The Pavilion

Park Predators

This episode of Park Predators explores the unsolved murder of 20-year-old David Perry Llewellyn in Mohawk Park, Tulsa, Oklahoma, on July 27, 1975. Found dead in a picnic pavilion with signs

Key takeaways

• The murder occurred in a popular urban park, highlighting that even well-traveled public spaces are not immune to violence.
• Despite extensive investigation, critical evidence such as the victim's car and wallet were never recovered, complicating the case.

Main topics

• Unsolved murder in Mohawk Park
• Victim's identity and background

Notable quotes

Even in well-traveled, popular urban parks, bad things can happen. And no city green space is immune to random acts of violence.

Conclusion

The case of David Llewellyn remains an unresolved mystery despite convictions and extensive investigation. The lack of

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) Some of the most haunting investigations don't end when one answer is found. That's when the real questions begin. In a new audio-chucked series, The Truth About Natalie, host Sean Kipe investigates the disappearance and death of 27-year-old Natalie Jones. After leaving a 4th of July party, she sent one final text saying she'd made it home. But three months later, Natalie is discovered deceased inside her car in a wooded area. And this discovery didn't provide answers. It uncovered a mystery that still hasn't been explained. What happened during those missing months? And why do so many people believe the truth still hasn't come to light? Through exclusive interviews, original reporting, and a closer look at the evidence, The Truth About Natalie asks, what really happened to Natalie Jones? Listen to The Truth About Natalie now, wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 2 (0:55) Hi, park enthusiasts. I'm your host, Delia D'Ambra. And the case I'm going to share with you today takes place in Mohawk Park in Tulsa, Oklahoma. According to the website visittulsa.com, this recreation space spans 2,800 acres and is home to swimming facilities, sports fields, a nature center, the Tulsa Zoo, picnic areas, and event spaces. I actually stumbled upon today's story a few months ago while researching a previous episode of Park Predators. titled The Path. In that episode, I discussed several murders that happened in Tulsa in the 1970s. One in particular was the unsolved murder of Suzanne Oakley in late August 1975. Her murder occurred along the city's River Parks trail system, which is about 25 minutes southwest of Mohawk Park. And it was big news at the time. Today's case was equally as noteworthy back then. It happened just one month before Suzanne's murder. And though the victim is different, the circumstances are different, and the ending is different, I knew the moment I read about it that I wanted to research it and eventually discuss it on the show. Because, you see, when I released my episode about Suzanne's story, there were a lot of listeners who lived in Tulsa who told me they'd never even heard of her story. And if my suspicions are correct, I'm betting a lot of those same listeners have probably never heard about what happened in Mohawk Park either. And that worries me. Because if there's one thing I want all of you to take away from listening to this episode, it's this. Even in well-traveled, popular urban parks, bad things can happen. And no city green space is immune to random acts of violence. This is Park Predators. Speaker 2 (3:24) 8.30 in the morning on Sunday, July 27th, 1975, a woman named Grace Brightman arrived at Mohawk Park in Tulsa, Oklahoma to set up for a family reunion. She was planning to have that event later in the day, so her early arrival was on purpose. She wanted to ensure that her group would have first dibs at one of the park's enclosed picnic pavilions near some boat docks. But shortly after going inside the pavilion she had her eye on, she saw something horrible. Lying on top of a quilt blanket on the ground was the bloodied nude body of a young man. He was dead, and Grace saw that his arms had been spread apart and his head had been severely beaten. She immediately reported what she'd found, and in short order, an investigation got underway. From the outset, the scene was treated as a homicide, and detectives quickly located some additional items of evidence that they suspected belonged to the victim or were likely related to the case. There was a pair of underwear and two shoes sitting nearby that had socks tucked inside them. There was also a folded t-shirt on top of a table about 12 to 15 feet away that authorities strongly suspected belonged to their victim. Nowhere in sight, though, were the man's trousers or wallet. So police scoured the area for those things, as well as anything that might have been used as a possible murder weapon. But they came up empty-handed. It's hard to tell from reading the available source material exactly how authorities made this next leap, but by some means, they managed to positively ID the victim as 20-year-old David Perry Llewellyn. A Tulsa County resident who worked for a saw blade manufacturer in the city, but who lived in a northeast suburb called Owasso. Again, it's unclear to me how detectives figured out who David was, since his wallet was said to be missing, but somehow they did. Anyway, by 2 o'clock that afternoon, an autopsy was conducted. And the pathologist who examined David determined that he died as a result of ligature strangulation and blunt force trauma to his head. In the pathologist's report, he noted that David had likely been strangled with a small rope or cord, as well as repeatedly beaten in the head with a blunt object, possibly a rock. Initial news coverage by Tulsa World stated that David's estimated time of death was determined to be between 2 and 3 o'clock in the morning on the 27th. However, later information produced in court records estimated that David could have been killed as early as 8 p.m. on the 26th or as late as 4 a.m. on the 27th. However, later information produced in court records estimated that David could have been killed as early as 8 p.m. on the 26th or as late as 4 a.m. on the 27th. When police spoke with his parents, Raymond and Maxine Llewellyn, they told detectives that on the evening before his murder, David had been at their house. Before heading out, he'd asked his dad if he could borrow one of his belts, and he also had $200 cash on his person. He was also wearing a family heirloom ring and a 17-jewel wristwatch, which, based on what I found on Google and depending on the name brand, might have been a higher-grade accessory and not your average type of wristwatch. His parents said that the last time they saw their son, he drove off in his green 1973 Dodge Cornette. But investigators had yet to find David's car. It wasn't parked at Mohawk Park when his body was found, and no one had reported seeing it. So the question became, where was it? And had the same person or people who'd killed him taken that too? Speaker 2 (6:55) A few days into the investigation, authorities were hard up for leads. They hadn't identified a suspect and no arrests seemed to be in sight. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, July 30th, about four days or so after the murder, David's loved ones laid him to rest in Fairview Cemetery in Owasso. According to an article by Tulsa World, two days after that, on Friday, August 1st, the biggest clue yet emerged. David's car was located at an apartment complex about 30 minutes southwest of the crime scene. And it was what wasn't in the vehicle that was of great interest to authorities. This peculiar location was definitely noteworthy, but even more suspicious, police told the press that thieves had completely stripped it of valuable accessories, including a CB radio. Authorities had only found out about the car after receiving a tip from an informant. I don't know who that person was or why they called, but based on what I read in the news coverage, it seems that the sequence of events went down like this. Police got wind from their informant about where the car was, they went and found it, and amidst all this happening, detectives managed to link the parts that had been stolen from it to at least five different juveniles, all of whom were quickly taken into custody. But what's interesting is that none of those juveniles were charged in relation to David's murder. They weren't even labeled as suspects. It seems that they