John List

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John List bigraphy, stories - Criminals

John List : biography

September 17, 1925 – March 21, 2008

John Emil List (September 17, 1925 – March 21, 2008) was an American fugitive convicted of murder. On November 9, 1971, he killed his wife, mother, and three children in their home in Westfield, New Jersey, and then disappeared. He had planned the murders so meticulously that nearly a month passed before anyone noticed that anything was amiss. A fugitive from justice for nearly 18 years, List, after assuming a false identity and remarrying, was finally apprehended on June 1, 1989, after the story of his murders was broadcast on America’s Most Wanted. List was found guilty of the murders and sentenced to five consecutive terms of life imprisonment. He died of pneumonia while in prison custody in 2008.

Arrest and trial

List was arrested on June 1, 1989, nearly 18 years after killing his family. At the time he was employed by a Richmond, Virginia accounting firm where he worked while living under the fictitious name Robert "Bob" Peter Clark. List had chosen the name because it had belonged to one of his college classmates, who later stated that he had never known List. List had lived in Denver, Colorado and Midlothian, Virginia before his arrest, having remarried and resumed working as an accountant. Upon viewing the broadcast, a friend of the Clarks recognized the subject of the profile as a neighbor and contacted the authorities. FBI agents arrested List at the office where he worked after visiting his home and speaking with his current wife, Delores.Ryzuk, pp.396-399

List was extradited to New Jersey as Robert Clark and sent to the Union County, New Jersey jail to await trial. He continued to stand by his alias despite overwhelming evidence – including his fingerprints at the crime scene – of both his true identity and his guilt.

List made his first admission of his identity to a fellow inmate while he was still in the Union County Jail. During a casual discussion List made reference to his military service during World War II, and the inmate said to List (using his alias), "Bob, that might be just what you need to prove that you’re not John List. They took your fingerprints when you joined the military, didn’t they?"

List hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head and mumbled, "Yes, they did." He then excused himself, saying that he was tired and needed a nap. The next day, List said, "Richard, my name is John List, not Bob Clark." List thereafter corrected any inmate or staff member who called him "Bob" or "Mr. Clark."

List would not admit his true identity to the court until February 16, 1990, eight months and fifteen days after his capture.Ryzuk, p.452

On April 12, 1990, List was convicted in a New Jersey court of five counts of first-degree murder. On May 1, he was sentenced to five consecutive terms of life imprisonment. List would express remorse for his crimes, stating, "I wish I had never done what I did. I’ve regretted my action and prayed for forgiveness ever since."List and Goodrich (2006): Collateral Damage: The John List Story, p. 80. In a 2002 interview with Connie Chung, when asked why he had not taken his own life, he said he believed that suicide would have barred him from Heaven, where he hoped to be reunited with his family.

Motive

List was in the midst of a financial crisis at the time of the murders. Having lost his job as an accountant, he hid his unemployment from his family by sitting at the local bus station each day. He owed $11,000 on his mortgage and was skimming from his mother’s bank accounts. He was also dealing with his wife’s tertiary syphilis, contracted from her first husband and concealed from List for 18 years, which had "transformed her from an attractive young woman to an unkempt and paranoid recluse," according to testimony. By Kathy Halverson, February 17, 2001 For The Westfield Leader and The Times. Accessed June 28, 2007

A court-appointed psychiatrist testified that List, who carried a diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, saw only two solutions to his problems: accept welfare, or kill his family and send their souls to heaven. Welfare was an unacceptable option, he reasoned, because it would expose the family to ridicule and violate his authoritarian father’s teachings regarding the care and protection of family members.