John List, The Mass Murderer Who Killed His Family So Hed See Them In Heaven. The FBI found his car parked at Kennedy International Airport in New York City, but they never found him. "I was perspiring like anything," he remembers, but said his wife did not seem to have recognized him. He also argued that the letter he left behind at the crime scene, essentially his confession, was a confidential communication to his pastor and therefore inadmissible as evidence. He has also appeared on television shows such as Your Worst Nightmare and American Justice. It turned out that List had changed his identity and moved to Colorado under the assumed name Robert Clark. Delores and John divorced in 1989, probably following his arrest on 1 June. John and Helen had three daughters when he worked as an audit supervisor at a paper company in Kalamazoo. He was apprehended 18 years later in 1989 and was sentenced to five terms of life sentence. 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. Wikimedia CommonsJohn List with his wife and three children. YouTubeThe bodies of John Lists wife and three teenage children were found laid out on sleeping bags in the ballroom. [41] A 2003 episode of the A&E series American Justice also detailed the case and featured an interview with List. John was arrested and extradited to New Jersey. "[21][22] List was questioned by FBI investigators after his capture, but he denied any involvement in the Cooper case. 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.". 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. John was convicted of five counts of first-degree murder and five terms of life imprisonment. In a second attempt at love, he was lucky enough to find a business and life partner in Allain, a producer and hairstylist. In 1989, America's Most Wanted featured List and a forensic sculptor's impression of how he would look then, 18 years after the murders. 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. He killed Patricia when she returned home from school, then the youngest son, Frederick. 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. [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. If things had gone on who knows if that would be the case," he wrote. 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 feared his family, confronted with a world full of evil and poverty, would turn from God; this was the only way to ensure their safe arrival in heaven. 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. [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. After gruesomely murdering his entire family, John List had begun living a normal life again. In 1965, when List and his family moved to affluent Westfield, N.J., he seemed to be a model of suburban success and propriety. [17] From 1979 to 1986, he was the comptroller at a paper box manufacturer outside Denver. He was not, however, willing to suffer the earthly consequences of his actions. He canceled all deliveries and contacted his childrens schools to let their teachers know the family would be on vacation for a few weeks. He later completed his masters degree in accounting and worked as an accountant in the military. John enlisted in the United States Army in 1943 and was a laboratory technician during World War II. A 1996 episode of the series Forensic Files discussed the List murders. Upstairs, the body of List's 84-year-old mother Alma was found. 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. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. She is famous for Second wife of murderer John list. Delores Clark, right, tells reporters at a press conference on June 8, 1989 that she did not believe her husband was John List. He murdered his mother, wife and three children at their home in Westfield, New Jersey on November 9, 1971. photos, The arrest followed Foxs Americas Most Wanted, featuring a sculpted clay bust of Johns age-progressed face. A federal appeals court rejected both arguments. Delores kept a low profile after Johns arrest, and it is unclear what happened to her. The neighbours called the police when Johns daughter Patricias dancing teacher came home to see why Patricia was not coming to the classes. They attended church every Sunday as devout Lutherans and List taught Sunday school. 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. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. He then drove his son back to the house and emptied both the guns on him, shooting him in his head and chest repeatedly. "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. 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. He spent his days at the train station reading, napping, and wondering how to get his family out of their financial mess. 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. 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. When the children left for school, he shot his wife and his mother to death. List had a masters degree in accounting, but lacked social skills and had a history of losing jobs. Florida woman runs ultra-marathon distances for 23 consecutive days. [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. 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. At his trial in 1990, defense lawyers argued that List suffered from PTSD from his military service in World War II and Korea. Then, read the chilling story of John Wayne Gacy, the original killer clown. Authorities later revealed that John kept lying to his family about his jobs. 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. When authorities entered the Westfield, New Jersey house on December 7, 1971, they heard organ music piped through the intercom system. 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. 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. 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. First Patty, 16. A nationwide manhunt was launched. 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. The 14th and final defense witness was the defendant's brother John . List left a confession letter at the scene, so police had little doubt as to who was responsible for the killings. 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. Next he went upstairs, to where his 84-year-old mother was having breakfast, kissed her ("like Judas," he told Downtown), and shot her in the head. John Emil List (September 17, 1925 March 21, 2008) was an American mass murderer[1] and long-time fugitive. He later moved to California, and then Detroit, where he worked as an accountant in a local firm. 07, 2022, 8:00 a.m. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, K-Pop isnt the only hot ticket in Koreatown how trot is captivating immigrants, Los Angeles is suddenly awash in waterfalls, Officials admit being unprepared for epic mountain blizzard, leaving many trapped and desperate, Desperate mountain residents trapped by snow beg for help; We are coming, sheriff says, Newsom, IRS give Californians until October to file tax returns, Californias snowpack is approaching an all-time record, with more on the way, This is me, this is my face: Actress Mimi Rogers on aging naturally, without cosmetic surgery, Hidden, illegal casinos are booming in L.A., with organized crime reaping big profits, Look up: The 32 most spectacular ceilings in Los Angeles, Elliott: Kings use their heads over hearts in trading Jonathan Quick. The trail went cold. [16] In reporting his death, the New Jersey Star-Ledger referred to him as "The Boogeyman of Westfield. This is not the man I know. 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.
Deceased Husband Birthday Poem,
Hornady Load Data 300 Win Mag,
Adorama Tax Exemption,
Woodsy Wedding Venues California,
Fahrenheit 451 Blood Quotes,
Articles J
