The man that started the new year off by murdering his wife in Nashville, then burying her on his property in the Belk community was sentenced in court last week.
Joseph Michael Glynn, 70, was facing charges of criminal homicide, tampering with evidence, and abuse of a corpse, pled guilty to first degree murder in Davidson County Criminal Court last Wednesday. He was sentenced to life in prison.
The plea stemmed from a case that took place on New Year’s Day 2024 when Glynn admitted to striking his wife, 76-year-old Jackie Glynn, in the head with a hammer. Mrs. Glynn had been reported missing by family members and a Silver Alert had been issued for the woman, citing she had a medical issue that may impair her ability to return without assistance. She had last been seen on New Year’s Day, in the area of her home at 2418 Abbott Martin Road in Nashville.
Authorities say that Glynn transported his wife’s body to Belk and buried her, then towed and hid her Toyota Rav 4 in Smithville. According to DeKalb County Sheriff Patrick Ray, the Glynn’s purchased nearly seven acres at 4629 Allen Bend Road in the Belk Community. Sheriff Ray said Metro Nashville Police asked DeKalb to do a welfare check at the property after learning in a police interview that the couple owned property in DeKalb. Glynn was also allegedly seen in the area building a bon fire.
Sheriff’s officials said that there is no house on the property, but the Glynn’s were believed to have used it as a camping site for their camper. Mr. Glynn had also contacted a local realtor on January 4 wanting to list the property for sale, but that the realtor was out of town and couldn’t meet with him.
Sheriff Ray said that on January 5, authorities met with Mrs. Glynn’s son when they arrived at the property, along with a neighbor who reported seeing a freshly dug hole on the land, but that it had recently been filled.
“We found out that the hole was dug on December 16 by a contractor who had been told by Mr. Glynn that he wanted the hole for a burn pit. The hole was six feet wide, ten feet long, and six feet deep,” said Sheriff Ray.
“We called TBI and the office of the District Attorney General. DA Bryant Dunaway and DA Criminal Investigator Chris Isom joined us at the scene along with TBI agents and two detectives from Metro,” Sheriff Ray continued.
“Deputies dug down and found Mrs. Glynn’s body inside a plastic vehicle cargo box. It was in the bottom of the grave with brand new roofing shingles piled on it nearly to the top of the ground and all of that covered with dirt. After the county medical examiner came to the scene, the body was removed and taken to Nashville for an autopsy.”
Sheriff Ray said that later, Mrs. Glynn’s Rav 4 was found on Barnes Mill Road. Later during the investigation, Glynn confessed to the crime. “The murder weapon was a hammer and Glynn had allegedly thrown it in the Keltonburg Community Center compactor on Tuesday.”
A search of a county dumpster on Monday by investigators of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department turned up the suspected murder weapon used by Glynn.
The Metro Nashville Police Department, the Tennessee Bureau of investigation, District Attorney General’s Office (13th District), and DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department are involved in the investigation.
Meanwhile, another arrest was in the case by the DeKalb Sheriff’s Department, 29-year-old Anthony Tate “Rooster” Miller of Allen Bend Road charged with filing a false report. Although Miller is not accused of being an accomplice in the murder, Sheriff Ray said Miller gave conflicting stories to investigators about his contact with Glynn and his knowledge about how Mrs. Glynn’s vehicle, the Toyota RAV4, got to where it was found abandoned on Barnes Mill Road.
Sheriff Ray explained Miller’s case saying, “Two Metro detectives and myself went and talked to Rooster and asked him if he knew Glynn. He first said no but after a few minutes Miller said he remembered him. Miller said it had been a couple of weeks since he had seen him (Glynn) and that he had not talked to him and did not know anything about him.”
“Later that night, sheriff’s department detectives went and talked to Miller again and he confessed to knowing where (Mrs. Glynn’s) car was. That’s how we found the car. We learned that on Tuesday Glynn towed the vehicle on a trailer and had dropped it off at Miller’s house (Allen Bend Road) and then sent Miller a text stating the vehicle was at his house. It stayed there until 10 or 10:30 Friday when Glynn came and picked up the vehicle and took it to Barnes Mill Road. When we found out that Miller had lied to law enforcement during the murder investigation, we decided to charge him with filing a false report,” said Sheriff Ray.
