John Emil List

On November 9, 1971, List methodically killed his entire family: Helen, 45; his mother, Alma, 84; and his children—Patricia, 16, John, Jr., 15, and Frederick, 13. The murder weapons were his own 9mm Steyr 1912 semi-automatic handgun[8] and his father's Colt .22 caliber revolver.[9] While the children were at school he shot Helen in the back of the head, and then his mother above the left eye. In the early afternoon he shot Patricia and Frederick in the back of the head as they arrived home. After making himself lunch, List drove to his bank to close his own and his mother's bank accounts, and then to his elder son's school to watch him play in a soccer game. He drove John, Jr. home, then shot him repeatedly in the chest and face.[10][11]

List placed the bodies of his wife and children on sleeping bags in the ballroom of their 19-room Victorian home. He left his mother's body in her apartment in the attic. In a five-page letter to his pastor, found on the desk in his study, he wrote that he saw too much evil in the world, and he had killed his family to save their souls. He then cleaned the various crime scenes, carefully cut his own picture out of every family photograph in the house,[12] tuned a radio to a religious station, and departed.[11]

The murders were not discovered until December 7, nearly a month later, due in part to the family's reclusiveness and refusal to socialize, and in part to notes sent by List to the children's schools and part-time jobs stating that the family would be visiting Helen's mother in North Carolina for several weeks. He also stopped milk, mail and newspaper deliveries.[11] Neighbors noticed that all of the mansion's lights were illuminated day and night, with no apparent activity within. Finally, when the lights began burning out one by one, they called police.[13]

The case became the second most notorious crime in New Jersey history, after the kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh Baby. A nationwide manhunt was launched. Police investigated hundreds of leads without success.[14] All reliable photographs of List had been destroyed.[12] The family car was found parked at Kennedy Airport, but there was no evidence that he had boarded a flight.[11] Alma was flown to Frankenmuth, Michigan, and interred at the Saint Lorenz Lutheran Cemetery. Helen and her three children were buried at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield.[10]

Eighteen years later, on May 21, 1989, the murders were recounted on the television program America's Most Wanted, which at the time had been on the air less than a year.[15] The broadcast featured an age-progressed clay bust, sculpted by forensic artist Frank Bender, which turned out to bear a close resemblance to List's actual appearance.[16] List was located and arrested in Virginia less than two weeks after the episode was broadcast.

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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.

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Mar 20 2020, 4:22:01 UTC