John List — The Boogeyman of Westfield
It took almost 18 years to capture the man who killed his family of five to “save their souls”
On November 9, 1971, John Emil List murdered his mother, his wife, and their three children at their Westfield, New Jersey home using his 9mm Steyr 1912 semi-automatic handgun and his father’s Colt .22 caliber revolver.
He had planned the murders carefully, buying himself almost one month before they would be discovered. By the time that happened, he had vanished and would remain a fugitive for nearly eighteen years.
He started with his wife, Helen, age 46. She was shot in the back of the head while their children were at school. His mother, Alma, age 84 was next. She was executed with a single shot above the left eye. When 16-year-old Patricia and 13-year-old Frederick arrived home from school, List shot each of them in the back of the head.
List then made himself lunch, drove to the bank to close both his and his mother’s accounts, and went to Westfield High School to watch his son, 15-year-old John Jr. play soccer. Afterward, he drove John Jr. home and shot him several times. Misfire evidence showed that he had not been as easy a target as the others and had tried to defend himself.
