John List - History, Crime. [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. Login John confessed to committing the murders in February 1990. This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. They were shot methodically one by one. He watched John Jr. play soccer at school, then drove him home and killed him, too. Delores Miller (wife) is an American Homemaker. $1 Million - $5 Million. But then his life began to crumble. They had an expert forensic artist, Frank Bender, create a physical bust of John List as Bender imagined he might have aged. 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. 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 Emil List, a.k.a. By then, he was assigned to the finance corps, from where he was discharged in 1952. In an interview, he stated that he did not kill himself because suicide prevents one from going to heaven. 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. After learning about the murders committed by John List, check out the story of Dale Cregan, the one-eyed killer. 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. But he fled to Colorado, assumed a new name and remarried, managing to elude a nationwide manhunt for 18 years. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Under Review. The first seven episodes of Father Wants Us Dead are available now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts, and you can subscribe on those platforms to be alerted when new episodes drop every Tuesday through June 21. The inconspicuous accountant was arrested without incident Thursday at work. Im convinced hes just pulling my chain, Gluck recalled. YouTubeThe note John List wrote excusing his children from school. 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. 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. photos, Soon after his high school graduation, he joined the United States Army during the Second World War, where he worked as a laboratory technician. "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. He had planned the murders so meticulously that even after many years of the incident, the police and FBI found no trace of John. 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. On November 9, 1971, he killed his wife, mother, and three children at their home in Westfield, New Jersey, and then disappeared; he had planned the murders so meticulously that nearly a month passed before anyone suspected that anything was amiss. Wertheimer allowed the jury to hear testimony about Helen List's syphilis after Miller told him, in a brief hearing, that List knew what his wife suffered from before he killed her. Details of Delores life before she married John List are unavailable. Associated With. 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 crime remains one of the most gruesome acts of all time. He then cleaned the various crime scenes, removed his own picture from all family photographs in the house, tuned a radio to a religious station, and departed. [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. 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. 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. Authorities walk John List to a plane in Richmond, Virginia in 1989 before transporting him to New Jersey to stand trial.Steve Helber/AP. While his name is still occasionally mentioned in Cooper articles and documentaries, no direct evidence implicates him, and the FBI no longer considers him a suspect. 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. She is famous for Second wife of murderer John list. As I was doing it I knew it was wrong," he said. He later pursued a masters degree in accounting from the same university and as the Korean War had escalated in 1950, he was recalled by the Army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant, stationed at Fort Eustis in Virginia, where he met his wife Helen. John was arrested and extradited to New Jersey. 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. 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. Assistant Prosecutor Eleanor Clark strongly protested telling the jury of Helen List's syphilis during bitter legal arguments over several days. 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. 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. List, Patricia List, place of death: Trenton, New Jersey, United States, education: University Of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has also appeared on television shows such as Your Worst Nightmare and American Justice. YouTubeForensic artist Frank Bender uses photographs to sculpt an aged bust of mass murderer John List. Later, John took a lucrative job at Xerox and moved to New York and lived there with his family for a few years. In 2008, John Walsh, the host of America's Most Wanted, donated the age-progressed bust by Frank Bender that played a pivotal role in List's apprehension to a forensic science exhibit at the National Museum of Crime & Punishment in Washington, D.C., whose collection was later moved to Alcatraz East Crime Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. He was apprehended 18 years later in 1989 and was sentenced to five terms of life sentence. He did not mention his wife, his mother, or his children. It was the biggest story he could remember, and the local fervor for information was immediate. Then he made a sandwich, drove to the bank, and disappeared for 18 years. He married Helen and raised three children with her, while working as an accountant in many places, such as New York and New Jersey. "I remember talking about funerals and cremation and burials. He went upstairs and shot his 84-year-old mother. [14] All reliable photographs of List had been destroyed. He then cleaned the crime scenes, removed his pictures from all family photographs, turned the lights and the radio on, and departed. Their faces were covered. [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. On April 12, 1990 he was found guilty on five . 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. The episode, "Murder House", premiered on November 18, 2015. March 3 (UPI) -- A 7-year-old Louisiana boy with a firm grasp of baseball rules is seeking a Guinness World Record as the world's youngest umpire. Bradford Patricia Colosimo (23 years), director of arts programming Jon Draeger (35 years), associate professor of chemistry Andrea Robbins (40+ years), instructor of chemistry and algebra, Division of Physical and Computational Sciences. 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. 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. Although it is a work of fiction, much of the character John Graff was borrowed from the story of the John List murders. 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 became increasingly depressed. 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. When the police entered the house, on December 7th, the bodies had begun to decompose. John List was an American mass murderer, who became infamous in the 1970s for killing his mother, wife and three children. That same year, he enlisted in the United States Army and served as a laboratory technician during World War II. Following his high school graduation, he enlisted into the American military and worked as a lab technician. 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. "I've regretted my action and prayed for forgiveness ever since. 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]. Of the more than 200 tips from viewers that the FBI received from the program, one said a man resembling. John packed off his children to school and loaded both of his handguns. He refused to go on welfare, as it would entail excruciating embarrassment in the community and violate the principles of self-sufficiency that he learned at his fathers knee. A former neighbor in Denver saw the episode and recognized List, who was then tracked to his new home in Virginia. [32][34] Welfare was an unacceptable option, he reasoned, because it would expose him and his family to ridicule and violate his authoritarian father's teachings regarding the care and protection of family members. He took a break and made himself lunch. He later moved to California, and then Detroit, where he worked as an accountant in a local firm. John List was on the run when they met in 1985 after having murdered his family members about 14 years before. 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. In the afternoon, he killed his children as they came home first his daughter Patty, a budding actress at 16; then his youngest, 13-year-old Frederic; and finally 15-year-old John, his namesake and his favorite. Authorities walk John List to a plane in Richmond,. 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. 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. He settled in New Jersey and took a job at a local bank. This is either the most unbelievable mix-up or . He. The 14th and final defense witness was the defendant's brother John . Help us build our profile of John List (murderer) and Delores Miller (wife)! He says he wanted to spare them the shame of losing their New Jersey mansion and to make sure they got to heaven. Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. 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 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. 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. In addition, it will contact the Social Security Administration, Veteran's Administration and Public Welfare for any possible death benefits. He settled in New Jersey and took a job at a local bank. The unlikely story of his capture, the tip that led to it and the wild coincidences Gluck encountered as he followed the story are told in the latest episode of Father Wants Us Dead, an investigative true crime podcast about the List killings from NJ Advance Media. 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. ", Woman wins $100,000 lottery prize 11 hours after $11,000 casino jackpot. Just as the kids entered from the main door, he shot both of them in the heads as well. The couple later moved to Richmond together . A 1996 episode of the series Forensic Files discussed the List murders. Bender gave him a hawk nose, grizzled eyebrows, and horn-rimmed glasses. The suspect denied he is List but the FBI said a positive link had been made through fingerprints. Tips came pouring in. . Psychologists theorized that List would wear the same spectacles he wore as a younger man to remind him of more successful days. List, who says he remains deeply religious today, acknowledges that his crimes violated one of the Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt not kill.". 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. "There has been no communication from any family member of John List. Helen was first. List assumed a new identity, remarried, and eluded justice for nearly 18 years. John List appeared to be the perfect son, husband, and father. John was convicted of five counts of first-degree murder and five terms of life imprisonment. His play times were replaced with gatherings around . They attended church each week with List's mother, a strict Lutheran who lived with them. Judge William L'E. Born in an extremely strict Lutheran family, John was raised as a single child. Those who knew List, including in his second life: Kathleen "Kay" Ciarfello, Randy Mitchell, Les Wingfield, the Rev. John seemingly grew up without incident, reporting a normal childhood with the exception of his stringently religious upbringing, with which he identified wholeheartedly. 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. Moreover, his wife was a heavy drinker and she had also contracted Syphilis from her first marriage. I thought I was being real clever," he said. Human name disambiguation pages. He placed the bodies of his wife and . Authorities never found the cause of the fire, and a new house was built on the property years later. 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. Jurors deliberated for about . It turned out that List had changed his identity and moved to Colorado under the assumed name Robert Clark. New Jersey prosecutors had come up with a plan. This is not the man I know. He worked as an accountant, bringing a stable income back to his Victorian mansion; home to himself, his wife, three children and his mother. His father died in 1944. An aerial view of the List family home in Westfield, New Jersey. videos, More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23, meticulously murdered his mother, wife and three kids. Hence, his severe lack of social skills cost him jobs after jobs. Pending. 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. Authorities went to Clarks home and spoke to his wife, whom he met at a church social gathering. 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. [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. He was previously married to Delores Miller and Helen List. After seeing all his children off to school, John List set his plan in motion. She met Steinbeck in late 1938 or early 1939, when she was just 22. He then called his childrens school to grant them leave to visit their grandmother in South Carolina. What did Disney actually lose from its Florida battle with DeSantis? By 1971, he was still leaving for work every morning, but unknown to his family he was unemployed and unable to pay the bills. John List appeared to be the perfect son, husband, and father. See the events in life of John List in Chronological Order, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_List_(mugshot).jpg, https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/john-list-10634.php. "I was hungry," he told Downtown, adding with a chuckle, "that's just the way it was.". He then walked up to the third floor and shot his 85-year-old mother, Alma. Episodes, photos and other information are also available at fatherwantsusdead.com. 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. Officers entered through an unlocked window leading to the basement and discovered the family's bodies. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Austin Goodrich, an ABCNEWS consultant who is writing a book with John List, contributed material for this report. Robbins is one of Pitt-Bradford's . 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. The note John List wrote excusing his children from school. The third wife was Pilar Pallette, with whom he had three more children. He waited for Helen to come down for her morning coffee. Westfield police did not discover the bodies until nearly a month later. The two met at a Christian religious gathering. 'Saving Private Ryan,' 'True Romance' actor Tom Sizemore dead at 61, 3 children killed, 2 hospitalized in North Texas domestic incident, Dozens killed, injured as Jakarta fuel depot fire engulfs neighborhood, To cut costs, Amazon delays completion of second headquarters, closes retail stores, Migrant woman dies after U.S. Coast Guard stops vessel carrying 54. 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. 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 first shot his wife, then his mother, waited for his children to get home, and murdered them. List, 64, faces multiple life sentences if he is convicted. John Emil List was born in Bay City, Michigan, on September 17, 1925, to John Frederick and Alma Marie List. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU_2xrMKO8g. "I'm sure that if we recognize each other that we'll like each other's company just as we did here, when times were better.". lists Aside from a few extra wrinkles, the bust was spot on. With his first wife, John Frederick had had a son, William George, who happened to be the same . 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. "I approached all of them from behind so they wouldn't realize till the last minute what I was going to do to them," he said. The bust created of John List, right, next to the real John List, left. Then he sat down and wrote a confession letter to his pastor explaining his financial problems. His mother, Alma was overprotective and dominating that would forbid him to go outside and play with the other children because he might get sick. 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. He had saved the souls of the people he loved. He joined a local Lutheran church and, in 1985, married a widow named Delores Clark, with whom he moved to Richmond, Va. 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 1971, John List lost his job at the bank at age 46. 07, 2022, 8:00 a.m. 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. 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. "I knew it was wrong. John Sr. drove to the field and watched him play, then gave him a ride home. Police in Virginia arrested mass murderer John List on June 1, 1989, a mere nine days after Americas Most Wanted aired his case. 'His wife's behavior, coupled with the loss of his job -- he was threatened with the inability to support his family as he had been trained to do from childhood. Wikimedia CommonsJohn List with his wife and three children. [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. John was a strict Lutheran and hence, when he came to know about Helens pregnancy, he right away proposed to her for marriage. "It's just like D-Day, you go in, there's no stopping after you start," he said. However, the marriage was not very good. John Sr. drove over to his school and watched him playing in a soccer game. Delores Miller (wife) is an American Homemaker. Returning home, he made several calls to explain that the family had gone to North Carolina to visit his wife's ailing mother, and that he was planning to follow by car. John List was a devout Lutheran who lived with his wife, mother and three children. 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. Then, he went to the bank to close his accounts and cash his mother's savings bonds. [5] By 1959, List had risen to general supervisor of the company's accounting department; but Helen, an alcoholic, had become increasingly unstable. Specifically: I am a member of St Lorenz Lutheran Church with access to burial records. [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. [35], List filed an appeal of his convictions on grounds that his judgment had been impaired by post-traumatic stress disorder due to his military service. Additionally, the financial burden on the family was increasing, causing him severe psychological distress. [16] In reporting his death, the New Jersey Star-Ledger referred to him as "The Boogeyman of Westfield. [15][16], In 1971, as the FBI later discovered, List had traveled by train from New Jersey to Michigan and then to Colorado. List gave critical financial problems, as well as his perception that his family members were straying from their religious faith, as his motivations for the murders. He died on March 21, 2008 in Trenton, New Jersey, USA. Ideal YouTube Profile Picture: Size, Dimensions, Tricks, and More, Reasons To Invest In A Good Gaming Laptop, Microphone Sound Recording for Live Streaming, Delores Miller Clark: Learn More about John Lists Ex-Wife, Johanna Thiebaud- All about Shania Twains Stepdaughter, What You May Not Know About Gweneth Gonzales Thomas, Richard Thomas Daughter, Linnell S. Nobori: All there is to Know about Ted Bessells Wife, Online Pharmacies Make it Easy to Compare Medicines Prices, Katya Ariel Tylo Personal Life, Net Worth, & More, Isis Rae Boykin, Personal Life and Net Worth, Finn William Leeves Coben Lifestyle and Personal Life. [31] Though her health progressively deteriorated, she said nothing to List or her physicians until 1969, when a thorough workup revealed the condition. Liss summarized Helen List's medical reports for the jury. 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. He lost the bank job, and a succession of subsequent jobs. She had a young daughter from her previous marriage. [7] In 1965, List accepted a position as vice president and comptroller at a bank in Jersey City, New Jersey, and moved with his wife, children, and mother into Breeze Knoll, a 19-room Victorian mansion at 431 Hillside Avenue in Westfield. After light bulbs began burning out one by one, they called the police. 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. But after doctors at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in New York concluded that her symptoms might be caused by syphilis, she admitted that she had suffered from the disease since the 1940s and had been treated for it at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington. He killed them to save their souls so they would go to heaven. The Lists might have appeared to be the ideal American family, but everything was not as it seemed. 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. The devout Lutherans attended church every Sunday, and List taught Sunday school. Net Worth in 2022. He says he wanted to spare them the shame of losing their New Jersey mansion and to make sure they got to heaven.
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