[1] She was the second wife and widow of businessman John Jacob Astor IV . American Criminal John List was born John Emil List on 17th September, 1925 in Bay City, Michigan, USA and passed away on 21st Mar 2008 Trenton, New Jersey, USA aged 82. Eventually, he took a decently paying job with a paper company at Kalamazoo, Michigan, and settled there with his family. [16], List died of complications from pneumonia aged 82 on March 21, 2008, while imprisoned at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton, New Jersey. Madeleine Talmage Astor ( ne Force; later Dick and Fiermonte; June 19, 1893 - March 27, 1940) was an American socialite and a survivor of the RMS Titanic. Judge William L'E. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU_2xrMKO8g. Episodes, photos and other information are also available at fatherwantsusdead.com. [15][16], In 1971, as the FBI later discovered, List had traveled by train from New Jersey to Michigan and then to Colorado. John confessed to committing the murders in February 1990. His lawyer, Elijah Miller Jr., argues that knowing his wife suffered from syphilis helped drive the deeply religious man over the edge. They had an expert forensic artist, Frank Bender, create a physical bust of John List as Bender imagined he might have aged. Born in an extremely strict Lutheran family, John was raised as a single child. In an effort to baffle the police, he cleaned the crime scenes and used scissors to remove his image from every photo in the mansion. Over the years, the John List murders have been featured in films such as Judgment Day: The John List Story and The Stepfather. 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. This is not the man I know. He earned a bachelors degree in administration and a masters degree in accounting. The couple later moved to Richmond together . "[21][22] List was questioned by FBI investigators after his capture, but he denied any involvement in the Cooper case. He took a break and made himself lunch. They married in 1985. 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. He was finally apprehended in Virginia on June 1, 1989, after the story of his murders was broadcast on the television program America's Most Wanted. Because this is one of the most. Like his father, List was a devout Lutheran and a Sunday school teacher. 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. One friend, unidentified by the newspaper, said that List had told Delores Clark he had been married before to an alcoholic who died of cancer. 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. 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. [32][34] Welfare was an unacceptable option, he reasoned, because it would expose him and his family to ridicule and violate his authoritarian father's teachings regarding the care and protection of family members. . "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. When they met, she led a simple life working as an Army PX clerk. John Emil List, a.k.a. 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. Following his high school graduation, he enlisted into the American military and worked as a lab technician. Then, he went up to the third floor and murdered his mother in her bed. New revelations in the episode include what List said through tears to his shocked and heartsick second wife, who hoped it was all some mistake and her husband was really the man she thought she had married Robert Clark when she visited him in jail. John died aged 82 in March 2008 of complications from pneumonia while still imprisoned. John Emil List was born in Michigan, in 1925, the only child of John and Alma List. Interview statement on List's confession to his second wife. After extradition to New Jersey, he was convicted on five counts of first degree murder and sentenced to five consecutive terms of life imprisonment, making him ineligible for parole for nearly 75 years.[2]. "The body is still at the Mercer County Medical Examiner's Office," said county spokesman Pete Daly. 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 that 'like a small rubber band, he snapped,' a psychiatrist said. He was caught after the television show "America's Most Wanted" air a segment on the murders. He later pursued a masters degree in accounting from the same university and as the Korean War had escalated in 1950, he was recalled by the Army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant, stationed at Fort Eustis in Virginia, where he met his wife Helen. But then his life began to crumble. [4], After completion of his second tour in 1952, List worked for an accounting firm in Detroit, and then as an audit supervisor at a paper company in Kalamazoo, where his three children were born. 2023. Dr. Miller said List had learned before the killings that syphilis was the cause of his wife's worsening medical and psychological problems and that knowing she had a sexually transmitted disease would have a 'tremendous impact' on someone of his background. [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. The devout Lutherans attended church every Sunday, and List taught Sunday school. In the afternoon, he killed his children as they came home first his daughter Patty, a budding actress at 16; then his youngest, 13-year-old Frederic; and finally 15-year-old John, his namesake and his favorite. March 3 (UPI) -- Firefighters in Britain responded to a home to rescue a horse that had fallen into its owner's swimming pool and was unable to get itself out. Her story put an end to the 18-year-long mystery. The 54-year-old attorney is standing trial on two counts of murder in the shootings of his wife and son at their . 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. But unlike the other members of the List family who dropped instantly, John Jr. struggled. Then he sat down and ate lunch at the same table where he had shot his wife hours before. He killed them to save their souls so they would go to heaven. "I've regretted my action and prayed for forgiveness ever since. [7] In 1965, List accepted a position as vice president and comptroller at a bank in Jersey City, New Jersey, and moved with his wife, children, and mother into Breeze Knoll, a 19-room Victorian mansion at 431 Hillside Avenue in Westfield. John fled the house after putting all the bodies on sleeping bags, turning the house lights on and putting on some classical music. He described a woman whose brain was deteriorating and who was going blind, who was addicted to tranquilizers and drank four or five glasses of Scotch a day, who remained in bed because she was afraid of falls but who retained enough social skill to act normally in casual relationships. List's death ended a sordid chapter in Westfield's history. List left a confession letter at the scene, so police had little doubt as to who was responsible for the killings. List is charged with shooting his mother, wife and three children in their Westfield, N.J. home, and authorities said he left a five-page note detailing the crime. The new lovers wed on 1 December 1951 in Baltimore, Maryland. The judge finally overruled her but continued to bar testimony that List's daughter, Patricia, 16, was a practicing witch. YouTubeThe List house burned down several months after the List family bodies were discovered there. [5] By 1959, List had risen to general supervisor of the company's accounting department; but Helen, an alcoholic, had become increasingly unstable. Associated With. 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. 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. Wikimedia CommonsJohn List with his wife and three children. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Delores Miller (wife) and John List are divorced. List assumed a new identity, remarried, and eluded justice for nearly 18 years. Help keep John List (murderer) and Delores Miller (wife) profile up to date. Forensic artist Frank Bender uses photographs to sculpt an aged bust of mass murderer John List. List methodically murdered his wife Helen, his mother Alma, and their three childrenPatricia, 16; Frederick, 13; and John Jr., 15. John Emil List (September 17, 1925 March 21, 2008) was an American mass murderer[1] and long-time fugitive. "There has been no communication from any family member of John List. [8], On November 9, 1971, List murdered his entire immediate family, using his own 9mm Steyr 1912 semi-automatic handgun[9] and his father's Colt .22 caliber revolver. He was apprehended 18 years later in 1989 and was sentenced to five terms of life sentence. Officers entered through an unlocked window leading to the basement and discovered the family's bodies. John Sr. shot him nine more times before dragging him into the ballroom with the rest of his family. [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. [12], In May 1989, the 18-year-old crime was recounted on the Fox television program America's Most Wanted during its first year on the air. ', 'List was being bombarded by stresses,' the doctor added. John List died in prison in 2008 at age 82. They got married in December 1951. Feb. 20, 2002 -- Thirty years ago, accountant John List methodically murdered his whole family his mother, his wife, and their three children. Psychologists theorized that List would wear the same spectacles he wore as a younger man to remind him of more successful days. He defended himself saying that he was not mentally stable. An aerial view of the List family home in Westfield, New Jersey. Subsequent jobs didnt pan out. She met Steinbeck in late 1938 or early 1939, when she was just 22. A South Carolina jury has found once-prominent attorney Alex Murdaugh guilty on all counts in the deaths of his wife and son. Then he went downstairs, dragged his wife's body into the ballroom and began scrubbing up the blood so the children would not realize what was going on when they got back from school. "I was perspiring like anything," he remembers, but said his wife did not seem to have recognized him. [31] Though her health progressively deteriorated, she said nothing to List or her physicians until 1969, when a thorough workup revealed the condition. 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. With his first wife, John Frederick had had a son, William George, who happened to be the same . They attended church each week with List's mother, a strict Lutheran who lived with them. While his children were at school, he shot his wife Helen, 47, in the back of the head, and then his mother Alma, 84, above the left eye. They got him down in Virginia.. He was not, however, willing to suffer the earthly consequences of his actions. In 1950, John List was recalled to active military service. Police in Virginia arrested mass murderer John List on June 1, 1989, a mere nine days after Americas Most Wanted aired his case. Firefighters hoist horse stranded in backyard swimming pool. A neurologist, Dr. Henry Liss, testified earlier Friday that Helen List, 45, had tertiary syphilis and had hidden her disease for years from her doctors and her family. On November 9, 1971, after the children left for school, List shot his wife Helen in the back of the head as she was drinking her coffee. He spent his days at the train station reading, napping, and wondering how to get his family out of their financial mess. He lined up the four bodies in the ballroom (he said his mother's body was too heavy to move), put music on the internal intercom, and cleaned up meticulously. We have estimated John A. List's net worth , money, salary, income, and assets. He watched John Jr. play soccer at school, then drove him home and killed him, too. The couple had three children together, while Helens daughter Brenda left home in 1960 after her marriage. After light bulbs began burning out one by one, they called the police. 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. Based on information gleaned from dozens of interviews and hundreds of pages of police and FBI documents, Father Wants Us Dead is an in-depth and chilling narrative from two reporters with more than 25 years of combined experience. [14] All reliable photographs of List had been destroyed. photos, "The Boogeyman of Westfield", was an American family annihilator and mass murderer who killed five members of his family on November 9, 1971, in Westfield, New Jersey. Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. When the children left for school, he shot his wife and his mother to death. However, the marriage was not very good. 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. Feb. 20, 2002 -- Thirty years ago, accountant John List methodically murdered his whole family his mother, his wife, and their three children. Daly said that if no one comes forward, the remains would eventually be returned to the state Department of Corrections, which has had custody of List since his conviction in 1990. to add information, pictures and relationships, join in discussions and get credit for your contributions. List, Patricia List, place of death: Trenton, New Jersey, United States, education: University Of Michigan, Ann Arbor. March 3 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts library said a book was recently returned with a note apologizing for the tome being 56 years overdue. He met his first wife, Helen Morris Taylor, whose husband had been killed in action in Korea. He was too shy and seemed disinterested in talking to even his superiors. In 1950, John List was recalled to active military service. YouTubeThe note John List wrote excusing his children from school. 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. He later took a job as the vice president at a bank in New Jersey, where the family finally got settled. List had a masters degree in accounting, but lacked social skills and had a history of losing jobs. John seemingly grew up without incident, reporting a normal childhood with the exception of his stringently religious upbringing, with which he identified wholeheartedly. It was a masterful depiction of John List. Helen List apparently was infected with the disease by her first husband, a soldier who was killed in Korea. Want more true crime? 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Edward Saresky told the jury Thursday that he heard Helen List taunting her husband by telling him that if he was 'half the man her first husband was the family wouldn't have the troubles they were having. 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. She was born 25th October 1916. 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 murdered his mother, wife and three children in November 1971, due to financial distress and other issues within the family, and fled. John List appeared to be the perfect son, husband, and father. By the late 1950s, the family was in a good financial situation as John had been promoted to the position of a general supervisor in the company. After the June 7, 2021, killings of Maggie . List laid the bodies of his wife and three children on sleeping bags according to size in the home's ballroom, went to sleep after dinner, and fled the next day. It turned out that List had changed his identity and moved to Colorado under the assumed name Robert Clark. John packed off his children to school and loaded both of his handguns. 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. In 1989, Fox network broadcasted a TV show titled Americas Most Wanted, where an episode featured the New Jersey mass murders of John by his family. Liss testified after a judgeruled that information on Helen List's medical condition could be given to the jury that must decide whether List is guilty of murder. Help us build our profile of John List (murderer) and Delores Miller (wife)! Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. First Patty, 16. But his defence was rejected and he was imprisoned at the New Jersey State Prison. Helen List lied to her doctors during several hospitalizations, Liss said. [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. ", Woman wins $100,000 lottery prize 11 hours after $11,000 casino jackpot. List (born 1968), American economist. List, who says he remains deeply religious today, acknowledges that his crimes violated one of the Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt not kill.". The suspect denied he is List but the FBI said a positive link had been made through fingerprints. Attorney David Baugh, who represented List in Virginia, offers support.AP Photo/Steve Helber. Then he sat down and wrote a confession letter to his pastor explaining his financial problems. He is most remembered for Murdered his entire family in 1971. The memory of the murders still haunts Westfield residents. 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. He was born John Emil List on 15 September 1925 to John Frederick List and Alma Barbara Florence List. 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. 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. She is famous for Second wife of murderer John list. As I was doing it I knew it was wrong," he said. Liss summarized Helen List's medical reports for the jury. His picture was also shown on television, which led one of his neighbours to notify the authorities. 07, 2022, 8:00 a.m. 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. [11], Westfield, where few violent crimes had been recorded since 1963, received national attention as the site of one of the most notorious felonies in New Jersey since the kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby. I ask all affected by this for their forgiveness, understanding and prayer. Spouse/Ex-: Delores Miller Clark (m. 19851989), Helen List (m. 19511971), children: Frederick List, John, Jr.