![\"Judge](\"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/03073629\/Glennon5.jpeg\")
<\/a>Thomas Rath, July 20, 1989 – May 21, 2023. (File Photo)<\/p><\/div>\n
On May 21, 2023, a series of events unfolded that resulted in nearly 24-hours of horror for Thomas Rath, and his eventual death on Ekroos Road in Candor.<\/p>\n
A young man with a promising career in the construction industry, Rath fell on hard times when the pandemic stalled his work, and then his eventual involvement with Brelynn B. Vorrasi, of Lodi, New York. It was Brelynn, according to testimony during the trials, who had connections to Joseph Howell, the ringleader in the crime and the first to be sentenced for Murder One in the case.<\/p>\n
Thomas Rath, somehow, ended up in what is referred to as \u201cThe Jungle\u201d in Ithaca, and it is there that he would fall into a toxic trap that would lead to his kidnapping, torture, and eventually murder on a back road in Tioga County. In fact, where the body was eventually found, the county line runs through the center of the road.<\/p>\n
The events began with Thomas Rath being kidnapped from the jungle and taken to a home where Joseph Howell and Colleen Dillon were residing in Newfield, NY. There, he was tortured for hours in a garage. Per testimony, Robert Hines, Angelo Baez, and Jonathan Glennon eventually placed Thomas Rath, who was badly injured at that time, into a vehicle and drove him down Ekroos Road.<\/p>\n
Robert Hines, the driver, testified under a cooperation agreement with the prosecution about the sequence of events that occurred on Ekroos Road, and about how he went back and moved Rath\u2019s body closer to a tree and away from the road. <\/span><\/p>\n Hines, however, has since violated his cooperation agreement and will be back on trial at a later date on his original charges of kidnapping in the first degree, a crime that carries a heavy sentence.<\/p>\n A total of 13 were originally arrested in connection with this case; some were offered cooperation agreements for a lesser charge; others have already been tried and convicted. Glennon now joins that number.<\/p>\n Pictured is a bracelet worn by the elder Thomas Rath. Inside the silver ring are the ashes of his son, Thomas Rath. The elder Rath wore the bracelet on the final day of the trial, when Glennon was found guilty of murder and kidnapping. It took years for Thomas\u2019s ashes to return as they were being held during the duration of the trials as evidence. According to Rath, the district attorneys worked to get the ashes returned to the family. (Photo by Wendy Post)<\/p><\/div>\n But it was on Monday that the Rath family could begin to feel a bit of relief. Held at the Tioga County Courthouse in Owego, Jonathan Glennon\u2019s sentencing marked this closure.<\/p>\n Thomas Rath\u2019s father, also named Thomas, was scheduled to give a victim impact statement but was unable to do so. Instead, Alicia Rath offered a statement at her son\u2019s sentencing and addressed Defense Attorney Luke Fenchel, Jonathan Glennon, and the judge in this case.<\/p>\n Opening with remarks from Tioga County\u2019s District Attorney, Kirk Martin, who prosecuted this case along with Lillian Reardon, he emphasized that Glennon should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. He kept things short, however, noting that what Alicia Rath had to say was more important.<\/p>\n He did address the court, stating, \u201cWhat happened to [Thomas] Rath was horrible,\u201d and added that Glennon blamed the victim and continually victimized Thomas Rath.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s emblematic of the defendant trying to escape responsibility,\u201d said District Attorney Martin of Glennon\u2019s failure to take ownership for what happened.<\/p>\n Thomas Rath had a big heart<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n Alicia Rath, during her victim impact statement, described her son as amazing and with a big heart. She mentioned his involvement with Brelynn as being the reason for his murder.<\/p>\n With a bit of anger, Alicia expressed this to the defense attorney and criticized the video he showed during the trial of her son being restrained and punched.<\/p>\n \u201cI had to watch the video four times,\u201d said Alicia, adding, \u201cWhat you did to me was cruel.\u201d<\/p>\n She also expressed her anger at having to wait two years, three months, and eight days to bring their son home.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had to have a funeral service without him,\u201d Alicia addressed the court.<\/p>\n To Jonathan Glennon, Alicia addressed, \u201cIt\u2019s been 1,073 days since you tortured our son,\u201d and questioned, \u201cHow could you follow Howell.\u201d<\/p>\n And then she rendered the question on everyone\u2019s mind, even our readership, when she stated, \u201cYou didn\u2019t have to kill him; you could have taken him to the hospital, or back to the jungle. I hope what you did haunts you for the rest of your life.\u201d<\/p>\n To the judge, Alicia stated that Angelo Baez and Jonathan Glennon shot her son. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHines moved him, and I believe he [Glennon] fired the shot that blew his head off.\u201d<\/p>\n This testimony was difficult for Alicia, who noted to the court that she was standing across from someone who had killed their son. \u201cI\u2019m doing this for Tommy,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Glennon testifies<\/b><\/p>\n As sentencing was winding down on Monday, Jonathan Glennon was also offered to make a statement, which he did, stating, \u201cI\u2019m truly sorry to the Rath family.\u201d<\/p>\n He added, with minimal emotion, \u201cMy feelings can\u2019t be put into words; I feel bad for Thomas, and I\u2019m really sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n In an earlier court discussion, the defense attorney hoped to receive, for Glennon, an earlier offer from a cooperation agreement. The district attorney was quick to note that one of the stipulations of that agreement was that Glennon had to admit to his actions; something that Martin said he never did.<\/p>\n Following Glennon\u2019s testimony, the judge rendered a sentence of 25 to life on both counts.<\/p>\n Justice Served<\/b><\/p>\n Following the sentencing, the family, who gathered in the courtroom, showed a sign of relief. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe got the maximum on this one, and justice\u201d said Thomas Rath, the victim\u2019s father, who added that now they have the trial for Robert Hines, due to his violating the cooperation agreement, and another trial for David C. Maycumber of Newfield. The trial dates are forthcoming. <\/span><\/p>\n Jonathan Glennon was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs following sentencing, laying to rest the third murder charge to be tried, and offering a bit of closure for the family, although the road to recovery is a long one.<\/p>\n Alicia Rath explained that they now have to explain to Thomas Rath\u2019s nine-year-old daughter what happened to her father.<\/p>\n \u201cWe haven\u2019t told her yet,\u201d said Alicia, who noted that the daughter asks questions such as \u201cDid you visit him in the hospital,\u201d and \u201cWhat happened,\u201d questions that are too difficult, at this juncture, to formulate an answer.<\/p>\n Investigators assisted Thomas Rath, Thomas Rath\u2019s father, with the same name, with placing the cross along Ekroos Road in Candor, and at the location where his son\u2019s body was discovered in August 2023. The cross serves as a remembrance, a reminder, and a memorial for a young man whose life was taken too soon by a senseless and horrific crime. (Photo by Wendy Post)<\/p><\/div>\n Up on Ekroos Road, investigators, along with Rath family members, drove to the site where Thomas Rath\u2019s remains were discovered in August 2023. A large white cross, sturdily attached to a metal post, was placed by the family near the roadside at the site.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>