He killed the children when they came back from school. Earlier, he also murdered his wife and mother. Then he disappeared for 18 years

This crime shocked America. John List, who was considered an extremely pious person, shot his entire family in cold blood. The first victim was the wife, then the mother. Then he waited until his daughter and younger son returned from school to kill them too. Afterwards, he ate lunch and went to watch his eldest son play. When they returned to the impressive mansion, he also killed him. He placed the bodies of his wife and children in sleeping bags, and hid the mothers in the attic.

He murdered the entire family. Then he covered up all traces

Afterwards, the man cleaned the crime scene and erased all traces of himself, including removing himself from all photos together. It was as if he wasn’t there. He left only a five-page letter to a Lutheran pastor, in which he confessed that he had seen so much evil in the world that he decided to protect the souls of his loved ones from it. He was afraid for them because, in his opinion, they were turning their backs on him. In addition, he admitted that they were struggling with financial problems. Afterwards, he disappeared.

For a month, no one noticed. The murderer sank into the ground

List planned the crime so carefully that it took a month for suspicions to arise that something was wrong. He sent information to his children’s schools and his wife’s work that they would be gone for a few weeks. Since the family avoided social gatherings anyway, initially no one was interested in the deserted mansion where the lights were on 24 hours a day. It was only in December that neighbors called the police, who made a gruesome discovery. The search for the man began, but he seemed to have disappeared into the ground.

He was caught after 18 years. It’s all because of a TV show

18 years later, a program devoted to it appeared on television. It showed a bust with List’s image immortalized in it. Shortly afterwards, one of the neighbors recognized him and he was arrested by the police. It turned out that during this time he had rearranged his life. He assumed a false identity, found a job, found love, and went to church all the time. He was arrested on June 1, 1989.

During the trial, he confessed that his difficult financial situation drove him to commit the crime. In addition, he struggled with his wife’s alcoholism and her deteriorating health due to syphilis, which her first husband infected her with, which List learned about years later. The man was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. He also saw the world only in black and white. He believed he had a choice: apply for benefits or kill his family to protect them from ridicule. He chose the second option. On April 12, 1990, he was sentenced to five terms of life imprisonment. He died in prison at the age of 82 from complications of pneumonia. Several films and series have been made based on his story.