Westfield, New Jersey, USA, 1971.
December 7, 1971
Westfield authorities checked what seemed to be an attempted robbery from the List family mansion. But what the police was about to see inside the mansion was something they didn't know would haunt them for 18 years.
THE VICTIMS
The List family seemed to live the perfect, white picket fence, apple pie life of an American family. They were reclusive, distant from neighbors. Their Sundays were spent in church, with John List being a Sunday teacher at the local Redeemer Lutheran church. The List family mansion was a 19 room Victorian mansion in Westfield, New Jersey. John List's mother, Alma List, was also living with them.
Helen List, was a mother to Patricia, Fredrick, John Jr. and wife to John List. Helen was reportedly suffering from aftereffects of syphilis from her previous husband, but despite that, the family appeared wealthy and stable to nearby acquaintances.
Patricia 'Patty' List, was a 16 year old teenager, oldest child of the List family. Patty dreamt of being an actress when she grew up, but this didn't excite her father at all. To John, this was completely improper in the eyes of God. This led John to worry even more about the rest of his family.
What if one day it'd be too late for his family members to repent and get into heaven?
THE MURDERS
It was just another morning of November 9 in Westfield, New Jersey. Patty, John Jr., and Fredrick all had school, so John took them while Helen and Alma stayed home. Normally after taking the kids to school, John would've gone to work, but what his family didn't know, was that John had lost his job for a while now. All of the times he had been at 'work' was simply spent at the train station reading newspapers, and stealing money little by little from his mother's bank account in order to pay their mortgage.
John couldn't see another way out. He didn't want to file for bankruptcy because of the shame it would put his family through - where were they supposed to live? He couldn't possibly afford the mansion now.
So, that winter day after dropping his kids off to school, John List executed his plan, and his family.
John had two handguns in his car. He had them both loaded and in his hands as he walked into his home. His wife Helen was in the kitchen having her morning coffee when John shot her from the back of the head. He then went upstairs to 3rd floor and shot his mother in bed.
He had time before his kids would come back from school. So as he waited, he made himself lunch, drove to the bank to close his accounts, went back home, and waited for Patty and Fredrick to arrive. The moment his two children arrived, he shot them both from the back of the head.
John then went to John Jr.'s school and watched him play soccer. He cheered for his son and drove him home, before shooting him multiple times in the chest area. John Jr. tried to defend himself.
The bodies were then dragged into the ballroom and put on top of sleeping bags.
John sent notes to schools, part time jobs, and delivery men, stating that the family would be visiting a family in another state as an attempt so that no body would come looking for them for at least a few weeks.
John stayed the night in his home, where the bodies of his family lay dead in the ballroom. He left the radio playing religious music and left the lights on before leaving the mansion for good.
John had cut his face out of every single picture in the house. He wrote a 5 page confession letter to the local pastor, who he believed would understand his situation and reasoning, and wrote 'to the finder' in front. The letter detailed of how each person should be buried/cremated, how each of them died, and how he was not concerned about making peace with God as he is assured because Christ died even for him.
In his letter, he confessed to the crime, although he didn't really see it as one. His defense was he was trying to save his family's souls before they could be bewitched by the evil of the world and turn away from God. He wrote it was the only way to ensure their place in heaven.
Read the full confession of John List here:
One month after the grisly murders, Ed Illiano, Patty's high school drama teacher who was rumored to have taken a liking towards her started to worry of Patty's disappearance after Patty had confessed she was worried that her father might kill her months before the murders.
Despite John List's fake note to the school stating that the family will be on vacation, Illiano still went to the List family mansion to find Patty's whereabouts. It was late at night, but all of the lights were on, doors, and windows were shut tight. Illiano had a suspicion that something bad might have happened to the family, so he tried to open the windows one by one. And one of them was unlocked.
Illiano climbed into the mansion without much thought. He was greeted by a foul smell coming from the ballroom, and he wished he had never stepped foot in there. 4 bodies lay flat on sleeping bags, and Illiano recognized one of them as Patty.
He wanted to call the police and report what he'd seen... but he realized his situation didn't benefit him at all. He broke into a house to find an underaged girl that he fancied, and ended up with 4 dead bodies. The odds of the police believing his story was slim. So Illiano went back home instead to form a plan.
2 days later, on December 7, Illiano went back to the List family mansion and faked a robbery. He made loud noises to disturb the neighbors, and his plan worked. Soon after that, authorities showed up in the mansion. Illiano claimed he was there because he was concerned for the List family's safety.
As authorities investigated further, they climbed through the same window Illiano did. They were welcomed by the same religious music playing from the radio and foul smell coming from the ballroom. Soon, they found what Illiano had found 2 days prior. 4 bodies on the ballroom floor, one body on the 3rd floor, and no trace of John List.
The List family had become victims of a mass murder.
THE INVESTIGATION
John List had left a letter for his pastor in the local Lutheran church. In the letter, John confessed to murdering his family members. Despite knowing who committed the murders, they still had to find John List.
The murders happened 1 month before the bodies were found, which meant John List had disappeared for over 1 month without a trace and there was little to no evidence on his location. The only piece of evidence the police found was John List's car parked in Kennedy International Airport, NYC, but there was no evidence that John List ever boarded a flight. The trail went cold, and John List was gone.
But not forever.
The case was still open 18 years later, with no leads. The FBI had taken over the case and called in desperate measures.
In May 1989, a Fox TV show called America's Most Wanted had recently became popular. The FBI managed to get List's case to be featured as an episode, and a sculpture made by Frank Bender, a forensic artist of what John List would look like after 18 years was shown. After the episode aired with 22 million viewers, the FBI was showered with tips.
One tip stood out. It came from a Wanda Flanery in Colorado, whose ex-neighbor, Robert 'Bob' Clark just moved to Richmond, Virginia and looked almost identical to the sculpture. Bob Clark was also an accountant and attended church frequently.
18 years after murdering his family, John List went by the name Robert 'Bob' Clark and had remarried to a woman named Delores Miller back in 1985. After the receiving the tip from Wanda Flanery, police went to speak with Delores while her husband, whom she knew as Bob Clark, was at work.
That day, John List was arrested by authorities.
THE VERDICT
John List stood with his alias Bob Clark for months before finally confessing his true identity, due to an undeniable piece of evidence - his fingerprint that matched with his own records on February, 1990.
In court, John List was claimed have suffered from OCPD (Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder) and PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) from his military service in WW2 and Korea. Court appointed psychiatrists also testified that John suffered from mid-life crisis, but all of this was no reason to kill 5 innocent people, especially family.
"I feel that because of my mental state at the time, I was unaccountable for what happened. I ask all affected by this for their forgiveness, understanding and prayer." - John List, 1990.
In April, 1990, John was convicted for first degree murder of Helen, Patricia, John Jr., Fredrick, and Alma List. He was sentenced to serve 5 life sentences consecutively.
THE AFTERMATH
When asked in an interview why John didn't kill himself after 'saving his families' so they could go to heaven, John said suicide would have prevented him from going to heaven, he hoped to be reunited with his family.
He was nicknamed 'The Boogeyman of Westfield', and children of Westfield feared walking in front of the List family mansion, which had burnt down in arson.
John List died in prison in 2008 due to pneumonia complications.
SOURCES
John List - Wikipedia
John List - allthatsinteresting
The List Family Murders - forensictales