Man charged in 1987 Jacksonville murder claims responsibility and reveals undisclosed details
Gary Edward Glowacz, 70, was arrested after he called police and admitted to killing Melissa Ellellson in her Jacksonville home in 1987, providing crime-scene specifics never released before.
A 70-year-old Jacksonville man, Gary Edward Glowacz, faced charges for the 1987 killing of Melissa Ellison after he voluntarily called Clay County police on July 8, 2026. In the call he said he wanted to "set things straight" and later told cold-case detectives he had broken into Ellison’s home while under the influence of narcotics, looking for valuables. He claimed he struck Ellison once in the head with a wooden log, then carried her 13-month-old child to the living-room couch before returning to search the bedroom.
Investigators said his description of the log’s placement, the blood-stained sheets, and the soot on the bed aligned precisely with forensic findings that had never been disclosed publicly. Records show Glowacz lived about half a mile from the house in 1987 and was arrested for an unrelated burglary the same day Ellison was found dead. He has been formally charged with second-degree murder and armed burglary with assault or battery.
Why it matters
The confession provides closure to a decades-old murder case and highlights how new leads can revive cold investigations.
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