The Annihilator: The Reckoning — Ep. 5 | MK Confidential on the John List Family Murders

“MK Confidential” finds a fugitive at work, balancing books at an accounting firm in Richmond, Virginia. It’s Thursday, June 9, 1989, around midday. Three federal men in suits approach the receptionist’s desk and ask to speak with Bob Clark. They search the compliant accountant and ask plainly, “Are you John List?” The man denies it, but his fingerprints say otherwise. After 18 years on the run, the Westfield annihilator is found, and now in custody. The trial of John List begins nearly a year later, in April of 1990. His defense does not dispute that he murdered his wife, mother, and children in 1971 — though List will not use the word “murder” himself. The lawyer claims his religious fervor did not allow him to consider any alternative to saving their souls. Once List decided he could send his family to heaven by shooting them to death, the defense argues, there was no turning back. The leaders who mentored List, under whose teaching he sat on Sunday mornings and taught in Sunday School, take the stand. They demonstrate how the very faith List claims as a fortress is built on shifting sand. The jury will decide his fate. This is Episode 5 of the John List story.