After learning about the murders committed by John List, check out the story of Dale Cregan, the one-eyed killer. The family did not have a lot of visitors and it took the neighbours 29 days to notice that something was off in the house. A 1996 episode of the series Forensic Files discussed the List murders. 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. He died on March 21, 2008 in Trenton, New Jersey, USA. The alias worked, and he kept it when he moved to Richmond. Later, John took a lucrative job at Xerox and moved to New York and lived there with his family for a few years. The John List project: About the reporting - nj.com Episodes, photos and other information are also available at fatherwantsusdead.com. 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. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU_2xrMKO8g. He later completed his masters degree in accounting and worked as an accountant in the military. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Helen's mother was in fact ill, and had canceled a visit to Westfield because of it; had she made the trip, List later said, she would have been his sixth victim. Help us build our profile of John List (murderer) and Delores Miller (wife)! He watched John Jr. play soccer at school, then drove him home and killed him, too. Daly said that if no one comes forward, the remains would eventually be returned to the state Department of Corrections, which has had custody of List since his conviction in 1990. John and Helen married on December 1, 1951, in Baltimore, Maryland, the family moving to northern California. Spouse/Ex-: Delores Miller Clark (m. 19851989), Helen List (m. 19511971), children: Frederick List, John, Jr. [46] Played by Joe Mantello, much of John Graff's story was identical such as his being an accountant, attending a Lutheran church, and murdering his family members and live-in mother, along with leaving music playing in the house and planning an alibi that would cause the bodies to remain undiscovered for several weeks. John Emil List was born in Michigan, in 1925, the only child of John and Alma List. He defended himself saying that he was not mentally stable. "At least I'm certain that all have gone to heaven now. [10] 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. YouTubeThe bodies of John Lists wife and three teenage children were found laid out on sleeping bags in the ballroom. The FBI found his car parked at Kennedy International Airport in New York City, but they never found him. He worked as an accountant, bringing a stable income back to his Victorian mansion; home to himself, his wife, three children and his mother. 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 did not mention his wife, his mother, or his children. They attended church every Sunday as devout Lutherans and List taught Sunday school. [14] All reliable photographs of List had been destroyed. 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. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. A month passed before neighbors, curious about the constantly burning lights and empty windows, began to suspect something was wrong at the List mansion. 'America's Most Wanted' killer John List remains infamous - mlive he is the biggest con man who ever walked the Earth, another unidentified friend told the paper. They got him down in Virginia.. [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. More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23. John died aged 82 in March 2008 of complications from pneumonia while still imprisoned. My Life With John Steinbeck - Gwen Gonger - The Forgotten Wife His play times were replaced with gatherings around . He is most remembered for Murdered his entire family in 1971. A federal appeals court rejected both arguments. "So eventually I got to the point where I felt that I could kill them. [28][29], At trial, List testified that his financial difficulties reached crisis level in 1971 when he was laid off with the closure of the Jersey City bank. List died in prison in 2008 at the age of 82. According to trial testimony, Helen had pressured List into marriage by falsely claiming that she was pregnant, then insisted that they marry in Maryland, which did not require the premarital syphilis test mandated in most other states at the time. He was portrayed in the 1993 film Judgment Day: The John List Story by actor Robert Blake, who, ironically, was later convicted of killing his own wife. Minnesota officer removes jar from raccoon's head. [16], List eventually expressed a degree of remorse for his crimes. Oct 9, 2018. 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. [23][16] The segment featured an age-progressed clay bust, sculpted by forensic artist Frank Bender, which turned out to bear a close resemblance to List's actual appearance. He had planned the murders so meticulously that even after many years of the incident, the police and FBI found no trace of John. . Joshua Boucher/The State via AP, Pool. 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. 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. He became increasingly depressed. A neurologist, Dr. Henry Liss, testified earlier Friday that Helen List, 45, had tertiary syphilis and had hidden her disease for years from her doctors and her family. Specifically: I am a member of St Lorenz Lutheran Church with access to burial records. After seeing his daughter and two sons off to school, List walked into the kitchen of his 19-room HIllside Avenue mansion on Nov. 9, 1971, and shot his wife, Helen, as she sipped her morning. Then he went downstairs, dragged his wife's body into the ballroom and began scrubbing up the blood so the children would not realize what was going on when they got back from school. On November 9, 1971, John List put his plan into action. They did not have any children together. New Jersey prosecutors had come up with a plan. John and Helen had three daughters when he worked as an audit supervisor at a paper company in Kalamazoo. His sixteen years old daughter and 13 years old son returned from the school at noon. [11], Westfield, where few violent crimes had been recorded since 1963, received national attention as the site of one of the most notorious felonies in New Jersey since the kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby. [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. Like her sister, Rosanne Cindy inherited her father's musical talent, and by the time she was 16 she was already performing on stage with Johnny and his second wife June Carter. He believed that it was his failure as a man to be unable to provide for his family. By then, progression of the disease combined with her excessive alcohol consumption had, according to testimony, "transformed her from an attractive young woman to an unkempt and paranoid recluse"[30][32] who frequently and often publicly humiliated List, comparing his sexual prowess unfavorably with that of her first husband. John List - Biography - IMDb 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. He made himself a sandwich, closed out his bank accounts, and cheered for his only surviving son, John, at his high school soccer game. Afterwards, he dragged his wifes body to the ballroom and made himself lunch and ate it. Hence, his severe lack of social skills cost him jobs after jobs. Authorities never found the cause of the fire, and a new house was built on the property years later. In November 1971, the mass murderer and long-time fugitive killed his wife, mother, and three children at their home in Westfield, New Jersey. Feb. 20, 2002 -- Thirty years ago, accountant John List methodically murdered his whole family his mother, his wife, and their three children. Dr. Sheldon Miller, who examined List after his arrest last year, described him Friday as a man who had already been hit by the loss of his job and then learned that his wife had deceived him for years about her medical condition. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. The mass murderer was an active member of his local Lutheran church and married his second wife Delores in 1985. BAY CITY, MI Before killing his mother, wife, and three teenage children in his 19-room New Jersey mansion, John E. List began life in Bay City. But his defence was rejected and he was imprisoned at the New Jersey State Prison. What did Disney actually lose from its Florida battle with DeSantis? A manhunt for John was declared, but it was not until 18 years that he was arrested. Now, in his first-ever public comments about the 1971 crime, the 76-year-old former Sunday school teacher says he is waiting to be reunited with them in the hereafter. During that time, he was associated romantically with a number of celebrities, including a nine-year affair with actress Merle Oberon. List's death ended a sordid chapter in Westfield's history. Expert psychologists believed rather that List was going through a mid-life crisis and as the prosecution pointed out, that was no excuse for killing five innocent people. He then walked up to the third floor and shot his 85-year-old mother, Alma. Judge William L'E. By 1971, he was still leaving for work every morning, but unknown to his family he was unemployed and unable to pay the bills. "I grew up with the idea that you should provide for your family and to do that you had to be a success in the job that you had or you're a failure, and that was not a good thing to be," he said. "I feel when we get to heaven we won't worry about these earthly things. Ten days after a creepy, glass-eyed bust of John List was shown on Americas Most Wanted, Westfield residents had not heard of a single promising lead. List and his family were the embodiment of the American dream in 1965. List (born 1968), American economist. Once inside the kitchen, John Sr. shot him in the back of the head. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. They were shot methodically one by one. [5] By 1959, List had risen to general supervisor of the company's accounting department; but Helen, an alcoholic, had become increasingly unstable. [41] A 2003 episode of the A&E series American Justice also detailed the case and featured an interview with List. YouTubeAn aerial view of the List family home in Westfield, New Jersey. The Rev. List assumed a new identity, remarried, and eluded justice for nearly 18 years. [26][27] List continued to stand by his alias for several months, even after his 1989 extradition to Union County, New Jersey; finally, faced with irrefutable evidence including a fingerprint match with List's military records, as well as evidence found at the crime scene he confessed his true identity on February 16, 1990. The bust created of John List, right, next to the real John List, left. March 3 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts library said a book was recently returned with a note apologizing for the tome being 56 years overdue. The News Leaders copyright story quoted his pastor, closest friend and neighbors as saying that the arrest was unbelievable and impossible.. List saw the children off to school and then shot her in the kitchen as she sipped her customary morning coffee. [43], The movie A Killer Next Door, based on the events that led to the capture of John List, was released In July 2020. Police investigated hundreds of leads without success. Jury in List family-killing trial told of wife's syphilis - UPI [12] Alma's body was flown to Frankenmuth, Michigan, and interred at the Saint Lorenz Lutheran Cemetery. Following the gruesome death of his family. However, he was not ready to disclose his incompetency to his family yet and hence, he left the house every morning, sat on the railway station and read books and newspapers all day. "The body is still at the Mercer County Medical Examiner's Office," said county spokesman Pete Daly. In 1965, when List and his family moved to affluent Westfield, N.J., he seemed to be a model of suburban success and propriety. He simply exploded.'. He turned on the lights and the radio, leaving religious hymns playing in the houses empty rooms. The family car was found parked at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City, but police found no evidence that List had boarded a flight. At his trial in 1990, defense lawyers argued that List suffered from PTSD from his military service in World War II and Korea. In February 1988, the couple moved to a house in the Brandermill neighborhood of Midlothian, Virginia, where List, still using the name Bob Clark, resumed work as an accountant at a small accounting firm, Maddrea, Joyner, Kirkham & Woody. He married Helen and raised three children with her, while working as an accountant in many places, such as New York and New Jersey. 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. [16] In reporting his death, the New Jersey Star-Ledger referred to him as "The Boogeyman of Westfield. 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. First Patty, 16. Then, he went up to the third floor and murdered his mother in her bed. That same year, he enlisted in the United States Army and served as a laboratory technician during World War II. "After 18 years, five months and 22 days, it is now time for the voices of Helen, Alma, Patricia, Frederick and John F. List to rise from the grave." He was apprehended 18 years later in 1989 and was sentenced to five terms of life sentence. They attended church each week with List's mother, a strict Lutheran who lived with them. They had an expert forensic artist, Frank Bender, create a physical bust of John List as Bender imagined he might have aged. However, he was a loner who was not socially active and had very few friends in school and his locality. He had saved the souls of the people he loved. Authorities walk John List to a plane in Richmond,. The Star-Ledger reporter, who loved to chat about the infamous murderer with the locals on his Union County beat, was grabbing a sandwich for lunch when he got a tip of his own. Delores Miller (wife) is an American Homemaker. Soon after his high school graduation, he joined the United States Army during the Second World War, where he worked as a laboratory technician. The morning of November 7, 1971 began in a usual fashion. As I was doing it I knew it was wrong," he said. If you want to get the most Any streaming system that wants to deliver live audio must have microphones. John seemingly grew up without incident, reporting a normal childhood with the exception of his stringently religious upbringing, with which he identified wholeheartedly. Several films and documentaries have been made to cover the details of the List murders. Joseph Vought, Ludwig "Lou" Silbermann, Jerome Kendall, George Corbett,. The note John List wrote excusing his children from school. Though we'd like to say that Wayne and Pilar lived happily ever after, apparently that's not the case. [12] Neighbors noticed that all of the mansion's rooms were illuminated day and night, with no apparent activity within the house. Fast forward 18 years to 1989. John List passed away on March 21, 2008, after suffering from pneumonia. Extras - Father Wants Us Dead: A True Crime Podcast From NJ.com Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. The inconspicuous accountant was arrested without incident Thursday at work. Liss summarized Helen List's medical reports for the jury. In 1971, John List lost his job at the bank at age 46. The new lovers wed on 1 December 1951 in Baltimore, Maryland. He died in the prison hospital at the age of 82, in 2008. [33], A court-appointed psychiatrist testified that List suffered from obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, and that he saw only two solutions to his situation: accept welfare, or kill his family and send their souls to heaven.
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