Jury in List family-killing trial told of wife's syphilis - UPI New Jersey prosecutors had come up with a plan. "At least I'm certain that all have gone to heaven now. John List with his wife and three children. The family later moved to Rochester, New York, to work with Xerox. [11], Breeze Knoll remained empty until it was destroyed by fire in August 1972, nine months after the murders. John List - Wikipedia In 1989, Fox network broadcasted a TV show titled Americas Most Wanted, where an episode featured the New Jersey mass murders of John by his family. Forensic artist Frank Bender uses photographs to sculpt an aged bust of mass murderer John List. John Sr. drove over to his school and watched him playing in a soccer game. He was born as the only child in the highly religious German-American household. This article is about the murderer. Police in Virginia arrested mass murderer John List on June 1, 1989, a mere nine days after Americas Most Wanted aired his case. YouTubeThe bodies of John Lists wife and three teenage children were found laid out on sleeping bags in the ballroom. He did not mention his wife, his mother, or his children. He says today he felt he was letting the family down. If no one claims List's body, Fedekenheuer said, "we call the local funeral director, and that person will have the body cremated. But his defence was rejected and he was imprisoned at the New Jersey State Prison. A seemingly admirable and usual American man, John List and his family lived happily in New Jersey. The Lists might have appeared to be the ideal American family, but everything was not as it seemed. [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. 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 coffee. He gave him a ride home, then shot him in the chest. It was the biggest story he could remember, and the local fervor for information was immediate. 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 spent his days at the train station reading, napping, and wondering how to get his family out of their financial mess. 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. John and Helen married on December 1, 1951, in Baltimore, Maryland, the family moving to northern California. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Delores Clark said that she was making her statement reluctantly and that she would have no further comment. This is either the most unbelievable mix-up or . 07, 2022, 8:00 a.m. However, the marriage was not very good. Salary in 2022. "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. March 3 (UPI) -- A sheep spotted wandering loose on a British highway was given a lift back to its owner by a concerned bus driver on her first day on the job. They were shot methodically one by one. "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 murdered his mother, wife and three children in November 1971, due to financial distress and other issues within the family, and fled. He worked hard as an accountant at a nearby bank to provide for his family. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. 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. They did not have any children together. . Aside from a few extra wrinkles, the bust was spot on. It rippled through the county and state: John List, the man who had meticulously murdered his mother, wife and three kids in their Westfield mansion and disappeared without a trace, was in custody. Delores Miller (wife) and John List are divorced. The FBI found his car parked at Kennedy International Airport in New York City, but they never found him. They'll either have forgiven me or won't realize, you know, what happened," List told Downtown's Connie Chung in an interview at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, where he is serving five life sentences. Joseph Vought, Ludwig "Lou" Silbermann, Jerome Kendall, George Corbett,. Authorities went to Clarks home and spoke to his wife, whom he met at a church social gathering. My Life With John Steinbeck - Gwen Gonger - The Forgotten Wife 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. John List - Trivia, Family, Bio | Famous Birthdays His lawyer, Elijah Miller Jr., argues that knowing his wife suffered from syphilis helped drive the deeply religious man over the edge. He worked hard as an accountant at a nearby bank to provide for his family. Austin Goodrich, an ABCNEWS consultant who is writing a book with John List, contributed material for this report. John List - History, Crime. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. John enlisted in the United States Army in 1943 and was a laboratory technician during World War II. As I was doing it I knew it was wrong," he said. March 3 (UPI) -- Firefighters in Britain responded to a home to rescue a horse that had fallen into its owner's swimming pool and was unable to get itself out. 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. She met Steinbeck in late 1938 or early 1939, when she was just 22. 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. Wikimedia CommonsJohn List with his wife and three children. Fast forward 18 years to 1989. 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. Born In: Bay City, Michigan, United States. Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. Attempts to reach List's former wife, Delores, whom he married in Denver while a fugitive and later moved with to Richmond, Va., where he was apprehended, have been unsuccessful. He says he wanted to spare them the shame of losing their New Jersey mansion and to make sure they got to heaven. "I feel when we get to heaven we won't worry about these earthly things. Helen was first. 'To find his wife having a veneral disease was morally, ethically and religiously a very hard thing for him to accept,' the psychiatrist said. All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. 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. 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 they met, she led a simple life working as an Army PX clerk. [44], In 2022, NJ Advance Media released "Father Wants Us Dead," a podcast serial on the events.[45]. He said they were going to North Carolina to visit an ailing relative. After gruesomely murdering his entire family, John List had begun living a normal life again. John List was born on September 17, 1925 in Bay City, Michigan, USA. The Stepfather is Based on the True Story of John List - Wicked Horror [6] In 1960, his stepdaughter Brenda married and left the household, and List moved with the remainder of his family to Rochester, New York, to take a job with Xerox. [15][16], In 1971, as the FBI later discovered, List had traveled by train from New Jersey to Michigan and then to Colorado. Of the more than 200 tips from viewers that the FBI received from the program, one said a man resembling List lived at a Midlothian address under the name Robert Clark, FBI Agent Tom ODonnell said. When the children left for school, he shot his wife and his mother to death. He watched John Jr. play soccer at school, then drove him home and killed him, too. His picture was also shown on television, which led one of his neighbours to notify the authorities. List's home, a. On November 9, 1971, John Emil List murdered his mother, his wife, and their three children at their Westfield, New Jersey home using his 9mm Steyr 1912 semi-automatic handgun and his. 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. ELIZABETH, N.J. -- Accused family-killer John Emil List, who had always looked to his religious faith for answers, was so overwrought over the discovery that his wife had advanced syphilis. 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). [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. 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. 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. Kentucky man stops for breakfast, wins $50,000 lottery prize. List's death ended a sordid chapter in Westfield's history. He joined a Lutheran congregation and ran a car pool for shut-in church members. At a border crossing to Mexico in March 1944, she said she. ELIZABETH, N.J. -- Accused family-killer John Emil List, who had always looked to his religious faith for answers, was so overwrought over the discovery that his wife had advanced syphilis that 'like a small rubber band, he snapped,' a psychiatrist said. He has also appeared on television shows such as Your Worst Nightmare and American Justice. 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. John and Helen had three daughters when he worked as an audit supervisor at a paper company in Kalamazoo. 'The Watcher's John Graff is based on grim true story of family . Judgment Day: The John List Story (TV Movie 1993) - IMDb He is most remembered for Murdered his entire family in 1971. To avoid sharing this humiliating development with his family, List engaged in the same routine and dress as when employed, leaving home each morning on schedule and spending the day at job interviews or at the Westfield train station, reading newspapers until it was time to come home. [15] Destroyed along with the home was the ballroom's stained glass skylight, rumored to be a signed Tiffany original, worth at least $100,000 at the time (equivalent to $650,000 in 2021). "List, an unemployed accountant and devout Lutheran who shot his wife, mother and three children and disappeared for 18 years before being captured following a tip, died on Friday from massive blood clots in both lungs, authorities said. John Emil List (1925-2008) - Find a Grave Memorial Contents 1 Background 2 Familicide, Capture, and Incarceration 3 Modus Operandi 4 Known Victims 5 Notes 6 On Criminal Minds 7 On Suspect Behavior 8 Sources 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. [5] By 1959, List had risen to general supervisor of the company's accounting department; but Helen, an alcoholic, had become increasingly unstable. Delores Clark, right, tells reporters at a press conference on June 8, 1989 that she did not believe her husband was John List. With his first wife, John Frederick had had a son, William George, who happened to be the same . List died in prison in 2008 at the age of 82. 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. "I finally decided the only way to save them from that was to kill them," he said. His father was a devout Lutheran who also taught at a local Sunday School in Bay City. He is a quiet yet friendly man who loves his work and the people he works with.. John List appeared to be the perfect son, husband, and father. List, Patricia List, place of death: Trenton, New Jersey, United States, education: University Of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 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. The bust created of John List, right, next to the real John List, left. John fled the house after putting all the bodies on sleeping bags, turning the house lights on and putting on some classical music. 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. John E. List, 82, Killer of 5 Family Members, Dies [14] All reliable photographs of List had been destroyed. America's Most Wanted: The Disturbing Case of John List John Schneider Nursed His 'Miracle' Wife Back to Health after He was born John Emil List on 15 September 1925 to John Frederick List and Alma Barbara Florence List. Helen had turned into an alcoholic, which caused them to engage in a lot of fights. A 1996 episode of the series Forensic Files discussed the List murders. If you want to get the most Any streaming system that wants to deliver live audio must have microphones. Currently, the morgue is storing the body of "Thrill Killer" Richard Biegenwald, who died March 10 while serving a murder conviction for killing five victims - two teenage girls, two young women and one man - in Monmouth County from Oct. 31, 1981, to Nov. 20, 1982. Corrections spokeswoman Deirdre Fedkenheuer said the social services unit at New Jersey State Prison, where List was an inmate, will attempt to find the nearest relative to see if that person would claim the body. Overdue book returned to Massachusetts library after 56 years. John Emil List, 63, was profiled on the TV program "America's Most Wanted" May 21. Examples include "Savior," the season 6, episode 16 of the television series Law & Order; the 1987 film The Stepfather and its 2009 remake; the 1993 film Judgment Day: The John List Story, in which List was portrayed by Robert Blake;[39] and the character Keyser Sze in the 1995 film The Usual Suspects.[40]. He then cleaned the crime scenes, removed his pictures from all family photographs, turned the lights and the radio on, and departed. 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. 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. [12] Neighbors noticed that all of the mansion's rooms were illuminated day and night, with no apparent activity within the house. An aerial view of the List family home in Westfield, New Jersey. 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. 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. He was not, however, willing to suffer the earthly consequences of his actions. Their faces were covered. When the police entered the house, on December 7th, the bodies had begun to decompose. 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 . The John List project: About the reporting - nj.com Authorities never found the cause of the fire, and a new house was built on the property years later. 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. His zodiac sign is Virgo. Then, he went to the bank to close his accounts and cash his mother's savings bonds. Eventually, he took a decently paying job with a paper company at Kalamazoo, Michigan, and settled there with his family. Feb. 20, 2002 -- Thirty years ago, accountant John List methodically murdered his whole family his mother, his wife, and their three children. The third wife was Pilar Pallette, with whom he had three more children. John List (murderer) and Delores Miller (wife), See Attorney David Baugh, who represented List in Virginia, offers support.AP Photo/Steve Helber. But what led Delores husband to commit such a chilling crime? 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. Later, John took a lucrative job at Xerox and moved to New York and lived there with his family for a few years. His father died in 1944. In addition, it will contact the Social Security Administration, Veteran's Administration and Public Welfare for any possible death benefits. Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. Once inside the kitchen, John Sr. shot him in the back of the head. he is the biggest con man who ever walked the Earth, another unidentified friend told the paper. $1 Million - $5 Million. 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. Then Frederick, 13. Minnesota officer removes jar from raccoon's head. [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. [42] In 2015, the story was covered in the season 2, episode 2 of the Investigation Discovery TV series Your Worst Nightmare. All five victims had been shot. Alex Murdaugh trial updates: John Marvin faults SLED, doesn't believe [3], In November 1950, as the Korean War escalated, List was recalled to active military service. [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. He was 82. 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. He then walked up to the third floor and shot his 85-year-old mother, Alma. John List: The Perfect Family Man Who Killed His Perfect Family John Emil List was born in Bay City, Michigan, on September 17, 1925, to John Frederick and Alma Marie List. A South Carolina jury has found once-prominent attorney Alex Murdaugh guilty on all counts in the deaths of his wife and son. In a three-sentence statement to the court, he said he was sorry for "the tragedy that happened in 1971." Delores and John moved to a house around Brandermill, Midlothian, Virginia, where her husband worked as an accountant at an accounting firm. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation.