Chapters
Shownotes Transcript
Love this podcast? Support this show through the ACAST supporter feature. It's up to you how much you give, and there's no regular commitment. Just click the link in the show description to support now.
I have a secret. I wore the wrong foundation for years. Then I discovered Il Makiage. Their AI-powered quiz makes it so easy to find a perfect match, customized for your unique skin tone, undertone, and coverage needs. With 600,000 five-star reviews and 50 shades of flawless natural coverage, this foundation is going viral for a reason. And with try before you buy, you can try your full size at home for 14 days. Take the quiz at ilmakiage.com slash quiz.
That's I-L-M-A-K-I-A-G-E dot com slash quiz. Millions of people have lost weight with personalized plans from Noom, like Evan, who can't stand salads and still lost 50 pounds. Salads generally for most people are the easy button, right? For me, that wasn't an option. I never really was a salad guy. That's just not who I am. But Noom worked for me. Get your personalized plan today at Noom.com.
Real Noom user compensated to provide their story. In four weeks, the typical Noom user can expect to lose one to two pounds per week. Individual results may vary.
This season, Instacart has your back to school. As in, they've got your back to school lunch favorites like snack packs and fresh fruit. And they've got your back to school supplies like backpacks, binders, and pencils. And they've got your back when your kid casually tells you they have a huge school project due tomorrow. Let's face it, we were all that kid.
So first, call your parents to say I'm sorry, and then download the Instacart app to get delivery in as fast as 30 minutes all school year long. Get a $0 delivery fee with your first three orders while supplies last. Minimum $10 in order, additional terms apply.
Welcome to the Serial Killer Podcast. The podcast dedicated to serial killers. Who they were, what they did, and how. Episode 143. I am your Norwegian host, Thomas Roseland Weyborg Thun.
Tonight, I have the distinct pleasure of giving you the second and final part of my expose of the serial killer nicknamed The Granny Killer, John Wayne Glover. Last episode, we covered the majority of his crimes and background.
In this episode, we continue alongside him on his downward spiral into madness and murder before his ultimate fate. Enjoy. As always, I want to publicly thank my elite TSK Producers Club. This club includes 29 dignified members of exquisite taste, and their names are...
Ann, Anthony, Brenda, Brian, Cassandra, Christy, Cody, Colleen, Corbin, Corin, Fawn, Lloyd, James, Jennifer, Kathy, Kylie, Libby, Lisa, Lisbeth, Mark, Mickey, Monica, Russell, Sabina, Samira, Skortnio, Trend, Val,
William and Zasha, you are the backbone of the Serial Killer podcast, and without you, there would be no show. You have my deepest gratitude. Thank you. And talking about Patreon, as some of my dedicated fans may have noticed, I published a brief video to my Facebook page explaining a big change to my tier system there.
I am forever grateful for my elite TSK Producers Club, and I want to show you that your patronage is not given in vain.
From this episode onwards, all TSK episodes will be available 100% ad-free to my TSK Producers Club on patreon.com slash the serial killer podcast. No generic ads, no ad reads, no jingles. I promise.
And of course, if you wish to donate $15 a month, that's only $7.50 per episode, you are more than welcome to join the ranks of the TSK Producers Club 2. So, don't miss out and join now.
The murder of 85-year-old Mrs. Margaret Pahud on the 2nd of November was undoubtedly the work of the granny killer. She was bashed on the back of the head by a blunt instrument as she made her way home along a laneway off busy Longville Road Lane Cove.
The attack was over in seconds, and from the force of the blows taken by her massively fractured skull, the coroner later concluded that it was doubtful that this completely unsuspecting victim felt a thing. Glover took her handbag and tucked it inside his shirt with the hammer and calmly left the scene.
There were no known witnesses, although Mrs. Pahud's body was found within minutes by a passing schoolgirl, who at first thought that it was a bundle of clothing dumped in the laneway.
As the police and ambulance sirens wailed their way to the murder scene, Glover examined the contents of Mrs. Pahud's purse on the grounds of a nearby golf club, where he pocketed three hundred dollars and hid the bag in a drain. He then went to the club, where he drank and gambled with Margaret Pahud's money.
By now, police were growing extremely anxious about finding the unknown serial killer brutally murdering apparently random old ladies. This latest murder was committed about five kilometers away from Marsman, and their theory about it being a local was losing some credibility.
Since the idea of the murderer being a local no longer perfectly fit the police's idea about the killer, they decided they were looking for a teenager who came from just about anywhere. As one says, they could not have been more wrong if they tried. Reinforcements were called in to assist the local police. Australia's biggest task force to ever search for one man was formed.
Thirty-five of the state's most experienced detectives gathered at police headquarters and were told by Task Force Chief Hagen that they must work day and night and investigate every lead, however minute, until the killer was caught. A $20,000 reward was posted by the New South Wales government.
Composite pictures of the suspect were left in shops, service stations, and newsagents. Meanwhile, Detective Hagen was taking the case personally. It affected his mental state considerably, and later said about his work during this period, I quote,
I've had nearly 30 years on the job, and I think the worst month of my police experience was November 1989. You get so frustrated with yourself and those around you when you can't get a result, and that's very stressful. You'd go home, and you're on tenterhooks all night. I wasn't eating or sleeping, and this cowardly killer kept murdering frail old ladies."
"'Hagen spent most of the day, after Mrs. Pahud's death, at the murder scene. Yet, as the hours passed, he had to face the grim reality that the killer had eluded him yet again without leaving so much as a trace. Exhausted from the lack of sleep by the end of the day, Hagen called into the Pennant Hills police station on his way home to answer an urgent message on his beeper.'
He dialed task force headquarters. His knees sagged as he was told that they had yet another body, another pantyhose strangling. Hagen was, understandably, devastated by this. Most people would be. He said it himself best, and again I quote, I just can't explain my feelings that night. To have just come from one murder and to be told there's another one,
It was terrible. We'd had two serial murders within 24 hours. We'd never heard of such a thing before. End quote. The granny killer's fourth murder victim was 81-year-old Miss Olive Cleveland, a resident of the Wesley Gardens Retirement Village at Bellrose on the Upper North Shore. John Wayne Glover had called there in the early afternoon and, unable to get a pie order out of the catering manager,
Rob Murrell, he left. On his way through the garden, he struck up a conversation with Mrs. Cleveland, who was sitting on a bench reading. When she got up and walked toward the main building, Glover seized her from behind and forced her into a secluded side walkway. There, he repeatedly slammed her head to the concrete,
before he removed her pantyhose and knotted them tightly around her neck. Glover then made off with sixty dollars from her handbag. It is quite incredible that no one at the nursing home saw anything or connected the arrival and exit of the pie salesman to Mrs. Cleveland's murder.
Equally strange is it that no one connected this murder with the attack on Mrs. Mosley at the Wesley home only six months earlier. The task force still had no knowledge of the previous offence. If they had, they may have discovered that a portly middle-aged man with grey hair was in the vicinity on both occasions.
There were no clues, and the seemingly invisible murderer vanished into the afternoon. Again, the task force was baffled. Surely, someone must have seen something. They checked and cross-checked witness statements and canvassed the retirement villages, joggers, cab and bus drivers, and junk mail deliverers.
They even sent a history of the case to the FBI in the vain hope of a lead. No luck. Sydney's Lower North Shore was now under siege. People stayed off the streets, and anyone with elderly neighbours or relatives was checking on them at the regular intervals. Old women were being driven to and from the shops. No one was taking chances. And still...
Police investigations continue. The checking and cross-checking went on. A week after the Olive Cleveland murder, the police got their first break. As the agonizingly slow cross-checking paid off, and a pattern emerged. The very first assault victim, Mrs. Margaret Todd-Hunter,
recalled a portly middle-aged man passing her just before she was attacked from behind and robbed of her purse. And Mrs. Effie Carney, who was bashed and robbed of her groceries in August, also described her assailant as an overweight, mature man with grey hair. Both victims described their attacker as an average type of person.
At last police realized that they may have been looking for the wrong man and that their killer could well slip in and out of places unnoticed because he was simply not the noticeable type. Armed with this sense of what the granny killer looked like, the police still had to find their quote-unquote average man.
The granny killer didn't suspect the police had any idea what they were doing, and he had no intention of ever stopping. On the 23rd of November, another body turned up. The third for the month. While purchasing whiskey in Marsman, Glover spotted 92-year-old Muriel Falconer struggling down the street with a load of shopping.
He returned to his car, collected his hammer and gloves, and followed her to her front door. As Mrs. Falconer was partially deaf and blind, she did not notice Glover slip through the front door behind her, with his gloves on and his hammer raised. He silenced her by holding his hand over her mouth as he hit her repeatedly about the head and neck.
As she fell to the floor, he started to remove Mrs. Falconer's pantyhose. But she regained consciousness and cried out. Glover struck her again and again with the hammer, and only when he was satisfied that she was unconscious did he remove the undergarments and strangled her to death with them. He closed the front door for privacy.
Then he searched her purse and the rest of the house before he left quietly with $100 and his hammer and gloves in a bag. It wasn't until the following afternoon, when a neighbor dropped by, that the body was discovered. Although the murder scene was chaotic, this was the first real chance the police had to obtain clues.
This crime had been committed indoors, and nothing had been disturbed since. They also found a perfect footprint in blood on the carpet. It was their first solid clue since the investigation had begun. However, Hagen still needed to get lucky to apprehend this person who seemed to be able to come and go as he pleased, without appearing in any way out of place.
The break came on the 11th of January, 1990, when Glover slipped up badly, but it was a further three weeks before the incident reached the heirs of the task force. On that January day, Glover called at the Greenwich Hospital for an appointment with its administrator, Mr. Reg Cadman.
Afterwards, Glover, dressed in his blue and white salesman's jacket and carrying a clipboard, walked into a hospital ward where four very old and very sick women lay in their beds. He approached Mrs. Daisy Roberts, who was suffering from advanced cancer, asking if she was losing any body heat, then pulled up her nightie and began to prod her in an indecent manner.
Did you know one in two women wear the wrong foundation? Matching foundation is hard, but Il Makiage makes it easy. Take the Power Match Quiz to find a better match in seconds, customized for your unique skin tone, undertone, and coverage needs. With 600,000 five-star reviews, this best-selling foundation is going viral for a reason. Available in 50 shades of weightless natural coverage. And with Try Before You Buy, you can try your full size at home for 14 days. Just
Just pay shipping. Take the quiz at ilmakiage.com slash quiz. That's I-L-M-A-K-I-A-G-E dot com slash quiz. Millions of people have lost weight with personalized plans from Noom, like Evan, who can't stand salads and still lost 50 pounds. Salads generally for most people are the easy button, right? For me, that wasn't an option. I never really was a salad guy. That's just not who I am. But Noom worked for me.
Get your personalized plan today at Noom.com. Real Noom user compensated to provide their story. In four weeks, the typical Noom user can expect to lose one to two pounds per week. Individual results may vary. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. As a family man with three kids, I know firsthand how extremely difficult it is to make time for self-care. But it's good to have some things that are non-negotiable.
For some, that could be a night out with the boys, chugging beers and having a laugh. For others, it might be an eating night. For me, one non-negotiable activity is researching psychopathic serial killers and making this podcast. Even when we know what makes us happy, it's often near impossible to make time for it.
But when you feel like you have no time for yourself, non-negotiables like therapy are more important than ever. If you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. Everyone needs someone to talk to, even psychopaths, even your humble host.
Never skip therapy day with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash serialkiller today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash serialkiller. Mrs. Roberts became alarmed and rang the buzzer beside her bed.
Her sister at the hospital, Pauline Davis, answered the call and found Glover in the ward. She called out to him to identify himself, and when Glover ran off from the ward, Davis chased him and took down the registration number of his car as he hurriedly drove off.
Sister Davis called the police, and later that day two young uniformed policewomen from the local Chatswood police station arrived to investigate. The hospital staff was able to identify and name Glover, as he was well known and popular from previous visits on his pastry rounds.
When the police returned a week later with a photo of John Glover, Sister Davis positively identified him, and Mrs. Roberts also said that the photo matched her attacker. It would seem the police had a major breakthrough on their hands, but for some unaccountable reason,
Another three weeks were to pass before anyone reported the incident to the Granny Killer Task Force. Detectives from Chatswood Police Station confirmed Glover's name with his employers, rang him at home and asked him to drop in for a chat about the assault at 5 p.m. the following day. When Glover hadn't turned up by 6 p.m.,
Police called his home, where his wife told them that he had attempted suicide and was in Royal North Shore Hospital. Police went to the hospital, but Glover was too sick to be interviewed. Staff handed police a suicide note that included the words, and I quote, "'No more grannies. Grannies.'" End quote.
and it still didn't register to the constables that the middle-aged portly man with the grey hair, who was recovering from attempted suicide after assaulting an elderly patient in a nursing home, may be able to help them with their inquiries. The police returned to interview Glover on the 18th of January.
and, with his reluctant approval, picked up a Polaroid photo of him to show to Sister Davis and Mrs. Roberts. Incredibly, another two weeks would pass before the suicide note and the photo wound up on Detective Mike Hagen's desk. As soon as he saw them, he knew he had his man. Proving it was a different story.
Glover's photo matched the many descriptions of the mysterious grey-haired middle-aged man, and in his job as a sales representative, Glover could have been at any of the murder scenes. Detectives interviewed Glover. He denied anything to do with the alleged assault on the elderly woman at the nursing home.
Police gave him the impression that they were satisfied and left him feeling confident that his luck still held. But John Wayne Glover was under around-the-clock surveillance with six detectives assigned to follow him and find out every conceivable thing about him. Even at this stage, the police didn't have a scrap of evidence that would stand up in court.
But in their minds, there was no question that Glover was their man. Hagen had to make an agonizing choice. Alternative number one was to go in immediately and let the granny killer know that they were on to him and take the odds of not finding any solid evidence that would hold up in court. Alternative two was to sit tight, wait for him to stalk another old woman and catch him in the act.
Detective Hagen opted for the latter. Sadly, it was a decision that would cost another life. The police didn't let Glover out of their sight, but he didn't put a foot wrong. He occasionally stopped to look at old women, but his behavior was nothing out of the ordinary.
On the 19th of March, Glover called at the home of a lady friend, Joan Sinclair, at 10 a.m. He spruced himself up in the rear-vision mirror before he was let in at the front door. Observing police had no reason to believe that it was anything other than a social visit. Besides, the killer had only ever struck in the afternoon and only with elderly women.
Still, they watched every corner of the house. At 1 p.m., there was no sign of Glover or any sign of life from the house. The police surveillance became concerned. At 5 p.m., all was still quiet, and at 6 p.m., deciding that all was definitely not well, they got the okay from Hagen to go in.
Detective Sergeant Miles O'Toole and Detectives Paul Mager and Paul Jacob noticed the pools of blood almost as soon as they crept in the door. With guns drawn, they tiptoed from room to room, covering each other but careful not to be caught in a crossfire should the killer leap at them with an axe or a shotgun. They saw a hammer lying in a pool of drying blood on the mat.
As they peered further around the doorway, they saw a pair of women's panties and a man's shirt covered in blood. Then a woman's body came into view. Joan Sinclair's battered head was wrapped in a bundle of blood-soaked towels. She was naked from the waist down, and pantyhose were tied around her neck. Her genitals were damaged, although Glover would later deny sexually interfering with her.
It was, unmistakably, the work of the granny killer. The police couldn't understand where he was. They feared he was waiting in an ambush. So they were truly on their guard as they canvassed the house. Detective Mager let out a sigh of relief as he found feet sticking out of the end of the bath. An unconscious, naked, grey-haired, chubby man was lying in the tub.
One wrist was slashed and the air was heavy with the smell of alcohol and vomit. The relieved detectives hoped that he was still alive in order for him to be brought to justice. He was. The man in the bath was John Wayne Glover, the Granny Killer. After he recovered in hospital, Glover told police of the final chapter in the Granny Killer murders.
Glover had known Joan Sinclair for some time, and they were extremely fond of each other in a platonic relationship. However, after he entered the house on the 19th of 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 and with others he found in her bedrooms.
This sequence of events completely baffled the police. Murdering Mrs. Sinclair was in many ways out of character with the other murders and bashings. Glover rolled Mrs. Sinclair's body over on the mat, wrapped four towels around her massive head wound to stem the flow of blood, and then dragged her body across the room, leaving a trail of blood. When he had done that,
He ran a bath, washed down a handful of Valium with a bottle of Vat-69 whiskey, slashed his left wrist and lay in the tub to die. But he didn't die, and the police were glad of that. They felt that if the suicide had been successful, then there would always be speculation as to whether Glover was the right man.
Glover further brushed away their concerns by confessing to everything. Nonetheless, he frustrated police and psychiatrists alike with his inability or unwillingness to set out the reasons for his acts. The question, why, was repeatedly met with the same answer, and I quote, "'I don't know,'
I just see these ladies, and it seems to trigger something. I just have to be violent towards them, end quote. When he was charged with murdering six elderly women, his wife Gay and their two daughters, both in their late teens, were stunned.
there had never been the slightest inclination that the man they loved as husband and father was the granny killer in many ways their experience matched that of infamous serial killer b t kay's family
who also had no idea that their boring, middle-aged family man husband and father was a psychopathic, sadistic, sexual serial killer. At his trial in November 1991, John Wayne Glover pleaded not guilty to six counts of murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
In other words, Glover claimed that he was temporarily insane when he carried out the murders. The jury did not agree, and it took them just two and a half hours to find that Glover was both guilty and sane. Justice Wood sentenced Glover to six life terms of imprisonment and said in part, and I quote,
The period since January 1989 has been one of intense and serious crime involving extreme violence inflicted on elderly women, accompanied by the 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 have given evidence at this 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 jail.
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. End quote. And so it was that on the 10th of September 2005,
John Wayne Glover, by now 72 years old, was found in his Lithgow jail cell and pronounced dead at 1.25 p.m. He had managed to hang himself in his cell. Now, usually, dear listener, you are exposed to me detailing the true horror of the way serial killers murder their victims.
Let us, therefore, take a closer look at what this sort of suicide entails. Glover was discovered hanging from a shower curtain tied to a grill in his jail cell. A prison cell is far too small to effectuate a hanging where you break your neck and instantly lose consciousness. Thus, the hanging was of the strangulation sort.
The curtain would have been tightly bound around his neck, and he probably managed to get some leverage by jumping off his bunk bed or sitting down fast. This will have caused muscle spasms, and he would not have been able to release himself after he began.
Many people who attempt suicide by hanging manage to abort the process, as the strangulation from hanging is extremely painful, and people panic and manage to stand up or loosen their noose. Glover did not manage this, and would have hung from the plastic curtain for up to 20 minutes.
The panic and pain he felt would have been extreme, as he would feel his body shutting down and also losing his vision before ultimately losing consciousness. The floor of his cell was probably soiled by his bowels emptying as he died, and his tongue would have been sticking out of his mouth, being completely swollen and blue-black in color.
To make switching to the new Boost Mobile risk-free, we're offering a 30-day money-back guarantee. So why wouldn't you switch from Verizon or T-Mobile? Because you have nothing to lose. Boost Mobile is offering a 30-day money-back guarantee. No, I asked why wouldn't you switch from Verizon or T-Mobile. Oh. Wouldn't. Uh, because you love wasting money as a way to punish yourself because your mother never showed you enough love as a child? Whoa, easy there. Yeah.
applies to online activations, requires port in and auto pay. Customers activating in stores may be charged non-refundable activation fees. If there's one thing that my family and friends know me for, it's being an amazing gift giver. I owe it all to Celebrations Passport from 1-800-Flowers.com, my one-stop shopping site that has amazing gifts for every occasion. With Celebrations Passport, I get free shipping on thousands of amazing gifts. And the more gifts I give, the more perks and rewards I earn.
To learn more and take your gift giving to the next level, visit 1-800-Flowers.com slash ACAST. That's 1-800-Flowers.com slash ACAST. Need new glasses or want a fresh new style? Warby Parker has you covered. Glasses start at just $95, including anti-reflective, scratch-resistant prescription lenses that block 100% of UV rays.
And with that, we come to the end of the saga of the granny killer John Wayne Glover.
I hope this two-part expose has been to your liking. Next episode, number 144 in number, will feature a brand new serial killer expose. So, as they say in the land of radio, stay tuned. Finally, I wish to thank you, dear listener, for listening to this episode.
If you like this podcast, you can support it by donating on patreon.com slash theserialkillerpodcast, by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts, facebook.com slash theskpodcast, or by posting on the subreddit theskpodcast. Thank you. Good night and good luck.