Righteous Carnage
Timothy B. Benford and James P. Johnson
A book-length account for readers who want more detail.
1971 · Westfield, New Jersey
John List & his family
Partners & family
John List killed his mother, wife, and three children in their New Jersey home in 1971, then disappeared and established a new identity. A television appeal and an age-progressed sculpture helped lead to his arrest in 1989. He was subsequently convicted of the five murders.
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The Story
When1971
WhereWestfield, New Jersey
In this collection36 resources
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Judgment Day: The John List Story — viewing options
moviefone.com
A dramatized interpretation; compare it with the reporting.
Forensic Tales — The List Family Murders
Apple Podcasts
An audio option for exploring this case while listening.
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Where are they now?
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Nicknames & media names
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Blogs & Essays
Read our articles here and explore outside perspectives, credited to their writers and publications. See this case in the Journal →
From the journal
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Blogs & essays
1 itemsAbout these sources
Outside essays and reading guides reflect their authors’ perspectives. Compare claims with reported and primary sources.
Historic Newspapers
The List Murders: Through The Papers
A newspaper-history blog examines how the press covered the List family murders and the later search for John List.
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Books
CONTINUE YOUR READING
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Books
1 itemsTimothy B. Benford and James P. Johnson
Righteous Carnage
Book-length account or personal perspective. This link provides bibliographic details; compare the author’s account with reporting and records.
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Search Amazon · paid linkExplore this book
Title search; Amazon availability is not confirmed. Check the edition, format, and viewing region.
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Movies & TV
Movies
1 itemsAbout these sources
Watch links, previews and title listings are identified below. Rentals or subscriptions may be required.
moviefone.com
Judgment Day: The John List Story — viewing options
Dramatized screen account. Follow the link for the title listing or available viewing options; scenes and dialogue may be adapted.
Fiction / DramatizationAccess Varies · Check Source
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Search Amazon · paid linkViewing options & film details
Title search; Amazon availability is not confirmed. Check the edition, format, and viewing region.
TV & documentaries
3 itemsAbout these sources
Episodes, documentaries and title listings. Season and episode numbers follow the linked catalog and can differ by service. Air dates are separate from crime dates. Playback availability varies by service and region.
IMDb · TV episode
Forensic Files — The List Murders (1996)
IMDb episode reference connected to the John List & his family case. Listed release: 1996. Cast, credits, and title information; viewing availability is separate.
Screen TitleTitle Details · Not Playback
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Search Amazon · paid linkCredits & title details on IMDb
Title search; Amazon availability is not confirmed. Check the edition, format, and viewing region.
IMDb · TV episode
Your Worst Nightmare — Murder House (2014)
IMDb episode reference connected to the John List & his family case. Listed release: 2014. Cast, credits, and title information; viewing availability is separate.
Screen TitleTitle Details · Not Playback
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Search Amazon · paid linkCredits & title details on IMDb
Title search; Amazon availability is not confirmed. Check the edition, format, and viewing region.
IMDb · TV episode
American Justice — To Save Their Souls (2003)
IMDb episode reference connected to the John List & his family case. Listed release: 2003. Cast, credits, and title information; viewing availability is separate.
Screen TitleTitle Details · Not Playback
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Search Amazon · paid linkCredits & title details on IMDb
Title search; Amazon availability is not confirmed. Check the edition, format, and viewing region.
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Audiobooks
An audiobook edition has not been confirmed for this case yet. You can check the audiobook catalog or explore the case’s podcasts.
Check Audio Formats For This Book
These books are in this case’s collection. An audiobook version has not been verified for the listings below.
Righteous Carnage
Search Audiobook Editions · paid linkTimothy B. Benford and James P. Johnson
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Fiction Work
Fiction Work
Browse all →Scripted stories and fictional inspirations. Scenes, characters, and dialogue can differ from the record.
moviefone.com
Judgment Day: The John List Story — viewing options
Dramatized screen account. Follow the link for the title listing or available viewing options; scenes and dialogue may be adapted.
Fiction / DramatizationAccess Varies · Check Source
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Search Amazon · paid linkViewing options & film details
Title search; Amazon availability is not confirmed. Check the edition, format, and viewing region.
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Podcasts
Podcasts
16 itemsAbout these sources
Audio episodes and oral histories. Personal recollections are attributed perspectives; some services require sign-in.
Apple Podcasts
Forensic Tales — The List Family Murders
Direct episode page for this case or its screen adaptation. Open it for listening options and the publisher’s episode notes.
PodcastAccess Varies · Check Source
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Morbid
The Hunt for John List (Part 2)
Podcast coverage of the John List & his family case. Released August 20, 2026. About 63 minutes.
PodcastAccess Varies · Check Source
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Morbid
The Hunt for John List (Part 1)
Podcast coverage of the John List & his family case. Released August 17, 2026. About 51 minutes.
PodcastAccess Varies · Check Source
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Last Podcast On The Left
Episode 438: John List Part I - Wipe Out
Podcast coverage of the John List & his family case. Released January 16, 2021. About 112 minutes.
PodcastAccess Varies · Check Source
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True Crime All The Time
John List
Podcast coverage of the John List & his family case. Released January 24, 2022. About 81 minutes.
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Last Podcast On The Left
Episode 439: John List Part II - Daddy Train
Podcast coverage of the John List & his family case. Released January 23, 2021. About 102 minutes.
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Show 10 more podcasts
LOVE MURDER
America’s Most Wanted Family Annihilator: John List
Podcast coverage of the John List & his family case. Released November 25, 2020. About 146 minutes.
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Rotten Mango
#82: The Ballroom Murders (Case of John List)
Podcast coverage of the John List & his family case. Released July 18, 2021. About 63 minutes.
PodcastAccess Varies · Check Source
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People are the Worst
John List | 12
Podcast coverage of the John List & his family case. Released July 14, 2022. About 40 minutes.
PodcastAccess Varies · Check Source
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This Is Monsters
John List
Podcast coverage of the John List & his family case. Released September 8, 2021. About 73 minutes.
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Murder With My Husband
8. John List - The Deadly Daddy
Podcast coverage of the John List & his family case. Released May 11, 2020. About 38 minutes.
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Crimes of the Centuries
How Family Man John List Became New Jersey's Bogeyman
Podcast coverage of the John List & his family case. Released March 17, 2025. About 44 minutes.
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Crime and Coffee Couple - True Crime Podcast
John List - ALMOST the perfect murder?
Podcast coverage of the John List & his family case. Released November 15, 2021. About 64 minutes.
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Criminology
The List Family Murders
Podcast coverage of the John List & his family case. Released September 6, 2020. About 51 minutes.
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About Time for True Crime
John List: Family Annihilator (Part 1)
Podcast coverage of the John List & his family case. Released April 29, 2025. About 96 minutes.
PodcastAccess Varies · Check Source
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Rotten Mango · Stephanie Soo
Rotten Mango — John List & his family (Episode 82)
Episode 82 discusses John List & his family. The official episode page identifies this case and provides the show’s listening options. Contains descriptions of violence; this is podcast commentary, not a court record.
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Social Media
BRING YOUR PERSPECTIVE
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Choose your reading route, then share a question with your community.
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Talk about sources and storytelling with care for the people affected. A documentary, a book and a court record serve different purposes.
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News & Reading
More Reading & Audio
0 sourcesExplore book records, previews, library audiobooks and selected documents. Access labels distinguish free material from library loans and paid subscriptions.
No additional case-specific reading source was confirmed in this review. The reporting and original summaries elsewhere on this page remain available.
Reading Access Notes
Search reviewed 2026-09-16. Sources searched: Google Books, Internet Archive, Open Library, Library of Congress, Smithsonian Magazine, The Atavist Magazine, Google Books (case/title search), Scribd, Everand, OverDrive and hoopla (combined title search). Search indexing is incomplete; this is not an exhaustive list of the web. Access can change by edition, country and library membership. Library loans may require sign-in or a wait. Everand titles may need a paid subscription; a trial is not permanent free access. Scribd documents are third-party uploads, with uploader details noted where checked. We link to source pages and write our own descriptions rather than reproducing copyrighted books.
A separate Texas Monthly search was blocked by the publisher’s automated-access rules and could not be verified.
News & reporting
1 itemsLos Angeles Times
Reporting on John List & his family
Linked reporting or commentary. Read the source date for its historical context; access may require a subscription.
JournalismAccess Varies · Check Source
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Newspaper clippings
1 itemsFeatured newspaper clipping
Read our original summary below. The archive link opens the newspaper’s own clipping viewer.
The Courier-News · 1989-08-21 · Page 6
Television tips help locate John List
A continued local report follows the tip generated by the national television profile.
Historical reporting about the capture.
Newspaper ReportingAccess Varies · Check Source
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Read the original at Newspapers.com. Access and subscription requirements are set by the archive.
Open full clipping at Newspapers.comKeep following the newspaper trail.
Search original reporting, follow the trial, and compare how newspapers covered the case over time.
Explore more on Newspapers.comNewspapers.com controls access to its archive. A subscription may be required; existing subscribers can sign in.
Internet Archive
2 itemsAbout these sources
Library records and preserved media. A catalog listing does not guarantee full reading or playback.
Internet Archive · Library record · 1991
Righteous carnage
Timothy B. Benford. A library catalog record for a book connected with John List & his family. The record may offer a preview or borrowing options; full reading access is not guaranteed.
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Internet Archive · TV News Archive
To Catch a Killer : MSNBCW : November 20, 2011 12:00pm-1:00pm PST
The archive indexes this broadcast under John List. It may contain several stories; use any available captions or previews to locate the relevant segment. Full playback may be restricted.
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Court & Files
Court records & documents
1 itemsAbout these sources
Documents are labeled by type and scope. Allegations in filings are not findings of guilt. This collection is not the complete case file.
Suppression rulingArchive copy
State v. List — ruling on the search of the family home
Pretrial opinion addressing John List’s attempt to suppress evidence found in the family home. The court examines abandonment, inevitable discovery, and the circumstances of the 1971 police search.
- Court / agency
- New Jersey Superior Court, Law Division, Union County
- Document date
- March 29, 1990
- Case / citation
- 270 N.J. Super. 252
- Hosted by
- CaseMine
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Roads Traveled
Roads Traveled
Open case map →Westfield, New Jersey. The map provides regional context; individually verified historical places are listed below.
Where this story happened
Westfield, New Jersey
Highlighted states show regional context, not exact addresses. Ontario and regions outside the contiguous U.S. are listed by name.
Explore the interactive case atlas →Boundaries: Natural Earth · public domain
Location research & source notes
Map sources checked September 14, 2026. 1 individual Odd Stops location pages matched this case.
See this case’s source review
- Odd Stops
- Location pages found · 1 location pages. Read the location summaries in our place guides; photographs appear where reuse rights are verified.
- MurderData
- No verified match found.
- ArcGIS essay
- Not included in this essay.
- Reddit map
- Reviewed as a general resource. Its coordinates and victim counts were not adopted as case evidence.
“No verified match” describes the accessible material found in this review, not proof that a source has never covered the case. MAP’s anonymous records were not individually matched to people.
See the full case checklist →Site of Breeze Knoll
Original building gone431 Hillside Avenue, Westfield, New Jersey
List killed five family members at Breeze Knoll in 1971. Fire destroyed the mansion in 1972; the current house is a later replacement.
The original structure no longer exists. Present-day land or replacement buildings are not open attractions; no visitor access was verified.
Explore This Place →EXPLORE THE CASE
Positive Outcome
Positive Outcome
0 itemsAbout these sources
Documented laws, advocacy and reforms. Listing a change does not claim it is effective or universally supported.
No case-specific reform has been verified for this collection yet.
Social Media
9 itemsAbout these sources
Case-specific posts, videos and communities. Community opinions are separate from verified reporting. Platforms may require sign-in.
Morbid Midnight
John List: The Killer Next Door
Video from Morbid Midnight covering the John List & his family case. Length: 38:11.
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The Casual Criminalist
John List: The ‘Righteous’ Killer
Video from The Casual Criminalist covering the John List & his family case. Length: 57:00.
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News 12 Originals
Tracking down John List, the man responsible for his family's murder in a New Jersey mansion
Video from News 12 Originals covering the John List & his family case. Length: 20:27.
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Megyn Kelly
The Annihilator: Bob Clark Is John List — Ep. 4 | MK Confidential on the John List Family Murders
Video from Megyn Kelly covering the John List & his family case. Length: 34:48.
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Real Crime
The Truth Exposed: How John List Killed His Whole Family
Video from Real Crime covering the John List & his family case. Length: 2:48:29.
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FilmRise True Crime
Forensic Files - Season 1, Episode 12 - The List Murders - Full Episode
Full episode or film as labeled by the publisher from FilmRise True Crime covering the John List & his family case. Length: 22:36.
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Show 3 more social media
Absolute Crime
How This Man Killed His Family And Got Away With It
Video from Absolute Crime covering the John List & his family case. Length: 1:25:09.
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FilmRise True Crime
List Murders | S1 E12 | Forensic Files | FULL EPISODE
Full episode or film as labeled by the publisher from FilmRise True Crime covering the John List & his family case. Length: 22:35.
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YouTube Movies & TV
Forensic Files
Video from YouTube Movies & TV covering the John List & his family case. Length: 22:36.
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