John List

 VICTIMS: 5

John List lived in Westfield, New Jersey, with his wife, Helen Morris Taylor List, three kids, Patricia Marie, 16, John Fredrick, 15, and Fredrick Michael, 13. Also living in the house was List's annoying old mother, Alma, 85. John List was known through the town as being a very religious man. He was also a respected accountant. It just goes to show that you really never can tell what's really going on in someone's head at any given time.

So the story shall begin on November 09, 1971 in Westfield, NJ. In this loving household of these devout churchgoers something odd occurred. Everyone ended up dead and John List went missing. But maybe were getting ahead of ourselves here.

Okay, pretend you didn't know everyone was dead, because the neighbours didn't. They just knew that not one member of the List family had been seen in weeks. The lights had been on in the three story Victorian mansion non stop, so something funny was going on but, as in all close knit U.S. communities, no one bothered to do anything about it. Well not until the 7th of December when Patricia's drama teacher decided he'd had enough of not knowing what the hell was going on, and decided to pay a visit to the family. It was then that neighbors decided to act.

Thinking the house was being burgled by the snooping drama teacher, a nosy neighbor rang police (probably more worried about her own house than the List family). So when police got to the house and discovered that the guy was actually trying to find out what was going on in the house they decided to break in. And from the smell that hit them as they forced a window opened it was probably a bit late for the family.

The two officers that entered the house followed walked toward some music being played in the room affectionately called the 'Ballroom' by the List family. On there way to this room they passed through the kitchen where they had to step over piles of dirty clothes in the middle of the floor. But when one of the officers noticed what appeared like dried blood stains smeared all over the floor it became apparent that the pile of clothes was a bit more than that. It was in fact Mrs. List and her three children. Each had been shot in the back of the head, with John jr. also having a few other bullets wounds, obviously picked up by struggling with his killer. Each had their faces covered with a piece of cloth. Not sure what the hell else was in the house police kept going toward the music. In the upstairs kitchen the encountered another piece of rotten flesh. It was Alma List. She had been shot through the head, the bullet entering just above the left eye. Her head was also covered with a piece of cloth. She was apparently too fat to be dragged downstairs with the others, so the killer had left her upstairs to rot on her own.

The house had given up all of it's secrets. Almost. The cops found the last of these upstairs also. It was a note addressed - "To The Finder." It told of where certain documents could be found that would explain the scene in the house.

These 'documents' were written by John List, the missing husband. One was to his employer, telling them how they could win new clients, and finishing up a few files that List had been working on prior to his disappearance. Others were to members of List's family. In these he told of why he had done this deed. basically it came down to money. he couldn't earn enough to make his wife and children happy, so he decided that since they could be happy, they had to be dead. He claimed that they wouldn't be happy on welfare - even though it didn't seem he was in danger of losing his job. This would probably point to a bit of paranoia on List's part, a trait not too dissimilar to most mass murderers. well anyway he also had written a letter to his local priest. In it he told of how, even though it may have looked bloody, it really was quite peaceful. And he was quite sure John jr. hadn't suffered too much. He had put him out of his misery fairly quickly after the struggle. The note ended - "I got down and prayed after each one."

Apparently the case caused a huge stir in the U.S. List's face was shown all over the media, but it was all to no avail. he had vanished, and no one at all knew where too. Eventually police stopped looking, and the case file was put to one side.

But in 1989 America's Most Wanted was getting stale. They needed something to spice things up. They needed an old, vicious, unsolved murder to shock the nation. John List's name came up, and the producers agreed - Let's do it.

The show got in Frank Bender, a sculpture. He made a clay mould of John List's face, allowing for twenty years aging, and on May 21, 1989, the show was aired.

The mould cause quite a stir amongst a group of friends in Aurora, Colorado. They all spoke about the face over the next few days, remarking how much it looked like their friend Robert P. Clark, an accountant who had just moved with his wife to Midlothian, Virginia. For most it was just a bit of a laugh, but one decided to call police and tell them to check out Clark.

Police checked Clark out extensively, and on June 1, 1989 decided that it was time to see if he really was who he said he was. Robert Clark vehemently denied that he was List, even after his fingerprints were found to be an exact match to John List's. Not surprisingly police charged Clark with the five murders.

He kept up his denial until February the next year. He told his lawyer that he was John List. He then went on to tell the court that he had felt that there was no alternative to the murders. His lawyers attempted to get List off with an insanity verdict, but it didn't work.

John E. List was found guilty of all five murders, and on May 1, 1990, he was given five life sentences.
 

MY OPINION

John List was so close to getting away with it. If it weren't for the meddling TV wankers he was home free. It's a real shame that he was caught, because he seemed a decent person who felt he had to do something to protect his family, and isn't that what being a good Christian is all about? Well anyway, I did like him, despite the silly religious beliefs that he had.