There were two more murders, 15 miles away.

When police arrived, they found the telephones and electricity lines.

We have a weird homicide.

A scene described by one investigator as reminiscent of a weird...

A cop of murder.

Today's story is one that many of you know, a case that has twists and turns and a surprising ending that can leave jaws lying on the

floor. On September 17, 1925, a family annihilator was born, a man who we all know and recognize.

A man who killed his family to avoid humiliating them with their money problems and managed to get

away with it for 18 years.

A man named John List.

So if you like your coffee hot but your bones chilled, sit back and start your day with a morning cup of murder.

John Emile List was born on September 17, 1925, as the only child of German-American parents living in Bay City, Michigan.

In 1943, John, still a teenager, enlisted in the U.S. Army and began serving his time as a lab technician during World War II.

Three years later, he was discharged and attending the University of Michigan, where he

earned his bachelor's degree in business administration and his master's in accounting.

All of this, in addition to being an active member of the ROTC, where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant.

By 1950, the Korean War had escalated to the point of recalling many former soldiers back into active duty, John List, being one of those men.

This change in life, however, seemed to work out well for the young bachelor because, while stationed at Fort Eustace in

Virginia, he met a woman named Helen Morris Taylor. Helen, a widow after her infantry husband,

was killed overseas, lived nearby with her daughter Brenda, and on December 1, 1951, decided to marry

the new man in her life and move with him to Northern

California. This was around the same time that the Army, noting John's accounting skills, assigned

...