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John Wayne Glover
Born	John Wayne Glover
Cause of death	suicide, hanging
Other names	The Granny Killer
Criminal penalty	Life
Details
Victims	6
Span of crimes	March 1989 – March 1990
Country	Australia
State(s)	New South Wales
Date apprehended	March 1990

John Wayne Glover (November 26, 1932 - September 9, 2005) was an Australian convicted for the murders of six eldery women on Sydney's North Shore. Dubbed "The Granny Killer" for his trademark murders that involved beating the women on the head with a hammer until they collapsed, then by strangling them with their underwear. Originally from England, Glover emigrated to Australia in 1956.

History

Before John Glover began his killings in the late 1980s, he was a volunteer at the Senior Citizens Society, and was considered among his friends a friendly, trustworthy man. He was married with two children, and lived a contented lifestyle in Mosman. Glover worked as a sales representative for Four 'n' Twenty Pies. He apparently had a warm and friendly handshake and found no trouble in making new acquaintances with his jovial personality.

Murders

Glover, who was sexually obsessed with elderly women, began his criminal career by molesting and robbing them at random. Glover forced his victims into alcoves or back lanes and attacked them with a hammer, bashing them repeatedly with his fist until they fell to his feet covered in their own blood. He would humiliate his victim further by staring at their pantyhose which he then used to strangle them. It is believed that he was able to keep his violent impulses under control until he was well into middle age, as there is no evidence of his committing murder until 1989, when he was 57, though he had convictions for assault. By then, he had been married for 20 years and had children. Glover's wife had no knowledge of this part of her husband's past.

In March 1989, Glover began his North Shore killing spree, which lasted until March 1990. His final victim was a woman he was having an affair with; he attempted suicide afterward, and was found by police officers near death and lying near the body of his victim, Joan Violet Sinclair.

He was convicted of six murders and given a life sentence. He admitted to his crimes only when confronted with the powerful evidence of his guilt, and denied responsibility for other crimes in which he was a prime suspect. One of these was Florence Broadhurst who was found bashed to death in her Paddington home in 1977.

Years after his conviction, in an interview, Glover admitted that he never worried about who his victims were, or why he killed them. If he saw their photos in a newspaper article or on television, they meant nothing to him. He claimed that he wanted to stop killing, but couldn't, no matter how hard he tried. After each murder he apparently went about his normal life.

He hanged himself in prison on September 9, 2005.

Prior offences

Shortly after emigrating from England to Australia, Glover was convicted on two counts of larceny, the first offences being committed in Victoria, and a stealing charge in New South Wales. In 1962 he was convicted on two counts of assaulting females in Melbourne, two counts of indecent assault, one of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and another four counts of larceny. For this he received a three year good behaviour bond.

These attacks were reported to be extremely severe and on each occasion certain articles of clothing had been removed. The victims were forced to the ground while he violently tore their clothing. A twenty five year-old woman was on her way home from a meeting at about 10:30 pm when she was followed and chased down a dark suburban street. The attacker knocked her to the ground unconscious. The next morning she awoke in a garden bleeding profusely and her undergarments in a state of disarray. The attacker made a run for it when her screams alerted residents. At the time of these offences, Glover was employed as as a television rigger for the ABC and lived in the Melbourne suburb of Camberwell.

Bashing of Margaret Todhunter

On 11 January 1989, 84 year-old Margaret Todhunter was walking down Hale Road, Mosman, where she was seen by Glover. After parking his car, he walked to the victim. Satisfied that nobody could see him, he punched the victim in the face with a swinging right hook. He then took the contents of her purse including $209. As he ran off with the victim's handbag, Mrs Todhunter yelled out, 'You rotten bugger'. After this Glover went to the Mosman RSL where he spent the money on beer and played the poker machines with the stolen money. Investigating police put the crime down to a mugging and little hope was given of finding the money or catching the perpetrator.

Murder of Gwendoline Mitchelhill

On 1 March 1989, after drinking at the Mosman RSL, Glover was returning to his car in Military Rd, Mosman, when he saw Gwendoline Mitchelhill walking slowly down the road with her walking stick. Glover returned to his car and put a hammer under his belt. He then followed Gwendoline to the entry foyer of her Military Road apartment building. As she went to open the front door, he hit her with the hammer on the back of her head. He then continued to bash her about the head and body; several of her ribs were broken. Glover fled the scene taking her wallet containing $100.

Gwendoline Mitchelhill was still alive when she was found by two schoolboys. She died shortly after the police and ambulance arrived. The police had no leads and there was nothing concrete to link this attack with the previous attack on Margaret Todhunter. The police assumed that it was another mugging gone wrong.

Murder of Lady (Winfreda) Ashton

On 9 May 1989, Glover was heading for the Mosman RSL in Military Road when he saw eighty-four year-old Lady Ashton walking slowly towards him. She was on her way home in nearby Raglan Street after spending the day playing bingo at the same club. Glover put on a pair of gloves and followed her into the foyer of her apartment, where he attacked her with his hammer. He then threw her to the ground and dragged her into a rubbish bin alcove where he repeatedly smashed her head on the pavement.

Although suffering from lymphatic cancer, according to Glover the tiny and frail Lady Ashton put up a strong fight. Glover stated that she almost overpowered him, until he fell on top of her and started to bash her head into the pavement. After she was knocked unconscious, John Glover removed her pantyhose and strangled her. He placed the Ashton's walking stick and shoes at her feet. He then fled the scene with her purse containing $100. Glover headed for the Mosman RSL, where he commented to staff that he hoped the sirens outside weren't for another mugging. Shortly after saying this he used the victim's money to play the poker machines.

The police found Lady Ashton lying face down diagonally across the concrete floor of the small bin alcove. There was a pool of blood around her head. Her raincoat collar was pulled over her face, concealing the pantyhose that was still strung around her neck. The pantyhose were strung so tight that it cut through the skin. Her bare legs were crossed and her arms were placed by her sides. She had a thin trickle of blood running out of her mouth.

At this point, the police knew that they were facing a serial killer. To date all three victims were wealthy old women, all were from the same suburb and they were all assaulted or killed in the same manner before being robbed of their handbags.

A post mortem was carried out by Argentinian-born Dr Liliana Schwartz. This was her first homicide as a forensic pathologist in Australia, and a rather difficult one. She first checked the body's temperature - 29.7 degrees C – which confirmed the extent of rigor mortis. Another check was done, which resulted in no signs of semen being found. She then began an internal examination of the body by opening up three cavities. The ligature mark around her neck measured nine centimetres. She had bruises on her nose and temple, on her neck, and both her eyelids. At some stage during the struggle she bit her lips causing damage to the inner lining of her mouth. There was a wound on her cheek, which was an open cut that had a small, semi-circular abrasion which was a few centimetres away from it. The examiner noted the victim's diamond ring was still present suggesting that she had not been killed for money.

Additional offences

Apart from the brutal murders, Glover started molesting elderly women who were confined to their nursing home beds. He did this when he visited in the course of his rounds as a pie salesman. Glover first molested a seventy-seven year-old women by the name of Marjorie Moseley on 6 June 1989. The incident took place at the Wesley Gardens Retirement Home in Belrose. The victim reported the incident to hospital staff and the police. She said that a man had put his hand under her night gown but could not remember what the man looked like.

A similar incident took place on 24 June. Glover visited the Caroline Chisholm Nursing Home in Lane Cove. Here he entered one of the rooms upstairs and lifted the dress of an elderly patient and fondled her buttocks. He then went to the next room and slid his hand down the front of another patient's nightdress and stroked her breasts. The terrified woman cried for help. Glover was briefly questioned by staff at the hospital before making a quiet exit.

On 8 August 1989, Glover bashed an elderly lady by the name of Effie Carnie in a back street in Lindfield, close to Mosman. After attacking her he then took her groceries. Another offence was committed on 6 October when he passed himself off as a doctor and ran his hand up the dress of Phyllis McNeil, who was a patient at the Wybenia Nursing Home in Neutral Bay, a suburb located next to Mosman. The victim, who was blind, called for help whilst Glover made a run for it.

Glover seemed to be able to walk in and out of hospitals as he pleased. Nobody ever suspected the pastry salesman and not once, through those series of molestations, was he ever identified.

On 18 October 1989, Glover struck up a conversation with eighty-six-year-old Doris Cox as she walked along Spit Road, Mosman. He escorted her to the secluded stairwell in her retirement village. Once inside he attacked her from behind, this time using his entire body weight to ram her face into a brick wall. She instantly fell to his feet. After finding no money in her purse, he left her for dead.

Even though Mrs Cox suffered from Alzheimer's disease, she somehow survived the attack. She was very vague about who her attacker was and could not provide a clear description. According to Mrs Cox her attacker was a young man, possibly a teenager. This lead police to believe that the attacker was a teenager with a grandmother fixation. Mrs Cox provided police with an identikit drawing. At last, the police thought they had a lead.

Margaret Pahud (Victim 3)

On 2 November 1989, John Glover murdered eighty-five-year-old Margaret Pahud. This time the police had no doubt that this was the work of the 'Granny Killer'. She was bashed on the back of the head with a blunt instrument while walking home in a quite backstreet, just off Longueville Road, Lane Cove.

Margaret Pahud was on her way home just after doing some grocery shopping. As she walked along the footpath, Glover looked up from where he sat in his car across the road. Glover reached under the seat beside him, grabbed the hammer and stepped out of the car. He crossed the busy street and turned into the lane. He waited for her to enter into the lane and when she was within arms reach, he got out his hammer, raised it in the air, and with a loud grunt, brought it down onto her head with great force. She collapsed face down near his feet. When she was on the ground he felt a great sensation of extraordinary power and great control, it made him feel invincible. As she was on the ground he raised his hammer once again, this time from side-on - he always struck his victims on the side of their skulls, which stopped the skull from shattering and prevented the blood from spraying everywhere. He then struck her once again using all his strength; her head jolted from the blow. This time the blow embedded glass from her spectacles into the side of her face and smashed her head harder into the pavement. He then tucked the hammer back under his belt, making sure there was no blood or pieces of bone on it. He then bent over the body, trying not to look at her face; he then pulled at her dress and exposed her left shoulder and breast. He then saw the blood spilling out around his feet. Glover looked up and down the laneway to make sure no one could see him. He heard the sound of school children nearby as well as traffic. Glover began to panic; he then realised that he was in full view of the retirement village. As he had no time to go through her bags, Glover then took possession of her hand bag, tucked it under his shirt and calmly departed from the scene.

Nobody actually saw the attack but within a few minutes her body was found by a young schoolgirl who at first thought the body was a pile of clothing dumped in the laneway. As the police and ambulance raced to the scene, Glover rummaged through the contents of Mrs Pahud's purse on the grounds of a nearby golf club. He then headed of to the Mosman RSL Club once again to spend the $300 that he had stolen from his latest murder victim.

Olive Cleveland (Victim 4)

The fourth victim to be claimed by the so-called 'Granny Killer' was Olive Cleveland, a resident of the Wesley Gardens Retirement Village at Belrose on the upper North Shore. Olive Cleveland was murdered within 24 hours of his previous victim, Margaret Pahud. Glover struck up a conversation with Olive while she was sitting on a park bench just out side the nursing home. When Olive became uncomfortable she got up and proceeded to walk the main building, Glover seized her from behind and forced her into a secluded side lane way. Here he repeatedly pushed her head into the concrete before he removed her pantyhose and tied them tightly around her neck. Glover then left the scene with $60 from her handbag.

Muriel Falconer (Victim 5)

On 23 November 1989, Glover, who had just finished work for the day, was sitting in the Buena Vista Hotel in Middle Head Road, Mosman. He was seated near the window looking out at the street waiting for his next victim when he saw ninety-two-year-old Muriel Falconer walking on the other side of the street opposite the hotel. Mrs Falconer was on her way home struggling with her grocery shopping. Glover hurried back to his car, which was just across the road, to retrieve his hammer and green-striped garden gloves. After this he walked back to the intersection were he first saw her. He then followed Mrs Falconer down Raglan Street, the same street where he had killed Lady Ashton. He then followed his victim around the corner into Muston Street and all the way up to her her front gate. He then quietly slipped in behind her while she opened the front door. Mrs Falconer did not notice Glover sneaking in due to the fact that she was partially deaf and blind. He quickly put his hand around her mouth to silence her, before repeatedly hitting her around the head and neck with his hammer. When she fell to the floor Glover began to remove Mrs Falconer's pantyhose. As he did this she began to regain consciousness and cried for help. This prompted Glover to smash his hammer into her multiple times until she finally passed out. He then began to remove her undergarments and used them to strangle her. He then closed the front door to her house for privacy before searching her purse and the rest of her house for valuables before leaving with $100 and the murder weapon (his hammer) and his gloves in a carry bag. The following afternoon, the body was discovered by the meals on wheels delivery service, who had a spare key to her front door. When Mrs Falconer didn't answer, the lady assigned to deliver food to her house used the spare key to get in. She discovered the body lying face down in the hallway of her home. She instantly called the police.

This was John Glover's third victim in less than one month.

Prelude to capture

On January 11, Glover visit the Greenwich Hospital in River Road, Greenwich, one of the many places he visited whilst on his rounds as a pie salesman.

Up until this date, Glover had been on his murderous rampage for 10 months and had already murdered five elderly women and molested several more in hospitals and nursing homes. All his victims had been attacked within a close proximity of the Hospital, whilst one of the murders was committed only 250 metres away from the front gate.

On this day John Glover, dressed in his work uniform and carrying a clipboard entered the hospital's palliative care ward where four very old, very ill women lay dying. One of those women was Mrs Daisy Roberts, who at the time was aged 82 and suffered from advanced cancer. Glover walked up to her bed and asked her if she was losing any body heat, he then pulled up her night gown and began to touch her in an indecent manner. Mrs Roberts began to panic and pressed the buzzer next to her bed. A sister at the hospital responded to the call and found Glover in the ward. She angrily asked him who he was; when Glover ran from the ward she ran after him and wrote down the registration number of his car.

Sister Davis notified the police and two young, uniformed policewomen from Chatswood police station arrived to investigate.

The hospital staff ware able to identify and name Glover, as he was known from doing his pie rounds. A week later, the police returned with a photograph of Glover which Sister Davis and Mrs Roberts positively identified.

This was a major turning point in the case of the Granny Killer, but at this stage the hospital assaults were not linked to the murders and were not reported to the Granny Killer task force for another three weeks.

After Glover was identified by hospital staff, detectives from Chatswood police station contacted and confirmed Glover's name via his employers. Glover was contacted by detectives who requested that he attend an interview at the station the following day. When Glover failed to appear, the police rang his home and were informed by his wife that he had attempted suicide and was recovering at the Royal North Shore Hospital. Police went to the hospital to see Glover but he was to sick to be interviewed. Staff at the hospital handed police a note that was written by Glover that contained the words 'no more grannies...grannies'.

Another two weeks had passed before the suicide note was passed on to the task force. As soon as the note was examined by one of the detectives, he knew instantly that Glover was the offender. Still the police had no evidence. The head of the detective task force said: If he had said to us, "I don't want to talk", we couldn't have proved a thing.'Still, the photo matched the descriptions of the gray-haired suspect and his job as a pie salesman, Glover could have been at any of the murder scenes.

Glover was interviewed over the nursing home assaults. He denied all accusations. He was then given the impression that they believed his side of the story and left him feeling confident and that his luck had held.

At this stage the police had to make a decision on whether to question him over the murders and let him know that they were on to him or to keep him under surveillance, as they had no solid evidence that would hold up in court the police decided that it would be better to sit tight, wait for him to stalk another old woman and possibly catch him in the act? It was a decision that would sadly cost another life.

The police had Glover under constant surveillance. They watched as Glover stopped to watch older woman but his behaviour was satisfactory. At one stage the police placed an automatic tracking device on Glovers car when they realised he was suspicious. Glover, to make sure that he wasn't being followed would drive around the block more than once, or drive the wrong way up one way streets as to make sure he wasn't being followed.

Joan Sinclair (Final victim)

On 19 March 1990, John Glover murdered his sixth and final victim, an elderly woman with whom he was having an affair, Joan Sinclair. By now police had Glover under constant surveillance and watched as Joan let Glover into her home at approximately 10 a.m. By 1 p.m. there was no sign of Glover or any sign of movement from within the house. Police and the surveillance team that were keeping watch outside her home, became concerned at about 5 p.m. At 6 p.m. the police got permission to enter the house. The house was first approached by two uniformed police who knocked on the front door, when there was no answer they decided to go around the back. When the two constables looked in through the sliding glass door, they saw a hammer lying in a pool of dry blood on a mat. The two police left the house and four detectives went in. The detectives searched the house and found Joan Sinclair’s battered head wrapped in a bundle of blood-soaked towels. She was naked from the waist down and her pantyhose were tied around her neck. Her genitals were damaged but Glover would later deny interfering with her sexually. After finding the body of Miss Sinclair, they then searched the house for Glover. Glover was found lying in the bathtub, passed out. One of his wrists was slashed. After her death he drank whiskey and took sedatives before lying himself in the bathtub and passing out.

After recovering in hospital, Glover told police how he murdered Joan Sinclair. He explained that they had been having a relationship for quite some time and were fond of each other. However, after he entered the house on 19 March, Glover got his hammer out of his briefcase and bashed Mrs Sinclair about the head with it. Glover then removed her pantyhose and strangled her with them.

Glover rolled the body onto a mat; wrapped four towels around her extensive head wounds to stem the flow of blood, then dragged her body across the room, leaving a trail of blood. After this he ran the bath, washed down a handful of Valium with a bottle of Vat 69, slashed his left wrist and lay in the tub to die.

Glover survived and the police were relieved. They felt that if the suicide had been a success, then there would always have been speculation as to whether Glover was the actual murderer.

Trial

At the trial John Wayne Glover pleaded not guilty to his crimes on the grounds of diminished responsibility. The jury decided to agree the psychiatrist who studied the case.

The psychiatrist said that over the years, Glover built up a pile of hostility and aggression from childhood against his mother and then his mother-in-law. She was the one that triggered him. When she died he had to take out his aggression on someone else. The psychiatrist who studied the case also added that this was a very unusual case because there are very few mass murders, and most of them are mad, and have an organic disease of the brain. According to the psychiatrist he was sane at the time of the killings.

The Crown prosecutor maintained that Glover was well aware of his actions. When he murdered, he was also planning what to do with the victim’s money. Glover was also impotent. He had no interest in sex. So tying the pantyhose so tightly around his victim’s neck was to make sure they were dead, at the same time trying to trick the police into thinking that this was the work of a sex killer.

Glover knew exactly what was taking place. Only a clear, sane mind would risk the chance of being caught by staying at the scene to remove the pantyhose and strangle his victim with it. But all this was to throw the police off-track.

Insanity was not the cause behind these cowardly murders and muggings. Glover’s actual motives were as old as crime itself, revenge and greed. Combined with cowardice, they made the fatal combination that would keep Glover killing until the police finally caught up with him. Glover was chronically addicted to poker machines. He would stand for hours virtually pouring money through the poker machines at the Mosman RSL Club. The easiest way for Glover to get more money was to steal it. As police would reveal later, Glover, who was a convicted thief, had a record of cowardly attacks on defenseless women.

After the guilty verdict was delivered, the presiding judge stated that he was clearly dealing with a prisoner who is extremely dangerous. He is able to choose when to attack and when to stay his hand. He is cunning and able to cover his tracks. It is plain that he has chosen his moments carefully. Although the crimes have been opportunistic, he has not gone in where the risks were overwhelming.
The period since January 1989 has been one of intense and serious crime involving extreme violence inflicted on elderly women, accompanied by theft or robbery of their property. On any view, the prisoner has shown himself to be an exceedingly dangerous person and that view was mirrored by the opinions of the psychiatrists who gave evidence at his trial.
I have no alternative other than to impose the maximum available sentence, which means that the prisoner will be required to spend the remainder of his natural life in gaol.
It is inappropriate to express any date as to release on parole. Having regard to those life sentences, this is not a case where the prisoner may ever be released pursuant to order of this court.
He is never to be released.

John Glover was the only Serial killer in Australian + World history to ever specialise in older woman.

References

1. Kidd, Paul B. (First 1993 and then 2001). Never To Be Released (Australia's most vicious murderers). St Martins Tower, 31 Market St Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd Limited. pp. Pages 216 to 244. ISBN 9780330362931 (pbk.). {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); External link in |title= (help)CS1 maint: location (link); Sydney Morning Herald; Sydney Morning Herald
2. Kidd, Paul B. (First 1993 and then 2001). Never To Be Released (Australia's most vicious murderers). St Martins Tower, 31 Market St Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd Limited. pp. Page 216. ISBN 9780330362931 (pbk.). {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: location (link)
3. Kidd, Paul B. (First 1993 and then 2001). Never To Be Released (Australia's most vicious murderers). St Martins Tower, 31 Market St Sydney: Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd Limited. pp. Page 217. ISBN 9780330362931 (pbk.). {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)CS1 maint: location (link)
5. http://www.benhills.com/articles/articles/SCM32a.html

• Misplaced Pages articles needing copy edit from December 2007
• Australian serial killers
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