The jury took less than two hours to convict Vaylan Glazebrook on Friday of 14 felonies, including seven counts of rape and one count of attempted murder in connection to 2014 crimes committed against two IU students and a Bloomington police officer.
Glazebrook, 22, will likely spend the rest of his life in prison.
Jurors agreed with the prosecution's assertion that Glazebrook broke into an apartment building on the 500 block of East 12th Street in the early morning of Nov. 9, 2014, with another man, Michael Deweese.
Glazebrook entered a bedroom, waking a sleeping IU student. He pointed at her a black handgun.
“Don’t fucking look at me,” he said to her, according to court testimony.
He rummaged through her bedroom, stealing her phone, charger and sunglasses, as the student cowered under a blanket in her bed. Across the hall, Deweese sexually assaulted another IU student at gunpoint before dragging her into the same room as Glazebrook.
The men switched victims, and Glazebrook began to sexually assault the woman from across the hall with his fingers, before also raping her orally, vaginally and anally.
Then came a voice from the front door: Bloomington police officer William Abram had arrived, thanks to a 911 call from the women’s third roommate, who was hiding in her own bedroom closet.
The men scrambled out the bedroom window, and Abram went outside to follow. Glazebrook fired a shot at Abram, and Abram fired back, hitting Deweese in the leg and Glazebrook in the arm.
Abram chased Glazebrook and, with the help of other officers, arrested him a few blocks from the original apartment. Deweese was also found and arrested that morning, and he is currently serving 109 years in prison.
Some of Glazebrook’s convictions were not for crimes he committed but for crimes he aided Deweese in committing. Convictions for these crimes carry the same penalty as if Glazebrook himself had committed the crime.
The full list of crimes Glazebrook was convicted of as the primary commissioner includes:
- Attempted murder (shooting at Abram)
- Rape (vaginal)
- Rape (oral)
- Rape (anal)
- Rape (with fingers)
- Criminal confinement (of first victim)
- Criminal confinement (of second victim)
- Burglary (for entering residence with intent to take property)
- Robbery (stealing phone, charger, sunglasses, Wii remote)
- Resisting law enforcement (running away from Abram)
The list of crimes he was convicted of for acting in concert with Deweese includes:
- Rape (vaginal)
- Rape (oral)
- Rape (anal)
- Robbery (Deweese stole condom from victim)
Glazebrook was initially also charged with a 15th felony, criminal confinement of the third roommate, but the prosecution chose not to pursue this charge because the prosecution felt it could not prove Glazebrook and Deweese knew there was a third roommate in the apartment.
Glazebrook’s sentencing is scheduled for 11:15 a.m. March 29 in Monroe County Circuit Court.
Details in this story came from court documents, trial evidence and witness testimony.
