Do you know who murdered Mark? In a selfless act that tragically turned fatal, Mark Edward Grace, a 46-year-old Caucasian man, was killed on June 22, 2008, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The evening took a dark turn when Grace offered to help a friend locate his girlfriend after she had walked off following an argument. Their search led them to the vicinity of an apartment complex near 1700 E. 67th Street, a place Grace lived near but was not his residence.
It was shortly before 2 a.m.
in the parking lot of the complex that they encountered several other individuals. An argument erupted between the groups, escalating with terrifying speed. In the ensuing altercation, Mark Grace was stabbed multiple times. While some witnesses in the area reported hearing gunshots, it was ultimately the blade of a knife that ended his life. Emergency services were called, and Tulsa police officers arrived to a scene that would quickly be cordoned off with crime scene tape as detectives began the arduous task of piecing together the events of that night.
The investigation into the death of Mark Grace led authorities to identify David Lee Benson as a suspect. Despite what police believed was evidence against him, the path to justice for Grace's family proved to be fraught with legal hurdles. In a heartbreaking turn of events for his loved ones, a technicality during a preliminary hearing resulted in the suspect being freed. To this day, no one has been convicted for the murder of Mark Grace, and the case remains an open and unsolved file within the Tulsa Police Department's Cold Case Unit. Investigators continue to appeal to the public for any information that might finally bring closure to the family of a man who lost his life while trying to help a friend.
