(A young Glyn Dix. Picture credit: thesun)
This shocking and gruesome story will make your head spin. I'm surprised that this case is not well known due to the horrendous nature of it, it's a story that gets worse the more it goes on so please be prepared or click on to another one of my cases because things are about to get unbelievable in this post.
I always try to bring you something different every week from serial killer cases to sudden and unexplained disappearances to unknown cases. You name it, I've probably covered a lot of it. I'm now over 80 cases on this blog and each one has been hours and days in the making so when I stumble across an unknown case like this, I want to share it with you and I've been doing my little detective work as always trying to find every piece of information I can.
With this being a relatively unknown case it's been a struggle to find some pictures to go with this article, there's just a handful available and the majority are very blurry so please excuse the small amount of pictures in this post. I haven't been able to find anything about the subject's (Glyn Dix) past so all I am focusing on in this post is what I was able to find, what he did and the aftermath, I hope you still find this post informative.
Let's begin...
Gloucester is a city in England that has popped up a few times when it comes to murder, you may have heard of the city because of the serial killers Fred & Rose West or the murder of Dalton Powell. Well, we have another horrific story to add to the list and that is the story of Glyn Dix.
Not much is known of his childhood but what we do know is that in his adulthood Glyn was very much a loner, odd in his behaviour and always distant with people. A lot of people who ever met him would later say that he made them feel uncomfortable.
In the late 1970s Glyn was living in a flat which was owned by a married couple known as the Overburys and all seemed well until Glyn stopped paying his rent. Pia Overbury and her daughter would regularly go to Glyn's flat whilst her husband was at work to try and get some of the rent money but it was always a problem. Pia felt sorry for Glyn and would give him chances where other landlords wouldn't have done. Pia's daughter really disliked Glyn, she would later say that he made her feel uncomfortable and he had this evil look on his face sometimes. The little girl didn't mention anything about her feelings in regards to Glyn and being a young child at the time she probably wouldn't know what to say.
Pia was a happily married woman with two beautiful daughters, she worked hard in a shop as well as being a landlord. Pia's daughter and her friends would often come into the shop at their school's lunchtime and have some lunch with Pia but on the 2nd of October 1979 Pia was not at work. Her daughter thought it was very strange for her mother not to be at work and that confusion soon turned to panic when Pia didn't return home that night. It was her other daughter's birthday and there was no way she would have missed that, she'd made so many plans.
The family were frantic and the police were contacted straight away. Everyone was looking for Pia and two weeks later a lady who was walking in the woods with her dogs and children, noticed something ticking out of a pile of sticks and branches. On closer inspection the lady could see it was a woman's body. Feeling traumatized as anybody would in that situation, the lady gathered the children and the dog together and rushed home as fast as she could and informed the police.
Pia was formally identified and a post-mortem took place which was a difficult task as her body was badly decomposed. Investigators were able to determine from the full examination of Pia's body that she had been tied to a tree, raped and shot in the head.
Her family were devastated as you can imagine and a murder investigation begun starting with the police combing the area where Pia was found and questioning everyone she knew and had come into contact with her in the weeks leading up to her death. Glyn Dix was one of those individuals who were questioned.
Investigators were able to find Pia's handbag as well as an empty cartridge from a gun which was sent off to forensics for further examination. Glyn Dix was not happy at being questioned by police and his behaviour was raising eyebrows, especially as he tried to commit suicide when he got home. Glyn was rushed to hospital and the police were now looking to him as their prime suspect. Staff at the hospital realised that Glyn was not psychologically stable so once he was fully examined and treated they transferred him to a psychiatric hospital but he ended up having extreme behaviour there too.
The results from the cartridge came back and investigators were able to trace more information that they hoped would lead them to Pia's killer. Two men were tracked down about the cartridge and the whereabouts of the gun and the two men told the police that they sold it to a man named Glyn Dix. Glyn immediately confessed to the police and took them to where the gun was located.
In 1980, Glyn was sentenced to life in prison and diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder. People who have this disorder tend to have extreme moods from high to low and like Schizophrenia, individuals can suffer from hallucinations, paranoia, depression and mania.
During Glyn's sentence around 1997, he had befriended a young cellmate. The cellmate's name was Adam Denver and his mother Hazel would regularly visit him. Adam was only in prison for motoring offenses and Glyn told him that he had been framed for Pia Overbury's murder and the whole thing was a mistake. Glyn claimed to be an innocent man and was able to manipulate Adam into believing him.
Adam and Glyn got on so well that Adam thought it would be a good idea to introduce Glyn to his mother Hazel. Glyn and Hazel became close and started writing to each other, within months the pair had fallen in love or at least, that's the way Hazel saw it. Hazel knew what Glyn was in prison for and when she told her brother about her relationship with a convicted murderer she seemed to be of the mind that he was an innocent man.
On the 5th of November 1999, Glyn was allowed out of prison on day release so that he could marry Hazel at a registry office. The couple seemed very happy together and Glyn seemed to be a hit with her family, although her brother had his reservations. Everybody thought that Glyn was a genuinely nice guy.
(Glyn and Hazel in their wedding day: Picture credit: thesun)
The pair continued their marriage and Glyn was released from prison on a life licence in 2001 and immediately set up home with Hazel and grew close to her family. Glyn loved to paint and set about creating some murals in the house, one of which was Stonehenge. Glyn began planning and painting the mural on a wall in their bedroom, each session of painting would be carefully photographed as he kept a record of the progress. It was a huge mural and was going to take years to finish but Glyn was dedicated to it like he was on a mission.
It's a wonder what Hazel thought about these strange paintings on the walls but at this point she was completely in love with him, the man she saw as her husband. For three years after he was released from prison the couple couldn't have been happier. Glyn and Hazel did everything together and her family warmed to him, he came across as such a nice man, would do anything to help anyone. What Hazel and her family didn't know was that behind the nice smiles and nice guy act was a sadistic monster just waiting to strike.
Glyn had managed to keep the act up for three years, he was very patient but he had an evil plan for Hazel and and as soon as his murals were finished, especially the one he took years to paint of Stonehenge in the bedroom, the real him rose to the surface.
The monster he always was emerged as if the monster in him was lying dormant all of that time. What he did to Pia Overbury all those years ago was sickening and utterly vile, nobody could imagine anything worse until the 19th of June 2004.
Hazel's son Adam and her daughter went to visit their mother and noticed that the gate at the back of the house was locked which was very unusual, Hazel never locked that gate. Thinking Hazel and Glyn were not at home they phoned them and were surprised when Glyn answered, he seemed his usual self and told them that they were at home and to come into the house.
[I just want to put a little reminder here to please be aware that the details that I'm about to share are quite disturbing]
Adam and his sister walked into the house expecting their mother to come around the corner and offer them a cup of tea as she usually would, instead they were faced with a horrific sight, a scene that neither of them could ever have imagined in their worst nightmare.
There, right in front of them on the kitchen floor was the remains of their mother, bits of her organs and blood were all over the place. Glyn was stood naked covered in blood holding a knife which he had been using to stab the remains that he had already removed with a hacksaw. Hazel had been cut into 16 pieces. Glyn had viciously attacked Hazel with a knife, stabbing her to death before dismembering her, decapitating her, removing her heart, liver and kidneys. He also cut off two of her middle fingers so that her hand would have a permanent sign of the devil.
There was candles all around the kitchen and the scene looked like something out of a devil worshipping horror movie. Glyn made no attempt to flee and the police arrived very quickly to the scene. Glyn told them: ''We had a little argument''.
According to Glyn (who was calm, not phased in the slightest at what he had just done to his wife) he and Hazel had an argument over what to watch on TV, she wanted to watch wrestling, he wanted to watch football and apparently this was what set the whole thing off. But on closer examination by investigators and Hazel's family it was clear that this had all been premedtated, Glyn had been planning this for years and his murals were part of this sickening ritual. Glyn murdered his wife on the day of summer solstice, a date which is historical for sacrifices. The conclusion of his painting of Stonehenge (also said to have been a sacred ground for sacrifices thousands of years ago) in the bedroom which was just above the kitchen was all part of the evil plan. Members of Hazel's family also found bible passages in the house which were to do with the Antichrist and there was a photo of Glyn displaying a hand gesture which is commonly known as ''The Devil's Horns''.
Glyn Dix without remorse plead guilty to the murder of his wife Hazel on the 16th of December 2005. He was sent to a secure psychiatric hospital where he spent the rest of his days. He was never to be granted parole and deemed one of the most dangerous men in Britain.
Hazel's son Adam could not live with what had happened to his mother, he suffered from flashbacks to that horrible day that he walked into that house with his sister and witnessed that gruesome scene. He also felt an enormous amount of guilt for having trusted Glyn and for introducing him to his mother. Adam took Amphetamines because he was scared to sleep as the nightmares became too much. He sadly died from a broken heart at the age of 39.
More heartache for the family was to come when they found out that the monster who had destroyed their lives and took away their mother's life as well as being the cause of Adam's suffering, had actually died in the psychiatric hospital in 2014. The family found out about this SIX YEARS after his death.
Hazel's family were furious and felt that they'd been denied the closure that they so desperately needed. Authorities claimed that they did try to reach out to the family but that the address had been changed.
There was a mixture of grief and anger for both Hazel and Pia's families. The fact that this monster was allowed back onto the streets to kill again. He was a very dangerous man with a history of serious psychological disorders, there was definitely a fault in the system that he was released and even the fact that he was allowed out of the prison on day release was utterly shocking.
For Pia's family it must have been horrendous to see that the man who had caused them so much pain, had now destroyed another family.
As we know, Glyn had planned everything but one wonders if he ever did have love for Hazel in that cold heart of his or was he just using her to make himself look like a changed man in an attempt to get out of prison early?
It's terrifying that he was able to keep up his facade for so long and planned and carried it all out step by step.
I don't see justice being done here, he was a very sick individual and even though it was 1979 when he was supposed to have carried out his first murder, the red flags were all there. Did authorities not take a moment to stop and think about what the possible consequences would be to release this person? And why wasn't more done to protect Hazel? She was obviously a vulnerable woman who was just looking for love in the wrong place, should someone (with prior knowledge of his history) have warned her?
Glyn was on a full life licence when he moved in with Hazel after what he had done to Pia Overbury why were authorities not keeping an eye on the situation?
The questions remain and for both of these families my heart goes out to them. Glyn Dix never faced proper justice, he died in a cosy psychiatric hospital whilst the families were unaware of his death and continued to live with the pain that he caused.
I know this was a tough case to get through but I appreciate it if you have made it this far.
RIP Hazel, Pia & Adam
Further Reading & Sources:
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Thank you as always for checking out my latest post, see you (hopefully) in the next one x
Holy Hell. 🤯 This was incredibly gruesome, grotesque and disturbing. It's like a scene out of a horror movie brought to life.
ReplyDeleteHard to even wrap my head around the fact that he was released in the first place. The justice system failed Hazel and Pia and their families completely.
This monster should never of seen the light of day the first time when he did what he did to Pia. And then be allowed to not only get married whilst still in prison but to get released and life a normal life.
Then to commit such an atrocity with such a gross and disgusting action... heartbreaking and shocking.
Incredible story and absolutely mind-blowing and completely bone chilling.
Thanks so much for checking out the post and commenting. Much appreciated x
DeleteThat must be one of the most gruesome case I ever read. I will properly comment on Patreon. That horrendous crime on Hazel could have been prevented by the authorities. That monster should have stayed behind bars forever after his first conviction. I’m in disbelief. Thank you for your incredible work Jo. You did a fantastic job to covered one of the most shocking case I ever read in my life.
ReplyDeleteRIP Pia, Hazel and Adam.
Thanks so much for checking out the post and commenting. Much appreciated x
DeleteFor my first visit and to get chucked in the deep end with such a horrible case. I can’t believe he got early release after his first conviction. Well written and obviously very well researched, looking forward to Sunday already to see what’s next
ReplyDelete