John Wayne Glover: The Granny Killer

Interview with "The Granny Killer" III

He replied somewhat timidly. "Well that's what I can't work out. That's the part that everyone's trying to work out. Maybe you can help me. Half of me is white and half of me is black. Half of me is good and half of me is bad. But I can't understand this grey matter in the middle".

Again another mind game. Glover quickly changed the subject to how many visitors he was getting a week but my inner feelings turned to rage when I visualised one of the police forensic photos of an elderly lady naked on the morgue table with her head caved in. As part of the book research, I'd seen that heart-breaking photo only the day before.

Glover than gave us a spiel on his daily routine, telling how he worked as a sweeper, but also pointing out that he is protected from mainstream prisoners, some of whom would simply kill him. They too have grandmothers.

He was a little proud of the fact that he'd taken under his wing a young man who was also a sweeper and who had been convicted of a number of rapes south of Sydney in the coastal town of Bulli. He was dubbed the Bulli Rapist by the media.

"The Granny Killer and the Bulli Rapist. What a team," Glover joked.

Towards the end of our interview, I asked Glover if he'd received a visit from his wife, Gay. He replied he'd only seen her once, not long after he was first arrested, and indicated that he would never be seeing her again. I told him that I had met her and that the meeting took place at his Mosman home. He remained silent and looked melancholy.

Then came the most tense moment of all. I asked him had his precious daughters been to see him. The tears began to roll down his cheeks. He answered no and became a little agitated.

Simon and I were stunned into silence. John Glover indicated that he didn't want to carry on and then attempted to talk some more, mumbling that he missed his daughters. One had just done the Higher School Certificate and the other had a year of school to go.

This strange and very complex man had basically suckered us into feeling sorry for him...but not for long. He was feeling very remorseful about what he had put his family through, but on the other hand displayed a degree of cunning in not directly answering the question of why he attacked old ladies.

Simon asked him if he could continue talking and at that point he gestured to turn off our tape reorder. Within a matter of seconds, he regained his composure and nonchalantly told us it was time for him to return to his "garden gate," slang for his 12 by 8' (foot) cell. Before we left, he asked could he get an autographed copy of the book when it came out.

We then asked him would he mind if we could obtain his signature on a few copies of the book. "Not a problem. You know where to find me," he laughed.

That was the last time I laid eyes on the Granny Killer. As Simon and I were walking out of the jail, we both had a sudden and somewhat jolting realisation that we had shaken hands with John Wayne Glover, the infamous Granny Killer.

It was the same hand at which six innocent old ladies died. And as far as the police are concerned, they believe he's killed as many as another six more elderly ladies in the years between 1965 and 1989.

The files are still open.

*At the time Steve Barrett conducted this interview with John Glover, he was a crime reporter with Sydney's Channel 9. Steve is now a producer with Australia's 60 Minutes.

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