Gallery
Warning: This gallery contains graphic images.
Subscribe to Father Wants Us Dead
1965 List family photo
John List portrait from The Star-Ledger archives
Flames billow from the windows of Breeze Knoll on Aug. 30, 1972. Photo by Nick Devlin.
Firefighters can be seen entering the front door of Breeze Knoll as the mansion burned on Aug. 30, 1972. Photo by Nick Devlin.
The bust of John List was created by forensic sculptor Frank Bender for the TV program America\'s Most Wanted.
John List\'s first mug shot taken in New Jersey, when he was booked in the Union County Jail June 30, 1989.
Patty, John F. and Freddy List. (AP Photo)
Attorney David Baugh with Delores Clark, John List's unsuspecting second wife, at a press conference June 8, 1989.
Friends of Patty List carry her coffin Dec. 11, 1971 (Star-Ledger file photo)
List placed bloodied towels in a paper bag, which leaked blood across the pantry floor.
A sleeping bag and blood trail in the ballroom doorway.
John List left the guns and ammunition in a desk drawer labeled "guns and ammo"
List mailed the keys to the house and desk back to the mansion.
List left notes on his desk addressed "to the finder" and instructing where the guns and letters could be found.
List left notes on the filing cabinets to direct "the finder" to the contents.
The List mansion main hall, with a stairway to second and third floors.
In the mansion's main hall, blood stains are seen on the carpet
The children entered through the laundry room, where List left bloodied mops in the sink.
The middle child, John Frederick List, left his bag and two books on the counter before he was killed.
The children entered through the laundry room, where List left bloodied mops in the sink.
The List kitchen, where several of the murders took place.
Police went through the Lists' kitchen, tearing apart the trash to look for clues.
A view of the List kitchen, including the table where Helen List was shot, and into the laundry room
A view of the List kitchen and into the laundry room, at left, where the kids entered
In the List kitchen, bullet holes are seen in the cabinet, and blood trickles on the pantry floor
Police found bullet holes, shell casings and blood on the floor that List didn't clean up.
Police went through the Lists' kitchen, tearing apart the trash to look for clues.
List left bags of trash - including bloodied paper towels - in the pantry
Police photographed Alma List's body, in the storeroom off of her kitchen on the third floor.
Items in the storage room in Alma List's third-floor apartment
The side porch where cops entered through a window.
The southwest corner of Breeze Knoll
Police photographed the List ballroom after the bodies and sleeping bags were removed.
Blood stains are visible on the floor of the ballroom after the bodies and sleeping bags were removed.
Blood stains show how List dragged the body of John Jr., still in his coat and gloves, into the ballroom.
A police photo of the bodies as they were discovered in the ballroom Dec. 7, 1971.
John List covered the faces of Helen and John Jr. with towels after leaving them in the ballroom.
A view of the List ballroom, with the fireplace at right.
In the List ballroom, Patty List's guitar was left on a desk.
Police photographed the bloodied sleeping bags in the ballroom.
The view into the ballroom, where the bodies were left, from the living room.
A police sketch of how the bodies were found in the ballroom.
A police sketch of how Alma List's body was found in the storeroom of her apartment.
In the mansion's main hall, blood stains are seen on the carpet.
In the mansion's main hall, blood trails are seen on the carpet
Police photographed the fish tank in the List home.
Police photographed the dead fish in a tank in the List home.
Blood smears are seen on a door frame in the List mansion.
The back door where the children entered the house.
Women's clothes are seen draped over a chair.
In what is presumably one of the children's bedrooms, there was a desk and sports posters.
Police photographed each bedroom in Breeze Knoll.
Police photographed each bedroom in Breeze Knoll.
Police photographed each bedroom in Breeze Knoll.
Police photographed each bedroom in Breeze Knoll.
Breeze Knoll, front door
Breeze Knoll, front of house
Breeze Knoll, rear of house, ballroom on right
Breeze Knoll, northeast side of house
Breeze Knoll, back door where victims entered
Breeze Knoll, southwest side of house, ballroom at left
The second and third floor of the mansion is silhouetted by flames on Aug. 30, 1972. Photo by Nick Devlin.
Flames highlight the front doorway of Breeze Knoll on Aug. 30, 1972. Photo by Nick Devlin.
Two onlookers stand in the foreground watching as Breeze Knoll mansion burns on Aug. 30, 1972. Photo by Nick Devlin.
Flames billow from the roof and windows of Breeze Knoll on Aug. 30, 1972. Photo by Nick Devlin.
Firefighters spray water onto the rear of the mansion, with the ballroom at right, on Aug. 30, 1972. Photo by Nick Devlin.
Fire is seen leaping from the ballroom skylight at Breeze Knoll on Aug. 30, 1972. Photo by Nick Devlin.
Flames billow from the windows of Breeze Knoll on Aug. 30, 1972. Photo by Nick Devlin.
The rear of the mansion, with the ballroom at right, on Aug. 30, 1972. Photo by Nick Devlin.
John List, while maintaining he is Robert P. Clark, is escorted to a plane by New Jersey sheriff officials at the Richmond Airport in June 1989. (AP photo - Steve Helber)
John List, while maintaining he is Robert P. Clark, is escorted to Federal Court in Richmond, Virginia on June 8, 1989 for a hearing. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
John Walsh poses for a photo in the studio of \"America\'s Most Wanted\" in this 1988 photo. (Yann Gamblin/Paris Match via Getty Images)
Forensic sculptor Frank Bender in his Philadelphia studio, with the bust he made of John List, on February 18, 1994.
Wanda Flanery, right, with her daughter, Eva Mitchell, in 1989. Flanery lived next door to John List, who was going by Robert Clark, and his second wife, Delores Clark, in Aurora, Colorado from 1985 to 1988.
John List, going by the name Robert Clark, rented a room in this house in Richmond, Virginia from S. Wallace Parsons, until he and Delores Clark moved into their new home. (Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
A photo from 1989 of the home John List shared with his unsuspecting second wife, Delores Clark, in Midlothian, Virginia. PHOTO BY MARK ABRAHAM SL
John List's old home in Midlothian Virginia. (Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
Using his alias, Robert P. Clark, John List sent this letter to Wallace Parsons, his landlord and then friend when he first moved to Richmond. (Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
A letter List sent from prison to his friend Wally Parsons in 1996, provided by Parson's family. Rebecca Everett for NJ.com
The reporters look over a letter provided to them that John List sent to an old friend in Virginia in 1996
A wanted poster for John List (Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
Reporter Jessica Remo holds John List\'s old jail ID, which he sent to an old friend in Virginia. Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
John List\'s identification card from the Union County Jail, where he was first held when transported to New Jersey to stand trial. Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Assistant Prosecutor Brian Gillet, who prosecuted John List, looks through his files about List. Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media
Bernard Tracy, who investigated the List case, during an interview May 3, 2021. (Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
Patty List's Friend Edward Saridaki Jr. on his porch in Scotch Plains. Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Chris Day, who dated Patty List in 1971, photographed during an interview June 21, 2021. (Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
Chris Day, who dated Patricia List in 1971, speaks with reporter Rebecca Everett June 21, 2021. (Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
Chris Day, who dated Patty List in 1971, keeps as a memento a signed playbill from "Li'l Abner," a musical they were both in. (Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
Chris Day points to where Patty List signed "Love, Pat" on a playbill from "Li'l Abner," a musical they were both in. (Michael Mancuso | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
David P. Baugh, who represented List briefly, at his home in Virginia. Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The former accounting office in Richmond Virgina where John List was employed. Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Forensic psychiatrist Steven Simring analyzed John List after interviewing him for hours. (Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
Jeffrey Paul Hummel, who investigated John List, poses with the wanted poster. (Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
Jerome Kendall of Virginia befriended John List. Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
William Wertheimer presided over the List trial. Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Gabe Gluck covered the List case for the Star-Ledger. Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The Star-Ledger article that ran on the 15th anniversary of the killings.
Kevin August, one of the FBI agents who arrested John List, photographed in 1971 by Mark Abraham for The Star-Ledger.
Tributes are seen on the List headstone in Fairview Cemetery while deer graze nearby. Rebecca Everett for NJ.com
The headstone where Alma List was buried with relatives in Frankenmuth, Michigan. Photo by Darcy Nickless Berry.
John List and Alma List are pictured with Patty, as a baby, in Michigan.
Pictured left to right on the night they met at a bowling alley in 1951, Helen Taylor (the future Mrs. List), Jean Syfert and John List. (From "Collateral Damage" by John List and Austin Goodrich)
John and Alma List pose for a photo after his service in WWII.
John List in the 1943 Bay City Central High School yearbook. Cole Waterman | MLive.com
Left to right, John, Patty, Helen, John Jr. and Fred List pose for a portrait in Westfield. (AP Photo)
John and Alma List at the home he grew up in in Bay City, Michigan.
From left to right, school photos of Patty, John Jr. and Fred List.
Five hearses lined up at the List funeral in Westfield Dec 11, 1971. Star-Ledger File Photo
Eva Morris, mother of Helen List, at John List family funeral in Westfield Dec 11, 1971. Margaret Mary Grieve | The Star-Ledger SL
Gene and Jean Syfert of Oklahoma, the brother-in-law and sister of Helen List, at the funeral. Photo by Margaret Mary Grieve
Friends of Patty List, including Chris Day, 2nd from left in the dark suit, carry her casket. (Keith Torrie via Getty Images)
Funeral of John List's family, in Westfield Dec. 11, 1971. Star-Ledger File Photo
Funeral of John List's family, in Westfield Dec. 11, 1971. Star-Ledger File Photo
Westfield police look at the car of John List, found at Kennedy Airport on Dec. 9, 1971. Tom Herde photo
List's car is seen at the Westfield Police Station after being discovered Dec 9 1971. (file photo)
A wanted poster for John List, provided by the FBI.
The Star-Ledger's front page after the bodies were discovered.
Star-Ledger reporters chased the story in the days after the bodies were discovered Dec. 7, 1971.
John List listens at a hearing in 1995 at the Union County Courthouse in Elizabeth, where he tried unsuccessfully to get a new trial. (Wally Hennig/The Star-Ledger)
Police composite sketch of John List. Andre Malok | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
John List\'s final prison photo before his death in 2008, from the Department of Corrections.
The List mansion, Breeze Knoll, after the bodies were discovered in 1971.
John List\'s mug shot taken at the Union County Jail.
John List reads his poetry in 1991, during a group for prison veterans at New Jersey State Prison. (Michael Mancuso For NJ Advance Media)
Home of the John List family in Westfield at 431 Hillside Avenue where 5 in the family were murdered 12/8/71. Tom Herde | The Star-Ledger
Contact Us
Use the form below to reach us with any questions or feedback.
Subscribe to Father Wants Us Dead