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. "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. They were shot methodically one by one. He canceled all deliveries and contacted his childrens schools to let their teachers know the family would be on vacation for a few weeks. Their faces were covered. John was convicted of five counts of first degree murder in April 1990 and was imprisoned with five terms of consecutive life imprisonment. 7-year-old baseball umpire seeks Guinness World Record. The episode, "Murder House", premiered on November 18, 2015. John died aged 82 in March 2008 of complications from pneumonia while still imprisoned. John Emil List (September 17, 1925 March 21, 2008) was an American mass murderer[1] and long-time fugitive. Simring said List showed "no evidence of anything that approached genuine remorse," adding, "He's a cold, cold man.". 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. I was shocked to hear about Bobs arrest and what he is charged with, the statement said. All five victims had been shot. Assistant Prosecutor Eleanor Clark strongly protested telling the jury of Helen List's syphilis during bitter legal arguments over several days. 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. By then, he was assigned to the finance corps, from where he was discharged in 1952. List, who says he remains deeply religious today, acknowledges that his crimes violated one of the Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt not kill.". John Emil List was born in Michigan, in 1925, the only child of John and Alma List. 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. [42] In 2015, the story was covered in the season 2, episode 2 of the Investigation Discovery TV series Your Worst Nightmare. John List (murderer) (1925-2008), American mass murderer. He joined a local Lutheran church and, in 1985, married a widow named Delores Clark, with whom he moved to Richmond, Va. Her story put an end to the 18-year-long mystery. He murdered his mother, wife and three children in November 1971, due to financial distress and other issues within the family, and fled. They attended church every Sunday as devout Lutherans and List taught Sunday school. Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. List had a masters degree in accounting, but lacked social skills and had a history of losing jobs. 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. Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Delores Miller (wife) is an American Homemaker. He killed Patricia when she returned home from school, then the youngest son, Frederick. Tips came pouring in. "At least I'm certain that all have gone to heaven now. 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 . . List saw the children off to school and then shot her in the kitchen as she sipped her customary morning coffee. 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. [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. John List appeared to be the perfect son, husband, and father. 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. . Also in 2022, Netflix released a seven-part dramatic fictional miniseries called The Watcher. The neighbours called the police when Johns daughter Patricias dancing teacher came home to see why Patricia was not coming to the classes. Read on to discover more details. If no one claims List's body, Fedekenheuer said, "we call the local funeral director, and that person will have the body cremated. Salary in 2021. He had been fired from all his jobs due to his cold demeanor and his inability to be social with his co-workers. At his trial in 1990, defense lawyers argued that List suffered from PTSD from his military service in World War II and Korea. John List is a revolutionary experimenter whose unique methods and ideas have changed how the field of economics functions. He first shot his wife, then his mother, waited for his children to get home, and murdered them. Delores Clark said that she was making her statement reluctantly and that she would have no further comment. On November 9, 1971, John List shot his wife, his mother, and his three children. Eventually, he took a decently paying job with a paper company at Kalamazoo, Michigan, and settled there with his family. He then called his childrens school to grant them leave to visit their grandmother in South Carolina. He had drained his and his mothers bank accounts and fled, changing his identity. With his first wife, John Frederick had had a son, William George, who happened to be the same . "I was hungry," he told Downtown, adding with a chuckle, "that's just the way it was.". [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. John and Helen married on December 1, 1951, in Baltimore, Maryland, the family moving to northern California. 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. 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. 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. At one religious gathering, he met an Army PX clerk named Delores Miller and married her in 1985. John List may refer to: John A. List's death ended a sordid chapter in Westfield's history. By 1971, he was still leaving for work every morning, but unknown to his family he was unemployed and unable to pay the bills. [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. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Then he made a sandwich, drove to the bank, and disappeared for 18 years. [1] She was the second wife and widow of businessman John Jacob Astor IV . Net Worth in 2022. 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. He also thought his children were steering off the godly course as his son wanted to be an actor. "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. He died in the prison hospital at the age of 82, in 2008. The note John List wrote excusing his children from school. [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. Attorney David Baugh, who represented List in Virginia, offers support.AP Photo/Steve Helber. 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. 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. After seeing all his children off to school, John List set his plan in motion. It took 18 years for John List to be arrested. More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23, meticulously murdered his mother, wife and three kids. After learning about the murders committed by John List, check out the story of Dale Cregan, the one-eyed killer. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. But then his life began to crumble. Details of Delores life before she married John List are unavailable. [14] All reliable photographs of List had been destroyed. 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. 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. 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. He left his mother's body in her apartment in the attic. "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. At a border crossing to Mexico in March 1944, she said she. New Jersey prosecutors had come up with a plan. He was the only child born to German-Americans John Frederick List and Alma Maria Barbara Florence List. 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. The couple later moved to Richmond together . This fabled orchid breeder loves to chat just not about Trader Joes orchids, 17 things to do in Santa Cruz, the old-school beach town that makes for a charming getaway, Best coffee city in the world? John List died in prison in 2008 at age 82. 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. He was too shy and seemed disinterested in talking to even his superiors. 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. "[38], Over the years, List and his crimes have furnished inspiration for documentaries, television dramas and feature films. Aside from a few extra wrinkles, the bust was spot on. Additionally, the financial burden on the family was increasing, causing him severe psychological distress. Forensic artist Frank Bender uses photographs to sculpt an aged bust of mass murderer John List. He defended himself saying that he was not mentally stable. It was the biggest story he could remember, and the local fervor for information was immediate. List died in prison in 2008 at the age of 82. Elijah Miller has presented testimony from witnesses, including a Lutheran pastor who knew the Lists in the early 1960s in Rochester, N.Y., to describe the troubled family. [15][16], In 1971, as the FBI later discovered, List had traveled by train from New Jersey to Michigan and then to Colorado. For the economist, see, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, Dupont de Ligonns murders and disappearance, "Wanted: A Killer Disappears Into Another Life", "John List, famous murderer The Crime Library", "Breeze Knoll: The John List Murder House", "John E. List, 82, Killer of 5 Family Members, Dies", "In Hiding for 18 Years, a Wanted Man Is Caught by the FBI and a TV Posse", "Prosaic Life of Suspect in '71 New Jersey Murders", "Real Estate Assessment Data for 13919 Sagewood Trace", "Notorious AMW Fugitive John List Dead at 82", "Frank Bender, 'Recomposer' of Faces of the Dead, Dies at 70", "John List Bust Remembered as Sculptor Faces Death", "The List Murders Stun Westfield In 1971", "Slaying Suspect Saw 2 Choices, Doctor Testifies", "I Know That What Has Been Done Is Wrong", "Killer of Family Gets 5 Life Terms: Court: Judge sentences accountant who murdered his mother, wife and children 18 years ago to the maximum sentence", "Judge Sentences Family Killer to Life in Prison", "The boogeyman of Westfield, a ghost story that won't end", "How Profitable Sequels Succeed: They Just Bring 'em Back Alive", "The Watcher's Grisly John Graff Murder Sequence Is Based on True Story of a Family Massacre. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. National Park Service: 'Never push a slower friend down' in a bear encounter, March 2 (UPI) -- The National Park Service offered some sage advice for park visitors who encounter bears: "Never push a slower friend down. 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.