In the quiet, affluent town of Westfield, New Jersey, a dark secret lay hidden within the walls of a sprawling Victorian mansion on Hillside Avenue. Here lived Helen Morris List, a 45-year-old woman, with her husband and their three children. On November 9, 1971, Helen's life was cut tragically short in a calculated and cold-blooded act carried out by her husband, John Emil List.
That morning, after their children had left for school, John shot Helen in the back of the head as she drank her morning coffee in the kitchen.
The violence did not end with Helen. John then proceeded to systematically murder his 84-year-old mother, Alma, who lived with them, and his three children, Patricia, 16, John Jr., 15, and Frederick, 13, as they returned home one by one. After carrying out the murders, John List placed the bodies of his wife and children on sleeping bags in the mansion's ballroom. He then took meticulous steps to delay the discovery of his crimes, stopping mail and newspaper deliveries and notifying the children's schools that the family would be away visiting a sick relative. He also cut his own image out of every family photograph in the house before vanishing.
For nearly a month, the shocking events that had transpired within the List home remained unknown. It wasn't until December 7, 1971, that the bodies were discovered. The subsequent investigation immediately identified John List as the sole suspect, but he had disappeared without a trace. A nationwide manhunt ensued, but for almost 18 years, List managed to elude capture. He had moved to Colorado, assumed the alias 'Robert Clark,' and even remarried, living a seemingly quiet life.
The case grew cold until 1989, when the story of the List family murders was featured on the television show 'America's Most Wanted.' A viewer in Virginia recognized the age-progressed bust of John List and alerted the authorities. On June 1, 1989, the long arm of the law finally caught up with John List, and he was arrested in Richmond, Virginia. Extradited to New Jersey, he was tried and convicted of five counts of first-degree murder in 1990. He was sentenced to five consecutive life terms in prison. John List died in prison in 2008, taking the full story of his motivations for annihilating his family with him to the grave.
