They'll either have forgiven me or won't realize, you know, what happened," List told Downtown's Connie Chung in an interview at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, where he is serving five life sentences. John List (murderer) and Delores Miller (wife), See "I feel when we get to heaven we won't worry about these earthly things. List died in prison in 2008 at the age of 82. The episode, "Murder House", premiered on November 18, 2015. He met his first wife, Helen Morris Taylor, whose husband had been killed in action in Korea. At his trial in 1990, defense lawyers argued that List suffered from PTSD from his military service in World War II and Korea. 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. 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. John enlisted in the United States Army in 1943 and was a laboratory technician during World War II. [12], He was also dealing with his wife's alcoholism and her untreated tertiary syphilis, contracted from her first husband and concealed for 18 years. When his daughter and youngest son came home, he shot them in the back of the head. Police investigated hundreds of leads without success. "After 18 years, five months and 22 days, it is now time for the voices of Helen, Alma, Patricia, Frederick and John F. List to rise from the grave." The arrest followed Foxs Americas Most Wanted, featuring a sculpted clay bust of Johns age-progressed face. 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. Feb. 20, 2002 -- Thirty years ago, accountant John List methodically murdered his whole family his mother, his wife, and their three children. John List, going by the name Robert Clark, rented a room in this house in Richmond, Virginia from S. Wallace Parsons, until he and Delores Clark moved into their new home. Her story put an end to the 18-year-long mystery. He later moved to California, and then Detroit, where he worked as an accountant in a local firm. Like his father, List was a devout Lutheran and a Sunday school teacher. They got married in December 1951. Currently, the morgue is storing the body of "Thrill Killer" Richard Biegenwald, who died March 10 while serving a murder conviction for killing five victims - two teenage girls, two young women and one man - in Monmouth County from Oct. 31, 1981, to Nov. 20, 1982. Corrections spokeswoman Deirdre Fedkenheuer said the social services unit at New Jersey State Prison, where List was an inmate, will attempt to find the nearest relative to see if that person would claim the body. The family car was found parked at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City, but police found no evidence that List had boarded a flight. Jurors deliberated for about . Delores Clark said that she was making her statement reluctantly and that she would have no further comment. Florida woman runs ultra-marathon distances for 23 consecutive days. Get up to speed with our Essential California newsletter, sent six days a week. [41] A 2003 episode of the A&E series American Justice also detailed the case and featured an interview with List. 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. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Unlike the others, John didn't go quietly, his body jerking as List emptied both the 9 millimeter and the .22 into his son. He. [35], List filed an appeal of his convictions on grounds that his judgment had been impaired by post-traumatic stress disorder due to his military service. "I'm sure that if we recognize each other that we'll like each other's company just as we did here, when times were better.". By then, progression of the disease combined with her excessive alcohol consumption had, according to testimony, "transformed her from an attractive young woman to an unkempt and paranoid recluse"[30][32] who frequently and often publicly humiliated List, comparing his sexual prowess unfavorably with that of her first husband. List left the bodies of his wife, his mother, Alma, 84, and his children, Patricia, 16, John, 15, and Frederick, 13, and several confessions and apologies in his Westfield home in November 1971 and disappeared for 17 years. His middle son, John Jr. who was also his favorite suffered the most brutal death. He took a new identity and also joined a Lutheran church, where he met his second wife, Delores Miller. He met his first wife, Helen Morris Taylor, whose husband had been killed in action in Korea. His sixteen years old daughter and 13 years old son returned from the school at noon. Although it is a work of fiction, much of the character John Graff was borrowed from the story of the John List murders. All five victims had been shot. Inside the mansion's cavernous ballroom, the bodies of List's wife Helen, 46, and his three children Patricia, 16, John, 15, and Frederick, 13, were laid out on the floor on sleeping bags. He is most remembered for Murdered his entire family in 1971. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. 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). Dr. Steven Simring, a psychiatrist who examined List after his arrest years later, told Downtown his "sense of neatness" was the result of a compulsive personality. New Jersey prosecutors had come up with a plan. Delores kept a low profile after Johns arrest, and it is unclear what happened to her. Kentucky man stops for breakfast, wins $50,000 lottery prize. Simring said List showed "no evidence of anything that approached genuine remorse," adding, "He's a cold, cold man.". They separated in 1973 and he moved . 7-year-old baseball umpire seeks Guinness World Record. YouTubeThe bust created of John List, right, next to the real John List, left. Assistant Prosecutor Eleanor Clark strongly protested telling the jury of Helen List's syphilis during bitter legal arguments over several days. He was born John Emil List on 15 September 1925 to John Frederick List and Alma Barbara Florence List. At a border crossing to Mexico in March 1944, she said she. When authorities entered the Westfield, New Jersey house on December 7, 1971, they heard organ music piped through the intercom system. . The new lovers wed on 1 December 1951 in Baltimore, Maryland. Delores Miller (wife) is an American Homemaker. The neighbors tipped the police after a month of not seeing anyone entering or leaving the house. Joseph Vought, Ludwig "Lou" Silbermann, Jerome Kendall, George Corbett,. He was too shy and seemed disinterested in talking to even his superiors. During his years on the run, List went by the name Robert Clark. Pending. 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. He lost the bank job, and a succession of subsequent jobs. He was previously married to Delores Miller and Helen List. John Sr. shot him nine more times before dragging him into the ballroom with the rest of his family. He murdered his mother, wife and three children in November 1971, due to financial distress and other issues within the family, and fled. While there is no set timetable on when that might happen, Daly said the remains of other prison inmates have been stored for up to roughly three months by the medical examiner's office. It took Johns fingerprints to match with the military records to convince the authorities that he was John List. The note John List wrote excusing his children from school. List, who says he remains deeply religious today, acknowledges that his crimes violated one of the Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt not kill.". You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. "[36] The judge was unpersuaded: "John Emil List is without remorse and without honor," he said. List diverted money from his mother's bank accounts to avoid default on his mortgage. "It's just like D-Day, you go in, there's no stopping after you start," he said. Login 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. Helen and her three children were buried at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield. 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. Born in 1925 in a conservative Lutheran family, single child John List was a fairly shy, odd and obsessed with military books child from Michigan. John List, The Mass Murderer Who Killed His Family So Hed See Them In Heaven. List saw the children off to school and then shot her in the kitchen as she sipped her customary morning coffee. [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. His lawyer, Elijah Miller Jr., argues that knowing his wife suffered from syphilis helped drive the deeply religious man over the edge. She had a young daughter from her previous marriage. He also thought his children were steering off the godly course as his son wanted to be an actor. He first shot his wife, then his mother, waited for his children to get home, and murdered them. To avoid sharing this humiliating development with his family, List engaged in the same routine and dress as when employed, leaving home each morning on schedule and spending the day at job interviews or at the Westfield train station, reading newspapers until it was time to come home. to add information, pictures and relationships, join in discussions and get credit for your contributions. 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.". 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. After light bulbs began burning out one by one, they called the police. Liss summarized Helen List's medical reports for the jury. More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23, meticulously murdered his mother, wife and three kids. Aside from a few extra wrinkles, the bust was spot on. It was a masterful depiction of John List. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. 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. After seeing all his children off to school, John List set his plan in motion. March 2 (UPI) -- A Maryland woman scored a $100,000 prize from a scratch-off lottery ticket less than 12 hours after she scored an $11,000 jackpot at a casino.