Frederick Michael List was 13 when he was shot and killed at the family home in Westfield, New Jersey, on November 9, 1971. His father, John Emil List, had already murdered his wife Helen and his mother Alma earlier that day; Frederick was killed after returning home from school. Patricia and John Jr. were also killed later that day, and the five bodies were found arranged on sleeping bags in the mansion’s ballroom.

John List disappeared after the murders, having taken steps to delay discovery by informing schools the family would be away and stopping mail and newspaper deliveries. He left a five-page letter to his pastor in which he said he had killed his family to save them from moral and financial decay. The case went cold until a 1989 television segment led to a tip that identified List living under another name; fingerprints confirmed his identity and he was arrested.