Judge orders competency evaluation for suspect in deadly Minneapolis grocery clerk attack

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The suspect in the brutal murder of a popular Minneapolis neighborhood grocery clerk made his first court appearance Wednesday.

Taylor Schulz has a history of mental health issues. He was civilly committed a couple of years ago. Hennepin County District Court Judge Michael Burns has now ordered Schulz to undergo a competency evaluation following the deadly attack inside Oak Grove Grocery in Loring Park.

Schulz is charged with second-degree murder for attacking Robert Skafte with a golf club last Friday.

"You know, you can handle people passing away. We all do. But the violence, the violent nature of it, I just do not know what to do with that," said Myron Johnson, a close Skafte friend.

Skafte was an accomplished dancer in the Minneapolis ballet community with deep ties to his Loring Park neighborhood where he lived and worked. 

"I keep thinking each day is going to get better, and each day is just a different kind of sadness," Johnson told FOX 9’s Paul Blume.

Johnson was Director of the Ballet of the Dolls, a dance company Skafte performed with for years. Johnson said he is traumatized by what happened. After spending several days at home grieving, he finally went outside only to realize he had become scared of strangers given the details of the deadly assault.

Authorities have said Skafte was attacked by Schulz, a mentally ill neighbor. Prior court documents detail Schulz’s schizoaffective disorder and psychosis diagnoses, with Schulz previously boasting about killing Osama Bin Laden.

Schulz made a brief first court appearance after refusing to do so on Tuesday. Wednesday, he would not spell his name for the court, rambling incoherently at times during the three-minute proceeding before deputies escorted him out.

Johnson explained that he is just trying to make sense of it all, "This person clearly has been let down by the system. We need to look at that too. How are people like that being put out on the street, living on their own? We can't do that. This was just waiting to happen."

Schulz will remain in the Hennepin County Jail as the competency evaluation takes place. His bail is otherwise set at $1 million with another court appearance on the calendar in mid-January.

Meantime, Skafte’s loved ones, including Johnson are planning a memorial service in the coming days so the community can gather to celebrate Skafte’s life. A large memorial has grown with flowers and photographs outside the now-closed Minneapolis neighborhood grocer.