The Granny Killer 4

At the trial, commencing 28 March 1990, Glover pleaded not guilty to his crimes on the grounds of diminished responsibility. A psychiatrist said Glover had built up hostility and aggression since his childhood against his mother and then against his mother-in-law, who was said to "trigger" him. When she died, he had to take out his aggression on someone else. The psychiatrist who studied the case also added that this was a very unusual case because very few serial killers exist, and most of them are mentally ill, and/or have an organic disease of the brain; Glover was sane at the time of the murders, but a psychiatrist at the trial, John Shand, said Glover had a severe personality disorder.

The Crown prosecutor maintained that Glover was well aware of his actions. When he killed, he was also planning what to do with the victim's money, and also took time to clean the hammer with acid. Glover was impotent and had no interest in sex. So, tying the pantyhose so tightly around his victims' necks was to make sure they were dead, at the same time trying to trick the police into thinking that this was the work of a sexually motivated killer.

Glover was addicted to poker machines, and the easiest way for him to get more money was to steal. After the guilty verdict was delivered, 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. He is cunning and able to cover his tracks. It is plain that he has chosen his moments carefully. Although the crimes have been opportunistic, he has not gone in where the risks were overwhelming.

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. 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 gave evidence at his 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 impose any minimum term to be served before release on parole. Having regard to those life sentences, this is not a case where the prisoner may ever be released pursuant to any order of this court.

He is never to be released.

Days before Glover killed himself, he handed his last outside visitor a sketch of a park. Glover pointed out two pine trees in the image. In the middle of the right pine tree, the number "nine" could be seen between leaves and branches. The number nine is said to either represent the total number of murders or the number of unsolved murders committed by Glover.

Unsolved murders that may have been committed by Glover include:

Emmie May Anderson, 78, East Melbourne (19 October 1961)

Irene Kiddle, 61, St Kilda, Victoria (22 March 1963)

Elsie Boyes, 63, Prahran, Victoria (3 June 1967)

Christina Yankos, 63, Albert Park (9 April 1968)

Florence Broadhurst, 78, Paddington, New South Wales (16 October 1977)

Josephine McDonald, 72, Ettalong, New South Wales (29 August 1984)

Wanda Amundsen, 83, Umina, New South Wales (21 November 1986)

Glover was imprisoned at Lithgow Prison, where he was held in a maximum-security prison cell.

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." He was examined by a mental health review team, and monitored by closed circuit television. He was also given medical examinations as a follow-up to the two cancer surgeries he had undergone the year prior.

On 10 September 2005, Glover was found dead in his Lithgow maximum security prison cell and pronounced dead at 1:25 pm. The 72-year-old serial killer was confirmed to have hanged himself.