schulz was charged with second-degree murder and accused of beating and impaling Robert Skafte, 66, with a golf club behind the counter of the Oak Grove Grocery store around 1 p.m. Dec. 8.

Skafte was a beloved clerk at the store for nearly two decades and Schulz lived in an apartment across the street. But court records show Schulz had been evicted a week before the killing and he previously assaulted other apartment residents.

Mercurio's ruling that found Schulz incompetent to participate in court proceedings was not publicly available as of publication time. The decision was based on the opinion of a psychological examiner who reviewed relevant records to prepare the report and evaluate Schulz.

"We have no reason to dispute the examiner's opinion," Schulz's public defender Emmett Donnelly said in a brief statement while declining to comment further.

The Hennepin County Attorney's Office did not respond to request for comment.

Schulz remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail and his next court hearing is scheduled for July.

Hennepin County Attorney spokesperson Nicholas Kimball said in a statement that state law now calls for the county to review Schulz's history before civil commitment proceedings commence. In the meantime, he will remain in the Hennepin County Jail.

"If a judge determines that Schulz meets commitment criteria, treatment efforts to assist Schulz in attaining competence will begin," Kimball said. "If he is found to be competent in the future, the County Attorney's Office will immediately resume proceedings in the criminal case."

He was civilly committed for six months in 2021, when a doctor found that he was at "unacceptably high risk of further psychiatric deterioration unless strong support is given."

Court records detail Schulz's mental illness, including a diagnosis of schizophrenia and self-reported PTSD. Schulz had received treatment and services through the VA but wasn't at the time of the commitment proceedings.

Charges, based on surveillance video of the attack, state that Schultz approached the store counter with merchandise and almost immediately walked around the counter and began kneeing and punching Skafte, who attempted to get away. Schulz dragged him back by his shirt and continued choking, punching and kicking him. He then retrieved a golf club from behind the counter.

He struck Skafte in the head and neck eight times before the head of the club broke off. Schulz then stabbed him with the broken shaft of the club before impaling him in the torso.

Police arrested Schulz in his barricaded apartment after a six-hour standoff. A witness told police they saw a resident run into the apartment with blood on his face and clothing.

Schulz was already the subject of a person-in-crisis welfare check after he called 911 "wanting to speak to the FBI, refused to give further information," according to emergency dispatch audio. He refused to come out of his 16th-floor apartment when police arrived and a negotiator was called to the scene.

A customer entered the grocery store less than two minutes after the attack and called 911.

Neighbor Tony Gutoski was among the first to render aid to Skafte, whom he found partly on his knees and still conscious after the attack.

He told Gutoski that someone who "was in there earlier acting crazy came back and attacked him," and that he kept fighting him but didn't know what happened.

Skafte trained and danced with Westside School of Ballet in Santa Monica, Calif., in the early 1980s, and Kansas City Ballet from 1984 to 1994. He then made Minneapolis home, dancing with the theater company Ballet of the Dolls, according to Westside's website.

Over the years, he coordinated community gardens and farmers markets. He inspired neighbors with chalk art poetry outside the grocery store, where a memorial remains.

Star Tribune staff writers Paul Walsh, Abby Simons and Louis Krauss contributed to this report.