FAMILY ANNIHILATORS: The Horrifying Act of Familicide – When Parents Kill Their Entire Families
Weird Darkness: Stories of the Paranormal, True Crime, Legends, Lore, Mysterious, Macabre, Unsolved
Darren Marlar
4.6 • 4K Ratings
🗓️ 5 May 2025
⏱️ 92 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Get the Darkness Syndicate version of #WeirdDarkness: https://weirddarkness.com/syndicate
DISCLAIMER: Ads heard during the podcast that are not in my voice are placed by third party agencies outside of my control and should not imply an endorsement by Weird Darkness or myself. *** Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.
IN THIS EPISODE: Weirdo family member, Katie Jo, tells us that as a child she saw something similar to glitter – but in a very supernatural form! (Sparkles) *** An old man opens up to something that happened to him over six decades ago that he has never told anyone before – something that he says ruined his life. (Something Happened 63 Years Ago) *** A woman in bed is startled awake in the middle of the night when she feels someone pull her arm out from under her head – but she’s the only one in her apartment. (Someone Or Something Moved My Hand) *** Mirrors, mirrors, mirrors everywhere. The more mirrors Lucida had the more she could admire herself. She even is said to have made a deal with the devil in order to maintain her youthful beauty. (The Creepy Story of Lucida Mansi) *** Village life in Lemont, Illinois was as peaceful as it could be, and the Willmans farm was one of the collection of typical sleepy homesteads in the region. Until the day the demon came. (The Demon of Lemont) *** Chillingly, statistics suggest that a child is more likely to be killed by a parent than by a stranger and in most cases, the killer takes his own life after the act. We’ll look into the disturbing psychology of family annihilators. (The Psychology of Familicide)
YOUTUBE CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS…
00:00:00.000 = Lead-In
00:03:27.691 = Show Open
00:05:43.393 = Sparkles
00:07:29.864 = Someone Or Something Moved My Hand
00:10:27.289 = Something Happened 63 Years Ago
00:30:17.973 = The Demon of Lemont
00:41:50.985 = The Creepy Story of Lucida Mansi
00:47:30.025 = The Psychology of Familicide, Part 1
01:05:06.190 = The Psychology of Familicide, Part 2
01:15:48.492 = The Psychology of Familicide, Part 3
01:28:13.325 = Show Close
01:30:05.752 = BLOOPERS
SOURCES AND RESOURCES FROM THE EPISODE…
“Sparkles” by Weirdo family member, Katie Jo
“Someone Or Something Moved My Hand” by Mirandra for Your Ghost Stories: http://bit.ly/37muJPH
“The Creepy Story of Lucida Mansi” by Ellen Lloyd for Ancient Pages: http://bit.ly/2DgFrcK
“The Demon of Lemont” by Ursula Bielski for Chicago Hauntings: http://bit.ly/2rnR9zG
“The Psychology of Familicide” by Fiona Guy for Crime Traveller: http://bit.ly/2rmEOM2
“The List Family Massacre” from All That’s Interesting: http://bit.ly/34itO0I
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"I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46
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WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2025, Weird Darkness.
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Originally aired: November 2018
EPISODE PAGE at WeirdDarkness.com (includes list of sources): https://weirddarkness.com/JohnList
TAGS: John List, familicide, family annihilators, family murder, mass murder, murder-suicide, criminology, true crime, family tragedy, domestic violence, family homicide, family annihilation cases, familicide research, murder psychology, family murderers, true crime stories, family annihilation motives, crime analysis, mental health and crime, murder case studies, family violence, family crime patterns, true crime podcast, criminal psychology, family killers, shocking crimes, dark true crime stories
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In 1971, John List lost his job at the bank at age 46. Subsequent jobs didn't pan out. |
| 0:13.6 | He couldn't bear to tell his family about the loss of income. So he spent his days at the train |
| 0:20.1 | station, reading the newspaper, and |
| 0:22.4 | secretly skimming money from his mother's bank account to pay the mortgage. He refused |
| 0:28.1 | to go on welfare, as it would entail excruciating embarrassment in the community and violate |
| 0:34.0 | the principles of self-sufficiency that he learned at his father's knee. |
| 0:38.7 | It's hard to believe the solution he arrived at would have been more acceptable to his father, |
| 0:44.4 | but John List would later say it seemed to him the only option, the murder of his mother, wife, |
| 0:51.8 | and children. One day, in late 1971, List shot and killed his wife Helen, |
| 1:00.1 | his 16-year-old daughter, Patricia, his 15-year-old son John, his 13-year-old son Frederick, |
| 1:06.6 | and his mother, Alma, aged 85. They were shot methodically, one by one. |
| 1:14.5 | Helen was first. |
| 1:16.1 | List saw the children off to school and then shot her in the kitchen as she sipped her customary |
| 1:21.3 | morning coffee. |
| 1:23.0 | Then he went up to the third floor and murdered his mother in her bed. |
| 1:28.9 | He killed Patricia when she returned home from school, then the youngest son, Frederick. He made himself a sandwich, |
| 1:35.1 | closed out his bank accounts, and cheered for his only surviving son, John, at his high school |
| 1:40.7 | soccer game. He gave him a ride home, then shot him in the chest. |
| 1:47.2 | Jean List laid the bodies of his family members on top of sleeping bags in the ballroom, |
| 1:52.1 | then composed a note to his pastor, who he felt would understand. He feared his family, |
| 1:58.4 | confronted with a world of evil and poverty, would turn from God. |
| 2:03.1 | This was the only way to ensure their safe arrival in heaven. |
... |
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