John List (mass murderer)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Emil List (born September 17, 1925 in Bay City , Michigan , † March 21, 2008 in Trenton , New Jersey ) was an American mass murderer .

He killed his entire family in 1971 and escaped conviction for almost 18 years. He was located through a feature on the crime series America's Most Wanted . After his extradition to the state of New Jersey , he was sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole for five murders .

Life

John List was born on September 17, 1925 in Bay City , Michigan , the only child of John Frederick List and Alma Maria Barbara Florence (née Hubinger). Like his father, he was a staunch Lutheran and taught as a teacher at a Sunday school . In 1943 List was appointed to the US Army and served in the infantry as a laboratory technician during World War II . He was discharged from the military in 1946 and enrolled at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor , where List received his bachelor's degree in business administration and his master's degree in accounting . He was also promoted to second lieutenant in the Reserve Officer Training Corps .

In November 1950 he was called up again in the course of the Korean War and was stationed in Fort Eustis , Virginia , among other places . There he met his future wife, Helen Morris Taylor. The wedding took place on December 1, 1951 in Baltimore , Maryland . List then moved to California , where he was employed for some time as an accountant in the US Army. After his second military service ended in 1952, the family moved to Detroit , where List worked for an accountancy firm. A little later, he moved to Kalamazoo , Michigan , where his three children were born. In 1959, List was promoted to supervisor on his job. His wife, whose first husband died in the Korean War, suffered from alcohol addiction and was mentally unstable. In 1960, List moved with his family to Rochester , New York , where he accepted a job at Xerox and was in the meantime head of accounting. Five years later, in 1965, List accepted a position as vice president of a bank in Jersey City , New Jersey, and moved his family to the Victorian mansion Breeze Knoll in Westfield , New Jersey.

The murders

On November 9, 1971, List killed his wife, children, and mother with his own gun, a 9mm semi-automatic Steyr M1912 , and his father's Colt 22 caliber revolver . While his children were at school, he shot his wife and mother in the head each . When his 16-year-old daughter Patricia and 13-year-old son Frederick came home from school, he also shot them both in the back of the head. After eating lunch, List initially went to Bank , where he both the account of his wife and disbanded his own account, then to the Westfield High School Jr. graduated from a football match, the eldest of the Lists son John. After driving his son home, List shot him in the chest and face.

List placed the bodies of his wife and children in a sleeping bag in the villa's ballroom , while leaving his mother's body in the attic. In a five-page letter to his pastor, List wrote that he saw too much calamity in this world and killed his family to protect their souls from the devil. He cleaned up the crime scene, removed his likeness from every family photo in the house, turned on the radio to a religious station, and then left the house.

The murders weren't discovered until four weeks after the crime, both because of the family's seclusion and because of several letters from List to the children's schools saying they were going to visit their grandmother in North Carolina for a few weeks . He also stopped the delivery of milk, newspapers and mail. Neighbors noticed that the light in the villa was on day and night but there was no activity, so after a while they notified the police.

The case became one of the most famous criminal cases in New Jersey since the kidnapping and murder of the Lindbergh baby . A nationally extensive search for List was ordered. The police investigated unsuccessfully in all directions. All usable photos were destroyed, the family car was parked in the parking lot at Kennedy Airport , but there was no information about a booked flight from this airport. List's mother, Alma, was buried in the Saint Lorenz Lutherian Cementary in Frankenmuth , Michigan , while his wife and children were buried in the Fairview Cementary in their hometown of Westfield, Michigan.

Search, arrest and conviction

Seventeen years after the murders, on May 21, 1989, the List case was picked up in the US crime series America's Most Wanted , which at that time had not even been broadcast on television for a year. The program showed a bust made of clay by forensic artist Frank Bender , depicting List as an older person. As it turned out later, this was very similar to List.

List was arrested by police on June 1, 1989, at work at an accountancy firm in Richmond , Virginia , after a neighbor recognized him on the show. List had already accepted a new job in Denver , Colorado , in 1972 , under the name Robert Peter "Bob" Clarke, and in 1985 married Dolores Miller. In 1988 they moved to Midlothian , Virginia. List also claimed Bob Clarke months after his arrest, even after extradition to Union County , New Jersey in late 1989, before being identified by his fingerprints on his military records and confronted with evidence from the crime scene. He admitted his true identity on February 19, 1990.

List testified in court that he faced massive financial problems in 1971. He had lost his job at the bank. To avoid a conflict with his family, List spent his time every day at the regional train station, reading the newspaper before coming home after work. He regularly withdrew money from his mother's accounts to pay off his mortgages. He was also troubled by alcohol addiction and his wife's untreated syphilis . According to a testimony, Helen List forced him into marriage by falsely claiming to be pregnant. The wedding took place in Maryland because that state does not require a blood test to obtain a wedding certificate. Although her health deteriorated, she kept this from List until 1969. Thereafter, according to his statement, her illness and alcohol addiction transformed her from "an attractive young woman to an unkempt and paranoid recluse," a ruse often denigrated in public about his sexual characteristics, which she described as bad compared to her first husband.

A court-appointed psychologist found List to have an obsessive-compulsive personality disorder and came to the conclusion that List had only two options: to accept help or to kill his entire family and send their souls to heaven. For List, accepting outside help was not a solution, as it would have exposed him and his family misery.

On April 12, 1990, List was found guilty of five murders and sentenced to life imprisonment for each act with no possibility of parole. Before the verdict was announced, he denied direct responsibility for the murders:

“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 Emil List

The judge was not impressed with List's testimony and passed the verdict on behalf of the victims.

List submitted revision against the judgment because the court a putative post-traumatic stress disorder , the list due to his military service in World War II and in the Korean War would have suffered had not considered. He also objected to the use of his letter to the pastor as evidence, as he did not consider it to be legal due to confidentiality . Both arguments were rejected by the court.

List later showed remorse for his act and wished he had never done it. He has prayed for forgiveness ever since. In a 2002 interview with Connie Chung , when she asked why he didn't commit suicide , he replied that he believed suicide would have blocked his path to heaven, where he hoped to reunite with his family.

death

John List died on March 21, 2008, aged 82, of complications from pneumonia while in prison at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton , New Jersey . In his obituary on the Newark Star Ledger , List was referred to as the "Westfield Bogeyman." He was buried next to his mother at the Saint Lorenz Lutheran Cementary in Frankenmuth , Michigan .

Arson

On August 20, 1972, Breeze Knoll, the Lists' estate, was arson . This act happened almost ten months after the List murders. So far, the perpetrator of the arson has not been identified. Two years after the fire, a new building was built on the site of the old house.

John List in popular culture

Over the years, John List and his murders provided inspiration for several films and documentaries, including the 1993 film Judgment Day: The John List Story , which was nominated for an Emmy that same year . John List is also taken up in the 1987 film The Stepfather and in the remake from 2009. The film character Keyser Söze from the film The Usual Suspects is based on List's character.

List was suspected in 1972 of being DB Cooper , a hijacker - whose identity is unknown to this day - which has to do with the timing of his sudden disappearance, as the hijacking happened two weeks later. He was questioned by the FBI after his arrest about a possible involvement in the hijacking of the plane, but denied it. Although his name is mentioned repeatedly in connection with the case, no solid evidence has been found, so that the FBI excludes him as a perpetrator.

John Walsh , the host of America's Most Wanted , sold the bust that had contributed to Lists' arrest to the now-closed National Museum of Crime & Punishment in Washington, DC

The John List case was also dealt with in the series Medical Detectives - Secrets of Forensic Medicine (episode 38: Fatal Family Ties ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mary S. Ryzuk: Thou Shalt Not Kill . Popular Library, 1990, ISBN 0-445-21043-5 , p. 101.
  2. ↑ Benford, T. Righteous Carnage: The List Murders in Westfield . Scribner (1991), pp. 120-125. ISBN 0-684-19200-4
  3. ↑ Benford 1991, pp. 126-7.
  4. ↑ Benford 1991, pp. 131-7.
  5. ↑ Benford 1991, pp. 137-9.
  6. ↑ Benford 1991, pp. 153-60.
  7. ↑ Benford and Johnson, 1991, p. 285.
  8. ↑ a b Ramsland, K: John List. Crime Library archive . Retrieved September 27, 2013.
  9. ↑ a b c d e Elizabeth McCracken: Wanted: A Killer Disappears Into Another Life , The New York Times . December 28, 2008. Retrieved May 6, 2010. 
  10. ^ Ramsland, K: John List. Crime Library . Retrieved September 26, 2013.
  11. ↑ Palm, Matthew (Writer), & Jacobson, Paul (Director). (1992). "To Save Their Souls" [Television series episode]. Wetzel, Stephanie (Producer), American Justice . Los Angeles, CA: Entertainment Studios.
  12. ↑ Notorious AMW Fugitive John List Dead at 82 (March 24, 2008). amw.com archive ( Memento from February 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved September 27, 2013.
  13. ^ John E. List, 82, Killer of 5 Family Members, Dies. The New York Times , accessed March 30, 2016.
  14. ↑ Fox, M (July 30, 2011): Frank Bender, 'Recomposer' of Faces of the Dead, Dies at 70. New York Times archive . Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  15. ↑ John List Bust Remembered as Sculptor Faces Death - John List - Zimbio
  16. ^ FBI Richmond Division History . Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved December 19, 2011.
  17. ↑ Ryzuk, pp 396-399
  18. ↑ Gross, Ken; Bonnett Sellinger, Margie; Kelley, Jack. "In Hiding for 18 Years, a Wanted Man Is Caught by the Fbi and a Tv Posse" People Magazine . June 19, 1989. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  19. ↑ Ryzuk, p.452
  20. ↑ He Just Fit Right In. Philly.com , accessed March 30, 2016.
  21. ↑ Benford 1991, pp. 125-30.
  22. ↑ The List Murders Stun Westfield In 1971 ( Memento of March 21, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) By Kathy Halverson, February 17, 2001 For The Westfield Leader and The Times. Accessed June 28, 2007
  23. ^ A b c Joseph F. Sullivan: Slaying Suspect Saw 2 Choices, Doctor Testifies , The New York Times . April 7, 1990. Retrieved May 6, 2010. 
  24. ↑ Benford 1991, pp. 130-35.
  25. ^ "I Know That What Has Been Done Is Wrong". NYTimes.com , accessed March 30, 2016.
  26. ↑ Killer of Family Gets 5 Life Terms: Court: Judge sentences accountant who murdered his mother, wife and children 18 years ago to the maximum sentence. (AP, May 11, 1990). Los Angeles Times archive . Retrieved September 9, 2014.
  27. ^ Associated Press (May 20, 1990). Judge Sentences Family Killer to Life in Prison. Los Angeles Times archive . Retrieved September 26, 2013.
  28. ^ Stout, D (March 25, 2008). John E. List, 82, Killer of 5 Family Members, Dies. NY Times archive . Retrieved September 26, 2013.
  29. ^ List and Goodrich (2006): Collateral Damage: The John List Story , p. 80.
  30. ^ A b David Stout: John E. List, 82, Killer of 5 Family Members, Dies , The New York Times . March 25, 2008. Retrieved May 6, 2010. 
  31. ↑ "The bogeyman of Westfield, a ghost story thatwill not end" by Mark Di Ionno, The Star Ledger
  32. ↑ Benford & Johnson (2000), p. 304.
  33. ^ Breeze Knoll: The John List Murder House. house-crazy.com , accessed December 29, 2015.
  34. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107285/awards
  35. ↑ Desmond Ryan: How Profitable Sequels Succeed: They Just Bring 'em Back Alive . In: Philadelphia Inquirer , December 3, 1989. Retrieved April 19, 2013. 
  36. ^ The Usual Suspects DVD commentary featuring Bryan Singer and Christopher McQuarrie , [2000]. Retrieved September 27, 2002.
  37. ↑ Catherine Coreno: DB Cooper: A Timeline . In: New York , October 22, 2007. Retrieved January 10, 2008. 
  38. ↑ Timothy B. Benford, James P. Johnson: Righteous Carnage: The List Murders in Westfield . iUniverse, Lincoln, Nebraska 2000, ISBN 0-595-00720-1 , pp. 76-77.
  39. ↑ Elizabeth McCracken: Wanted: A Killer Disappears Into Another Life , The New York Times . December 28, 2008. Retrieved September 9, 2014. 
  40. ↑ Fernsehserien.de : Medical Detectives
personal data
SURNAME List, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES List, John Emil (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American serial killer
DATE OF BIRTH September 17, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Bay City , Michigan
DATE OF DEATH March 21, 2008
Place of death Trenton , New Jersey