Incompetency ruling reversed for man accused of impaling grocery store clerk with golf club

A man who is accused of impaling grocery store clerk, 66-year-old Robert Skafte, has been found competent to stand trial.

This comes months after Taylor Justin Schulz, 45, was previously found incompetent.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the next court date has not been set.

As previously reported, Schulz is accused of brutally killing Skafte on Dec. 8, 2023.

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,” the documents state.

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.”