Father Wants Us Dead

Father Wants Us Dead

In 1971, a mild-mannered accountant and Sunday school teacher from New Jersey named John List murders his wife, mother and three children — only to disappear and begin a new life entirely on the other side of the country. Now, two veteran journalists go inside the mind of the killer, learn about the doomed family, and revisit the 18-year-quest to bring List to justice — a saga even more bizarre and twisted than ever previously reported.

Episodes

Trailer: Father Wants Us Dead

April 29, 2022 • 5 mins
In 1971, a mild-mannered accountant and Sunday school teacher from New Jersey named John List murders his wife, mother and three children — only to disappear and begin a new life entirely on the other side of the country. Now, two veteran journalists go inside the mind of the killer, learn about the doomed family, and revisit the 18-year-quest to bring List to justice — a saga even more bizarre and twisted than ever previously repo...
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Episode 1: The mansion turned morgue

May 10, 2022 • 34 mins
In a quiet, well-to-do New Jersey suburb in December 1971, police make a shocking discovery that sends the community reeling — and launches a national manhunt for a fugitive mass murderer. ------- 'Father Wants Us Dead' is a serial investigative true crime podcast from NJ.com and The Star-Ledger about John List, the accountant and Sunday school teacher who killed his mother, wife and three kids in their Westfield, New Jersey mansio...
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Episode 2: The boogeyman of Westfield

May 10, 2022 • 41 mins
John List moved his family to New Jersey seeking a better life, but this seemingly ordinary accountant will turn out to be the scariest neighbor his town has even seen. ------- 'Father Wants Us Dead' is a serial investigative true crime podcast from NJ.com and The Star-Ledger about John List, the accountant and Sunday school teacher who killed his mother, wife and three kids in their Westfield, New Jersey mansion 50 years ago. Joh...
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Episode 3: The man at the train station

May 10, 2022 • 48 mins
As family and financial worries mount, John List carries on an elaborate charade — all the while contemplating the unthinkable. ------- 'Father Wants Us Dead' is a serial investigative true crime podcast from NJ.com and The Star-Ledger about John List, the accountant and Sunday school teacher who killed his mother, wife and three kids in their Westfield, New Jersey mansion 50 years ago. John List left behind a confession letter, e...
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Episode 4: Mopping up the blood

May 17, 2022 • 46 mins
Step by terrible step, John List systematically kills each member of his family — and then confesses everything. ------- 'Father Wants Us Dead' is a serial investigative true crime podcast from NJ.com and The Star-Ledger about John List, the accountant and Sunday school teacher who killed his mother, wife and three kids in their Westfield, New Jersey mansion 50 years ago. John List left behind a confession letter, explaining why w...
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Episode 5: The Talented Mr. List

May 24, 2022 • 45 mins
As police frantically search for the mysterious killer, John List slips out of one identity and into another. ------- 'Father Wants Us Dead' is a serial investigative true crime podcast from NJ.com and The Star-Ledger about John List, the accountant and Sunday school teacher who killed his mother, wife and three kids in their Westfield, New Jersey mansion 50 years ago. John List left behind a confession letter, explaining why wh...
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Episode 6: America's Most Wanted

May 31, 2022 • 35 mins
With the trail gone cold, police try one last gambit to find their man. ------- 'Father Wants Us Dead' is a serial investigative true crime podcast from NJ.com and The Star-Ledger about John List, the accountant and Sunday school teacher who killed his mother, wife and three kids in their Westfield, New Jersey mansion 50 years ago. John List left behind a confession letter, explaining why what he'd done was right, and disappeared ...
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Episode 7: The old lady and the tabloids

June 7, 2022 • 48 mins
18 years after the murders, a tip from an unlikely source leads authorities to John List's doorstep. ------- 'Father Wants Us Dead' is a serial investigative true crime podcast from NJ.com and The Star-Ledger about John List, the accountant and Sunday school teacher who killed his mother, wife and three kids in their Westfield, New Jersey mansion 50 years ago. John List left behind a confession letter, explaining why what he'd don...
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Episode 8: Judgment Day

June 14, 2022 • 44 mins
Back in New Jersey to stand trial, John List makes one last attempt to stay free. ------- 'Father Wants Us Dead' is a serial investigative true crime podcast from NJ.com and The Star-Ledger about John List, the accountant and Sunday school teacher who killed his mother, wife and three kids in their Westfield, New Jersey mansion 50 years ago. John List left behind a confession letter, explaining why what he'd done was right, and di...
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Episode 9: Sympathy for the devil

June 21, 2022 • 44 mins
50 years later, two reporters try to understand what drove John List to commit such atrocities — and the real cost. ------- 'Father Wants Us Dead' is a serial investigative true crime podcast from NJ.com and The Star-Ledger about John List, the accountant and Sunday school teacher who killed his mother, wife and three kids in their Westfield, New Jersey mansion 50 years ago. John List left behind a confession letter, explaining wh...
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A word about season one

June 28, 2022 • 3 mins
Our hosts have some exciting news in store for “Father Wants Us Dead” fans. ------- 'Father Wants Us Dead' is a serial investigative true crime podcast from NJ.com and The Star-Ledger about John List, the accountant and Sunday school teacher who killed his mother, wife and three kids in their Westfield, New Jersey mansion 50 years ago. John List left behind a confession letter, explaining why what he'd done was right, and disappea...
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BONUS: Postcards from the edge

July 5, 2022 • 34 mins
Our hosts answer your questions and reveal more surprising details from the cutting room floor. ------- 'Father Wants Us Dead' is a serial investigative true crime podcast from NJ.com and The Star-Ledger about John List, the accountant and Sunday school teacher who killed his mother, wife and three kids in their Westfield, New Jersey mansion 50 years ago. John List left behind a confession letter, explaining why what he'd done was...
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BONUS: Pulling back the curtain

July 19, 2022 • 33 mins
The hosts take you behind the scenes of the creation of the “Father Wants Us Dead” podcast and discuss never-before-heard interviews and outtakes from the show. ------- 'Father Wants Us Dead' is a serial investigative true crime podcast from NJ.com and The Star-Ledger about John List, the accountant and Sunday school teacher who killed his mother, wife and three kids in their Westfield, New Jersey mansion 50 years ago. John List le...
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BONUS: The Watcher

November 2, 2022 • 47 mins
The real story of The Watcher, Westfield’s other boogeyman, whose mysterious letters inspired the hit Netflix series. ------- 'Father Wants Us Dead' is a serial investigative true crime podcast from NJ.com and The Star-Ledger about John List, the accountant and Sunday school teacher who killed his mother, wife and three kids in their Westfield, New Jersey mansion 50 years ago. John List left behind a confession letter, explaining w...
Mark as Played

Feed drop: Introducing Firecracker

November 14, 2023 • 7 mins
“Firecracker, a new true crime podcast from NJ.com's sister news site Syracuse.com, is a deep dive into a horrific 27-year-old crime. When police saw what was left of Carol Ryan’s body, dumped in the driveway of a suburban compost site in September of 1996, they wondered what weapon could cause that level of devastation. The truth was grislier than anyone imagined. Carol’s only son blames police. After hundreds of interviews, inves...
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COMING SOON: IN THE SHADOW OF PRINCETON

May 30, 2024 • 2 mins
From the creators of FATHER WANTS US DEAD comes a gripping new true crime series dropping June 5. The matriarch of a prominent Princeton family is found stabbed to death in her locked basement in 1989. Why would anyone want to kill Cissy Stuart, one of the Ivy league town’s most well-known characters? The shocking investigation sprawls across decades, as police turn their attention from a serial attacker, to her son, to a group of ...
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INTRODUCING: IN THE SHADOW OF PRINCETON

June 5, 2024 • 9 mins
An excerpt of the first episode of the new podcast by the creators of Father Wants Us Dead. The matriarch of a prominent Princeton family is found stabbed to death in her locked basement in 1989. Why would anyone want to kill Cissy Stuart, one of the Ivy league town’s most well-known characters? The shocking investigation sprawls across decades, as police turn their attention from a serial attacker, to her son, to a group of Prince...
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Feed drop: Introducing 'American Shrapnel'

July 30, 2025 • 4 mins
From our sister news site AL.com comes 'American Shrapnel.' The Olympics explode on a July night in 1996. The largest pipe bomb the country has ever seen. A string of bombings shakes Atlanta for the next year. Thousands of photos and videos produce one blurry image of the attacker, a photo so grainy the FBI called him “Blob Man.” Agents zero in on the wrong man, the media follows suit, and the real bomber slips away. Until Birming...
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