Death Sentence: The Inside Story of the John List Murders

This book is an excellent look inside the conservative and religious mind of a miserable man. How he decided to justify the awful decision to murder his family reminds me of one of those Ancient Greek tragedies by Euripides. John List was a truly complex sociopath who committed the worst possible crime by any father, son, or husband.

THIS IS A GOOD BOOK ABOUT A REAL BAD SCUM BAG. I STARTED THE BOOK AND UNTIL THE MIDDLE OF THE BOOK I DIDDN'T WANT TO PUT IT DOWN. THE ONLY REASON I DIDN'T GIVE IT 5 STARS IS BECAUSE IT COVERS HIS LIFE ON THE RUN MORE THAN I WANTED TO READ ABOUT. IT'S HARD TO READ ABOUT HIM ENJOYING HIS LIFE AND GETTING BY WITH WHAT HE DID. I WOULD HAVE RATHER HAD MORE INFORMATION ON THE TRIAL OF THIS MISERABLE, EVIL, INHUMAN, DISPICABLE, COWARD. HE SHOULD HAVE BEEN PUT TO DEATH. IT WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN HARD TO FIND SOMEBODY WILLING TO DO IT. I WOULD HAVE MADE THE TRIP TO NEW JERSEY IN NEW YORK MINUTE. A GOOD BOOK.

"Death Sentence" is the only book I have read about the John List case so far. Joe Sharkey has done his homework on this book. He covers all of the angles while managing to also keep it interesting. John List's childhood and some genealogy explain some of his failings. A man goes from a doting father to the executioner of his wife,mother,and three teenage children. The excuse John List offered was bizarre. It's all in this book; List's confession letter,the sequence of the murders,the attention to detail in planning the murders,what he did in between killings,his carefully planned escape and life as a fugitive. There are personal recollections from some of his friends and their reactions to his arrest. This case serves as a success story for "America's Most Wanted" as they were very instrumental in locating John List in 1989 and his subsequent arrest. His trial is covered and especially of interest was the prosecution's use of a psychiatrist who examined List. That testimony pretty much summed up John List and his real motivation for doing the unthinkable! "Death Sentence" is a highly recommended true crime book.

Joe Sharkey's DEATH SENTENCE is an account of the life of John Emil List who, in a case that was well known in the 70s, killed his mother, his wife, and their 3 children. The research in this book is outstanding, and Sharkey clearly put a great deal of time and effort into it. Therefore we learn about List's upbringing, as well as that of his wife Helen, in depth; with the end result that we understand their psychology; what made them the people they became. List was an only child in a family with two elderly parents and was raised in an insular German Lutheran community in Michigan where frugality and adherence to both parental, societal, and Divine authority was the law. His father had little to do with him, while his mother was overprotective. List grew up to be a compulsive, rigid, repressed man who feared and resented the social changes taking place in the 70s. He was competent at his jobs, usually working as an accountant, but, after a period where he would be considered a competent employee, he was invariably fired - the reason being that while he was good at following procedure, he was unable to improvise, to be flexible. The Lists moved to New Jersey in the early 70s and promptly bought a mansion they could not remotely afford. Right around this time List was again getting fired, this time from a bank, and his final downhill spiral began. He was earning virtually no money and though he was diligent about applying for work, he found nothing. Ashamed of his failure, he began leaving the house, wearing his ever-present suit and tie (in which he was known to mow the lawn), with his briefcase, going to the commuter train station, and just sitting there all day, before returning home in the evening. Finally, in November 1971, List, a passively unpleasant and dogmatically religious man, broke and unable to pay his bills, carefully planned and carried out the murder of his family so they wouldn't be impoverished, he said, and to "ensure that they would enter heaven." List, after leaving town well before - due to his meticulous planning -anyone knew about the deaths, migrated to Denver where using an alias he started a new life which eventually included marriage. Sharkey meticulously covers List's new life in Denver as well as his move to Richmond, where, 18 years after the murders, he was apprehended. Sharkey has produced a true crime masterpiece. He has chosen a highly interesting case. The often boring police work and courtroom scenes are brief and serve as necessary parts of the story rather than, as is too often the case with lesser writers, tedious filler. Sharkey's background research of the main players as well as his thoroughness in detailing the elements of the crime are admirable and as a result the book is an excellent read. Sharkey's writing is excellent and he does not feel the need to use signposts to tell us what to think nor does he use the irritating colloquial/dramatic style often used even by decent true-crime writers. Sh