Thou Shalt Not Kill by Mary S. Ryzuk [HARDCOVER FIRST EDITION / 1990]

Thou Shalt Not Kill: The True Story of John List by Mary S. Ryzuk 

HARDCOVER FIRST EDITION [1990] WARNER BOOKS

Book club hardcover with dust jacket.  Like new! 

November 9, 1971. On a quiet, affluent street nestled in the town of Westfield, New Jersey, the evening looks calm and uneventful. But looks can be deceiving. For inside a Victorian mansion, following a scenario hideously conceived and deftly orchestrated, John Emil List is unmercifully shooting to death the last of the five members of his family he has killed this day.

December 7, 1971. One month later the police find the decomposing corpses of the List family lying on the ballroom floor, placed side by side in a ritualistic manner. In the background, chilling organ music from a religious radio station lends an eerie accompaniment to this macabre scene that will haunt the officers for years.

The manhunt for List becomes one of the most celebrated in the nation's history. But it is not until eighteen years later that the TV show "America's Most Wanted" - and the show's clay model of the killer - finally helps bring List to justice. How did List manage to evade the authorities for such a long period of time? This is the incredible story of this unusual murderer.