Mr. Clark flew out at his own expense for an interview and obtained the job. Then he sat down and wrote a confession letter to his pastor explaining his financial problems. The years at All Packaging appear to have been tranquil. At the time of the murder, John was unemployed. He spent his days at the train station reading, napping, and wondering how to get his family out of their financial mess. John Emil List was born 63 years ago in Bay City, Mich., the son of a wealthy German immigrant grocer who had married, for the second time, late in life. ''I had the impression that he was barely eking out enough of a living to buy weenies and a room somewhere. One doesnt need to like the man himself Perhaps the strongest illustration of this is the mismatch between media mores and voters: the overwhelmingly liberal (anti-Trump) media being vastly unrepresentative of the people as expressed in the popular vote: Biden 51.3%; Trump 46.9%. That was the only time I ever saw Bob show any anger.. His wifes salary as a clerk at the Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center was not enough to support them and they began to slip behind in their monthly payments. Any murderer is a hero to people like the writer of this post. I have to say though the wife had it coming for duping him and belittling him throughout the marriage. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Id argue that religious zealotry was the EFFECT of a prior cause: mental illness. 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 chose not tocommit suicide because he considered it a sin. Quiet and Simple Life, In a telephone conversation with his closest friend in Richmond this week, he said only that he was ''sorry for any embarrassment he put me through or put his friends and relatives through. Colorado resident Wanda Flanery contactedpolice about a former neighbor named BobClark who had recently moved away to Richmond, Virginia. He was cold as ice and had no real love for any of them. Mr. Oldson said he did not remember Mr. Clark's having references. 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. If List thought he could just hit the delete button on the fam and waltz off *and* find redemption he may be bitterly disappointed when he finds his advocate was busy for his final court appearance and hes going to have to act as his own defense. He had planned the murders so meticulously that even after many years of the incident, the police and FBI found no trace of John. To make ends meet, Clark had begun moonlighting for H & R Block, and his wife started working one day a week in a hair salon. He was arrested 11 days later, and, after a jury rejected his diminished capacity defense, convicted and sentenced. Sometimes, he added, Mr. Clark became so impassioned that sweat broke out on his brow. WebHe later married Delores Miller Clark. 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. ''Bob talked about church things so often that he could get monotonous,'' Mr. Bassler said. ''He was living meagerly, said he needed a full-time job,'' Mr. Oldson added. Jim Clark, 76, of Cedar Hill, passed from this life on Thursday February 23, 2023, at TriStar NorthCrest Medical Center. He resembledthe sculpture. ''I have been depressed over all this,'' Mrs. Clark wrote. Internet research turned up a number of statistics that surely would have providedList with some consolation if he faced his sameproblems post-2000. At a church singles party in 1977, Clark met Delores Miller, a 40-year-old divorcee. Delores Miller in Maryland We found 34 records for Delores Miller in Silver Spring, Dundalk and 17 other cities in Maryland. Attorney David Baugh, who represented List in Virginia, offers support.AP Photo/Steve Helber. Dolores Sheeran is now Dolores Miller, 55, a former medical secretary and a realtor, according to her Facebook page. I believe it was 1895 or possibly 96. He lined the bodies up on the floor, put music on through the houses intercom system and wrote a confession to his pastor. '', By contrast, Mr. Clark would later tell his friend in Richmond that his first wife had been an alcoholic and a spendthrift who had died of cancer and that he had a daughter who ''was somewhat uncontrollable. That he didnt just walk out, never to return was were his psychopathy entered. Listlowered the temperature in the house, cued up some organmusic on the intercom system, and told his kids teachers that the family had gone on a trip to North Carolina. He lost the bank job, and a succession of subsequent jobs. certificate. It was also in 1977, at a Lutheran church social, that Mr. Clark met his future wife. ''I dismissed it because I felt it was not true,'' she said. The last thing I remember hearing about Delores Clark is that she finally accepted the fact that her husband was John 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. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Little is known of Peggy, who stopped talking to her father in 1975 and hasnt spoken out about him since. His story was made into a hit TV movie starring Robert Blake and was the basis for the movie thriller The Stepfather.. He went on to wed again, join a new family and live in peace and anonymity for nearly two decades. 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. He was sentenced to five consecutive life prison terms. She started working one day a week in a beauty salon. 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. Flanery received two letters from Delores Clark after she moved away. He took the name Robert Clark, eventually got an accounting job, and remarried. On June 2, 1956 she was united in marriage to Ralph L. Miller at Gethsemane Lutheran Church. Tonights interview marks Chungs last appearance for ABC before she heads for CNN. I dont wish death on the CIC. WebDelores Hall - Biography. Still more ironic, if List had become President, he could have Xed even more people, and got paid to do it. John List was an American mass murderer, who became infamous in the 1970s for killing his mother, wife and three children. The article had a sketch of how List might look now, and it was a dead ringer for Bob. Jeanne, thanks for the kinds words and the research! As always, a great & engaging read. The case turned cold until18 years later, whenthen-newTV showAmericas Most Wantedcommissioned forensic artist Frank Bender to sculpt a bustthat aged List. His picture was also shown on television, which led one of his neighbours to notify the authorities. I said, Thats Bob, Flanery recalled. He thought it improper in the eyes of God. He wanted OUT. A couple of years ago I bought a supermarket tabloid that contained an article on the List murder case, she said. I was going to subscribe and refer until I saw that swipe at Trump. He also claimed to be suffering from PTSD. The neighbours called the police when Johns daughter Patricias dancing teacher came home to see why Patricia was not coming to the classes. Occasionally the digitization process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions. As I was doing it I knew it was wrong," he said. ( I think he did remarry while on the run)? Although he sincerely believed in heaven and that his dead family would be saved, his own survival is proof of false consciousness. For conservatives, will the fact that nearly half the voters wanted Trump elicit a seemingly somewhat disconnected, arrogant liberal media to modify its stance, pausing to consider whether it adequately reflects and represents ALL the people rather than around just half or so? They remember him as a quiet, kind, intensely private man who worked first as a cook, later as a bookkeeper, for small, obscure companies. Ive done heaps of research on this property and can only seem to narrow it down to early 1900s. Im convinced hes just pulling my chain, Gluck recalled. 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. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription. Unlike the others, John didn't go quietly, his body jerking as List emptied both the 9 millimeter and the .22 into his son. About two years ago, she said, she saw a picture of Mr. Its first entry is R. C. Miller, a business he said was in Wheatridge, Colo., a suburb north of Denver. Mr. Reed declined to specify which companies were called. Based on information gleaned from dozens of interviews and hundreds of pages of police and FBI documents, Father Wants Us Dead is an in-depth and chilling narrative from two reporters with more than 25 years of combined experience. After being out there that long, List says, I guess I got to the point where I thought well, maybe I wont be caught., In 1989, one of Lists Virginia neighbors recognized him on Foxs Americas Most Wanted.. I rode in that old car lots of times, going to baseball practice with John Jr., Robert Compton, now a Westfield police officer, recalled. And that's the only time. In April, 1986, Clark was laid off. Human name disambiguation pages. When the police entered the house, on December 7th, the bodies had begun to decompose. Clark was picked up 11 days after the Most Wanted broadcast dramatized the ballroom murders. ''He said he'd been through that before and knew what I meant. WebSearching obituaries is a great place to start your family tree research. Mr. Clark started doing work on the side for H & R Block. Keep the politics out of it, dude. Lists five-pageletter, addressed to hispastor, explained everything, including the way he murdered his family. Clark moved in with Miller in November, 1985. Still, Mr. Roberto said, he ''kind of liked him'' and, for some reason, felt sorry for him. He took out the last $2,000 on the day of the killings, said Moran, who found the withdrawal slip while searching the house. He was arrested in 1989 after a former neighbor recognized him from a profile on the syndicated TV show America's Most Wanted. Any prospective John Lists of the new millenniumsurely could see that their problems were shared by countless homeowners around the U.S. and the world. 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. . WebFrom 1979 to 1986, he was the comptroller at a paper box manufacturer outside Denver. It was one day out of all these many many years.'' Sick minds only justify their inconsistent philosophy and thoughts because their logic is egocentric, and lacks logic ( logic as we normal people know it). What a sorry attempt at humor using President Trump at the end. Delores Clark, right, tells reporters at a press conference on June 8, 1989 that she did not believe her husband was John List. None of them lying face down! Investigators found that List, then a 45-year-old accountant with an annual salary of $12,000, had two mortgages on the house, totaling $40,000. Why hadnt he just killed himself, Chung asks? At a church singles party in 1977, Clark met Delores The program, one that Clark watched regularly and often recommended to neighbors, featured a plaster bust portraying List as he might look now. But his defence was rejected and he was imprisoned at the New Jersey State Prison. Delores Miller Clark (m. he met an Army PX clerk named Delores Miller and married her in 1985. Afterwards, he dragged his wifes body to the ballroom and made himself lunch and ate it. Id hate to see the heatingtab for the 19-room mansion that occupied 431 Hillside Avenue in Westfield, New Jersey. To much rationalizing. He took a new identity and also joined a Lutheran church, where he met his second wife, Delores Miller. Bank Vice President and Sunday School Teacher. '', Mr. Clark, the friend added, showed no particular sensitivity about his past and tended to be even tempered. WebDelores E. Clark Richmond, Virginia Oct 27, 1930 Jan 21, 2017 Plant Memorial Trees Not the right person? Ted Bundy did the same, and few would claim he was sane Its far too simplistic to explain this as zealotry! In 1965, when List and his family moved to affluent Westfield, N.J., he seemed to be a model of suburban success and propriety. "At least I'm certain that all have gone to heaven now. Authorities later revealed that John kept lying to his family about his jobs. Mr. Wetmore helped Mr. Clark move ''one pickup truck's worth load of stuff'' to Denver. Undiscovered jackpot? He took the name Robert Clark, eventually got an accounting job, and remarried. He later moved to California, and then Detroit, where he worked as an accountant in a local firm. If Lists religiosity were authentic, rather than an effect of his psychopathy, hed have appreciated that Christ on the cross was a failure (in worldly terms), and advocated that the last (the poor; the failures) are in fact first in His Kingdom all standard Christian teaching that List must have known (if not believed). The unlikely story of his capture, the tip that led to it and the wild coincidences Gluck encountered as he followed the story are told in the latest episode of Father Wants Us Dead, an investigative true crime podcast about the List killings from NJ Advance Media. List was arrested the next day by the FBI. He defended himself saying that he was not mentally stable. Little of this past did List, as Clark, ever reveal. Love your posts, RR! The greatest psychopathic distortion: that his suicide would be a sin, but murder and of children wasnt, of a degree excluding him from the God he claimed to seek. Now you come in List with your perverted religious interpretations and go hog wild. The neighbor had been suspicious about Mr. Clark for two years, after seeing a report on the List case in a supermarket tabloid. ''I only know Bobby Clark,'' said the Richmond friend, who asked not to be identified. They attended church each week with List's mother, a strict Lutheran who lived with them. She said she really didnt want to leave Denver, but Bob had been out of work since shortly after they were married and he had finally found this job in Virginia.. Getting his hands on all of his mothers money was part of the escape plan. '', See the article in its original context from. Ten days after a creepy, glass-eyed bust of John List was shown on Americas Most Wanted, Westfield residents had not heard of a single promising lead. He means it. "I remember talking about funerals and cremation and burials. Then he sat down and ate lunch at the same table where he had shot his wife hours before. I didnt meet him until he moved in.. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? At the news conference in Richmond, Mrs. Clark acknowledged seeing the picture. R. C. Miller is not in business there, and there is no evidence it ever existed. Asked to check Mr. Clark's resume in their files, the executives found that it was gone. Born In: Bay City, Michigan, United States. He and his mother were very close, Werner said. After cashing in his mothers savings bonds and pocketing the money, heskipped town. He later took a job as the vice president at a bank in New Jersey, where the family finally got settled. I think he killed the family because his ego was such that he couldnt handle them seeing him as a failure. Following the gruesome death of his family. ''The tax season was coming up, and we needed somebody,'' Mr. Joyner said. . He then shot both his wife and mother in their heads. They had been dead nearly a month, and by that time John Emil List was long gone. List, Patricia List, place of death: Trenton, New Jersey, United States, education: University Of Michigan, Ann Arbor. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Way roomy. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Finally, Delores shook her head and said, Thats not my husband. I then dared her to show it to Bob and ask him, but I dont think she ever did. 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. Mrs. Flanery was among the millions of people watching. 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