In 1965, in New Jersey stood a beautiful mansion. It had nineteen rooms, including a ballroom. Many rooms contained beautiful marble fireplaces. The house was a stunning example of the all-American dream. That was until 1971 when the father of the house, John List, committed mass murder and disappeared for eighteen years.

John List

List was born on 17th September 1925 in Bay City, Michigan. He was the only child of German parents. The family were devoted Lutherans going to church regularly. List was educated at Sunday school.

When his father died, List enrolled in the army, reaching the rank of Second Lieutenant. He served in both the Second World War and Korea.

Attending the University of Michigan after leaving the army, he gained a Master's degree in accountancy.

In 1951, he met and married Helen; the couple quickly went on to have two children, a third would follow later. List started his accountancy career with great success; soon, they were able to buy the mansion in New Jersey.

Everything in the List family looked perfect until John List encountered some tough times.

The Luck Runs Out

In 1971, at forty-six, List lost his job at the bank. He tried desperately to get another job but was constantly turned down. Finally, not wanting to admit to his family or friends he was unemployed, he started spending the day at the train station reading the newspaper.

To pay for the house, he had one choice, to steal money from his mother's bank account to pay the mortgage. His mother lived with him in an apartment on the mansion's third floor.

List was a proud man who thought he had a reputation to uphold, so he would never consider state welfare. Instead, he decided that he had only one option left to him. He would kill his family.

Mass Murder

In late 1971, List went around and methodically shot his family one by one. He used a .22 calibre Colt Revolver and 1918 German Steyr automatic handgun.

The first to be shot was his wife, Helen. After seeing the children off to school, she was enjoying her morning coffee when List entered and shot her through the head.

His next victim would be his eighty-five-year-old mother, Alma. She was in her apartment when List entered and shot her. Due to her size, List could not move her downstairs to be with the rest of the family when he posed them after death.

At sixteen, Patricia, his eldest daughter, came home early because she felt unwell. As soon as she entered the house, List shot her. He then laid her out with her mother in the ballroom in a sleeping bag before going out to collect his son.

Their youngest son, Frederick, had finished his after-school job; when his father picked him up, he took him back to the house and shot him as he entered. Last was his eldest son, John; this would be the most challenging killing.

Evidence suggests that on entering the property, John surprised his father and a fight ensued. The pair struggled, but unfortunately, List senior won, shooting his son ten times in a fit of rage.

Fugitive

After killing all his family, he laid them out in the ballroom. He then wrote a letter to his Pastor explaining what he had done, leaving a copy with the bodies.

List then cleaned the crime scenes and removed his face from the family's photos with a pair of scissors. Next, he cancelled all deliveries and rang his children's school to say they were going on vacation. He then went to sleep in the house.

The following day, he turned on the lights and radio and left the mansion, not to be seen for eighteen years.

List would later claim the only reason he did not kill himself was that suicide was a sin and he wanted to see his family again in heaven. However, the level he went to so that the bodies would not be found contradicts this.

He was not a distraught father in the middle of a crisis; he was a cold killer covering his tracks to start a new life.

The Family are Discovered

Over the next month, friends and family would question the family's sudden vacation. Neighbours would also become suspicious of the house, seeing no movement but constant noise.

On 7th December 1971, authorities entered the house and made the horrendous discovery of the bodies and the note. List became their number one suspect.

Later the FBI found List's car at the Kennedy International Airport. Suggestions were made that List may have been the true identity of DB Cooper, who jumped from a plane with a fortune. The incident happened three weeks after List disappeared.

After this, the trail would go cold for List for eighteen years, but the authorities never gave up hope of capturing this mass killer.

Eighteen Years Later

In 1989, Frank Bender was hired by the FBI to make a physical bust of how they expected List to now look. In addition, psychologists surmised that List would wear glasses similar to those he wore as a child to help remind him of better times. Both predictions turned out to be very accurate.

On 21st May 1989, the case was shown on America's Most Wanted. The show was watched by twenty-two million; the tips came flooding in.

One of the tips came from a woman in Richmond, Virginia, who stated that her neighbour resembled the bust. She also said that he was an accountant and regular churchgoer named Robert Clark.

The police went to speak to Mrs Clark, Robert's wife. It was apparent they had their man. List was arrested on 1st June 1989.

Having run from his family home in 1971, List had changed his name to Clark moving first to Colorado and then onto Richmond.

Justice at Last

In 1990, List went on trial for the destruction of his family. His defence argued that he had PTSD due to his war record, which had caused him to kill. However, the prosecution quickly countered that even with PTSD, it was not considered an excuse for mass murder.

The jury found him guilty; the judge sentenced him to five life sentences in the New Jersey prison. List died in that prison in 2008, aged eighty-two.

He continued to claim that he did not kill himself as suicide is considered evil and those who did it were not welcome in heaven. Instead, he wanted to ensure that he would be reunited with his wife and three children in the afterlife.

Strangely the List mansion burned down a few months after the murder. However, authorities could not establish the cause of the fire.

John List always vehemently denied that he was DB Cooper; the authorities continue the search for Cooper's identity.

Sources: Murderpedia / Criminal Minds / All That's Interesting