Alma Maria List

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Alma Maria List

Birthdate:
Birthplace: Frankenmuth, Saginaw, Michigan, United States
Death: November 09, 1971 (84)
New Jersey, United States (Murdered by Son)
Place of Burial: Frankenmuth, Saginaw County, Michigan, United States
Immediate Family:

Daughter of Michael John List and Mary Barbara List
Wife of John Frederick List
Mother of John Emil List
Sister of Hulda E.M.W. Rupprecht; Emil List and Lydia J. Meyer

Managed by: Private User
Last Updated:

About Alma Maria List

"Michigan, County Births, 1867-1917," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP46-65PF : 19 July 2021), Alma List, 17 Feb 1887; citing Birth, various county courts, Michigan.

"Michigan Births, 1867-1902," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NQ8D-Q62 : 20 February 2021), Alma List, 17 Feb 1887; citing item 1 p 35 rn 455, Frankenmuth, Saginaw, Michigan, Department of Vital Records, Lansing; FHL microfilm 2,321,091.

"Michigan Marriages, 1868-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NQSV-LS4 : 4 December 2014), John F. List and Alma M. List, 27 Nov 1924; citing Bay City, Bay, Michigan, v 1 rn 23218, Department of Vital Records, Lansing; FHL microfilm 2,342,761.

"United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JKCW-X48 : 20 May 2014), Alma List, Nov 1971; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).


Mass Murderer. A native of Bay City, Michigan, John Emil List was a former accountant who on the night of November 9, 1971, shot his entire family to death including his wife Helen, daughter Patricia, sons Frederick and John Jr., and his elderly mother Alma, in their upscale Westfield, New Jersey, home. List who had a history of losing jobs, had also accumulated several financial debts just before the murders. His wife's mental illness, the cost of an expensive house, and his depression, are also believed to have led to the tragedy. A very religious man as well, it is thought that List had planned the murders months or days in advance, and that he believed he would one day go to heaven for bringing his family and himself some sort of closure. After the murders List wrote several notes to his sons school, and to the family's pastor, and left them in the home, and then disappeared. After a month the police discovered the horrendous scene and the case soon became the second most infamous crime in the history of the state of New Jersey, surpassing the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby of 1932. Over the next few years several people including friends and co-workers claimed they saw List in different parts around the world but nothing significant came out of it. In May 1989, John List was profiled on John Walsh's "America's Most Wanted" television program using a reenactment of the crime and a bust of what he may look like with glasses. Ironically on June 1, 1989, eleven days after the broadcast and after almost 18 years on the run List was arrested working under the name of Robert "Bob" Peter Clark in Richmond, Virginia, wearing the same exact type of glasses as the bust. List who was identified by a friend had apparently had two homes in Denver, Colorado, and Midlothian, Virginia, had remarried, and was again working as an accountant. On April 12, 1990, he was convicted in a New Jersey court room of five counts of first-degree murder, and on May 1 of that year he was sentenced to five life terms in prison. On March 21, 2008, List died in his Trenton, New Jersey, prison cell at the age of 82. Over the years List had been the focus of several books and films including the 1993 film, "Judgement Day: The John List Story" in which he was played by actor Robert Blake. He was also the inspiration for the character of the Stepfather in the film of the same name, the character Keyser Soze in the 1995 Kevin Spacey film "The Usual Suspects", and at one time was thought to be skyjacker D.B. Cooper.

"United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV5W-25M9 : 10 September 2016), Alma List, Missouri, United States, 13 Apr 1990; from "Recent Newspaper Obituaries (1977 - Today)," database, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : 2014); citing , born-digital text.

"Michigan Marriages, 1868-1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N3KW-DMB : 4 December 2014), John F. List and Anna M. Hubinger, 31 Oct 1886; citing Frankenmuth, Saginaw, Michigan, v 3 p 165 rn 614, Department of Vital Records, Lansing; FHL microfilm 2,342,479.

"Michigan Death Certificates, 1921-1952," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KF4R-GQ5 : 12 December 2014), Anna Marrie List, 27 Jun 1923; citing Bay, Bay, Michigan, United States, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics, Lansing; FHL microfilm 1,973,178.

Name of parents is a transcription mistake. They are listed as John Humger & Anna B. Walter

Date of death listed in Find a grave is wrong, she died 6/27/1923, not 6/22/1923, see certificate of death above.


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Alma Maria List's Timeline

1887
February 17, 1887
Frankenmuth, Saginaw, Michigan, United States
1925
September 17, 1925
Bay City, Bay County, Michigan, United States
1971
November 9, 1971
Age 84
New Jersey, United States
????
Saint Lorenz Lutheran Cemetery, Frankenmuth, Saginaw County, Michigan, United States