As a working journalist I'd been into a number of prisons but on the day Simon Bouda and I walked into the Classification Jail at Long Bay in Sydney's south, I was feeling a sense of intense anxiety. My palms were sweaty.
Glover had been in this jail for several months now after being convicted of the six murders. He was still awaiting his classification in the NSW Corrective Services system. What jail would he end up in for his 'never to be released' life term?
In fact that's exactly how we opened our discussion when were first introduced. Sporting a green sloppy joe and green prison trousers, John Wayne Glover came into a small office situated in the bowels of the jail complex. Incredibly for a man who won't be seeing any of the things we may take for granted such as the Pacific Ocean for the rest of his life, the incarcerated Glover was in a very jovial mood.
He greeted us with a handshake and a big smile as though we were long lost acquaintances. In fact, seeing as I'd chased Glover's handy-work around Sydney as a reporter for well over a year, the thought of us being acquaintances without actually meeting wasn't all that obscene. I felt that there wasn't too much I didn't know about him.
But, as I was soon to find out, there was a great deal that I didn't know about the Granny Killer.
I had been well versed on how Long Bay Jail's celebrity inmate enjoyed playing mind games with the homicide case officers, prison psychiatrists and anyone in authority who was allowed to see him. In fact, Glover enjoyed visitors.
But there was something different about Glover's appearance that I didn't pick up on immediately. Then suddenly it hit me. Glover had grown very distinct mutton chop-like sideburns that joined a moustache. His new fashion style was identical to that of the Commander of the Granny Killer police task force, Detective Inspector Mike Hagan, who had led the hunt for Glover.
It was a perverse mind game, to mimic the look of the man who became very publicly known during the hunt for Glover because of the countless media interviews Hagan gave.
To start off with, Glover joked about how long it would be before he'd be getting out of "this place" (jail). In doing so, he gave me the impression that despite the despicable and inhumane crimes he'd committed, he still wanted to be liked. He wanted to be considered a fairly intelligent person who knew what was going on around him 24 hours a day.
He obviously picked up on my observation and briefly it caused a tense moment during our interview and I noticed the many small "drinkers veins" in his face had turned bright red.
I asked him why he had chosen to plead not guilty at his trial on the grounds of diminished responsibility; in other words that he was not mentally fit enough and could not be held responsible for his actions.
He was somewhat embarrassed, but basically shrugged off the question by indicating that he really had nothing to lose by this plea. Glover quickly changed the mood by telling me that he understood that he was being interviewed for the book and not a appearance on television.
He then reminded me that he often watched me file reports about him on the 6pm Channel 9 news when the police task force was trying to track down the Granny Killer.
I quickly changed the mood of the room when I told him, "John, lets get one thing straight. I have to tell you, we're not here to make some sort of star or hero out of you. There's no doubt you're the main character of the book, but that's it. I mean, look at what you've done".
At that point, both Simon and I sensed a blow to his ego but I had the upper hand so I continued. We chatted about some of the killings and then I asked him point blank. "But John, what was it that pushed you or compelled you to bash little old ladies on the head with a hammer?
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