John Wayne Glover
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John Wayne Glover (1932-September 9, 2005) is a convicted Australian serial killer. He is responsible for the North Shore Granny Murders in Sydney, Australia. He was nicknamed "The Granny Killer" for his trademark murders that involved attacking older woman by beating them 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.
Glover, who had been sexually obsessed with elderly women ever since his own mother's death, began his criminal career by molesting and robbing them at random. He was apparently able to keep his violent impulses under some measure of control until he was well into middle age, as there is no evidence of his committing murder until 1989, when he was 57. By then, he had been married for 20 years and had children.
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, near death, by police officers 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.
He hung himself in prison on September 9, 2005.
[edit] Film references
The 1994 movie J'ai pas sommeil (I Can't Sleep), by French director Claire Denis (Chocolat, No Fear No Die) was supposedly based upon Glover. In the movie, the "Granny Killer" is terrorizing Paris instead of Sydney. However, the movie may actually be based on a French serial killer, Thierry Paulin, who also preyed on old women.
The books Garden of Evil: The Granny Killer's Reign of Terror (ISBN 1-875471-12-X) by Larry Writer and The Killer Next Door: Death In An Australian Suburb (ISBN 0-09-182580-6) by Lindsay Simpson & Sandra Harvey were written about Glover. In 2005 the Granny Killer crimes were shown on the Seven Network show Forensic Investigators
