American Criminal John List was born John Emil List on 17th September, 1925 in Bay City, Michigan, USA and passed away on 21st Mar 2008 Trenton, New Jersey, USA aged 82. He described a woman whose brain was deteriorating and who was going blind, who was addicted to tranquilizers and drank four or five glasses of Scotch a day, who remained in bed because she was afraid of falls but who retained enough social skill to act normally in casual relationships. John List appeared to be the perfect son, husband, and father. The bust created of John List, right, next to the real John List, left. In addition to the financial distress, his eldest daughter wanted to become an actress, which was not acceptable by John owing to his Conservative upbringing. Authorities said that he had been living a quiet life--active in his church, puttering in his yard on weekends--and that he had no problems with the law while a fugitive. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. They did not have any children together. It took 18 years for John List to be arrested. He first shot his wife, then his mother, waited for his children to get home, and murdered them. He had saved the souls of the people he loved. He settled in New Jersey and took a job at a local bank. They also found the five-page note from John List explaining that the bloodied bodies on the ballroom floor were his family members, killed out of mercy. The memory of the murders still haunts Westfield residents. Simring said List showed "no evidence of anything that approached genuine remorse," adding, "He's a cold, cold man.". A month passed before neighbors, curious about the constantly burning lights and empty windows, began to suspect something was wrong at the List mansion. He believed that killing them would assure their souls a place in Heaven, where he hoped to eventually join them. Its hard to believe the solution he arrived at would have been more acceptable to his father, but John List would later say it seemed to him the only option: the murder of his mother, wife, and children. Born in an extremely strict Lutheran family, John was raised as a single child. The new lovers wed on 1 December 1951 in Baltimore, Maryland. [42] In 2015, the story was covered in the season 2, episode 2 of the Investigation Discovery TV series Your Worst Nightmare. John List and his family were the definition of the American Dream in 1965; they seemed to have it all. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? John List was a devoutly religious man, and provided for his family in the town of Westfield, New Jerseywhere they lived in a 19-room mansion called Breeze Knoll. He worked hard as an accountant at a nearby bank to provide for his family. After List's discharge in 1946, List enrolled at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration and a master's degree in accounting, and was commissioned a second lieutenant through ROTC. And it came from a family member of all people. List's home, a. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Unlike the others, John didn't go quietly, his body jerking as List emptied both the 9 millimeter and the .22 into his son. While his children were at school, he shot his wife Helen, 47, in the back of the head, and then his mother Alma, 84, above the left eye. They separated in 1973 and he moved . He then shot his wife in the back of the head as she enjoyed her final sips, careful to ensure that her last moments were free of suspicion. The neighbors tipped the police after a month of not seeing anyone entering or leaving the house. [24][25] On June 1, less than two weeks after the broadcast, List was arrested at a Richmond accounting firm after a Denver neighbor recognized the description and alerted authorities. For the economist, see, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, Dupont de Ligonns murders and disappearance, "Wanted: A Killer Disappears Into Another Life", "John List, famous murderer The Crime Library", "Breeze Knoll: The John List Murder House", "John E. List, 82, Killer of 5 Family Members, Dies", "In Hiding for 18 Years, a Wanted Man Is Caught by the FBI and a TV Posse", "Prosaic Life of Suspect in '71 New Jersey Murders", "Real Estate Assessment Data for 13919 Sagewood Trace", "Notorious AMW Fugitive John List Dead at 82", "Frank Bender, 'Recomposer' of Faces of the Dead, Dies at 70", "John List Bust Remembered as Sculptor Faces Death", "The List Murders Stun Westfield In 1971", "Slaying Suspect Saw 2 Choices, Doctor Testifies", "I Know That What Has Been Done Is Wrong", "Killer of Family Gets 5 Life Terms: Court: Judge sentences accountant who murdered his mother, wife and children 18 years ago to the maximum sentence", "Judge Sentences Family Killer to Life in Prison", "The boogeyman of Westfield, a ghost story that won't end", "How Profitable Sequels Succeed: They Just Bring 'em Back Alive", "The Watcher's Grisly John Graff Murder Sequence Is Based on True Story of a Family Massacre. But back in Denver, his former neighbors did recognize him, and called police. After making himself lunch, List drove to his bank to close both his and his mother's bank accounts, and then to Westfield High School to watch his elder son John Frederick, 15, play in a soccer game. Then John, 15, after the boy put his bookbag down on a kitchen countertop. March 3 (UPI) -- A New Brunswick couple who initially thought a burglar had broken into their home discovered the invader was actually a panicked deer. His picture was also shown on television, which led one of his neighbours to notify the authorities. By the late 1950s, the family was in a good financial situation as John had been promoted to the position of a general supervisor in the company. The inconspicuous accountant was arrested without incident Thursday at work. All List wanted was to reunite with his wife, mother, and children in the afterlife, where he believed there would be no pain or suffering. Delores and John divorced in 1989, probably following his arrest on 1 June. The neighbours called the police when Johns daughter Patricias dancing teacher came home to see why Patricia was not coming to the classes. List diverted money from his mother's bank accounts to avoid default on his mortgage. John List was born on September 17, 1925 in Bay City, Michigan, USA. He lost the bank job, and a succession of subsequent jobs. [44], In 2022, NJ Advance Media released "Father Wants Us Dead," a podcast serial on the events.[45]. More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23. As I was doing it I knew it was wrong," he said. One friend, unidentified by the newspaper, said that List had told Delores Clark he had been married before to an alcoholic who died of cancer. Details of Delores life before she married John List are unavailable. By 1971, he was still leaving for work every morning, but unknown to his family he was unemployed and unable to pay the bills. [41] A 2003 episode of the A&E series American Justice also detailed the case and featured an interview with List. He waited for Helen to come down for her morning coffee. The Rev. . But he fled to Colorado, assumed a new name and remarried, managing to elude a nationwide manhunt for 18 years. Delores Miller Clark lived a simple life in Denver before she met and married John List, who then went by the name Robert Peter Bob Clark. Realizing he was overhearing an important conversation between List and his second wife, the young officer took notes and later related what he heard to investigators from New . He was vice president and comptroller of a nearby bank, and his family lived in an 18-room mansion with marble fireplaces and an elegant ballroom. John List may refer to: John A. He then cleaned the crime scenes, removed his pictures from all family photographs, turned the lights and the radio on, and departed. and more from FamousFix.com. Following the gruesome death of his family. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. March 2 (UPI) -- A Florida woman earned a Guinness World Record when she completed 23 ultra-marathon runs -- 31.1 miles -- in a 23-day period. At a border crossing to Mexico in March 1944, she said she. Over the years, the John List murders have been featured in films such as Judgment Day: The John List Story and The Stepfather. His zodiac sign is Virgo. He was 82. John Sr. drove to the field and watched him play, then gave him a ride home. FBI agents visited his unsuspecting second wife in Virginia and handcuffed the killer, who was going by the name Robert P. Clark, at his accounting office. Then he drove to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, where he left his car as a false lead and took a bus into the city. All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. John Sr. drove over to his school and watched him playing in a soccer game. Im convinced hes just pulling my chain, Gluck recalled. He is from American. In an interview with Connie Chung in 2002, List said he didnt kill himself after killing his own family because he felt that would prevent him from getting to heaven. Human name disambiguation pages. Just as the kids entered from the main door, he shot both of them in the heads as well. He later completed his masters degree in accounting and worked as an accountant in the military. Helen lived with her daughter Brenda near Fort Eustis in Virginia, where John served. They attended church each week with List's mother, a strict Lutheran who lived with them. Liss testified after a judgeruled that information on Helen List's medical condition could be given to the jury that must decide whether List is guilty of murder. On November 9, 1971, after the children left for school, List shot his wife Helen in the back of the head as she was drinking her coffee. She was born 25th October 1916. The devout Lutherans attended church every Sunday, and List taught Sunday school. The judge finally overruled her but continued to bar testimony that List's daughter, Patricia, 16, was a practicing witch. ", John List, famous murder The Crime Library, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_List_(murderer)&oldid=1139169038, American people who died in prison custody, American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, People extradited within the United States, People with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by New Jersey, Prisoners who died in New Jersey detention, United States Army personnel of World War II, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 13 February 2023, at 19:09. List left a confession letter at the scene, so police had little doubt as to who was responsible for the killings. Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Aside from a few extra wrinkles, the bust was spot on. At sixty-four, John's father was twenty-six years older than Alma, whom he had married one year earlier, after his first wife died of cancer. Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. His father died in 1944. Police in Virginia arrested mass murderer John List on June 1, 1989, a mere nine days after Americas Most Wanted aired his case. [12], He was also dealing with his wife's alcoholism and her untreated tertiary syphilis, contracted from her first husband and concealed for 18 years. In an interview, he stated that he did not kill himself because suicide prevents one from going to heaven. The army discharged him in 1946, after which he joined the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. But, during a four-hour interview, he sought to explain how worries that financial hardship would split his family and turn them away from their faith forced him to make a tough decision. Liss summarized Helen List's medical reports for the jury. He left his mother's body in her apartment in the attic. YouTubeThe note John List wrote excusing his children from school. Delores Miller (wife) is an American Homemaker. There, he eventually became director of accounting services. [18][19][20], In 1972, List was proposed as a suspect in the D. B. Cooper air piracy case because of the timing of his disappearance (two weeks prior to the airline hijacking), multiple matches to the hijacker's description, and the reasoning that "a fugitive accused of mass murder has nothing to lose. While there is no set timetable on when that might happen, Daly said the remains of other prison inmates have been stored for up to roughly three months by the medical examiner's office. Associated With. Psychologists theorized that List would wear the same spectacles he wore as a younger man to remind him of more successful days. List assumed a new identity, remarried, and eluded justice for nearly 18 years. He killed his immediate family since he could not pay the mansions mortgage after losing his job and did not want them to face ridicule. 'To find his wife having a veneral disease was morally, ethically and religiously a very hard thing for him to accept,' the psychiatrist said. Because syphilis is not infectious in its later phases, she did not pass it on to John List or her children, although she suffered several miscarriages during her first marriage. He had been fired from all his jobs due to his cold demeanor and his inability to be social with his co-workers. Authorities walk John List to a plane in Richmond,. He went to the post office to stop the family's mail, then to the bank, where he cashed his mother's savings bonds, checking that he got the correct interest to the penny. More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23, meticulously murdered his mother, wife and three kids. He then called his childrens school to grant them leave to visit their grandmother in South Carolina. List is charged with shooting his mother, wife and three children in their Westfield, N.J. home, and authorities said he left a five-page note detailing the crime. The New Jersey mansion he inhabited with his mother, wife, and three children had 19 rooms, including a ballroom, marble fireplaces, and a Tiffany skylight. One night after dinner, he even asked his family what should be done with their bodies after they died. Read on to discover more details. He was 82 years old at the time of his demise. Then, read the chilling story of John Wayne Gacy, the original killer clown. 07, 2022, 8:00 a.m. [30] As the year progressed, the family's financial problems became more strained; List encouraged his children to seek part-time work, ostensibly to teach them maturity and responsibility, but in actuality to help keep the family financially solvent. March 3 (UPI) -- A Kentucky man who stopped to buy some breakfast said he lost his appetite when he won $50,000 from a scratch-off lottery ticket. Following the end of the war, he resumed his studies and enrolled into the University of Michigan, from where he completed his bachelors degree in business administration. Net Worth in 2022. He settled in Denver in early 1972 and took an accounting job under the name Robert Peter "Bob" Clark, one of his college classmates (although the real Bob Clark later asserted that he had never known List). "I finally decided the only way to save them from that was to kill them," he said. He became increasingly depressed. Subsequent jobs didnt pan out. Spouse/Ex-: Delores Miller Clark (m. 19851989), Helen List (m. 19511971), children: Frederick List, John, Jr. Helen List apparently was infected with the disease by her first husband, a soldier who was killed in Korea. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. He was born as the only child in the highly religious German-American household. A nationwide manhunt was launched. John was arrested and extradited to New Jersey. With his first wife, John Frederick had had a son, William George, who happened to be the same . He lived at 431 Hillside Avenue with his wife, Helen Morris Taylor; mother, Alma Barbara Florence List; and two children: daughter Patricia, and sons Frederick and John. Several films and documentaries have been made to cover the details of the List murders. Cindy wrote a book about her family, "The Cash Family Scrapbook." Cindy married three times, and shares a daughter, Jessica, with her first husband, Cris Brock. Gwyn Conger Steinbeck was the second wife of John Steinbeck, master story-teller and Nobel Prize winner. The man I know is kind, loving, a devoted husband and a dear friend. He began living with a new identity in Virginia, where he was spotted by a local and got arrested. He was born John Emil List on 15 September 1925 to John Frederick List and Alma Barbara Florence List. Los Angeles, 12 reasons why Sycamore Avenue is L.A.s coolest new hangout, Fox News finally reveals its kryptonite: the bottom line, The Week in Photos: California exits pandemic emergency amid a winter landscape, Snowboarder dies at South Lake Tahoe resort, California to alter COVID rules in healthcare settings: Masks and vaccinations not required, Welcome to the world, baby Winter, born amid a snowstorm in Lake Arrowhead, Gripped by grace: Thousands gather for Bishop OConnells funeral Mass. He was finally apprehended in Virginia on June 1, 1989, after the story of his murders was broadcast on the television program America's Most Wanted. He was arrested in 1989 after a former neighbor recognized him from a profile on the syndicated TV show America's Most Wanted. John and Helen married on December 1, 1951, in Baltimore, Maryland, the family moving to northern California. He turned on the lights and the radio, leaving religious hymns playing in the houses empty rooms. "It was my belief that if you kill yourself, you won't go to heaven," he said. But the jury has also seen evidence that List planned both the killings and his escape so carefully that he had been gone for a month before the crime was discovered. The video above will play a live video stream of the Monday, Feb. 27 proceedings in the Alex Murdaugh double murder trial or a replay upon completion. No one has stepped forward to claim the body of mass murderer John List, who died while serving a life sentence for killing his Westfield family in 1971, authorities said today. He was caught after the television show "America's Most Wanted" air a segment on the murders. Afterwards, he dragged his wifes body to the ballroom and made himself lunch and ate it. A former Denver neighbor alerted the police, who made the arrest later. "I don't know whether it was only because he was still jerking that I wanted to make sure that he didn't suffer, or that it was sort of a way of relieving tension, after having completed what I felt was my assignment for the day," List said. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. John had a very normal childhood and he did not show any signs of psychological troubles. He murdered his mother, wife and three children at their home in Westfield, New Jersey on November 9, 1971. They married in 1985. YouTubeThe List house burned down several months after the List family bodies were discovered there. "I've regretted my action and prayed for forgiveness ever since. "I feel when we get to heaven we won't worry about these earthly things. Helen lived with her daughter Brenda near Fort Eustis in Virginia, where John served. A former neighbor in Denver saw the episode and recognized List, who was then tracked to his new home in Virginia. John List laid the bodies of his family members on top of sleeping bags in the ballroom, then composed a note to his pastor, who he felt would understand. I thought I was being real clever," he said. He killed Patricia when she returned home from school, then the youngest son, Frederick. Upstairs, the body of List's 84-year-old mother Alma was found. [16] In reporting his death, the New Jersey Star-Ledger referred to him as "The Boogeyman of Westfield. In an interview in 2008, parents told a reporter in New Jersey that children will not walk past that property, nor do they even want to live on the same street. [4], After completion of his second tour in 1952, List worked for an accounting firm in Detroit, and then as an audit supervisor at a paper company in Kalamazoo, where his three children were born. Delores Clark, asking reporters to respect my right to my personal privacy during this very dramatic and uncertain time, issued a statement that was copyrighted Friday by the Richmond News Leader. He was arrested 11 days later, and, after a jury rejected his diminished capacity defense, convicted and sentenced. "[21][22] List was questioned by FBI investigators after his capture, but he denied any involvement in the Cooper case. John List's confession to his 2nd wife revealed in new episode of 'Father Wants Us Dead' podcast Published: Jun. Help us build our profile of John List (murderer) and Delores Miller (wife)! Delores Clark, right, tells reporters at a press conference on June 8, 1989 that she did not believe her husband was John List. List (born 1968), American economist. The new lovers wed on 1 December 1951 in Baltimore, Maryland. He grew up as an only child with strict German parents, he had an overly protective and domineering mother (sort of like Norman Bates). Episodes, photos and other information are also available at fatherwantsusdead.com. "It's just like D-Day, you go in, there's no stopping after you start," he said. List laid the bodies of his wife and three children on sleeping bags according to size in the home's ballroom, went to sleep after dinner, and fled the next day. Dr. Miller said List had learned before the killings that syphilis was the cause of his wife's worsening medical and psychological problems and that knowing she had a sexually transmitted disease would have a 'tremendous impact' on someone of his background. In 1950, John List was recalled to active military service. Joe Sharkey's DEATH SENTENCE is an account of the life of John Emil List who, in a case that was well known in the 70s, killed his mother, his wife, and their 3 children. "I wish I had never done what I did," he told Connie Chung in 2002. Born in 1925 in a conservative Lutheran family, single child John List was a fairly shy, odd and obsessed with military books child from Michigan. Based on information gleaned from dozens of interviews and hundreds of pages of police and FBI documents, Father Wants Us Dead is an in-depth and chilling narrative from two reporters with more than 25 years of combined experience.