Infamous ‘Granny Killer’ John Wayne Glover began his reign of terror at Mosman in Sydney’s north, murdering six elderly women over a 13-month period in 1989 and 1990.
Each time the calculating serial killer struck he would force his victim into a side street in broad daylight, bash their head in with a hammer and then wrap their pantyhose around their neck.
The middle-aged man started his killing spree on 1 March 1989 when he killed 82-year-old Gwendolin Mitchelhill.
Glover struck again 10 weeks later and during the next year, he killed another four elderly women.
Working as a pie salesman, Glover also had access to nursing homes where he sexually assaulted women in their beds. It was after one woman cried out that Glover was reported to the police for the first time.
When police called to question him he attempted suicide and left a note saying “no more grannies”.
Incredibly, he was discharged from hospital and continued his murder spree – until he was finally arrested after killing lady friend Joan Sinclair in her home.
By this stage, police had Glover under constant surveillance and watched as Sinclair let Glover into her home around 10 am. By 1 pm no sign of Glover or movement within the house was seen.
Police and the surveillance team became concerned around 5 pm and got permission to enter the house at 6 pm. Two uniformed police knocked on the front door (ostensibly to check on barking dogs) to no answer, and when looking through the rear glass door, saw a hammer lying in a pool of dry blood on a mat.
Four detectives searched the house and found Sinclair’s battered head wrapped in a bundle of blood-soaked towels. She was naked from the waist down and her pantyhose was tied around her neck.
After finding Sinclair’s body, they then searched the house for Glover, who was found unconscious in the filled bathtub. He had taken a cocktail of tablets and whiskey.
When he was charged, his wife and two daughters were stunned that the man they loved was the infamous ‘Granny Killer’ and fled to New Zealand after his arrest.
At his trial in November 1991, Glover pleaded not guilty to six counts of murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility. A jury rejected this and Glover was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Glover committed suicide by hanging himself in prison on 9 September 2005.
