Video Testimony Reveals Fridley Man's Courageous Fight During Brutal Attack

A Fridley man, brutally attacked in his own home, agreed to testify against his attacker--in a most unusual way. He did it to bring about justice, but also to calm the fears of his entire community.

And he did so, as it turned out, from the grave.

"Could you please tell us your full name, sir?" asks an Anoka County prosecutor named Wade Kish. That's how the testimony, videotaped over the course of a half hour on March 18, 2011, begins. And now, for the first time, the contents of that video have been released--exclusively to 5 Eyewitness News.

"Gloy Joseph Nelson," responds the man on the stand, coughing slightly.

"And how old are you, sir?" Kish asks.

"84," responded Gloy Joseph Nelson. And then he swears that the testimony he is about to give will be true, so help him God. "I do," says Nelson. He then goes on to recount how he fought for his life, in one of the most brutal attacks in the history of the city of Fridley.

In the process of this testimony, Gloy Nelson also brings peace to himself, and safety back to his neighbors.

Since the early 1950s, Gloy Nelson lived with his wife in Fridley, worked in real estate and several other professions, and raised a family that would ultimately include 20 great grandchildren. It was his home, his life, his world.

But on September 19, 2010, that world was nearly destroyed.

"It was an unmistakable noise," Nelson says on the stand, in the video, as he continues to answer Kish's questions about that horrendous night. "So I unlocked the door and opened it. And that was my mistake. When I did that, he grabbed the door and forced it open.

"I tried to get him back out again," Nelson continues between coughs and groans. "I tried pushing and pulling and wrestling with him and he knocked me down in the dining area. And then we kind of fought our way from that area to the hallway, with him landing on top of me each time."

The assault would drag on for almost a half hour.

"What were you thinking or feeling after this happened?" Kish asks Nelson.

"Thinking and feeling?" Nelson responds. "I was thinking of murder."

Ultimately, the intruder fled, leaving Gloy Nelson seriously injured.

"I had multiple fractures on my ribs. I had another fracture in the spine," Nelson says in the video testimony.

According to Jason Nelson, Gloy Nelson's youngest son, the days and weeks following the attack were painful--for the entire family. "It was pretty shocking to see him like this--a guy that had been so strong, and so tough, throughout his life. That was the most emotional, the most broken down I'd ever seen him."

A month and a half after the attack, police would arrest Ahmed Sule, a 23-year-old immigrant who lived just around the corner from Gloy Nelson. According to Anoka County prosecutors, DNA evidence linking Sule to the crime was undeniable. Even so, they needed Nelson to testify, to make their case.

According to Tony Palumbo, the Anoka County Attorney, "The jury has to hear what occurred to make it a crime and the impact that it had on the victim."

There was just one major problem, time was not on prosecutors' side. Gloy Nelson had lung cancer.

"We found out it was terminal," said Jason Nelson.

Prosecutors asked the court to allow Gloy to pre-tape his testimony. It's a move that's often allowed in civil cases, but rarely in criminal ones.

"Without that video we would not have been able to go forward," said Kish.

Palumbo added, "It was critical."

The judge allowed it.

Yet for Gloy Nelson, actually taking the stand took nearly all his energy. "Just to face up and relive that experience was torturous," said Jason Nelson.

But Gloy also knew that Ahmed Sule had been linked to a similar crime involving yet another senior citizen in his neighborhood. "This created a palpable fear in the community," said Palumbo.

Palpable fear, and audible fear as well.

According to Joleen Kuchinski, Gloy Nelson's granddaughter, "After the attack, Grandpa's neighborhood was full of the sounds of saws from other people making their own home security systems."

"Trying to more fortify their homes," Kish added.

Gloy Nelson knew what he had to do.

"He didn't want anyone else to be victimized," Kuchinski said.

A month and a half after he completed his video testimony, Gloy Nelson died.

"We told him we loved him every chance we got near the end because we knew," said Jason Nelson, his words trailing off.

Yet the trial of Ahmed Sule did not begin until four months later. The jury wasn't told of Gloy Nelson's death, but they still heard his story, watching him on the tape--listening to his unwavering account of the attack.

"My health was very delicate at best," Nelson says on the tape. "I had just completed five or six weeks of chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancer in the lungs and I was too weak to protect myself."

Kish watched the jurors closely as they watched the tape. "There were some that became a little bit emotional," he said.

"Most of them were crying," Kuchinski added.

Ahmed Sule was found guilty.

"He showed no remorse," Kuchinski said.

He was sentenced to 28 years in prison.

"There's no way we could have gotten this result without the deposition." Kish said.

"It is a credit to him that he wanted to do the right thing," Palumbo added. Anoka County prosecutors now hope their courtroom success with Nelson's pre-taped testimony will show law enforcers everywhere just how effective this kind of judicial tactic can be. Nelson's family agreed to release the tape of the testimony to honor the memory of a man who never stopped fighting.

As Nelson says near the end of his testimony, "It was a very trying time in my life."

When the taping was done and his testimony complete, "there was no more talk about Sule," Kuchinski said. "Grandpa didn't want us to be angry about it either. He just wanted it to be settled, and to move on."

The testimony tape ends with Wade Kish saying, "Mr. Nelson, I don't have any other questions for you. And we'll stop our deposition now. Thank you."

Gloy Nelson responds in turn. "Thank you," he says. He is quiet but remains confident, relieved it's over, stifling a groan.

He's done his part, and justice will be served.

Mark Saxenmeyer can be reached at msaxenmeyer@kstp.com