John Wayne Glover (26 November 1932 – 9 September 2005) was an English-Australian serial killer convicted of the murders of six elderly women (aged from 60 to 93), over a period of 14 months from 1989 to 1990.

Originally from a working-class family in Wolverhampton, England,[citation needed] Glover was convicted of many petty crimes dating back to 1947, mostly for stealing clothing and handbags.

Shortly after emigrating from England to Australia, Glover (who became a naturalised Australian citizen) was convicted on two counts of larceny in Victoria, and a stealing charge in New South Wales.

He denied responsibility for other crimes in which he was a prime suspect, including the bashing murder of 78-year-old artist Florence Broadhurst in her Paddington studio in 1977.

[citation needed] On 11 January 1989, 84-year-old Margaret Todhunter was walking down Hale Road, Mosman, where she was seen by Glover.

Glover went to the Mosman Returned and Services League (RSL) club, where he spent Mrs Todhunter's money.

[citation needed] On 1 March 1989, as Glover left the Mosman RSL in Military Road, he saw 82-year-old Gwendolin Mitchelhill walking down the street.

The police found Lady Ashton lying face down diagonally across the concrete floor of the small bin alcove.

To date, all three victims were wealthy elderly women, from the same suburb, and all were assaulted or killed in the same manner before being robbed of their handbags.

As the police and ambulance were on their way, Glover rummaged through the contents of Pahud's purse on the grounds of a nearby golf club.

[citation needed] Within 24 hours of the Pahud murder, on 3 November, 81-year-old Olive Cleveland became the fourth woman killed by the now so-called "granny killer".

Glover struck up a conversation with Cleveland while she was sitting on a bench just outside the Wesley Gardens Retirement Village, where she lived in the suburb of Belrose.

When Cleveland became uncomfortable, she got up and walked to the main building; but Glover seized her from behind and forced her down a ramp into a secluded side lane.

The crime scene was left undisturbed and investigators were able to collect forensic evidence, including bloody shoe prints.

He was in his work uniform and carried a clipboard, and entered the hospital's palliative care ward, which held four elderly and ill women, including 82-year-old advanced-cancer patient Daisy Roberts.

When confronted, Glover ran from the ward; the nurse was able to record his car's registration number, and notified police.

When Glover failed to appear, the police rang his home and were informed by his wife that he had attempted suicide by overdose and was recovering at the Royal North Shore Hospital.

[citation needed] Two weeks later, the suicide note and photo were passed on to the task force (now numbering some 70 members), whereupon detectives believed immediately that Glover was the killer, although they had no evidence.

Still, the photo matched the descriptions of the gray-haired suspect and in his job as a pie salesman, Glover could have been at any of the murder scenes.

Four detectives searched the house and found Sinclair's battered head wrapped in a bundle of blood-soaked towels.

After finding Sinclair's body, police searched the house for Glover, who was found unconscious in the filled bathtub.

[citation needed] Glover later told police he had murdered Joan Sinclair and said that they had been having a relationship for some time.

He ran the bath, swallowed a handful of Valium with a bottle of Vat 69, slashed his left wrist, and lay in the tub to die.

[12] At the trial, commencing 28 March 1990, Glover pleaded not guilty to his crimes on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

When he killed, he was planning what to do with the victim's stolen money, and took time to clean his hammer with acid to destroy forensic evidence.

Tying the pantyhose so tightly around his victims' necks was to make sure they were dead, while also trying to trick the police into thinking that this was the work of a sexually motivated killer.

After the guilty verdict was delivered by the jury, Justice Wood stated that he was dealing with an extremely dangerous prisoner: He is able to choose when to attack and when to stay his hand.

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.

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.

[15] In May 2005 Glover collapsed in his cell and was placed on suicide watch after telling prison officers "I've had enough – I want to kill myself."