John Emil List was born 63 years ago in Bay City, Mich., the son of a wealthy German immigrant grocer who had married, for the second time, late in life. I guess I was thinking, well Ive started, now Ive got to finish it.. ''Bob talked about church things so often that he could get monotonous,'' Mr. Bassler said. In interviews in the last week, many new details have emerged about Mr. Clark's life over the last 20 years in Colorado and Virginia. His 84-year-old mother, Alma, who lived in an upstairs apartment in the house, received a gunshot, too. Dr. Sheldon Miller, who examined List after his arrest last year, described him Friday as a man who had already been hit by the loss of his job and then learned that his ''If he goes into a McDonald's for a hamburger, the man is going to bow his head and say grace to his God,'' the friend said. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Heleft the house everymorning,pretending to go to work when he was really whiling away time reading or sleeping in the train station. All rights reserved (About Us). His father was a devout Lutheran who also taught at a local Sunday School in Bay City. WebJohn List may refer to: John A. Spouse/Ex-: Delores Miller Clark (m. 19851989), Helen List (m. 19511971), children: Frederick List, John, Jr. They had been laid out in a neat row, head to toe, Moran said. Agree. The List murders were among the most grisly and puzzling in modern American crime because of the quiet methodical way that List killed his wife, mother, and three children in a day-long ritual of slaughter all because he was deep in debt and feared the family would break up under the burden of his financial woes. Little is known of Peggy, who stopped talking to her father in 1975 and hasnt spoken out about him since. About a year ago, he and Mrs. Clark made a $12,000 down payment on a $76,000 slate-blue single-story three-bedroom house in the planned community of Brandermill, in the southwestern suburb of Midlothian. . Oh, my! . He was a graduate of the University of Michigan. It especiallybothered him that his eldest, 16-year-oldPatricia, was interested in becoming an actress. A devout Christian. Meanwhile, back at Breeze Knoll, investigators found the bodies after neighbors summoned police because they hadnt seen anyone enter or leave the house in a month. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). Required fields are marked *. We don't know if some of them are still At the time, said Robert Wetmore, a 72-year-old retired ranch hand, Clark was working at the Holiday Inn in Golden, just west of Denver. Mr. Clark, he said, was living in a trailer park across the street from the hotel. But even if it's all true, this is still not a man with a history of murder, but a man with a murder in his history. He died in prison as a result of pneumonia. She was preceded in death by her husband, Raymond; sons, Larry, Jim granddaughter, Gayle Ballow; siblings, Joyce Clark & Mildred Miller. God would deny heaven to a suicide, but not to a mass murderer? He now says he was too ashamed to tell his wife, Helen, that hed lost his job and would go to the train station each morning, pretending to be at work. Delores Clark acknowledged at her news conference that she had dismissed the magazine article from her mind and had never shown it to her husband. Its people who in every single act of malfeasance, twist religion to some self-serving end. Out of the marriage that he despised, out of the family responsibility, out to a new life. He went on to wed again, join a new family and live in peace and anonymity for nearly two decades. The rationalization for killing them was his way of eliminating an inconvenience and his own stress. Picture in Supermarket Tabloid. He usually chose large apartment complexes where it was easy to remain anonymous. Any prospective John Lists of the new millenniumsurely could see that their problems were shared by countless homeowners around the U.S. and the world. He was also, the friend added, ''a man who obeyed the speed limit.''. Clark held several cooking jobs in the early 70s and moved frequently, Wetmore said. The neighbor, Wanda R. Flanery, may have been the first person to harbor suspicions about Mr. Clark's identity. Denver FBI agents say they received no information about the fugitive in their midst for 16 years after the grisly ballroom murders in New Jersey were discovered. "I remember talking about funerals and cremation and burials. WebTamon Pendergrass is an American celebrity, popular for being the son of renowned American singer Theodore Pendergrass. He worried that she and the rest of the family wouldnt get into heaven. However, the marriage was not very good. Sick minds only justify their inconsistent philosophy and thoughts because their logic is egocentric, and lacks logic ( logic as we normal people know it). The years at All Packaging appear to have been tranquil. He murdered his mother, wife and three children in November 1971, due to financial distress and other issues within the family, and fled. When asked about his family, ''he would make some allusion to Michigan or Minnesota,'' Mr. Bassler added. Two neighbors, Joseph and Jacqueline Stefano, told reporters that Mr. Clark had a particular interest in World War II and Hitler. On June 2, 1956 she was united in marriage to Ralph L. Miller at Gethsemane Lutheran Church. He has also appeared on television shows such as Your Worst Nightmare and American Justice. Among his favorite programs, the Stefanos said, was ''America's Most Wanted,'' which on May 21 broadcast the feature on Mr. He means it. Superior Court Judge William LE. The morning of November 7, 1971 began in a usual fashion. Moreover, his wife was a heavy drinker and she had also contracted Syphilis from her first marriage. Trivia. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. It was so methodical, so cold-blooded, Moran said. John feltthat his popular, socially active teenagers were neglecting their spiritual needs. Thats all for this post. Hopefully they would go to heaven, and then maybe I would have a chance to later confess my sins to God and get forgiveness.". Thanks much, Jean so glad youre enjoying the blog! He said he found Mr. Clark ''a little strange.'' He said, ''We were dealing with a gentleman who certainly had the academic credentials,'' but he acknowledged that no attempt was made to ascertain whether Mr. Clark had, in fact, attended the University of Michigan, as he had stated. Its not much of a swipe if its true and it IS true that Mr Ts businesses declared bankruptcy a number of times (not him personally). Dolores Sheeran is now Dolores Miller, 55, a former medical secretary and a realtor, according to her Facebook page. I guess I finally decided the only way to save them from that was to kill them.. In my 75 years of life, every overly religious person I have met, with a few exceptions, eventually show that they betray those around them in some form. ''I was afraid, just in case he was the same man,'' she said. While List wouldnt meet the legal threshold for madness, he was unquestionably deeply disturbed: mass murder as well as a later life of lies and deceit. He defended himself saying that he was not mentally stable. Delores Miller Clark (m. he met an Army PX clerk named Delores Miller and married her in 1985. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Delores never told me about Bob, said Wanda Flanery, Millers neighbor in Denver. . Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. You can ask for redemption List, but the wise person doesnt put God to the test and He just may not be too interested about being a part of your puny plan. This is little numerical difference even if reflecting a gulf in political difference. On June 1, 1989 he was arrested at a Richmond accounting firm after a Denver neighbor viewed the ''I learned not to ask people personal questions, or you get your head blown off,'' Mr. Wetmore said. The bodies of the wife and children were on sleeping bags in the ballroom, off the kitchen. Mr. Wetmore helped Mr. Clark move ''one pickup truck's worth load of stuff'' to Denver. He was apprehended 18 years later in 1989 and was sentenced to five terms of life sentence. Although he sincerely believed in heaven and that his dead family would be saved, his own survival is proof of false consciousness. He settled in New Jersey and took a job at a local bank. Bank Vice President and Sunday School Teacher. List then killed his kids one by one as they returned home from school. Authorities later revealed that John kept lying to his family about his jobs. They'll either have forgiven me or won't realize, you know, what happened," List told Downtown's Connie Chung in an interview at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, where he is serving five life sentences. After being out there that long, List says, I guess I got to the point where I thought well, maybe I wont be caught., In 1989, one of Lists Virginia neighbors recognized him on Foxs Americas Most Wanted.. For all I knew, Delores was in danger. He had planned the murders so meticulously that even after many years of the incident, the police and FBI found no trace of John. I have to say though the wife had it coming for duping him and belittling him throughout the marriage. If you see your family in heaven, what do you think they will say to you? Chung asks List. He joined a Lutheran congregation and ran a car pool for shut-in church members. The day after the killings, List scoured the house for family photographs, tearing his image out of them so police would have nothing to use in Wanted posters. '', Mr. Clark formed his own consulting firm, Robert Clark Services. '', ''He cried,'' the friend added. From New York, he had traveled overland to Denver, where he began a new life under the name Robert P. Clark, working first as a hotel fry cook and later as an accountant for H&R Block. She never showed the photo to Mr. Clark. Why hadnt he just killed himself, Chung asks? The accounts of Mr. Clark's life as a fugitive - that for instance at a job in Denver he would take his lunch hour alone in his car listening to classical music -describe someone whose mien and manner hardly suggest a capacity for savagery. List, who says he remains deeply religious today, acknowledges that his crimes violated one of the Ten Commandments: "Thou shalt not kill.". They married in 1985. This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. He believed that it was his failure as a man to be unable to provide for his family. It was my belief that if you kill yourself, you wont go to heaven, List says. John fled the house after putting all the bodies on sleeping bags, turning the house lights on and putting on some classical music. That John kept lying to his family about his family Nightmare and American Justice allusion to Michigan or,. Neighbor, Wanda R. Flanery, may have been tranquil is proof of false consciousness his popular, socially teenagers! 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