'Torture session' leads to prison for Sewickley man's tormentors

Jon Olson has physically healed.

From the cigarette burns on his body. The superglue on his eyes and hair. The knife wound to his face.

But the emotional trauma of having a gun held to his temple, being urinated on, being held captive for hours — that remains.

“The physical agony I endured was only the beginning,” Olson, 62, wrote in a statement to a judge about the attack last year. “I no longer feel safe anywhere. My trust in others is shattered. I’m haunted by nightmares, flashbacks and a crushing sense of helplessness.

“I live in a constant state of fear and anxiety.”

On Monday, the two men who attacked Olson in his Sewickley home were sentenced to serve 6 to 12 years in prison.

Noah Sadowski, 34, and Dylan Morris, 31, both of Sewickley, pleaded guilty on June 17 in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court to aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, conspiracy and related counts.

They were sentenced on Monday by Senior Judge Katherine Emery.

According to the criminal complaint in the case, Morris and Sadowski ambushed Olson at his home on Little Street around 10:30 p.m. on April 7, 2024.

He had been on his back porch when they pushed him inside, threw him to the floor, handcuffed and gagged him, police said.

Over more than five hours, they stole from him and tortured him. Police said the pair put out lit cigarettes on Olson, hit him in the head with their guns and put pliers on his nipples.

In his court statement, Olson said the men stole his father’s World War II service medals as well as ripped two keys off his piano.

Sadowski and Morris also used Olson’s phone to contact area drug dealers, order an Uber and used money from his Cash app.

Investigators said in a criminal complaint that Morris told the victim he was looking for a gold Rolex that had been stolen.

As the abuse unfolded that night, Olson wrote, “I never prayed so deeply for God to take me away.”

He told the court his attackers had planned the torture for two months and got ideas from the movie “Saw,” a horror-movie franchise that features people being tortured in various sadistic ways.

“This was not a drug-riddled escapade they were on and which got out of control,” he wrote, “but rather a well-planned, premeditated torture session that only a truly sick person could conceive of.

“They should not be allowed the freedom they stole from me.”

Blaming drugs

During Monday’s hearing, defense attorneys for Sadowski and Morris presented evidence of emotional trauma both men had endured in childhood.

When Morris was 9, an older brother killed himself. Morris blamed himself for what happened, testified another brother, Christian Morris.

He told the court that his brother’s behavior in attacking Olson was out of character. He attributed his brother’s actions to unprocessed psychological trauma and drug use. Christian Morris said he tried to organize an intervention a year before the attack but it never happened.

Two of Dylan Morris’ teachers from Quaker Valley School District also provided letters of support, noting that he was a kind and respectful young man who battled addiction from a young age.

“I find it difficult to reconcile this with the person that I know,” wrote Brad Severson, of Sewickley.

Morris also spoke in court, reading from a typewritten statement.

“I take full and complete responsibility for my actions,” he said. “There is no excuse for it. I am truly sorry.”

He attributed what happened to substance abuse.

“I am committed to doing the work necessary to stay sober and become the person I want to be.”

‘Ludicrous’ explanation

Lauren Stoner, a social worker who prepared a mitigation report, told the court that Sadowski’s biological mother struggled to care for her children and ultimately relinquished custody when he was 1½.

Sadowski spent three years in foster care in El Paso, Texas, before being adopted with two of his siblings by a family in Beaver County.

He has anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, Stoner said.

Sadowski, who was working as a chef, also struggled with addiction and overdosed at least once, she said. In late 2023, his addiction worsened, she continued.

Stoner said Sadowski knew Olson and believed he’d been wronged by him, leading to the attack — a notion the prosecutor, Allegheny County Assistant District Attorney Grant Olson, later called unproven and “ludicrous.”

Tanisha Long, who works for the Abolitionist Law Center, told the court she’s been friends with Sadowski for 15 years, and that he was reliable, kind and considerate.

“A lot of times, we judge people by their worst moments,” she said.

When he gets out of prison, Long said, “We need a whole Noah, who gets treatment and programming. If he’s gone too long, he’ll become institutionalized.”

Both Sadowski’s mom and sister spoke on his behalf, telling the court they would be there to support him upon his release from prison.

“It’s really shocking to hear what has been said since this all started,” said his sister, Charity Skowvron. “That’s not Noah.”

Sadowski read from a handwritten statement. Turning to face Olson, he said, “For the trauma, pain and inflicted harm, I’m deeply ashamed and utterly disgusted with myself and also the choices I’ve made. I know right from wrong.

“I do believe, had I been sober, things would have been different.”

Like Morris, Sadowski said he’d use his time in prison for programming and treatment.

“I vow to do my time and come out a better person.”