John List: How Was the Mass Murderer Caught?
Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder and assault. Reader discretion is advised.
John List killed five of his family members, including his 84-year-old mother, Alma, his wife, Helen, and his three children, Patricia, John, and Frederick, on November 9, 1971, in the family’s 19-room mansion in Westfield, New Jersey. The bodies were only discovered a month later, and by then List was nowhere to be seen. He left a letter at the crime scene, which made it clear that he had committed the murders.
The accountant and Sunday school teacher fled to Colorado and started a new life there. He reportedly remarried and changed his name to avoid any suspicions. But in 1988, America’s Most Wanted, a true-crime show, displayed the photo of John List and asked for information about any person who looked like him. A neighbor of List’s in Colorado recognized the photo and reported him to the police. John List was finally caught, ABC News reported.
On November 9, 1971, John List sent his children to school as usual and took two handguns from his garage. According to People magazine, killed his wife who he was married to for 20 years, in the kitchen and dragged her body into the ballroom. He also killed his mother who had been staying on the third floor of the mansion by shooting. When the children returned, he shot them too. He laid the children’s bodies next to his wife’s in the ballroom.
According to ABC News, John List murdered his family as he was going broke and feared that his children would have to live through poverty. He reportedly believed that poverty would tear his family apart and they would begin to steer away from faith. List was a strong believer and his mother, Alma was a strict Lutheran.
How long was John List on the run?
John List was on the run for 18 long years and managed to evade a nationwide manhunt by starting a completely different life in Colorado. He escaped right after the murders and managed not to get caught by making sure the murders weren’t discovered immediately. Even though a note left by the bodies made it apparent that List killed his family, there was no trace of him left behind by that time.
The main reason why the murders weren’t discovered initially was because List had written to the children’s school and informed them that they would be away for a while as they had to visit an ailing relative. He also stopped the milk, mail, and newspaper deliveries in the days preceding the murders, according to the History Channel. He then left the murder weapon by the crime scene. Nine months after the murders, the family mansion reportedly got destroyed in a fire. The case remained unsolved for years to come.
When he was finally caught and convicted, John List was sentenced to five consecutive prison terms. He expressed that he was afraid his children would have to face the shame of losing their New Jersey. List claimed he was eager to join his family in heaven. He was a famous symbol of wealth and success in his Westfield neighborhood.
In 2008, the New York Times reported that John List died of complications caused by pneumonia. He was serving time at the New Jersey State Prison when he was shifted to the St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton where he died.
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