In sentencing bombshell, murder suspect says he killed man in self-defense after rape attempt

Jacy Marmaduke | The Coloradoan

Show Caption Hide Caption Timeline: Murder of William Grabusky Fort Collins police are investigating the death of Bill Grubusky.

The man accused of stabbing William Grabusky in Grabusky's Fort Collins apartment said at his sentencing hearing that he killed him in self-defense after an attempted rape at knifepoint.

The previously undisclosed allegation didn’t appear to convince 8th Judicial District Judge Stephen Howard, who sentenced 19-year-old Dylan Thompson to 38 years in prison. The sentencing hearing held Monday offered the first public explanation of how the two men knew each other and brought to light two sharply distinct versions of the events leading up to and following Grabusky’s death.

Thompson pleaded guilty this spring to second-degree murder with a sentence range of 16 to 48 years.

More: 19-year-old accused of killing man, fleeing to Utah takes plea deal

Fort Collins police found Grabusky dead on the floor of his living room on Aug. 2, 2017, the same day his wife called police from Pennsylvania to ask for a welfare check. His body was severely decomposed and wrapped in blankets with a Walmart bag duct-taped over the head.

Thompson and Grabusky first came into contact weeks earlier, attorneys said Monday in court. Thompson, then 18, had booked a flight to Utah for Job Corps but had no money for food and no place to stay until then. His adoptive parents had kicked him out because they didn’t feel safe in the home with him, deputy district attorney Shaun Reinhart said.

So he posted an ad on Craigslist titled, “Seeking a sugar daddy-type situation”: I’m 18 years old and relatively fit. I would love to have a sugar daddy. I’m down for anything.”

Grabusky responded within an hour, and the two began exchanging sexually explicit emails and text messages. Attorneys described Grabusky as a gay man who hid his sexuality because of his marriage and devotion to his Catholic faith. He was an avid church-goer who had recently retired from a 40-year career with Amtrak, and acquaintances described him as friendly and dependable.

He regularly “trolled the Internet for young men,” public defender Ashley Morriss said, citing Grabusky’s browser history and images of child pornography found on his computer.

Thompson told the court he “played along” because he needed money. Grabusky bought Thompson basketball shorts and food, according to credit card records and court testimony.

“I figured I could rebuff his advances,” he said. “I believed he would honor me saying no.”

At this point, the prosecution’s account diverges from Thompson’s account: The prosecution said Thompson murdered Grabusky and ransacked his apartment, prying open his safe and stealing his credit cards, car, gemstones and other valuables before fleeing to Utah. Thompson also broke into Grabusky’s garage and stole his car before abandoning it with the keys inside in a “higher crime” area of Fort Collins, Reinhart said.

Convenience store surveillance footage and charges on Grabusky’s credit card led police to Thompson days after the discovery of Grabusky’s body.

“You cannot put a price on a human life,” Reinhart said. “And that is exactly what the defendant did. William Grabusky was a profit to him.”

But Thompson said he killed Grabusky after the man pulled a knife on him. The night of Grabusky’s death, the two men were watching a movie and eating pizza at Grabusky's apartment, Thompson said. Grabusky was “frustrated” because Thompson kept removing his hand from his thigh.

Grabusky asked Thompson to help him with something and led him to his bedroom, Thompson recalled.

Then, Thompson said, Grabusky grabbed a knife from his dresser and threatened to rape him. Thompson said he punched him and took the knife before stabbing him in the chest.

“I was terrified,” Thompson said through tears. “A stranger had just tried to rape me, and I had killed him in self-defense.”

Thompson said he ran because he didn’t think law enforcement would believe him. His defense attorney described a traumatic childhood that included brutal physical abuse and witnessing a police officer lead his mother away in handcuffs, never to be seen again.

Thompson added that he’s “incredibly sorry” for what happened and apologized to Grabusky’s family.

The new allegations put Howard in a strange position because the prosecution didn’t get a chance to present contrary evidence. Morriss said Thompson hasn’t come forward with his story until now because he was scared and embarrassed, and she said he pleaded guilty to avoid the possibility of life in prison.

But photos of the crime scene didn’t indicate a struggle and Thompson’s actions following the killing were “contradictory” to the nature of someone who hadn’t intended to kill a person, Howard said. The knife used to kill Grabusky was never recovered.

“Frankly, I don’t think Mr. Grabusky’s behavior was appropriate in this particular situation,” Howard said. “But I have to question whether he actually had a knife. It’s Mr. Thompson’s words against nothing else, because no one else was present.”

Howard also considered Thompson’s history of severe mental illness and multiple suicide attempts.

And he took into account the wishes of Grabusky’s wife, Joann Grabusky, who asked for the maximum sentence.

Joann Grabusky made a statement by phone from Pennsylvania. She lives there with the couple's adult son, who has severe disabilities.

“This person is a monster — he’s not human,” she said of Thompson. “My husband was a nice, kind person. He wouldn’t harm anyone.”