The [Vanity Fair] article's characterization of Suzanne portrayed her as basically very much in love with James, as passionately as any student at that age can be about a college instructor. The article doesn't say whether or not she ever articulated her feelings. I suspect she didn't. I wonder if James ever fully realized her attraction for him...
Wow. I didn't get that impression from the VF article at all. There was nothing in any of Ms. Jovin's e-mail to Jim that suggested anything of the sort, nor did she apparently convey that feeling to her close friends and family. Everything I've read has made a point of saying how much she had a strong loving relationship with her steady boyfriend.
The VF article is not online so I'll see if I can transcribe it later tonight for everyone to read. You should also know that the New Haven police supposedly interviewed a hundred Yalies and not one said they knew or heard of any relationship between the two other than one of a professional nature.
I'm glad you brought this up. It's obvious to me the New Haven police early on were banking on such a relationship. When they couldn't find one they started surmising about the opposite-- maybe they actually didn't like each other, that Suzanne was furious at Jim. This all started when the Yale Daily News ran a story with the headline "Jovin was upset with Van de Velde". This story made headlines in the local paper and on the TV news. Problem is, the person around whom the entire article was based was so incensed about her quotes being taken out of context that she wrote a scathing reply to the paper the next day. Do you think the media mentioned this? Nope. To this day people think the two were at terrible odds with each other. Here's the rebuttal: yaledailynews.com
Others have theorized, as have you, there might have been some unrequited love. How you prove that I'll never know, and, again, there has never been any evidence to suggest it. Regardless, it should be obvious to anyone with common sense that the New Haven police were clueless about Suzanne's relationship to Jim at the time they labeled Jim a prime suspect, and apparently still are today. Combine that lack of motive with no blood, hair, or fiber evidence and you have to start concluding that the New Haven police made a terrible mistake from day one calling Jim a suspect, and have wasted a year trying to make the crime fit him rather than pursue those who most likely fit the crime. Let's hope the trail hasn't run cold. If it hasn't, then with the help of everyone here on SI, we'll get the right guy. :)
- Jeff |
