Before she met and married John List, who then went by Robert Peter “Bob,” Delores Miller Clark led a modest existence in Denver. Having killed his family members roughly 14 years prior, John List was on the run when they met in 1985. At their Westfield, New Jersey home in November 1971, the mass killer and long-time escapee massacred three children, mother, and wife. Changing his identity, he had emptied his mother’s and his own bank accounts and fled. John List was arrested eighteen years ago.
But why did Delores’ husband carry out such a terrifying deed? See more information by reading on.
Delores Miller Clark Biography
There is nothing known about Delores’s life before to marrying John List. She led a basic existence working as an Army PX clerk when they first met. The two got together at a Christian religious conference. Delores and John moved to a house near Brandermill, Midlothian, Virginia, where her husband worked for an accounting firm. 1989 saw Delores and John divorce, most likely after his June arrest. Together they did not have any children. After John’s arrest, Delores maintained a low profile; it’s not known what happened to her.
Delores Miller Clark’s Husband
Born John Emil List on September 15, 1925, John Frederick List and Alma Barbara Florence List were his parents. John entered the US Army in 1943 and worked as a laboratory technician throughout World War II. He enrolled at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor when the army let him go in 1946. He graduated from master’s degree in accounting and from bachelor’s degree in administration.
John List was summoned back into active military duty in 1950. He married Helen Morris Taylor, whose husband had been killed in battle in Korea. Near Fort Eustis in Virginia, where John served, Helen resided with her daughter Brenda. December 1, 1951 saw the marriage of the new lovers in Baltimore, Maryland. Working as an audit supervisor at a Kalamazoo paper company, John and Helen had three kids. Later, the family relocated to Rochester, New York, to be employed by Xerox. They moved once more in 1965 to Breeze Knoll, a 19-room Westfield mansion.
John shot his wife, mother, and three children killing them on November 9, 1971 First he shot his wife, then his mother, waited for his kids to arrive home and killed them. After that, he cleaned the crime scenes, took his pictures off all family photos, turned on the lights and the radio, and left. After a month without seeing anyone entering or leaving the residence, the neighbors tipped the authorities.
Declared a manhunt for John, he was not apprehended until eighteen years. Comprising a sculpted clay bust of John’s age-progressed face, the arrest followed Fox’s America’s Most Wanted. Alerted the police by a former Denver neighbor, they later made an arrest. John was sentenced to five terms of life in prison and five counts of first-degree murder. Unable to pay the mortgage on the mansion after losing his job, he killed his immediate family in order to spare them from embarrassment. Since his son desired to be an actor, he also believed his children were veering off the holy road. He slaughtered them to preserve their souls and enable their trip to heaven.
While still inside, John passed away in March 2008 at 82 from complications from pneumonia.
Final Thoughts
There have been made several movies and documentaries covering the specifics of the List murders. One of the most horrible crimes of all time still is this one.