S5 Ep4: How Family Man John List Became New Jersey's Bogeyman

Crimes of the Centuries

Amber Hunt and Audioboom

True Crime, Documentary, Society & Culture, History

4.6 • 3.8K Ratings

🗓️ 17 March 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

To outsiders, John List was a mild-mannered, church-going father of three whose oddest trait was mowing the lawn in a suit and tie. But then the bodies of his wife, mother and three children were uncovered rotting in the family's Westfield, New Jersey, home in late 1971. This was no whodunit: List left notes explaining not only what he'd done, but why he claimed he had to do it. Then he disappeared, becoming one of America's most wanted criminals.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes on the Grab Bag Patreon page.

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Transcript

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0:25.6	That's Indeed.com NBM. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring, Indeed is all you need.
0:47.3	Some crimes are so heartbreaking or shocking, they change laws, change society, or even earn the label, Crime of the Century. But the stories that made headlines and decades past aren't necessarily remembered today.
0:59.1	I'm Amber Hunt, a journalist and author, and in each episode of this show,
1:04.7	I'll examine a case that's maybe lesser known today, but was huge when it happened.
1:08.9	This is Crimes of the Centuries.
1:30.1	Just before dawn on November 10, 1971, John List closed the front door to his 14-room home at 431 Hillside Avenue in Westfield, New Jersey. He'd slept well. He'd carried out his plan the day before without too
1:36.3	many hitches, and he'd adjusted well, he thought, to the unexpected. He'd carefully cut himself out
1:43.1	of all the family pictures around the house.
1:45.6	He turned down the thermostat to keep the home extremely cool.
1:49.7	He had left the lights on and made sure that the mail, newspaper, and milk deliveries had
1:54.6	been halted.
1:55.7	No need to have clutter piling up.
1:58.5	He had closed out his bank accounts, making sure to cash the savings bonds
2:02.5	his mother had left in his care. He'd left notes to explain why he was leaving and how he had done
2:08.3	what he'd done. He apologized. He had also decided that the house shouldn't feel so empty the next
2:15.4	time someone came through the door, so he left the radio on,
	...

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