1. The Case of John Emil List
By Fabian Torres
Per. 3
Forensics – Ms. Chang

2. The Crime & The Scene
On the night of November 9th 1971 in Westfield New
Jersey, John Emil List, age 46, of Bay City,
Michigan, committed the mass murder of his family
of five.
The victims were his wife, Helen, daughter Patricia,
two sons Frederick and John Jr., and his mother,
Alma, of age 84.
After committing the crime, List wrote a confession
stating what he had done and how he prayed
before the bodies after his murder and how they
would be sent to heaven.
After the murder, List left the house and the case
was undiscovered of over a month.

3. The Man Behind The Crime
John List never seemed like the kind to commit such
an act. He was a very religious Lutheran and even
taught a Sunday school on the side.
He was educated with a bachelor's degree in
business administration and a master's degree in
accounting, two top-tier fields.
Despite the man society saw him as, List meticulously
planned out the crime months before it happened.
Overall, List was an average Joe, a strict father, and
a religious man.
List was also diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive
personality disorder by psychiatrists he had visited
while searching for financial solutions.

4. Background of The Crime
There are several motives for the crime which some
were included in the confession List wrote after the
crime;
List's wife suffered dementia, which was a hardship
on the entire family. List had also just lost his job
as an accountant and also owed $11,000 on his
mortgage and little by little was taking out money
from his mothers bank account to pay off his
debts.
Another suspected motive was his daughter,
Patricia, who showed little interest in church and
discovered she had been smoking marijuana and
studying and practicing Satanic rituals.

5. Forensic Evidence
When police found the bodies of the List family in
their home a month after the murders, they began
the manhunt for List.
Besides the confession List had left, police had no
evidence and no leads on his whereabouts. List
boomed on the media for his search and even
appeared on Americas' Most Wanted.
Some time after, List's Chevy Impala was found at
JFK airport, but there was no record of him flying
out of that airport.
After dozens of tips on List's being, nothing came to
light and was to be left in the dark for the next 18
years.

6. Legal Aspects
Almost 18 years after the murder of the List family, the case was to
remain unclosed and List was still out in the world and was
believed to still be alive. With a final attempt to capture List,
authorities hired forensic artist and sculptor Frank Bender to
create a visual image of what List might look like after almost 18
years
Using factors such as stress and age to create the present-day look
of John List, Bender created an almost identical likeness of List.
When the sculpture was shown on TV, List was living in
Richmond, Virginia. A female coworker recognized it almost
immediately and called the police.
List was using the name “Robert Peter Clark” and was working in an
accounting firm, living a brand new life.
List was arrested and convicted on five accounts of 1st-degree
murder in 1989, but died of pneumonia at the age of 82 on March
21, 2008, while in prison custody in New Jersey.

7. Work Cited
John List, Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, no
publication date available
Find A Grave, K, Memorial # 25511539 March 24 2008
Notorious Fugitive, John List, Dead at 82, AMW, FOX
Network, March 24, 2008
And the notes taken in Ms. Chang's class (: