He couldnt bear to tell his family about the loss of income. Inside the mansion's cavernous ballroom, the bodies of List's wife Helen, 46, and his three children Patricia, 16, John, 15, and Frederick, 13, were laid out on the floor on sleeping bags. The bust created of John List, right, next to the real John List, left. Feb. 20, 2002 -- Thirty years ago, accountant John List methodically murdered his whole family his mother, his wife, and their three children. He was 82. He settled in New Jersey and took a job at a local bank. He watched John Jr. play soccer at school, then drove him home and killed him, too. They were shot methodically one by one. When the children left for school, he shot his wife and his mother to death. He left his mother's body in her apartment in the attic. All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. Unlike the others, John didn't go quietly, his body jerking as List emptied both the 9 millimeter and the .22 into his son. He feared his family, confronted with a world full of evil and poverty, would turn from God; this was the only way to ensure their safe arrival in heaven. 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 believed that killing them would assure their souls a place in Heaven, where he hoped to eventually join them. Next he went upstairs, to where his 84-year-old mother was having breakfast, kissed her ("like Judas," he told Downtown), and shot her in the head. Born in Bay City, Michigan, List was the only child of German-American parents John Frederick List (18591944) and Alma Barbara Florence List (18871971). 2023. Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. On November 9, 1971, John List shot his wife, his mother, and his three children. At a border crossing to Mexico in March 1944, she said she. At one religious gathering, he met an Army PX clerk named Delores Miller and married her in 1985. A manhunt for John was declared, but it was not until 18 years that he was arrested. John List died in prison in 2008 at age 82. John List with his wife and three children. But unlike the other members of the List family who dropped instantly, John Jr. struggled. 'Father Wants Us Dead' podcast extras: Never before seen List - Nj He lined up the four bodies in the ballroom (he said his mother's body was too heavy to move), put music on the internal intercom, and cleaned up meticulously. In addition, it will contact the Social Security Administration, Veteran's Administration and Public Welfare for any possible death benefits. Police in Virginia arrested mass murderer John List on June 1, 1989, a mere nine days after Americas Most Wanted aired his case. John List, The Mass Murderer Who Killed His Family So Hed See Them In Heaven. By 1971, he was still leaving for work every morning, but unknown to his family he was unemployed and unable to pay the bills. The arrest followed Foxs Americas Most Wanted, featuring a sculpted clay bust of Johns age-progressed face. He says today he felt he was letting the family down. The research in this book is outstanding, and Sharkey clearly put a great deal of time and effort into it. The note John List wrote excusing his children from school. He told her she went through a slow, agonizing death, the friend said. When they met, she led a simple life working as an Army PX clerk. John A. List Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth, Family 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. After gruesomely murdering his entire family, John List had begun living a normal life again. One day in late 1971, John List shot and killed his wife,Helen; his 16-year-old daughter, Patricia; his 15-year-old son, John; his 13-year-old son, Frederick; and his mother, Alma, aged 85. The episode, "Murder House", premiered on November 18, 2015. He was born as the only child in the highly religious German-American household. If you want to get the most Any streaming system that wants to deliver live audio must have microphones. [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 Miller (wife) is an American Homemaker. After seeing all his children off to school, John List set his plan in motion. The inconspicuous accountant was arrested without incident Thursday at work. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? And it came from a family member of all people. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. The episode aired on May 21, 1989 (Opens in a new tab), catching the eye of a neighbor who called the police and warned Clark's second wife, who seemed "stunned." (Opens in a new tab) List was . As his daughter Patricia, 16, and younger son Frederick, 13, arrived home from school, List shot each of them in the back of the head. The mansion in New Jersey where John List lived with his family burned down several months after the murders. He had drained his and his mothers bank accounts and fled, changing his identity. [8], On November 9, 1971, List murdered his entire immediate family, using his own 9mm Steyr 1912 semi-automatic handgun[9] and his father's Colt .22 caliber revolver. John List - The Decision Lab This is not the man I know. 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. Delores Clark said that she was making her statement reluctantly and that she would have no further comment. "I feel when we get to heaven we won't worry about these earthly things. List is accused of killing his wife, his three children and his mother in 1971. Forensic artist Frank Bender uses photographs to sculpt an aged bust of mass murderer John List. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. news, At Fort Eustis in Virginia, he met Helen Morris Taylor, the widow of an infantry officer killed in action in Korea, who lived nearby with her daughter, Brenda. He was apprehended 18 years later in 1989 and was sentenced to five terms of life sentence. John List was an American mass murderer, who became infamous in the 1970s for killing his mother, wife and three children. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Net Worth in 2021. He is most remembered for Murdered his entire family in 1971. Helen lived with her daughter Brenda near Fort Eustis in Virginia, where John served. [17] From 1979 to 1986, he was the comptroller at a paper box manufacturer outside Denver. Attorney David Baugh, who represented List in Virginia, offers support.AP Photo/Steve Helber. John Emil List, 63, was profiled on the TV program "America's Most Wanted" May 21. "I knew it was wrong. Like his father, List was a devout Lutheran and a Sunday school teacher. Following the gruesome death of his family. He lost the bank job, and a succession of subsequent jobs. The memory of the murders still haunts Westfield residents. What did Disney actually lose from its Florida battle with DeSantis? He defended himself saying that he was not mentally stable. Then, he went up to the third floor and murdered his mother in her bed. It took 18 years for John List to be arrested. Discover The 33 Scariest Animals In The World, From The Deep Sea To The Tropical Skies, The Story Of Caril Ann Fugate And Charles Starkweather's Natural Born Killing Spree, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. John List The Boogeyman of Westfield | by A.W. Naves | Medium He also claimed to be suffering from PTSD. [11][12], List placed the bodies of his wife and children on sleeping bags in the mansion's ballroom. The Twisted Mind of Family Annihilator John List - America's Most Haunted Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Delores and John divorced in 1989, probably following his arrest on 1 June. Delores and John moved to a house around Brandermill, Midlothian, Virginia, where her husband worked as an accountant at an accounting firm. John List - History, Crime. He spent his days at the train station reading, napping, and wondering how to get his family out of their financial mess. Reporters Rebecca Everett and Jessica Remo explore the impact of the capture, meeting people in Virginia who saw List unmasked and tracking down Lists second wife one side of the infamous story thats never been told. Authorities walk John List to a plane in Richmond,. John had a very normal childhood and he did not show any signs of psychological troubles. 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). The man I know is kind, loving, a devoted husband and a dear friend. New Jersey prosecutors had come up with a plan. Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. He worked hard as an accountant at a nearby bank to provide for his family. Extras - Father Wants Us Dead: A True Crime Podcast From NJ.com The Lists might have appeared to be the ideal American family, but everything was not as it seemed. In 1965, when List and his family moved to affluent Westfield, N.J., he seemed to be a model of suburban success and propriety. More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23. A month passed before neighbors, curious about the constantly burning lights and empty windows, began to suspect something was wrong at the List mansion. Flanery lived next door to John List, who was going by Robert Clark, and his second wife, Delores Clark, in Aurora, Colorado from 1985 to 1988. John List: The Father Who Killed His Entire Family and - The Lineup So he spent his days at the train station, reading the newspaper and secretly skimming money from his mothers bank accounts to pay the mortgage. The Case of John List. Born in 1925 in a conservative Lutheran | by He joined a local Lutheran church and, in 1985, married a widow named Delores Clark, with whom he moved to Richmond, Va. He was not, however, willing to suffer the earthly consequences of his actions. One tip came from a woman in Richmond, Virginia, who thought her next-door neighbor, Robert Clark, bore a striking resemblance to the bust. 7-year-old baseball umpire seeks Guinness World Record. Delores kept a low profile after Johns arrest, and it is unclear what happened to her. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. They separated in 1973 and he moved . and more from FamousFix.com. All rights reserved (About Us). Police investigated hundreds of leads without success. John Emil List was born in Michigan, in 1925, the only child of John and Alma List. 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. 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 was previously married to Delores Miller and Helen List. He had planned the murders so meticulously that even after many years of the incident, the police and FBI found no trace of John. When police officers entered the home on Dec. 7, 1971, they heard organ music on an intercom system and found the bodies of Mr. List's wife, Helen, 46; his daughter, Patricia, 16; his sons. They got married in December 1951. John List was a devout Lutheran who lived with his wife, mother and three children. I was shocked to hear about Bobs arrest and what he is charged with, the statement said. John was a strict Lutheran and hence, when he came to know about Helens pregnancy, he right away proposed to her for marriage. Soon after his high school graduation, he joined the United States Army during the Second World War, where he worked as a laboratory technician. His picture was also shown on television, which led one of his neighbours to notify the authorities. He is most remembered for Murdered his entire family in 1971. She is famous for Second wife of murderer John list. He became increasingly depressed. With his first wife, John Frederick had had a son, William George, who happened to be the same . List left the bodies of his wife, his mother, Alma, 84, and his children, Patricia, 16, John, 15, and Frederick, 13, and several confessions and apologies in his Westfield home in November 1971 and disappeared for 17 years. He took a new identity and also joined a Lutheran church, where he met his second wife, Delores Miller. She is famous for Second wife of murderer John list. 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. Johnny Cash Fathered 5 Children with 2 Wives Meet All His Kids "So eventually I got to the point where I felt that I could kill them. [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. Robbins is one of Pitt-Bradford's . The John List Murders - Historic Newspapers He then shot both his wife and mother in their heads. He was caught after the television show "America's Most Wanted" air a segment on the murders. List diverted money from his mother's bank accounts to avoid default on his mortgage. 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. After driving John Frederick home, List shot him repeatedly because, as misfire evidence showed, his son attempted to defend himself. Firefighters hoist horse stranded in backyard swimming pool. Officers entered through an unlocked window leading to the basement and discovered the family's bodies. On Nov. 9, 1971, after sending his children off to school, List took his two handguns out to the car to load them, then walked into the kitchen and shot his wife from behind as she was drinking coffee. He was 82 years old at the time of his demise. 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. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, K-Pop isnt the only hot ticket in Koreatown how trot is captivating immigrants, Los Angeles is suddenly awash in waterfalls, Officials admit being unprepared for epic mountain blizzard, leaving many trapped and desperate, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; We are coming, sheriff says, Newsom, IRS give Californians until October to file tax returns, Californias snowpack is approaching an all-time record, with more on the way, This is me, this is my face: Actress Mimi Rogers on aging naturally, without cosmetic surgery, Hidden, illegal casinos are booming in L.A., with organized crime reaping big profits, Look up: The 32 most spectacular ceilings in Los Angeles, Elliott: Kings use their heads over hearts in trading Jonathan Quick. [5] By 1959, List had risen to general supervisor of the company's accounting department; but Helen, an alcoholic, had become increasingly unstable. The jury finally found John List guilty and a judge sentenced him to five life terms in a New Jersey prison. List died in prison in 2008 at the age of 82. John List - Trivia, Family, Bio | Famous Birthdays On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Though we'd like to say that Wayne and Pilar lived happily ever after, apparently that's not the case. List assumed a new identity, remarried, and eluded justice for nearly 18 years. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). Salary in 2021. Associated With. 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. 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. YouTubeAn aerial view of the List family home in Westfield, New Jersey.