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. What did Disney actually lose from its Florida battle with DeSantis? 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. 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. He later completed his masters degree in accounting and worked as an accountant in the military. The bust created of John List, right, next to the real John List, left. He worked as an accountant, bringing a stable income back to his Victorian mansion; home to himself, his wife, three children and his mother. 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. [46] Played by Joe Mantello, much of John Graff's story was identical such as his being an accountant, attending a Lutheran church, and murdering his family members and live-in mother, along with leaving music playing in the house and planning an alibi that would cause the bodies to remain undiscovered for several weeks. He was sentenced to five consecutive life prison terms. 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. John Sr. drove over to his school and watched him playing in a soccer game. Helen and her three children were buried at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield. The new lovers wed on 1 December 1951 in Baltimore, Maryland. 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. 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. [11], Breeze Knoll remained empty until it was destroyed by fire in August 1972, nine months after the murders. Born in an extremely strict Lutheran family, John was raised as a single child. Kentucky man stops for breakfast, wins $50,000 lottery prize. The morning of November 7, 1971 began in a usual fashion. 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. 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. He defended himself saying that he was not mentally stable. A nationwide manhunt was launched. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Upstairs, the body of List's 84-year-old mother Alma was found. When authorities entered the Westfield, New Jersey house on December 7, 1971, they heard organ music piped through the intercom system. One night after dinner, he even asked his family what should be done with their bodies after they died. This is not the man I know. 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. [16], List eventually expressed a degree of remorse for his crimes. When his daughter and youngest son came home, he shot them in the back of the head. 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. . The List house burned down several months after the List family bodies were discovered there. He killed them to save their souls so they would go to heaven. BAY CITY, MI Before killing his mother, wife, and three teenage children in his 19-room New Jersey mansion, John E. List began life in Bay City. Expert psychologists believed rather that List was going through a mid-life crisis and as the prosecution pointed out, that was no excuse for killing five innocent people. List left a confession letter at the scene, so police had little doubt as to who was responsible for the killings. John List and his family were the definition of the American Dream in 1965; they seemed to have it all. The army discharged him in 1946, after which he joined the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Copyright 2023 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The episode, "Murder House", premiered on November 18, 2015. I was shocked to hear about Bobs arrest and what he is charged with, the statement said. [11][12], List placed the bodies of his wife and children on sleeping bags in the mansion's ballroom. Following the end of the war, he resumed his studies and enrolled into the University of Michigan, from where he completed his bachelors degree in business administration. In 1971, John List lost his job at the bank at age 46. 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. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. List and his family were the embodiment of the American dream in 1965. After driving John Frederick home, List shot him repeatedly because, as misfire evidence showed, his son attempted to defend himself. Then he sat down and wrote a confession letter to his pastor explaining his financial problems. [42] In 2015, the story was covered in the season 2, episode 2 of the Investigation Discovery TV series Your Worst Nightmare. Then, he went to the bank to close his accounts and cash his mother's savings bonds. He settled in New Jersey and took a job at a local bank. March 2 (UPI) -- A Florida woman earned a Guinness World Record when she completed 23 ultra-marathon runs -- 31.1 miles -- in a 23-day period. Florida woman runs ultra-marathon distances for 23 consecutive days. Soon after his high school graduation, he joined the United States Army during the Second World War, where he worked as a laboratory technician. However, he was not ready to disclose his incompetency to his family yet and hence, he left the house every morning, sat on the railway station and read books and newspapers all day. They attended church each week with List's mother, a strict Lutheran who lived with them. He placed the bodies of his wife and . Bender gave him a hawk nose, grizzled eyebrows, and horn-rimmed glasses. When they entered the house, music was still playing on the intercom, but List was long gone. Born In: Bay City, Michigan, United States. Although it is a work of fiction, much of the character John Graff was borrowed from the story of the John List murders. 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. But back in Denver, his former neighbors did recognize him, and called police. 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In February 1988, the couple moved to a house in the Brandermill neighborhood of Midlothian, Virginia, where List, still using the name Bob Clark, resumed work as an accountant at a small accounting firm, Maddrea, Joyner, Kirkham & Woody. During that time, he was associated romantically with a number of celebrities, including a nine-year affair with actress Merle Oberon. It was a masterful depiction of John List. The day after the killings, List scoured the house for family photographs, tearing his image out of them so police would have nothing to use in Wanted posters. John was arrested and extradited to New Jersey. With his first wife, John Frederick had had a son, William George, who happened to be the same . Officers entered through an unlocked window leading to the basement and discovered the family's bodies. Feb. 20, 2002 -- Thirty years ago, accountant John List methodically murdered his whole family his mother, his wife, and their three children. He said they were going to North Carolina to visit an ailing relative. John List is a revolutionary experimenter whose unique methods and ideas have changed how the field of economics functions. John List with his wife and three children. He worked hard as an accountant at a nearby bank to provide for his family. "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." YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. He later moved to California, and then Detroit, where he worked as an accountant in a local firm. ', Suspected burglar inside New Brunswick home was a panicked deer. "[36] The judge was unpersuaded: "John Emil List is without remorse and without honor," he said. Of the more than 200 tips from viewers that the FBI received from the program, one said a man resembling. Net Worth in 2022. Alongside his close friend and colleague Steven Levitt, List has committed to studying the way people behave in the real world, instead of understanding economics as a theory-based field. John Emil List, a.k.a. [15][16], In 1971, as the FBI later discovered, List had traveled by train from New Jersey to Michigan and then to Colorado. She is famous for Second wife of murderer John list. He feared his family, confronted with a world full of evil and poverty, would turn from God; this was the only way to ensure their safe arrival in heaven. The arrest followed Foxs Americas Most Wanted, featuring a sculpted clay bust of Johns age-progressed face. John enlisted in the United States Army in 1943 and was a laboratory technician during World War II. Login Oct 9, 2018. 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. He had been fired from all his jobs due to his cold demeanor and his inability to be social with his co-workers. He waited for Helen to come down for her morning coffee. He joined a Lutheran congregation and ran a car pool for shut-in church members. Assistant Prosecutor Eleanor Clark strongly protested telling the jury of Helen List's syphilis during bitter legal arguments over several days. John List (murderer) (1925-2008), American mass murderer. A seemingly admirable and usual American man, John List and his family lived happily in New Jersey. A South Carolina jury has found once-prominent attorney Alex Murdaugh guilty on all counts in the deaths of his wife and son. John had a very normal childhood and he did not show any signs of psychological troubles. John List may refer to: John A. Helen lived with her daughter Brenda near Fort Eustis in Virginia, where John served. Liss summarized Helen List's medical reports for the jury. Help us build our profile of John List (murderer) and Delores Miller (wife)! The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Then he sat down and ate lunch at the same table where he had shot his wife hours before. Moreover, his wife was a heavy drinker and she had also contracted Syphilis from her first marriage. John and Helen had three daughters when he worked as an audit supervisor at a paper company in Kalamazoo. [44], In 2022, NJ Advance Media released "Father Wants Us Dead," a podcast serial on the events.[45]. He grew up as an only child with strict German parents, he had an overly protective and domineering mother (sort of like Norman Bates). Overdue book returned to Massachusetts library after 56 years. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. All rights reserved (About Us). [6] In 1960, his stepdaughter Brenda married and left the household, and List moved with the remainder of his family to Rochester, New York, to take a job with Xerox. Financial troubles combined with his discontentment with his family over many issues caused severe depression to John, who then decided to take a drastic step to end everything once and for all.

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