document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. He took the name Robert Clark, eventually got an accounting job, and remarried. Pictures of Breeze Knoll frighten me not only because John List murdered his family there in 1971 but also because, well, think of the electricbill. John was arrested and extradited to New Jersey. I did what I thought was best, she said. is delores miller clark still alive. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. John fled the house after putting all the bodies on sleeping bags, turning the house lights on and putting on some classical music. Delores Miller Clark (m. 198589) John Emil List (September 17, 1925 March 21, 2008) was an American mass murderer [1] and long-time fugitive. He was also, the friend added, ''a man who obeyed the speed limit.''. But he fled to Colorado, assumed a new name and remarried, managing to elude a nationwide manhunt for 18 years. I think he killed the family because his ego was such that he couldnt handle them seeing him as a failure. 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. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. Ive done heaps of research on this property and can only seem to narrow it down to early 1900s. That, though, cant be claimed to be a bad thing in itself. Death. Delores Hall is an American stage and television actress who made her Broadway debut as a replacement in the ensemble of Hair. Asked to check Mr. Clark's resume in their files, the executives found that it was gone. They attended church each week with List's mother, a strict Lutheran who lived with them. Born In: Bay City, Michigan, United States. But then his life began to crumble. After raising her children she was By then, he owned a 1974 Volkswagen and had gotten an accounting job working for a company that made cardboard boxes. They were married a month later. Mr. Clark started doing work on the side for H & R Block. The Richmond friend said that Mr. Clark told him he had an undergraduate degree in accounting and a master's degree in finance, both from Michigan, and that he was a Certified Public Accountant. Clark moved in with Miller in November, 1985. At this point, five years after the murders, Mr. Clark took the step of seeking full-time employment in his own field. List was a member of the U.S. Army during the Second World War. The man called at the insistence of his mother-in-law, who was a friend of Mr. Clark's wife, Delores, and had kept in touch with the Clarks after their move to Virginia. The Undoing 'Most Wanted,' A Favorite Program. Thanks much, Jean so glad youre enjoying the blog! The bodies of the wife and children were on sleeping bags in the ballroom, off the kitchen. He recollected that Mr. Clark wore ''things that didn't match'' and seemed to have been ''living hand to mouth, doing bookkeeping work. After cashing in his mothers savings bonds and pocketing the money, heskipped town. Indeed, Trumps rescinding the moratorium on federal execution is an example (and some need informing that he didnt impose death a judge and jury did but merely removed the block to its enaction.). This weeks postwilltake a look athow Lists predicament compares with the kind of woe that affects homeowners in the new millennium and particularly after thesubprime mortgage crisis. Episodes, photos and other information are also available at fatherwantsusdead.com. ''He would say that he'd been married before, but that his wife had a terminal illness and took years to die and that he had taken care of her. Mr. Reed put Mr. Clark in touch with Charles S. Joyner, one of the two partners in the accounting firm of Maddrea, Joyner, Kirkham & Woody in Richmond. He worried that she and the rest of the family wouldnt get into heaven. The case turned cold until18 years later, whenthen-newTV showAmericas Most Wantedcommissioned forensic artist Frank Bender to sculpt a bustthat aged List. Butin a pre-Antiques Roadshowworld, he didntthink to get an appraisal and try to sellthe glass if it really existed, that is. Following the gruesome death of his family. WebJohn List may refer to: John A. Soon after his high school graduation, he joined the United States Army during the Second World War, where he worked as a laboratory technician. All the pieties in the letter masked his real motives, both for the public and in his own mind. I dont buy the pious excuses in Lists confession letter at face value. After gruesomely murdering his entire family, John List had begun living a normal life again. He was apprehended 18 years later in 1989 and was sentenced to five terms of life sentence. Although Mr. Clark admitted nothing after his arrest, fingerprints and scars have led investigators to conclude that he and Mr. A couple of years ago I bought a supermarket tabloid that contained an article on the List murder case, she said. Way roomy. Returning home, he made several calls to explain that the family had gone to North Carolina to visit his wife's ailing mother, and that he was planning to follow by car. Long-lost ship found at the bottom of Lake Huron, confirming story of tragic collision, TikTok to set default daily time limit of 60 minutes for minors. 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. '', Although he hesitated before placing Mr. Clark in the Roberto job, ''I couldn't come up with a reason to say no,'' Mr. Oldson said. Bank Vice President and Sunday School Teacher. Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. List. He told Steve Reed, a vice president of the agency, Richmond Placements Inc., that he wanted to live and work in a more vibrant economy. Pieced together, they form a portrait of a man with a talent for deflecting attention, a quiet person who led a simple life of work, gardening, television and the Lutheran church. He snapped at me, No family! Wetmore recalled. This is little numerical difference even if reflecting a gulf in political difference. . Moran said List had told people that his wife was an alcoholic spendthrift who nagged him constantly. Required fields are marked *. Spouse/Ex-: Delores Miller Clark (m. 19851989), Helen List (m. 19511971), children: Frederick List, John, Jr. ''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. John Lists friend wrote a book where it mentions they divorced and she was living in poverty. Clark was picked up 11 days after the Most Wanted broadcast dramatized the ballroom murders. Education. He murdered his mother, wife and three children in November 1971, due to financial distress and other issues within the family, and fled. Eventually, he took a decently paying job with a paper company at Kalamazoo, Michigan, and settled there with his family. However, today we are not here to talk about the legendary singer but about his son Tamon Pendergrass. She had been previously married and had a daughter. In 1965, when List and his family moved to affluent Westfield, N.J., he seemed to be a model of suburban success and propriety. Wearing signature pigtails she opened the show, singing "Age of After finding an old 9 mm pistol he had bought as a souvenir of World War II, and a .22-caliber target pistol, he purchased new ammunition and went to a shooting range for target practice. Morrison said that by 1977, Clark had begun to find work as an accountant, List's occupation before he disappeared. In Denver, Clarks acquaintances say they find it hard to believe he is List. He was a man who would never, ever stand out in a crowd, said Carole Burton, manager of the east Denver apartment complex where Clark lived from September, 1978, until November, 1985. ''And I came in to the hotel from the mountains looking for something to do.''. He even had turned the thermostat down to 50 degrees to preserve the bodies.. Another way of characterising them might be to state that he was sick of his mad wife (who some sources say was a public embarrassment to him by getting publicaly drunk and remarking on his lack of sexual prowess, etc), was indifferent to the children, had embezzled the mothers money and needed to off her, was losing the house, and had no job. The couple had three children together, while Helens daughter Brenda left home in 1960 after her marriage. His dad used to go to the ball games. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. They say he spent much of his leisure time in church-related activities. In a letter to Mrs. Flanery, her neighbor in Aurora, in December, Mrs. Clark wrote that the apartment ''is going to rob us of everything we own.''. 'Been Through That Before'. For 18 months, Clark kept house and always had dinner waiting for his wife, Flanery recalled. But I feel when we get to heaven theyll either have forgiven me or wont realize what happened.. Anyone can read what you share. "I grew up with the idea that you should provide for your family and to do that you had to be a success in the job that you had or you're a failure, and that was not a good thing to be," he said. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. It especiallybothered him that his eldest, 16-year-oldPatricia, was interested in becoming an actress. They got married in December 1951. List finally was tripped up after nearly two decades in hiding because his new persona was made in his old image--that of a wimpy, bespectacled accountant whose life centered around the Lutheran Church. Delores Clark, right, tells reporters at a press conference on June 8, 1989 that she did not believe her husband was John List. Authorities later revealed that John kept lying to his family about his jobs. 1 spooky darelong after the house mysteriously burned down in 1972. We all made a lot of assumptions, such as the fact that he didn't have any children, since his wife had been so sick. The morning of November 7, 1971 began in a usual fashion. ''He was an introvert galore, if there is such a thing,'' Mr. Oldson said. Where was John from? If you see your family in heaven, what do you think they will say to you? Chung asks List. He waited until his wife and children arrivedhome one by one,crept up and shot them in the head at close range, and dragged their bodies into the ballroom. He took a new wife, to whom he lied about his age and personal history. Both were quiet, reserved people devoted to the Lutheran faith. He chose not tocommit suicide because he considered it a sin. Then he sat down and ate lunch at the same table where he had shot his wife hours before. Your email address will not be published. Of course, what List stated were his reasons/motives for the murders and what they really were (whether he was aware or not) could be different. The familyhad bought the house for around $50,000 in 1965. He later completed his masters degree in accounting and worked as an accountant in the military. ''Bob's job grew, but he didn't,'' Mr. Bassler said. His father was a devout Lutheran who also taught at a local Sunday School in Bay City. Join Facebook to connect with Delores Clark and others you may know. Its people who in every single act of malfeasance, twist religion to some self-serving end. They got him down in Virginia.. I just discovered this blog, and as a fellow Forensic Files fan, this intrigues me! Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. 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. RR. He later took a job as the vice president at a bank in New Jersey, where the family finally got settled. See the events in life of John List in Chronological Order, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_List_(mugshot).jpg, https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/john-list-10634.php. ''His father was Germanic, so he had an interest in things Germanic,'' the friend said. I am devoted to him.''. List died at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton four days after being taken there from the New Jersey State Prison, officials told The Associated Press. The general manager of the wholesaler, Jim Roberto, confirmed that Mr. Clark had worked for him from 1977 to 1979. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. Clark had told her that he had been married previously but that his wife had died of cancer before he came to Denver, she said. List had bachelor's and master's in business administration from the University of Michigan and was a C.P.A. ''I have been depressed over all this,'' Mrs. Clark wrote. See All About BORN October 27, 1930 DIED January 21, 2017 He and his mother were very close, Werner said. All rights reserved (About Us). Authorities are not certain just when List arrived in the Denver area, but one Denver man remembered meeting Robert P. Clark in Golden in early 1973, just over a year after the murders. Breaths will not be held, I say *largely* irrelevant because Republican and Democrat, conservative and liberal are more than tangential to some of the issues of justice that were interested in here. After that, she was always cautious around him. When Fox Broadcasting Co. aired his case last month on its Americas Most Wanted television show, more than 200 tipsters called to say they thought they recognized the former mamas boy from Bay City, Mich. Little is known of Peggy, who stopped talking to her father in 1975 and hasnt spoken out about him since. Are you? Marion Delores Clark Miller was born to Paul and Ada(Tuttle)Clark on September 25, 1937 in Moody County, South Dakota, where she was raised on several Sometimes, he added, Mr. Clark became so impassioned that sweat broke out on his brow. Internet research turned up a number of statistics that surely would have providedList with some consolation if he faced his sameproblems post-2000. ''I remember talking to him a few times about marriage, because I was having marital troubles at the time,'' Mr. Roberto recalled. He had planned the murders so meticulously that even after many years of the incident, the police and FBI found no trace of John. He went to the post office to stop the family's mail, then to the bank, where he cashed his mother's savings bonds, checking that he got the correct interest to the penny. At the time, I remember my roommate coming home and asking, Did you hear they caught John List? Shed grown up in Westfield, where kids made the List propertytheir No. As always, a great & engaging read. Then he drove to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, where he left his car as a false lead and took a bus into the city. After their divorce, several facts and allegations came up about Ivar Campbell. Taking a Course and Doing Tax. The bodies of Lists 85-year-old mother, Alma, his wife, Helen, 45, and their children, Patricia, 16, John Jr., 15, and Frederick, 13, were not discovered until the evening of Dec. 7, 1971. I believe it was 1895 or possibly 96. ''I learned not to ask people personal questions, or you get your head blown off,'' Mr. Wetmore said. That was low. As of 2018, Peggy, Dolores, and Connie are still alive. There were more problems. ''Bob talked about church things so often that he could get monotonous,'' Mr. Bassler said. ''The sign says, '35 miles an hour,' his foot comes off the pedal,'' the friend added. certificate. Hopefully they would go to heaven, and then maybe I would have a chance to later confess my sins to God and get forgiveness.". Worse still was that List, an avid churchgoer, was not immediately caught. He says he wanted to spare them the shame of losing their New Jersey mansion and to make sure they got to heaven. LOL. 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. John was convicted of five counts of first degree murder in April 1990 and was imprisoned with five terms of consecutive life imprisonment. Mr. Clark spent long days in his own small office, unadorned by decorations or memorabilia, but with classical music playing softly on a radio. He simply killed them to eliminate the problem and his own stress. A 2005 Freddie Mac-Roper poll also flagged by the FDIC concluded that more than 6 in 10 homeowners delinquent in their mortgage payments are not aware of services that mortgage lenders can offer to individuals having trouble with their mortgage., Hardly atypical. His wife wasnt a good mother. He said he found Mr. Clark ''a little strange.'' Simring said List showed "no evidence of anything that approached genuine remorse," adding, "He's a cold, cold man.". At a church singles party in 1977, Clark met Delores Miller, a 40-year-old divorcee. I guess I was thinking, well Ive started, now Ive got to finish it.. But the wife was face up (albeit with a cloth covering placed later), indicating contempt. Austin Goodrich, an ABCNEWS consultant who is writing a book with John List, contributed material for this report. His story was made into a hit TV movie starring Robert Blake and was the basis for the movie thriller The Stepfather.. About two years ago, she said, she saw a picture of Mr. I have all the books written on this case but can only put my hands on the one written by Joe Sharkey an excellent read btw! If he says, 'God bless you,' he's not just saying it. Anyway, Was there any word on what happened to his family that he started after getting remarried? 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. He stayed around the house, and ''Delores told me a couple of times that if Bob didn't go out and get a job, she'd go crazy or leave him,'' Mrs. Flanery recounted. He died in the prison hospital at the age of 82, in 2008. Born in an extremely strict Lutheran family, John was raised as a single child. Getting his hands on all of his mothers money was part of the escape plan. (Although largely irrelevant to this blog, I regard the US media as overwhelmingly anti-Trump, simply unable to acknowledge that he achieved anything positive, which he certainly, objectively, did. The years at All Packaging appear to have been tranquil. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Maybe not. 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. Mass Murderer, Overextended Homeowner The FBI says that Clark is the alias List developed when he fled to Colorado after the Nov. 9, 1971, slayings in Westfield, N.J., an affluent suburb 15 miles west of New York City. Mr. Clark moved to Richmond in February 1988. As of 2018, Peggy, Dolores, and Connie are still alive. Miller is not in business there, and there is no evidence it ever existed. It is still unclear where or how Mr. Clark spent 1972. And like Judas I gave her a kiss . Im convinced hes just pulling my chain, Gluck recalled. She said the newlyweds were a lot alike. He was vice president and comptroller of a nearby bank, and his family lived in an 18-room mansion with marble fireplaces and an elegant ballroom. His picture was also shown on television, which led one of his neighbours to notify the authorities. Flanery recalls asking Delores Clark then if she thought her husband might be John List. 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