The Arkansas farmer accused of murdering and raping a nurse said during a mental health check that, after killing the victim, he tried to “mess with” her corpse – then went home, had dinner and “just tried to forget about it”.
Quake Lewellyn’s chilling confession, 28, is contained in the assessment of a state psychologist who found that he is mentally fit to stand trial for the death of Sydney Sutherland, 25, who disappeared while running in August.
“It was all a blur,” Lewellyn told the psychologist, according to a report obtained by KARK.
The married stepfather of three children says that, on the day of the incident, he was driving to check some wells and rice fields when he saw Sutherland walking along a gravel road.
According to him, he passed her, turned around and hit her with his truck, unable to see her in a cloud of dust. He claims he went to her to see if she was okay and believed that she was dead at that time.
Although he hadn’t drunk or used drugs, he says he was “scared and scared that I would have trouble running over her”. Instead of calling 911 for help, he said he put her body in the back door of his truck to hide it.
His narrative then takes a truly depraved turn.
Lewellyn told the psychologist that he drove to a rice paddy to bury Sutherland, but first undressed her and “tried to mess with her a little” – although he said his lawyers advised him not to explain exactly what he did.
He dug a hole and buried Sutherland, then continued his day as if he hadn’t taken his life and abused a corpse, the assessment says.
Returning to work, he spent the next two to three hours checking wells, went home, had dinner and went to bed. “He reported that he didn’t tell anyone what happened and ‘just tried to forget it,” “wrote the psychologist.
When word of Sutherland’s disappearance spread, Lewellyn’s father called him to ask if he had seen her and he said he said he saw her on the road. He went to the police station the next day to report the sighting – “still hoping not to be caught,” says the report – and ended up deciding to confess.
“I knew I didn’t kill her on purpose,” he told the appraiser. Asked why he didn’t just call 911, he said, “I don’t know about that … I was just scared.”
Authorities accused Lewellyn – who studied at the same school in Sutherland but says she barely knew her – of manslaughter, kidnapping, corpse abuse and rape.
His wife has filed for divorce since his arrest.