||  News  ||
 
July 03, 2009

Con Man Gets 25 Years for Killing Lover

A man convicted of killing his lover by beating him to death with a fire extinguisher has been sentenced to 25 years behind bars.

According to Pink News, Glenn Rycroft was found guilty of the killing yesterday by the United Kingdom’s central criminal court. Rycroft, already a convicted con man, attempted to “fool” the jury into believing he was innocent, Judge Timothy Pontius said.

Rycroft, 33, was convicted of beating Gareth MacDonald, 30, to death after MacDonald became suspicious that his lover was stealing money from him. MacDonald had left his wife and three kids for Rycroft after the two met on the Internet.

MacDonald was found dead in September 2007 on a hotel room bed wearing only his underwear. Two large gashes on the back of MacDonald’s head were caused by a blow from a fire extinguisher, according to authorities.

Rycroft reportedly attempted to cover up the crime by “discovering” the body. He told authorities he believed his lover had been killed by a hooker.

Rycroft, who had worked as a British Airways steward, had previously been jailed for conning friends and relatives out of more than $300,000 in an investment scam.

 

Reader Comments

These comments are reproduced as written by visitors to this Web site. They have not been edited for content, grammar, or spelling. The viewpoints appearing here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of advocate.com, The Advocate, or its affiliates.

  • Name: Brad Bailey
    Date posted: 2009-07-05 5:46 PM
    Hometown: Fayetteville, Arkansas

    Comment:

    PJR: The only dirty little secret is your sexuality.


  • Name: just checking
    Date posted: 2009-07-04 3:05 PM
    Hometown: UK

    Comment:

    "Conman"? There's no such a word as conman. It's con man. @Logan, apparently the Advocate took spelling lessons from the Guardian.


  • Name: Dan W
    Date posted: 2009-07-04 12:32 PM
    Hometown: Tarrytown

    Comment:

    PJR is a closeted gay............come out already.


  • Name: PJR
    Date posted: 2009-07-04 3:11 AM
    Hometown: Michigan

    Comment:

    Just goes to show you that homos are the most violent of homophobics! Whether it's homo on hetero heterophobia, or homo on homo homophobia with extreme prejudice, one things for sure, homos know how to hate all too well! By the way, how come The Advocate didn't post the gay on gay "hate crimes", and compare that to hetero on hetero as a percentage. Gays might just be surprised where MOST of the hate crime violence actually comes from! It's the dirty little secret, ain't it!


  • Name: Brad
    Date posted: 2009-07-04 2:49 AM
    Hometown: Vancouver

    Comment:

    Whoa, I thought it said Conan for a second there. I'm like, 'Oh man, just when I was getting used to him in his earlier time slot.'


  • Name: PJR
    Date posted: 2009-07-04 1:46 AM
    Hometown: idk...

    Comment:

    Left his wife and three kids for what?! To get murdered by a conman!? 25 years is way beyond too little.


  • Name: Cloud
    Date posted: 2009-07-03 9:29 PM
    Hometown: Phoenix

    Comment:

    It comes as no surprise. Gay people are 2nd class citizens, thus, if you kill one, your penalty is never as great as killing somebody that is straight. Just like the story from yesterday. A guy literally murders someone for coming out of the bar; and only gets one year. I'm waiting for some gay violence victim to have enough, and go Jodie Foster onto the str8 scene. We'll eventually realize that the justice system won't defend us, so we may just have to be our own police/judge/jury.


  • Name: Logan
    Date posted: 2009-07-03 4:17 PM
    Hometown: Surrey, GB

    Comment:

    "Behind bard". Nice typo, well worthy of the Grauniad, but The Adcovaet? Personally, I think 25 years is a little easy on the bastard. With previous offences and a brutal murder, how did he pull off that little scam?


Back to top

Submit a comment for this story:

*Type your comment here (Required, 1000 characters max. HTML formatting and hyperlinks are NOT permitted.):

Characters Left

*Name (Required): 

*Hometown (Required): 

*E-mail address: (Required, but will not be displayed)

Is this comment for publication? 
Yes   No

Daytime phone number: (Required for print publication only and will not be displayed)

Please enter the words you see in the box, in order and separated by a space. Doing so helps prevent automated programs from abusing this service.

  

If you would like to submit a comment for posting, please fill out the form above. 

All comments submitted via this form are subject to posting or publication. (To send a private letter to an Advocate editor or writer, please use the e-mail button at the top of the page, or use snail mail.) If you would like your comment considered for publication in The Advocate magazine, please include your full name, your city of residence, and a phone number where you can be reached during business hours so that we can confirm your identity. Your e-mail address and telephone number are strictly confidential and will not be shared or used for any purpose other than to contact you about your comment.

See the Contact page for sending comments for reasons other than responding to Advocate editorial and news stories.

Please note that comments sent by fax or snail mail are unlikely to be posted, although they will be considered for publication along with all letters received via e-mail or via this Web page. Comments that chiefly concern Advocate.com content will be considered for posting only on the Web site. The Advocate reserves the right to edit submitted comments for grammar, spelling, obscenities, or libel; we will, however, do our best to preserve the original comment's style and intent. Comments considered for publication in The Advocate magazine may also be edited for length.

More Exclusives
  • Two Nude Mags Vie for Levi's Johnston
    Playgirl.com and Unzipped both want a piece of Levi Johnston naked -- and according to the manager for Sarah Palin's would-be son-in-law, he's interested.
  • On Set: BearCity
    Out actors, horny extras, and dirty jocks keep the fur flying as Advocate.com visits the set of BearCity, a romantic comedy set in the bear scene, on the last day of filming in New York City.
  • Dairy Queen
    NYC’s latest foodie obsession is frigid and flamboyant.
  • Maine Marriage: Following the Money
    As the same-sex marriage battle heats up in Maine, the Roman Catholic Church has stepped up its financial support to put the kibosh on marriage equality -- even as churches shut down because of dwindling membership.
  • One Traumatic Soprano
    Ira Siff's alter ego Madame Vera Galupe-Broszkh may be an over-the-top tribute to the opera world, but it hasn't stopped legends including Leontyne Price and Joan Sutherland from embracing the show.
  • Matt in the Middle
    Gay assistants may be a Hollywood must-have, but E! News host Giuliana Rancic's assistant Matt Jacobi takes his “gay husband” duties to a new level on Style Network's Giuliana & Bill.
  • Video Content Flag Hot Sheet: Charlize, Whitney, and Sandra
    In this week's installment of what's hot in entertainment, Whitney's long-awaited comeback gets us dancing in our seats, Chris Pine freaks us out in an upcoming thriller, and the charming Mila Kunis keeps us entertained in Extract.
  • View From Washington: Ted Kennedy
    Sen. Ted Kennedy's unfaltering devotion to the LGBT community during the AIDS crisis typified the wealth of humanity he offered to all.
  • Gossip Check
    Robert Rave makes some pretty wild allegations in his debut novel, Spin. We put some of his claims to the test -- and reveal a little extra, like, Which Oscar winner does bong hits out of fruit? -- with National Enquirer gossip hound Rick Egusquiza.