BLOOMINGTON - Death threats against a woman and her family were part of the two-hour sexual assault recounted for a jury Thursday in the rape trial of former Bloomington police Sgt. Jeff Pelo. | Why rape victim wants name used, story told | Audio analysis: Trial Week 2 | Special section: Court documents, story archive

Sarah Gliege spoke in a calm, firm voice as she disclosed the details of the attack that ended with her left alone in a bath tub, afraid to seek help, until dawn.

Gliege requested that The Pantagraph publish her name in coverage of her testimony. The newspaper's policy is to keep confidential the identities of sexual assault victims unless a victim specifically requests or gives permission to be identified.

Pelo is charged with sexually assaulting four women between 2002 and 2005 and stalking another woman between 2005 and 2006. Prosecutors say Gliege is the fourth sexual assault victim.

Gliege's testimony started with her telling about the appearance of a man in her bedroom about 2:45 a.m., Jan. 26, 2005. She said she doesn't know how he got in, but she was sure her doors were locked.

After a brief struggle, the assailant made the first of what would be many death threats against her and her family, Gliege said in response to questions from Chief Felony Prosecutor Mark Messman.

"He told me if I made any noise - he pulled out a gun - that he would kill me," Gliege told the jury of six men and six women.

The assailant's face was covered with a scarf, said Gliege.

Gliege described her efforts to calm her attacker, who became more violent and threatening as the assault went on. At one point, she told the man she recently had learned she was pregnant. When he demanded proof, she pulled the results of a home pregnancy test from the wastebasket in her bathroom.

The woman's only tears came when she recalled her attacker's apparent thrill that Gliege's fiance and other family members also would be traumatized by the rape.

"He was elated - like a kid at Christmas - overjoyed that all these other people were going to be violated as well," said Gliege, as she wiped away tears.

At one point during the incident, Gliege said the man asked "why would I call the police and ruin his life?"

During the woman's lengthy testimony, Pelo continuously took notes on a legal pad.

The assault ended with the man ordering Gliege to take a bath. Before he left the room, the man told Gliege he would kill her family if she contacted police. He recited the family's address in Normal.

Fearful that her attacker was still in the apartment, she said she waited in the tub for about 40 minutes before putting on clothes and locking the bathroom door. Two hours later, she left her home at the same time she heard a neighbor leaving for work.

Gliege estimated that it was about 6 a.m. when she went to the home of a family friend to report the rape.

"I just thought if I ran into him outside of our apartment, I wasn't going back in with him," Gliege testified.

Missing after the attack were the clothes Gliege was wearing before the rape and the bed sheet, Gliege testified. The aprtment's phones were disconnected and later found hidden, she said.

Gliege testified that in October 2004 she saw a man coming from the area of the apartment she shared with another woman. The roommate was not home during the 2005 attack.

The man seen several months before the 2005 assault had a distinctive, lumbering walk, said Gliege, that matches Pelo's gait.

Gliege, who had been blindfolded with a pillow case, picked Pelo's photo from a police line-up after the former police officer was arrested in June 2006 in connection with the stalking of a woman. She said she did not know Pelo or see photos of him before the meeting with police.

Gliege also picked out Pelo's voice from eight voice samples provided by police.

Gliege was asked Thursday if her attacker was present in the courtroom.

"That man right there," Gliege said, looking directly at Pelo.

Defense lawyer Michael Rosenblat showed Gliege a police sketch of the rape suspect wearing a ski mask. He then took a photo of Pelo and laid a cut-out of a ski mask over the top and asked if the eyes were similar to the police sketch.

She said they eyes were not exact matches. Gliege did not waiver from her identification of Pelo as her attacker.

A large group of family members hugged Gliege in the hallway after her testimony. The group gathered in a circle and prayed before heading to dinner and a graduation ceremony for a family member.

Friday is a scheduled day off from the trial. When proceedings resume on Tuesday, the state will move forward with witnesses related to the Jan. 4, 2005, assault of another Bloomington woman.