Man accused of impaling store clerk with golf club indicted on 1st-degree murder charge

A man who is accused of impaling a grocery store clerk, 66-year-old Robert Skafte, with a golf club now faces a count of first-degree murder.

Taylor Schulz, 45, was indicted by a grand jury of first-degree murder on Thursday. He additionally faces a count of second-degree murder.

Schulz was found competent to stand trial in July after previously being found incompetent in January. On Tuesday, Schulz was found incompetent to stand trial for the second time.

As previously reported, Schulz is accused of brutally killing Skafte on Dec. 8.

Surveillance video from Oak Grove Grocery showed Schulz walk into the store, grab something from an aisle and then come up to the counter. “Almost immediately after approaching the counter, Defendant walked around the counter and physically attacked the victim, kneeing and punching the victim repeatedly,” a criminal complaint states.

Schulz then grabbed a golf club from behind the counter and beat Skafte with it until the club head broke off. He then impaled Skafte with the broken club shaft, court documents state.

Someone in the apartment building across the street told police that Schulz had run into the building with blood on his face and clothes around the time of the murder. Schulz was later arrested after an hours-long standoff.

According to Minnesota court records, Schulz was civilly committed in 2021 for being “at risk of harm” due to a “major mental illness.”