2005: The Granny Killer Found Hanging in His Cell

John Wayne Glover, 72, was found hanging from a shower rail in his cell at Lithgow prison in New South Wales. He had been serving life without parole for the murder of six elderly women on Sydney‘s North Shore between 1989 and 1990. The mayor of Mosman described his death as the end of a terrible era.

No evidence has ever surfaced that Glover killed before 1989, when he was 56 and had already been married for 20 years with children; his wife had no idea of the violence in his past. He only admitted to the murders once confronted with the police evidence against him.

Glover denied responsibility for other crimes in which he was a prime suspect. Years after his conviction, he admitted he never worried about who his victims were or why he killed them; he said he wanted to stop but could not, and simply returned to his normal life after each murder.

Prison Cell
Prison Cell

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1974: Gerald Ford Pardons Richard Nixon for Any Crimes Committed in the Watergate Scandal

On September 8, 1974, President Gerald Ford granted former President Richard M. Nixon a full and unconditional pardon, covering any federal crimes he may have committed while in office during the Watergate scandal. The pardon came just a month after Nixon resigned the presidency on August 9, 1974, the first US president to do so, and it meant Nixon would never face criminal prosecution or trial over the affair.

Ford’s decision was hugely controversial, drawing accusations that a secret deal had been struck to spare Nixon accountability, and it is widely believed to have cost Ford the 1976 presidential election. No charges were ever brought against Nixon, and the pardon remains one of the most debated presidential acts in American history.

President Richard Nixon made of Wax. Wax figure Richard Nixon reading documents with american flag at desk | ID 59298060 © Lequint | Dreamstime.com
ID 59298060 © Lequint | Dreamstime.com

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1888: Jack the Ripper Claims His Second Victim: the Mutilation of Annie Chapman

Annie Chapman was a heavy drinker who had turned to prostitution in London’s Whitechapel after her marriage collapsed and her daughter died, using the earnings to pay for drink and a bed for the night. On the night of her death she had no money for lodgings and went out to earn her rent; her body was found in the early hours in a backyard, her throat cut and her abdomen slashed open.

The killer had arranged her intestines over her shoulder and removed her uterus, taking it with him. An autopsy determined she had been sober at the time of her death, ruling out the drunkenness that had shaped so much of her life.

Her murder, following that of Mary Ann Nichols just over a week earlier, confirmed for police that a single killer, soon dubbed Jack the Ripper, was stalking the women of Whitechapel.

Portrait of Annie Chapman with her husband in 1869
Portrait of Annie Chapman with her husband in 1869

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2025: Mushroom Murderer Erin Patterson Sentenced to Life, Could Walk Free at 82

Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale handed Erin Patterson three life sentences for murder and 25 years for attempted murder, setting a non-parole period of 33 years. That means Patterson, who poisoned relatives with a beef Wellington laced with death cap mushrooms, cannot be considered for release until 2056, when she would be 82 years old.

The judge described the crime as an ‘enormous betrayal’ marked by substantial premeditation, and noted that Patterson had shown no remorse for the deaths she caused.

Poisonous death cap mushrooms
Poisonous death cap mushrooms

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