List diverted money from his mother's bank accounts to avoid default on his mortgage. The crime remains one of the most gruesome acts of all time. He made himself a sandwich, closed out his bank accounts, and cheered for his only surviving son, John, at his high school soccer game. We have estimated John A. List's net worth , money, salary, income, and assets. He imposed a sentence of five terms of life imprisonment, to be served consecutively, the maximum permissible penalty at the time. List, 64, faces multiple life sentences if he is convicted. Helen List lied to her doctors during several hospitalizations, Liss said. By 1971, he was still leaving for work every morning, but unknown to his family he was unemployed and unable to pay the bills. He is from American. Authorities walk John List to a plane in Richmond,. [41] A 2003 episode of the A&E series American Justice also detailed the case and featured an interview with List. 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. Those who knew List, including in his second life: Kathleen "Kay" Ciarfello, Randy Mitchell, Les Wingfield, the Rev. John Emil List, 63, was profiled on the TV program Americas Most Wanted May 21. List assumed a new identity, remarried, and eluded justice for nearly 18 years. 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. 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 left a confession letter at the scene, so police had little doubt as to who was responsible for the killings. Then, he went up to the third floor and murdered his mother in her bed. John List was born John Emil List, on September 17, 1925, in Bay City, Michigan, to John Frederick List and Alma Barbara Florence List. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. lists Their faces were covered. List and his family were the embodiment of the American dream in 1965. 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. John List appeared to be the perfect son, husband, and father. He was sentenced to five consecutive life prison terms. 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. "I was perspiring like anything," he remembers, but said his wife did not seem to have recognized him. Of the more than 200 tips from viewers that the FBI received from the program, one said a man resembling. [32], On April 12, 1990, List was convicted of five counts of first degree murder. 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. I was shocked to hear about Bobs arrest and what he is charged with, the statement said. 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. Psychologists theorized that List would wear the same spectacles he wore as a younger man to remind him of more successful days. The note John List wrote excusing his children from school. 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. [16] In reporting his death, the New Jersey Star-Ledger referred to him as "The Boogeyman of Westfield. He was previously married to Delores Miller and Helen List. "The body is still at the Mercer County Medical Examiner's Office," said county spokesman Pete Daly. Officers entered through an unlocked window leading to the basement and discovered the family's bodies. He began living with a new identity in Virginia, where he was spotted by a local and got arrested. [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. 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. I thought I was being real clever," he said. 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 lost the bank job, and a succession of subsequent jobs. Though we'd like to say that Wayne and Pilar lived happily ever after, apparently that's not the case. He placed the bodies of his wife and . He says today he felt he was letting the family down. Several films and documentaries have been made to cover the details of the List murders. 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. 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. 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. . Police investigated hundreds of leads without success. List methodically murdered his wife Helen, his mother Alma, and their three childrenPatricia, 16; Frederick, 13; and John Jr., 15. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. [11], Breeze Knoll remained empty until it was destroyed by fire in August 1972, nine months after the murders. Finally, with the prospect of foreclosure threatening to expose his financial failure, List made his terrible decision to kill his family but not himself. John List - History, Crime. John seemingly grew up without incident, reporting a normal childhood with the exception of his stringently religious upbringing, with which he identified wholeheartedly. "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. 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. [17] From 1979 to 1986, he was the comptroller at a paper box manufacturer outside Denver. 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. "I was hungry," he told Downtown, adding with a chuckle, "that's just the way it was.". Following the gruesome death of his family. 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. The arrest followed Foxs Americas Most Wanted, featuring a sculpted clay bust of Johns age-progressed face. Austin Goodrich, an ABCNEWS consultant who is writing a book with John List, contributed material for this report. He spent his days at the train station reading, napping, and wondering how to get his family out of their financial mess. "I knew it was wrong. 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. He canceled all deliveries and contacted his childrens schools to let their teachers know the family would be on vacation for a few weeks. His father was a devout Lutheran who also taught at a local Sunday School in Bay City. Afterwards, he dragged his wifes body to the ballroom and made himself lunch and ate it. His middle son, John Jr. who was also his favorite suffered the most brutal death. Im convinced hes just pulling my chain, Gluck recalled. John List (murderer) and Delores Miller (wife) - Dating, Gossip, News, Photos list. The department will use any money remaining in List's account at the prison to pay for all or part of the cremation and burial, according to state regulations. The couple later moved to Richmond together . 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. The army discharged him in 1946, after which he joined the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. When the children left for school, he shot his wife and his mother to death. List (born 1968), American economist. And it came from a family member of all people. He earned a bachelors degree in administration and a masters degree in accounting. Early life [ edit] Katherine (left) and Madeleine Force. 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. [1] She was the second wife and widow of businessman John Jacob Astor IV . List's death ended a sordid chapter in Westfield's history. 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 watched John Jr. play soccer at school, then drove him home and killed him, too. He joined a Lutheran congregation and ran a car pool for shut-in church members. 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. "[21][22] List was questioned by FBI investigators after his capture, but he denied any involvement in the Cooper case. 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. List graduated from Bay City Central High School in 1943. He grew up as an only child with strict German parents, he had an overly protective and domineering mother (sort of like Norman Bates). They attended church every Sunday as devout Lutherans and List taught Sunday school. 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. 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. March 3 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts library said a book was recently returned with a note apologizing for the tome being 56 years overdue. But what led Delores husband to commit such a chilling crime? But his defence was rejected and he was imprisoned at the New Jersey State Prison. "I feel when we get to heaven we won't worry about these earthly things. One night after dinner, he even asked his family what should be done with their bodies after they died. Their faces were covered. John confessed to committing the murders in February 1990. He turned on the lights and the radio, leaving religious hymns playing in the houses empty rooms. He then cleaned the crime scenes, removed his pictures from all family photographs, turned the lights and the radio on, and departed. After making the decision, List says, there was no turning back. [12], In May 1989, the 18-year-old crime was recounted on the Fox television program America's Most Wanted during its first year on the air. From New York, he had traveled overland to Denver, where he began a new life under the name Robert P. Clark, working first as a hotel fry cook and later as an accountant for H&R Block. He killed them to save their souls so they would go to heaven. A month passed before neighbors, curious about the constantly burning lights and empty windows, began to suspect something was wrong at the List mansion. Aside from a few extra wrinkles, the bust was spot on. The judge finally overruled her but continued to bar testimony that List's daughter, Patricia, 16, was a practicing witch. The 14th and final defense witness was the defendant's brother John . Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. The devout Lutherans attended church every Sunday, and List taught Sunday school. He left his mother's body in her apartment in the attic. He met his first wife, Helen Morris Taylor, whose husband had been killed in action in Korea. [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. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. In November 1971, the mass murderer and long-time fugitive killed his wife, mother, and three children at their home in Westfield, 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. Soon after his high school graduation, he joined the United States Army during the Second World War, where he worked as a laboratory technician. 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. photos, First Patty, 16. John Emil List, a.k.a. He was the only child born to German-Americans John Frederick List and Alma Maria Barbara Florence List. Help us build our profile of John List (murderer) and Delores Miller (wife)! It turned out that List had changed his identity and moved to Colorado under the assumed name Robert Clark. That left his oldest son. YouTubeThe bodies of John Lists wife and three teenage children were found laid out on sleeping bags in the ballroom. He slept in the mansion where his family lay dead, then walked out the door the next morning and wasnt seen again for 18 years. After light bulbs began burning out one by one, they called the police. 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. news, He said they were going to North Carolina to visit an ailing relative. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. [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 later completed his masters degree in accounting and worked as an accountant in the military. The list of retirees in the second half of 2022 isn't very long, but the years of service add up into the hundreds. 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. [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. He believed that it was his failure as a man to be unable to provide for his family. The Lists might have appeared to be the ideal American family, but everything was not as it seemed. It was a masterful depiction of John List. Additionally, the financial burden on the family was increasing, causing him severe psychological distress. 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. [35] At his sentencing hearing, he denied direct responsibility for his actions: "I feel that because of my mental state at the time, I was unaccountable for what happened. It was the biggest story he could remember, and the local fervor for information was immediate. On November 9, 1971, John List put his plan into action. In addition, it will contact the Social Security Administration, Veteran's Administration and Public Welfare for any possible death benefits. List, who grew up in a strict Lutheran community in Bay City, Mich., was 'immersed in his religion,' he said. 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. 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. "[36] The judge was unpersuaded: "John Emil List is without remorse and without honor," he said. 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. The alias worked, and he kept it when he moved to Richmond. He worked hard as an accountant at a nearby bank to provide for his family. Login He met his first wife, Helen Morris Taylor, whose husband had been killed in action in Korea. Tips came pouring in. Subsequent jobs didnt pan out. On April 12, 1990 he was found guilty on five . 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. Joshua Boucher/The State via AP, Pool. Oct 9, 2018. 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. Like his father, List was a devout Lutheran and a Sunday school teacher. All rights reserved (About Us). 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. "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.". [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. They were shot methodically one by one. His father-in-law had heard from the county sheriff: After nearly 18 years, List had been caught. If you want to get the most Any streaming system that wants to deliver live audio must have microphones. At one religious gathering, he met an Army PX clerk named Delores Miller and married her in 1985. He married Helen and raised three children with her, while working as an accountant in many places, such as New York and New Jersey. [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. The mansion in New Jersey where John List lived with his family burned down several months after the murders. 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. Helen List apparently was infected with the disease by her first husband, a soldier who was killed in Korea. They did not have any children together. Authorities went to Clarks home and spoke to his wife, whom he met at a church social gathering. 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. A South Carolina jury has found once-prominent attorney Alex Murdaugh guilty on all counts in the deaths of his wife and son. She is famous for Second wife of murderer John list. "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. In 1971, John List lost his job at the bank at age 46. 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. John List and his family were the definition of the American Dream in 1965; they seemed to have it all. [3], In November 1950, as the Korean War escalated, List was recalled to active military service. The Army, realizing List's accounting skills, reassigned him to the Finance Corps. He died on March 21, 2008 in Trenton, New Jersey, USA. During that time, he was associated romantically with a number of celebrities, including a nine-year affair with actress Merle Oberon. 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. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Gwyn Conger Steinbeck - Who was She? His lawyer, Elijah Miller Jr., argues that knowing his wife suffered from syphilis helped drive the deeply religious man over the edge. Read on to discover more details. The memory of the murders still haunts Westfield residents. 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. [43], The movie A Killer Next Door, based on the events that led to the capture of John List, was released In July 2020. The bust created of John List, right, next to the real John List, left. Delores Miller (wife) is an American Homemaker. He had drained his and his mothers bank accounts and fled, changing his identity. I ask all affected by this for their forgiveness, understanding and prayer. [14] All reliable photographs of List had been destroyed. Authorities never found the cause of the fire, and a new house was built on the property years later. The wife of Robert P. Clark--whom the FBI says is really John List, a man who killed his family in 1971--says his arrest is unbelievable and that the alleged killer is not the man I know.. John Emil List was born in Michigan, in 1925, the only child of John and Alma List. The third wife was Pilar Pallette, with whom he had three more children. With his first wife, John Frederick had had a son, William George, who happened to be the same . Dr. Steven Simring, a psychiatrist who examined List after his arrest years later, told Downtown his "sense of neatness" was the result of a compulsive personality. Authorities walk John List to a plane in Richmond, Virginia in 1989 before transporting him to New Jersey to stand trial.Steve Helber/AP. 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 It took Johns fingerprints to match with the military records to convince the authorities that he was John List. 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. 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. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. 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. John fled the house after putting all the bodies on sleeping bags, turning the house lights on and putting on some classical music. Then he made a sandwich, drove to the bank, and disappeared for 18 years. He settled in New Jersey and took a job at a local bank. 'To find his wife having a veneral disease was morally, ethically and religiously a very hard thing for him to accept,' the psychiatrist said. He has also appeared on television shows such as Your Worst Nightmare and American Justice. Specifically: I am a member of St Lorenz Lutheran Church with access to burial records. 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.