Re: 3/1/00 - Van de Velde vows to sue University, NHPD
Van de Velde vows to sue University, NHPD
ABC's 20/20 reports former lecturer's alibi still unconfirmed
SUZANNE JOVIN
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BY MICHAEL BARBARO
YDN Staff Reporter
Published 3/1/00
The alibis of 20 potential suspects in the 1998 murder of Davenport senior Suzanne Jovin '99 have checked out, while only that of former Yale lecturer James Van de Velde's remains unconfirmed, suggesting that the pool of viable suspects in the case has dwindled substantially, according to an ABC news program to be aired tonight.
Van de Velde, 39, flatly denies in tonight's program any involvement in the brutal stabbing death, accuses Yale and the New Haven Police Department of making him a "scapegoat," and vows for the first time to sue both for violating his civil rights.
ABC's month-long investigation, to be aired at 10:00 p.m. tonight on "20/20," unearths a trove of insider information in the case, reporting that Van de Velde has taken three privately administered polygraph tests, a medical examiner has identified the kind of knife used in the murder and a witness heard what are believed to be Jovin's last words before she died.
But the most damning information is about a controversial phrase -- "pool of suspects" -- that has been kicked around in the case since the weeks after Jovin was killed.
New Haven's Police Chief Melvin Wearing said in December that investigators have narrowed the list of possible suspects in the investigation to "more than five" or "more than 10" and that the department has no prime suspect. Van de Velde's alibi -- that he was home alone watching television when Jovin was killed -- cannot be validated.
Jovin, a 21-year-old political science major from Goettingen, Germany, was found suffering from 17 stab wounds on a dimly lit street corner about a mile north of campus on Dec. 4, 1998.
"This is a case of institutions colluding and making a mess of a crime," Van de Velde told ABC, accusing Yale and the NHPD of working "in concert from the beginning" to pin the blame for Jovin's death on him.
Yale's Vice President and General Counsel Dorothy Robinson last night denied Van de Velde has any basis to sue the University.
"I don't believe Yale has violated his civil rights at all," Robinson said, adding she would not be able to say whether the former lecturer would have a stronger case if he was officially cleared as a suspect.
Van de Velde's attorney, David Grudberg '82, said last night he believes the NHPD's actions and inactions have all but painted his client as a murderer.
"If there is in fact no pool of suspects, it means the police have been lying for a year," Grudberg said. "I don't know what is worse, lying to the public about a pool of suspects -- or singling Jim [Van de Velde] out from an otherwise anonymous pool and exposing only him to the destruction of his life."
Representatives from the NHPD would not comment on the report or the threat of a lawsuit.
The ABC broadcast, scheduled for 10 p.m. EST, contains on-camera interviews with Van de Velde, Jovin's parents, current and graduated Yale students and Connecticut criminal justice officials, including Connecticut Public Safety Commissioner Henry Lee, a renowned forensic expert.
It describes a witness in the case who reportedly heard Jovin's last words.
"I can't believe you are doing this!" Jovin said, according to a passerby who heard the words minutes before Jovin's body was found at the corner of Edgehill Avenue and East Rock Road.
The show says the results of the first two private polygraph tests were inconclusive because Van de Velde "was emotionally over-responsive to the polygraph," said the man who administered the tests. The show reports that a third test -- which he passed -- did not directly ask Van de Velde whether he killed Jovin.
Grudberg would not comment on the tests.
During the ABC interview, Van de Velde denies any involvement in the murder, and denies what the reporter called a "detective's" theory that the professor lusted for Jovin and killed her when she rejected him.
"Ludicrous. What can I say? Pure ridiculous speculation. I had no relationship with this woman. We never argued. I never saw her outside of class. I didn't even know where she lived. And here they are accusing me of murdering her."
Among the new information to publicly emerge from the show is a description of the weapon. The program reports that it was a four-to-five inch non-serrated carbon steal knife.
Jovin was stabbed in the head, neck and back. The tip of the blade was found lodged in the left side of Jovin's head.
Steven Dick, the editor of Tactical Knives magazine, told the Yale Daily News the description of the murder weapon could fit most types of knives, adding it is not specific enough to make any sort of generalization about what kind of knife the weapon might be.
"It's like saying an automobile with four tires," Dick said.
Van de Velde told ABC that his life has been decimated since he was declared a suspect in the case. He said he has lost his life savings, letters of recommendation and has been ignored by 30 prospective employers to whom he sent applications.
"I have had faculty members pass me in the supermarkets. I have had former friends and colleagues never write me," Van de Velde said in a pointed remark about Yale. "Martin Luther King once said 'we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.' And I remember a lot of silence."
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