John Wayne Glover: The Granny Killer

Although repulsive, pedophilia is a very common perversion. There seems to always be a story in the news s about a teacher, priest or other seemingly normal person being arrested for molesting children or watching kiddie porn. Possibly one of the most notorious pedophiles (and serial killers) in American history is John Wayne Gacy. Married with children and a model citizen, Gacy was an active member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce and he dressed as a clown and volunteered at children's hospitals. Despite his angelic appearance, Gacy was a deeply disturbed individual. In 1979, he shocked the nation when the bodies of 28 young boys were found in and around the crawl space under his house. He confessed to raping and killing all 28 of the victims, plus an additional five who were disposed of in a local river. On March 13, 1980, Gacy was found guilty of 33 counts of first degree murder and sentenced to death. He was executed via lethal injection on May 11, 1994.

Another form of sexual deviancy that is equally disturbing, but lesser known is pedophilia's polar opposite: gerontophilia. This is the technical term used to refer to a morbid sexual obsession with the elderly. Some prey upon the elderly because much like children, they are vulnerable, which makes them easy targets. Others derive sexual pleasure from attacking and killing the aged.

Bearing striking similarities (oddly enough, including first/middle name and initials) to his pedophilic counterpart, John Wayne Gacy, John Wayne Glover was a sadistic gentrophile who viciously attacked and killed six old women. This is his story.

In 1956, Glover migrated from England to Australia. By then, the 24-year-old already had a disturbing criminal record which included numerous counts of larceny, theft and assault. The assaults were particularly vicious. He repeatedly bashed the heads and bodies of two women before stripping them. Fortunately, in both cases, he was interrupted before the attacks could escalate to rape and/or murder. Shockingly, he was released with punishment no more harsh than three years' probation. Needless to say, it was not long before he broke the law again.

In 1965, Glover served six weeks of a three month jail sentence after he was arrested on a Peeping Tom charge. After his release, he seemed to mellow out a bit. He married Jacqueline Gay Rolls. The marriage produced two daughters. Glover and his family shared a large home with his new in-laws. During this time, he was constantly at odds with his demanding mother-in-law, Essie. Conditions worsened for him when his mother, who he also loathed, moved into the home as well. He lived in fear that his mother would destroy his life by telling his new in-laws and wife about his prior offenses. At his insistence, his mother moved out of the house. She died of breast cancer in 1988.

Soon after, Glover was diagnosed with breast cancer. He had a mastectomy and then was diagnosed with a prostate ailment that rendered him sexually impotent. Through all the drama, he managed to keep his dark secrets from his family.

As inconspicuous as he was sadistic, Glover appeared to be an upstanding and completely normal individual. He worked as a sales representative for a pastry company. He volunteered at nursing homes and was good friends with a former mayor of Mosman. He was the last person in the world that you would expect to be a vicious killer, but beneath his jovial façade lurked a depraved monster.

On January 11, 1989, Glover's violent nature reawakened when he beat and mugged 84-year-old Margaret Todhunter. He used the stolen money to gamble and buy liquor.

On March 1, 1989, Glover's violence escalated. He was on his way to his car when he spotted an elderly woman named Gwendoline Mitchelhill. He grabbed a hammer out of his car and followed the woman to the entrance of the retirement home where she resided. Before Gwendoline could even open the door, he repeatedly crushed her skull with the blunt object. He continued to beat her before stealing her wallet and fleeing the scene. She was still alive when he left, but died minutes after the police and ambulance arrived.

Over two months later, on May 9, Glover struck again. He followed 84-year-old Lady Winifred Ashton to the vestibule of her apartment building and beat her with a hammer. Although frail and suffering from lymph cancer, Winifred put up quite a fight, but was ultimately overpowered by Glover. He strangled her with her pantyhose and fled with her purse. As he fed the stolen money into the machines at the Mosman Returned Services League, Glover hoped out loud to the staff that the sirens outside were not because of another mugging. By this point, the police had inferred that the mugging and two murders were probably the work of one perpetrator.

During the month of June, Glover started molesting elderly, bedridden women in nursing homes. The incidents were reported and investigated, but at the time, police did not connect the events to the muggings/murders.

On August 8, 1989, Glover assaulted an elderly woman and stole her groceries. Two months later, he posed as a doctor and sexually molested a patient at a nursing home. On October 18, he beat and robbed 86-year-old Doris Cox. The woman survived the attack and worked with police to create a composite sketch of the perpetrator. In her confusion and fear, she falsely remembered her attacker as a young man. As a result, the police focused their efforts on finding suspicious males in their teens and twenties.

On November 2, Glover killed again. He bludgeoned 85-year-old Margaret Pahud and stole her handbag. The police grew anxious and intensified their efforts. Composite sketches were posted throughout the area and a task force was created to apprehend the person responsible for the heinous crimes.

Soon after, there was a fourth killing. Glover was at Wesley Gardens Retirement Village on business when he saw 81-year-old Olive Cleveland. As she headed towards the main building, he seized her from behind and dragged her into a nearby secluded walkway. He repeatedly bashed her head into the concrete before strangling her with her pantyhose and leaving with $60 from her purse.

One week later, police got their first break when several of the surviving victims recalled seeing a grey-haired, middle-aged man just before they were attacked. The investigation now focused on older men. While officers continued to work tirelessly to catch the man known as "The Granny Killer," Glover struck again.

On November 23, he was at a liquor store when he saw 92-year-old Muriel Falconer walking down the street. She was on her way home, struggling with a heavy load of shopping bags. He grabbed his gloves and hammer from his car and followed the partially deaf and blind woman. When she opened her front door, Glover quietly slipped inside. He bludgeoned the woman, strangled her with her pantyhose and then searched her home and purse for money before leaving.

The fact that the crime was committed indoors and the evidence was undisturbed gave police an advantage. They found a perfect bloody footprint on the carpet: their first solid piece of evidence thus far.

Police soon got their next break. On January 11, 1990, Glover molested an elderly woman named Daisy Roberts at Greenwich Hospital. The woman rang the alarm next to her bed and a staff member promptly responded. When Pauline Davis reported to the room, Glover took off. Pauline chased him to the parking lot and took down his vehicle registration number. The local police were called. The hospital staff soon recognized the perpetrator as John Glover, a pastry salesman who visited the facility on a regular basis. For unknown reasons, it took the Chatswood police three weeks to report the incident to the Granny Killer Task Force.

Certain that he had been identified, Glover attempted suicide. He left a note that read, "No more grannies, no more grannies." After he recovered and was released from the hospital, Glover was placed under 24-hour surveillance. The police knew that he was the killer, but they needed to obtain evidence that would hold up in court.

At 10:00 a.m. on March 19, Glover visited a female friend at her home. The police staked out the house and grew concerned when there were no signs of life coming from the house by the afternoon. At 6:00 p.m., they got permission to go in.

Upon entering the house, the detectives immediately noticed the hammer lying in a pool of blood on the floor. The victim, Joan Sinclair, was nearby. Her head was wrapped in bloody towels. She was naked from the waist down. She had been bludgeoned, strangled with her pantyhose and sexually molested.

The detectives searched the house and found Glover unconscious and naked in the bathtub. He had taken a handful of Valium and washed it down with some whisky. One of his wrists was slit, but he was still alive. After he recovered, police asked him why he committed such atrocities. His response was: "I don't know. I just see these ladies and it triggers something. I just have to be violent towards them."

In November 1991, Glover pleaded not guilty on the grounds of diminished responsibility to six counts of murder. The jury determined that Glover was both sane and guilty. He received six sentences of life imprisonment. He died on September 9, 2005 after hanging himself in his prison cell.