Truck driver denies hitting jogger, then raping and killing her
A 28-year-old truck driver has denied claims he struck a nurse while she was out jogging, before raping and killing her.
Quake Lewellyn, an award-winning farmer, entered a not guilty plea at a court in Jonesboro, Arkansas, on Thursday to the August killing of Sydney Sutherland, 25.
Sutherland, who was a nurse, was jogging on a nearby highway when she initially went missing in August, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette first reported.
The truck driver initially told investigators that he ran the woman over with his truck, drove to a nearby field to have sex with her and then dug a hole to bury her body, police records said.
Lewellyn’s attorney, Bill James, said he was worried people were focusing too much on rumors instead of letting the trial play out.
‘Everyone is so anxious for information on this case, and it seems that whatever is being said about it is getting printed,’ James said.
Lewellyn’s mother, Kerry, urged detectives to look at security footage at her house and pointed out a dent in her son’s truck that wasn’t there before.
Detectives searched Lewellyn’s house and discovered a pair shoes that matched the imprints left in the area where Sutherland’s body was discovered, police said.
Witnesses said that Lewellyn and Sutherland had attended the same school, but the truck driver had initially told police that he barely knew the woman.
When police searched Lewellyn’s car, they allegedly found traces of blood in the tailgate.
He had also recently ‘defriended’ Sutherland on social media, and police said they have filed a warrant to obtain all messages on Facebook between the two of them.
Lewellyn is charged with capital murder, which means he could face the death penalty if convicted.
He was also charged with rape, kidnapping and one count of abuse of a corpse.
Llewelyn remains behind bars and his next court appearance is in February.
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