In November 1971, John List shot his wife, mother and three children. Laying them out on sleeping bags in the ballroom of his New Jersey mansion, he turned on church music, left letters of confession to his minister, and took off. He said later that he'd fully expected to be caught immediately, but to his surprise, he managed to start life over in Colorado. He met another woman, got a job, joined a church and took on a new identity.
Back in New Jersey, the case didn't die. The 13th anniversary of the monstrous crimes came and went, and suddenly there was renewed interest. Jeffrey Paul Hummel, a detective assigned to it in 1985. He worked on the Major Crimes Unit for the prosecutor's office in Union County, New Jersey, and he spent a lot of time learning about List. "Many in law enforcement presumed he was deceased," Hummel said. "However, I maintained he was alive because no evidence had ever surfaced to the contrary."
He was aware that the composite sketch of the age-progressed fugitive, published nationwide, had failed to turn up a good lead. Yet because Hummel found the crime so repulsive, he was not about to give up, so he decided to consult a psychic with a reputation for helping law enforcement with tough cases.
"In May of 1985," he said, "I became aware of a psychic living in Ocean County, New Jersey, identified as Elizabeth Lerner. Armed with crime scene photos, I spent about two hours with Ms. Lerner, who offered her feelings and impressions while touching the rear side of the photographs." While Hummel received no concrete leads in tracking List down, he did get information that in retrospect was surprisingly accurate.
Lerner said that List was alive and had not traveled by plane, as presumed from where he'd left his car, but by train or bus. (He had.)
There was a new woman in his life and he had some connection with Baltimore, Maryland. (He had married his new wife in Baltimore.)
He had fled to the southwest. (He went to Colorado.)
There was some significance with Florida or Virginia. (List ended up in Virginia, which is where he was ultimately arrested.)