MINNEAPOLIS — The man accused of using a golf club to fatal impalement of a supermarket worker in Minneapolis has been found competent to stand trial.
Taylor Schulz was charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of a 66-year-old Robert Schafte On December 8, 2023, officers responded to Oak Grove Grocery and found the victim behind the counter “impaled through his torso with a golf club,” police said at the time. Skafte died at a hospital.
Skafte was a clerk at the store for nearly two decades and was also an acclaimed ballet dancer. A neighbor described Skafte to WCCO, saying he “did nothing but altruistic acts for this community.”
“He was friends with everybody in the whole neighborhood. You know, they come to the store and he was friends with everybody that shopped there. I think the best way to describe Robert is that he was kind of a pillar of the neighborhood,” said Daniel, a resident of the nearby store.
Schulz lived in an apartment across the street. Court records show Schulz had been evicted a week before the murder and had previously attacked other apartment residents.
Schulz was placed in civil detention for six months in 2021 after a doctor determined he was at “an unacceptably high risk for further psychiatric deterioration unless strong support is provided,” according to court documents. He has also been diagnosed with schizophrenia. He has received treatment and services through Veterans Affairs in the past.
In January, a judge ruled that Schulz mentally incompetent to stand trial. At the time, the district attorney’s office said it would immediately resume proceedings in the case if he was found competent at his July hearing.
Friends and family attended a memorial service for Skafte in late December a petition shared to draw more attention to mental health issues like Schulz’s.
No further hearings have been scheduled.
If Schulz is found guilty, he faces up to 40 years in prison.
WCCO Staff
