Michael Marcell Called Alleged Landlord Shooter His Friend

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We have an update to an exclusive interview we brought you here on KVRR last Friday.
 
The Perham man who was shot by his landlord is sharing his full story.
 
KVRR’s Brittany Ford was in Perham and joins us LIVE with the details.

Brittany?
 
Alison and TJ, 63-year-old Gerald Skolte made his first court appearance in Ottertail County Court where he is charged with attempted murder and assault.

His victim, Michael Marcell, was just released from the hospital yesterday, and shares how he says it all happened.
 
The Perham resident is still recovering from a gunshot wound in the back from his longtime friend and landlord Gerald Skotle.

After receiving an eviction notice on his door, Marcell walked me through what happened.
 
“I flinched and looked at him and he pulled the trigger…I remember hearing tick boom! And a smack in my back,” says Michael Marcell.
 
Marcell says the two had known each other for 17 years, and that Gerald was regularly over for dinner.

After installing security cameras and becoming distant, Marcell says it was in the last year that he noticed his landlord’s behavior change.
 
“After he had a heart attack…he used to mow the ditches out here, mow the yard all nice, and keep the place up. Then he just kind of quit doing everything,” says Marcell.
 
Michael says it was right here where Skotle shot him in the back.
 
“I reached back…I can feel the hole and I looked in my right hand…covered in blood and then that’s when I started begging for my life not to shoot me again.”
 
Marcell’s wife Heidi is also still recovering.
 
“Well I’m angry then I was just pretty numb…still pretty numb,” says Heidi Honer.
 
She says she woke up and looked out the window, and was horrified.
 
“And I saw Mike walking quickly…kind of limping through the yard and I saw Gerald behind him with a gun,” she says.
 
Currently, Marcell cannot work and the couple is in need of financial help.

They have created a donation account to help with medical and moving expenses.

Skotle’s bail has been set at $500,000.

His next court appearance is set for September 21st.

Reporting LIVE, Brittany Ford, KVRR News.