The story of the notorious American mass murderer who killed his entire immediate family to hide his personal failures and hid for decades before he was finally arrested.

The pious John List regularly goes to church and is respected by his neighbours. But one day the police find his wife Helen and their three children slain in their house - obviously by John, who left two letters for the police and his priest and disappeared. Chief Richland is disgusted by the murders and starts an intensive investigation. In flashbacks we learn about the history of the disaster.—Tom Zoerner <[email protected]>