John List (murderer)

John List
Mugshot of List, c. 2005
Born	John Emil List (1925-09-17)September 17, 1925 Bay City, Michigan, U.S.
Died	March 21, 2008(2008-03-21) (aged 82) St. Francis Medical Center, Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.
Other names	Robert Peter "Bob" Clark
Education	University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Occupation	Accountant
Criminal status	Deceased
Spouses	Helen Morris Taylor ​ ​ (m. 1951; died 1971)​ Delores Miller Clark ​ ​ (m. 1985; div. 1989)​
Children	3
Conviction(s)	First degree murder (5 counts)
Criminal penalty	Life imprisonment
Time at large	17 years, 6 months, 23 days
Details
Date	November 9, 1971
Location(s)	Westfield, New Jersey, U.S.
Target(s)	Mother, wife, three children
Killed	5
Weapons	9mm Steyr handgun .22-caliber revolver
Date apprehended	June 1, 1989

John Emil List (September 17, 1925 – March 21, 2008) was an American mass murderer^[1] and long-time fugitive. On November 9, 1971, he killed his wife, mother, and three children at their home in Westfield, New Jersey, and then disappeared. He had planned the murders so meticulously that nearly a month passed before anyone suspected that anything was amiss.

List assumed a new identity, remarried, and eluded justice for nearly 18 years. He was finally apprehended in Virginia on June 1, 1989, after the story of his murders was broadcast on the television program America's Most Wanted. After extradition to New Jersey, he was convicted on five counts of first degree murder and sentenced to five consecutive terms of life imprisonment, making him ineligible for parole for nearly 75 years.^[2]

List gave critical financial problems, as well as his perception that his family members were straying from their religious faith, as his motivations for the murders. He believed that killing them would assure their souls a place in Heaven, where he hoped to eventually join them. List died in prison in 2008 at the age of 82.