List's home, a. . So he spent his days at the train station, reading the newspaper and secretly skimming money from his mothers bank accounts to pay the mortgage. The episode, "Murder House", premiered on November 18, 2015. I thought I was being real clever," he said. 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. They did not have any children together. Helen lived with her daughter Brenda near Fort Eustis in Virginia, where John served. Austin Goodrich, an ABCNEWS consultant who is writing a book with John List, contributed material for this report. He turned on the lights and the radio, leaving religious hymns playing in the houses empty rooms. "I feel when we get to heaven we won't worry about these earthly things. His sixteen years old daughter and 13 years old son returned from the school at noon. In 1950, John List was recalled to active military service. He first shot his wife, then his mother, waited for his children to get home, and murdered them. 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. John List with his wife and three children. 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. He died in the prison hospital at the age of 82, in 2008. 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. She had a young daughter from her previous marriage. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Following his high school graduation, he enlisted into the American military and worked as a lab technician. [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. "[38], Over the years, List and his crimes have furnished inspiration for documentaries, television dramas and feature films. 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. His father died in 1944. He married Helen and raised three children with her, while working as an accountant in many places, such as New York and New Jersey. List assumed a new identity, remarried, and eluded justice for nearly 18 years. A former Denver neighbor alerted the police, who made the arrest later. 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. In November 1971, the mass murderer and long-time fugitive killed his wife, mother, and three children at their home in Westfield, New Jersey. Salary in 2021. John List (murderer) and Delores Miller (wife), See Everything looked great on the surface. In an interview in 2008, parents told a reporter in New Jersey that children will not walk past that property, nor do they even want to live on the same street. John Emil List (September 17, 1925 March 21, 2008) was an American mass murderer[1] and long-time fugitive. Help us build our profile of John List (murderer) and Delores Miller (wife)! They got married in December 1951. Jurors deliberated for about . 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. The Army, realizing List's accounting skills, reassigned him to the Finance Corps. The note John List wrote excusing his children from school. 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. John Emil List was born in Michigan, in 1925, the only child of John and Alma List. 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. 2023. He joined a local Lutheran church and, in 1985, married a widow named Delores Clark, with whom he moved to Richmond, Va. $1 Million - $5 Million. A manhunt for John was declared, but it was not until 18 years that he was arrested. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. He was caught after the television show "America's Most Wanted" air a segment on the murders. [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. His father was a devout Lutheran who also taught at a local Sunday School in Bay City. An aerial view of the List family home in Westfield, New Jersey. Tips came pouring in. Delores and John moved to a house around Brandermill, Midlothian, Virginia, where her husband worked as an accountant at an accounting firm. [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. Of the more than 200 tips from viewers that the FBI received from the program, one said a man resembling. Now, in his first-ever public comments about the 1971 crime, the 76-year-old former Sunday school teacher says he is waiting to be reunited with them in the hereafter. John was convicted of five counts of first degree murder in April 1990 and was imprisoned with five terms of consecutive life imprisonment. 'List believed doing what he did do to his family was allowed because he was sending them to join God and saving them from the embarrassment of having to be on the public dole.'. The inconspicuous accountant was arrested without incident Thursday at work. His play times were replaced with gatherings around . The army discharged him in 1946, after which he joined the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He then walked up to the third floor and shot his 85-year-old mother, Alma. The tipster said her neighbor was also an accountant and attended church. He went upstairs and shot his 84-year-old mother. The family did not have a lot of visitors and it took the neighbours 29 days to notice that something was off in the house. He went to the post office to stop the family's mail, then to the bank, where he cashed his mother's savings bonds, checking that he got the correct interest to the penny. He earned a bachelors degree in administration and a masters degree in accounting. Salary in 2022. Minnesota officer removes jar from raccoon's head. After List's discharge in 1946, List enrolled at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he earned a bachelor's degree in business administration and a master's degree in accounting, and was commissioned a second lieutenant through ROTC. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). Under Review. He was sentenced to five consecutive life prison terms. He has also appeared on television shows such as Your Worst Nightmare and American Justice. 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. Delores Clark, right, tells reporters at a press conference on June 8, 1989 that she did not believe her husband was John List. When they entered the house, music was still playing on the intercom, but List was long gone. Like her sister, Rosanne Cindy inherited her father's musical talent, and by the time she was 16 she was already performing on stage with Johnny and his second wife June Carter. He believed that it was his failure as a man to be unable to provide for his family. He is most remembered for Murdered his entire family in 1971. The new lovers wed on 1 December 1951 in Baltimore, Maryland. He says he wanted to spare them the shame of losing their New Jersey mansion and to make sure they got to heaven. 7-year-old baseball umpire seeks Guinness World Record. Fast forward 18 years to 1989. After seeing all his children off to school, John List set his plan in motion. 'Saving Private Ryan,' 'True Romance' actor Tom Sizemore dead at 61, 3 children killed, 2 hospitalized in North Texas domestic incident, Dozens killed, injured as Jakarta fuel depot fire engulfs neighborhood, To cut costs, Amazon delays completion of second headquarters, closes retail stores, Migrant woman dies after U.S. Coast Guard stops vessel carrying 54. On Nov. 9, 1971, after sending his children off to school, List took his two handguns out to the car to load them, then walked into the kitchen and shot his wife from behind as she was drinking coffee. In a second attempt at love, he was lucky enough to find a business and life partner in Allain, a producer and hairstylist. He spent his days at the train station reading, napping, and wondering how to get his family out of their financial mess. 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. The Lists might have appeared to be the ideal American family, but everything was not as it seemed. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. John List was on the run when they met in 1985 after having murdered his family members about 14 years before. In addition, it will contact the Social Security Administration, Veteran's Administration and Public Welfare for any possible death benefits. But his defence was rejected and he was imprisoned at the New Jersey State Prison. "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. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. 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. The third wife was Pilar Pallette, with whom he had three more children. 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. Additionally, the financial burden on the family was increasing, causing him severe psychological distress. They separated in 1973 and he moved . His lawyer, Elijah Miller Jr., argues that knowing his wife suffered from syphilis helped drive the deeply religious man over the edge. [23][16] The segment 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. John confessed to committing the murders in February 1990. 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. The neighbours called the police when Johns daughter Patricias dancing teacher came home to see why Patricia was not coming to the classes. Born in an extremely strict Lutheran family, John was raised as a single child. He defended himself saying that he was not mentally stable. 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). Although the destruction was officially ruled arson, it remains officially unsolved with no suspects. John Emil List, a.k.a. Its hard to believe the solution he arrived at would have been more acceptable to his father, but John List would later say it seemed to him the only option: the murder of his mother, wife, and children. 'It's as if you're on a race track going around and around with no way out,' Miller told the jury in Union County Superior Court. "I was perspiring like anything," he remembers, but said his wife did not seem to have recognized him.