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The trail went cold. 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. He left his mother's body in her apartment in the attic. 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. Those who knew List, including in his second life: Kathleen "Kay" Ciarfello, Randy Mitchell, Les Wingfield, the Rev. . [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. A former Denver neighbor alerted the police, who made the arrest later. Minnesota officer removes jar from raccoon's head. 2023. After the June 7, 2021, killings of Maggie . Read on to discover more details. He watched John Jr. play soccer at school, then drove him home and killed him, too. Authorities walk John List to a plane in Richmond,. YouTubeAn aerial view of the List family home in Westfield, New Jersey. He joined a Lutheran congregation and ran a car pool for shut-in church members. Delores Miller (wife) is an American Homemaker. Spouse/Ex-: Delores Miller Clark (m. 19851989), Helen List (m. 19511971), children: Frederick List, John, Jr. "[36] The judge was unpersuaded: "John Emil List is without remorse and without honor," he said. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. "I was hungry," he told Downtown, adding with a chuckle, "that's just the way it was.". He was finally apprehended in Virginia on June 1, 1989, after the story of his murders was broadcast on the television program America's Most Wanted. 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. 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. He was sentenced to five consecutive life prison terms. He first shot his wife, then his mother, waited for his children to get home, and murdered them. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. But, during a four-hour interview, he sought to explain how worries that financial hardship would split his family and turn them away from their faith forced him to make a tough decision. I thought I was being real clever," he said. Upstairs, the body of List's 84-year-old mother Alma was found. He said they were going to North Carolina to visit an ailing relative. They also found the five-page note from John List explaining that the bloodied bodies on the ballroom floor were his family members, killed out of mercy. March 2 (UPI) -- A Maryland woman scored a $100,000 prize from a scratch-off lottery ticket less than 12 hours after she scored an $11,000 jackpot at a casino. The two met at a Christian religious gathering. He killed his immediate family since he could not pay the mansions mortgage after losing his job and did not want them to face ridicule. List had a masters degree in accounting, but lacked social skills and had a history of losing jobs. Then he sat down and wrote a confession letter to his pastor explaining his financial problems. [12] Neighbors noticed that all of the mansion's rooms were illuminated day and night, with no apparent activity within the house. John and Helen began dating and a few months later, Helen revealed to John that she had become pregnant. 'He faced limited options and like a small rubber band, he snapped. 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. John packed off his children to school and loaded both of his handguns. A deputy sheriff at the Henrico County Jail was tasked with watching John List after his arrest in 1989. 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. They attended church every Sunday as devout Lutherans and List taught Sunday school. [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. It was a masterful depiction of John List. The bust created of John List, right, next to the real John List, left. Though we'd like to say that Wayne and Pilar lived happily ever after, apparently that's not the case. 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 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. Simring said List showed "no evidence of anything that approached genuine remorse," adding, "He's a cold, cold man.". All rights reserved (About Us). List's home, a. Want more true crime? 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. When they entered the house, music was still playing on the intercom, but List was long gone. They had an expert forensic artist, Frank Bender, create a physical bust of John List as Bender imagined he might have aged. 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He took a break and made himself lunch. He had planned the murders so meticulously that even after many years of the incident, the police and FBI found no trace of John. John List appeared to be the perfect son, husband, and father. Pending. He worked hard as an accountant at a nearby bank to provide for his family. But his defence was rejected and he was imprisoned at the New Jersey State Prison. It turned out that List had changed his identity and moved to Colorado under the assumed name Robert Clark. 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. Because this is one of the most. [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 killed Patricia when she returned home from school, then the youngest son, Frederick. They attended church each week with List's mother, a strict Lutheran who lived with them. In an interview with Connie Chung in 2002, List said he didnt kill himself after killing his own family because he felt that would prevent him from getting to heaven. John List was on the run when they met in 1985 after having murdered his family members about 14 years before. He began living with a new identity in Virginia, where he was spotted by a local and got arrested. 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. He. 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. 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. 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. That same year, he enlisted in the United States Army and served as a laboratory technician during World War II. Gwyn Conger Steinbeck - Who was She? John fled the house after putting all the bodies on sleeping bags, turning the house lights on and putting on some classical music. The mansion in New Jersey where John List lived with his family burned down several months after the murders. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. He died in the prison hospital at the age of 82, in 2008. He also claimed to be suffering from PTSD. In an effort to baffle the police, he cleaned the crime scenes and used scissors to remove his image from every photo in the mansion. John Emil List, a.k.a. Delores kept a low profile after Johns arrest, and it is unclear what happened to her. March 3 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts library said a book was recently returned with a note apologizing for the tome being 56 years overdue. During his years on the run, List went by the name Robert Clark. The undertaker keeps the remains for a year and if nobody comes to claim them, they are put in a concrete vault and buried in a grave (at the state cemetery) on Cedar Lane in Trenton.". Tips came pouring in. One tip came from a woman in Richmond, Virginia, who thought her next-door neighbor, Robert Clark, bore a striking resemblance to the bust. 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. 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. Although it is a work of fiction, much of the character John Graff was borrowed from the story of the John List murders. In 1950, John List was recalled to active military service. While there is no set timetable on when that might happen, Daly said the remains of other prison inmates have been stored for up to roughly three months by the medical examiner's office. 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. By then, he was assigned to the finance corps, from where he was discharged in 1952. The Lists might have appeared to be the ideal American family, but everything was not as it seemed. 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). But back in Denver, his former neighbors did recognize him, and called police. 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. Helen and her three children were buried at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield. He was the only child born to German-Americans John Frederick List and Alma Maria Barbara Florence List. He married Helen and raised three children with her, while working as an accountant in many places, such as New York and New Jersey. Details of Delores life before she married John List are unavailable. 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 also thought his children were steering off the godly course as his son wanted to be an actor. Fast forward 18 years to 1989. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. 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. The note John List wrote excusing his children from school. 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. 7-year-old baseball umpire seeks Guinness World Record. 07, 2022, 8:00 a.m. This article is about the murderer. This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. 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. 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. The couple had three children together, while Helens daughter Brenda left home in 1960 after her marriage. His father was a devout Lutheran who also taught at a local Sunday School in Bay City. [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. Their faces were covered. All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. List, who grew up in a strict Lutheran community in Bay City, Mich., was 'immersed in his religion,' he said. He was born John Emil List on 15 September 1925 to John Frederick List and Alma Barbara Florence List. He met his first wife, Helen Morris Taylor, whose husband had been killed in action in Korea. 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]. 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. John Emil List Birth 17 Sep 1925 Bay City, Bay County, Michigan, USA Death 21 Mar 2008 (aged 82) Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey, USA Burial Burial Details Unknown. Login He is most remembered for Murdered his entire family in 1971. The day after the killings, List scoured the house for family photographs, tearing his image out of them so police would have nothing to use in Wanted posters. When the police entered the house, on December 7th, the bodies had begun to decompose. That left his oldest son. 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. Assistant Prosecutor Eleanor Clark strongly protested telling the jury of Helen List's syphilis during bitter legal arguments over several days. If you take gaming seriously, you shouldn't accept anything less than the greatest. Their faces were covered. "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. Of the more than 200 tips from viewers that the FBI received from the program, one said a man resembling. 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. Authorities went to Clarks home and spoke to his wife, whom he met at a church social gathering. John had first moved to Michigan, and then to Colorado, where he took an accounting job in Denver. 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. John List, The Mass Murderer Who Killed His Family So Hed See Them In Heaven. A 1996 episode of the series Forensic Files discussed the List murders. The arrest followed Foxs Americas Most Wanted, featuring a sculpted clay bust of Johns age-progressed face. . List caught the tail end of the show with his wife, who did not know his past. Net Worth in 2022. When authorities entered the Westfield, New Jersey house on December 7, 1971, they heard organ music piped through the intercom system. It took Johns fingerprints to match with the military records to convince the authorities that he was John List. John List appeared to be the perfect son, husband, and father. List and his family were the embodiment of the American dream in 1965. They were shot methodically one by one. [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. List is accused of killing his wife, his three children and his mother in 1971. John List and his family were the definition of the American Dream in 1965; they seemed to have it all. Authorities walk John List to a plane in Richmond, Virginia in 1989 before transporting him to New Jersey to stand trial.Steve Helber/AP. March 2 (UPI) -- A Minnesota police officer came to the rescue of a raccoon he spotted running around with a jar stuck over its head. Then, he went to the bank to close his accounts and cash his mother's savings bonds. John List was born John Emil List, on September 17, 1925, in Bay City, Michigan, to John Frederick List and Alma Barbara Florence List. He has also appeared on television shows such as Your Worst Nightmare and American Justice. John and Helen had three daughters when he worked as an audit supervisor at a paper company in Kalamazoo. They got married in December 1951. John List's confession to his 2nd wife revealed in new episode of 'Father Wants Us Dead' podcast Published: Jun. He waited for Helen to come down for her morning coffee. Help keep John List (murderer) and Delores Miller (wife) profile up to date. Attorney David Baugh, who represented List in Virginia, offers support.AP Photo/Steve Helber. Delores Clark, right, tells reporters at a press conference on June 8, 1989 that she did not believe her husband was John List. 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. [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. Then List waited downstairs to kill his children, one by one, as they came home. He simply exploded.'. The News Leaders copyright story quoted his pastor, closest friend and neighbors as saying that the arrest was unbelievable and impossible.. The neighbours called the police when Johns daughter Patricias dancing teacher came home to see why Patricia was not coming to the classes. A seemingly admirable and usual American man, John List and his family lived happily in New Jersey. He became increasingly depressed. to add information, pictures and relationships, join in discussions and get credit for your contributions.