Table Of Content
"The Watcher" takes place within the home on 657 Boulevard. But in reality, the Broaddus family never moved into the $1.4 million home, which they eventually rented out and sold in 2019 for $959,000. List played organ music on the house's PA system, arranged the bodies in neat rows and fled. The bodies weren't found for another month; List himself was only caught 18 years later, when a television special popularized the case. He had started a new life in Virginia, unbeknownst to his new wife.
John List: Westfield NJ family murders retrospective - My Central Jersey
John List: Westfield NJ family murders retrospective.
Posted: Wed, 12 Apr 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
John List was sentenced to life in prison
In an effort to baffle the police, he cleaned the crime scene and used scissors to remove his face from every photo in the mansion. John List laid the bodies of his family members on top of sleeping bags in the ballroom and then composed a note to his pastor, who he felt would understand his actions. He feared his family, confronted with a world full of evil and poverty, would turn from God. Killing them was the only way to secure their spot in Heaven. List and his family were the embodiment of the American dream in the early 1970s. They attended church every Sunday as devout Lutherans, and List even taught Sunday school.
Frederick List: The fourth victim
This was not to slow decay, he later explained, but to conserve fuel oil and fend off freezing issues with the pipes (via NJ.com). While this may have had an emotional aspect, it was practical, too. In an age before digital pictures and smartphones, this lack of pictures would make it all the harder for police to put out an alert for the fugitive List. Though List would later claim that he threw himself upon the mercy of God, he clearly wasn't willing to stand by and let that happen right away. While stationed in Virginia in 1951, John met Helen Taylor.
NewsNation
List moved to Virginia and remarried, caught only after an episode of “America’s Most Wanted” aired with a bust of what prosecutors believed List would look like now. The List case is one of the most famous examples of family annihilation murders. He first shot his mother, then killed his wife, then killed his children one by one as they came home. No, it's not the house terrorized by the "Westfield Watcher," a creepy stalker sending letters to the new owners of a $1.3 million home. The show's massacre scene is also very similar to real events; List fatally shot his wife, Helen, and mother, Alma, first, waiting for Patricia and his 13-year-old Frederick to come home from school before shooting them as well. He also took a break during the homicide to eat lunch, before attending his 15-year-old John's soccer game, driving him home, and killing him.
Nicole Kidman's Daughters Sunday and Faith Urban Wear Monique Lhuillier for AFI Life Achievement Award Gala
John started off that fateful day by dropping the kids off at school. When he returned around 9 AM, Helen was in their kitchen having a breakfast of toast and coffee. When he entered the room she said “Good morning,” and her husband shot her in the back of the head with a .22 caliber pistol. It’s only fitting, really, given the subtext of journalists being jailed around the world. Biden, 30, has obvious ties to politics, but she also married a political junkie. Her husband, Peter Neal, interned at the White House during the Obama administration, and contributed to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.
Murders of John List’s family aired on America’s Most Wanted
Despite his efforts to stay alive, Frederick was shot around 10 times in the face and chest. After shooting his mother to death, John returned to the kitchen and dragged Helen’s body to the ballroom. In time, Zoe became friends with a girl who lived in the new List house and spent a good amount of time there.
Serial killer who murdered entire family hid in plain sight for years after erasing himself from photos &... - The US Sun
Serial killer who murdered entire family hid in plain sight for years after erasing himself from photos &....
Posted: Sun, 10 Jul 2022 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Steve Carell Joins Tina Fey in Netflix Comedy Series ‘Four Seasons’
The leafy town of Westfield, New Jersey was rocked to its core on December 7, 1971, when the bodies of three children and two women were discovered in a 19-room mansion. SERIAL killer John List murdered his entire family and went on the run for 18 years after erasing himself from every photo in the house. After learning about the murders committed by John List, check out the story of Dale Cregan, the one-eyed killer. Then, read the chilling story of John Wayne Gacy, the original killer clown. The memory of the murders still haunts Westfield residents, however.
The truth was far darker than investigators and shocked neighbors suspected. This is the terrifying true story of the List family murders. "I'm sure that if we recognize each other that we'll like each other's company just as we did here, when times were better." Netflix's new limited series The Watcher has become the true-crime fictionalization to watch, even if you weren't previously familiar with the real-life case.
List wrote chilling letters after the murders
It meant living above their means, and List eventually had to take out a second mortgage. Although Helen reportedly suffered from the effects of syphilis contracted from her previous husband, the family appeared stable and high-functioning to their friends and neighbors. The family attended the Redeemer Lutheran Church, where John taught Sunday school.
Believe it or not the old house burned down and a new mansion was built on top. So, sadly this is not the same house where the murders happened. It is probably for the best that new house was built because the story of the old house was so sad. Given that few violent crimes had been recorded in Westfield since 1963, a nationwide hunt was launched to find List, though officials had no photographs of him as all pictures of him in the home had been destroyed. Police found List’s car parked at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City, though police found no evidence that he boarded a flight. Meanwhile, Alma’s body was flown to Frankenmuth, Michigan, where it was buried at Saint Lorenz Lutheran Cemetery, while Helen, Patricia, Frederick and John were buried at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield.
Army in 1943, where, per MLive, he went on to earn a master's degree in accounting. He also served in Europe during World War II, even becoming a prisoner of war for a few hours. He was expected to meticulously clean up after himself and to fulfill the role of dutiful, untroublesome son.
Children reportedly will not walk past that property to this day. National Museum of Crime & Punishment/Wikimedia CommonsJohn List was finally captured after the story of the List family murders was featured on America’s Most Wanted in 1989. List was not, however, willing to suffer the earthly consequences of his actions.
“All of the windows and doors in 657 Boulevard allow me to watch you and track you as you move through the house. I am the Watcher and have been in control of 657 Boulevard for the better part of two decades now.,” the next letter, received months later, read. An account published in New York Magazine by Reeves Wiedeman tells the tale of a family who purchased their dream home in Westfield, N.J. In 2014, only to realize they weren't the only ones with their eyes on 657 Boulevard. If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. For some of those who know about Westfield, the Watcher has conjured the ghosts of 40 years ago.
He couldn't, but later recalled that something about the home and the family had turned sour. If John List was known for anything in his adult life, it was for being completely unremarkable. He was an uptight conservative who worked a series of dull accounting jobs that weren't exactly the stuff of rip-roaring tales or even amusing anecdotes.
No comments:
Post a Comment