She was the mother everyone else measured themselves against. She was gentle, devoted, and endlessly patient. On a quiet morning in June 2001, she drowned all five of her children in the bathtub, one by one. What was happening inside her mind may be even harder to sit with than what happened in that house.

Content warning: child death, suicide, and severe mental illness.

A farmhouse. A family. Poison. A deadly mixture of despair and desperation.

In this episode of Behind Closed Doors, we take a closer look at the chilling case of John List, the man who murdered his entire family before disappearing for nearly 18 years. We'll explore the warning signs, the planning behind the murders, how he managed to evade capture for so long, and what ultimately led to his arrest. It's a haunting story of deception, control, and the dark secrets that can exist behind closed doors.

Behind every front door is a story, but some stories end in unimaginable tragedy. In this first episode of Behind Closed Doors, we introduce the focus of the podcast: family annihilators. We'll discuss what family annihilation is, the different types of family annihilators identified by experts, common warning signs, and the psychological factors that have been linked to these devastating crimes. This episode lays the foundation for future case deep dives by exploring the patterns and motivations that often hide in plain sight. Join us as we uncover the truths that exist behind closed doors.