Re: 12/8/00 - NH Register: New hope in Jovin probe
New hope in Jovin probe
New Haven Register Editorial December 08, 2000
It has been two years since a Yale student, Suzanne Jovin, was stabbed to death in the East Rock neighborhood of New Haven.
No arrest has been made. No evidence has been found that links the slaying to a suspect. It is not even known why Jovin was walking in the neighborhood.
The odds of apprehending a killer increase the longer a case remains unsolved. News in recent months has hinted at setbacks to the investigation. Sophisticated tests of animal hairs taken from Jovin's coat failed to offer any clue.
None of the four detectives and supervisors originally assigned as investigators remain on the case. In addition, the original prosecutor for the investigation has left.
Through it all, the state and city have attempted to reassure Jovin's parents, who live in Germany, that they are pressing forward and have not forgotten their daughter.
Time has not erased the pain of their daughter's loss. "The fact and manner of our daughter's death are as vivid and incomprehensible to us today as they were two years ago. We agonize over her loss and we miss her terribly," the Jovins said last month.
Yale's president, Richard C. Levin, says the university has had three goals since the student's slaying: assist the police, be supportive to the Jovins, and to keep Suzanne Jovin's memory alive.
The Jovins continue to hope their daughter's killer will be brought to justice. One reason for their hope is an unusual measure Yale has undertaken.
The university has reportedly hired a private detective who specializes in "cold cases" to investigate the killing. Although Levin would not comment, the detective has been promised cooperation from police and the state's attorney.
Police believe Jovin knew her killer. The fact that she was stabbed 17 times suggests a violent, personal passion. The only suspect who has been publicly identified was Jovin's senior thesis adviser. Jovin reportedly had complained about how the adviser handled her thesis. Yale relieved the instructor of his teaching duties after Jovin's death and did not renew his contract.
The other two slayings of Yale students in New Haven during the last 30 years were quickly solved. They involved muggings that went awry. Suspects from the city's impoverished neighborhoods were arrested. But robbery does not appear to have been a motive in Jovin's death.
The answer to the mystery of Jovin's death may be found on the Yale campus. If so, the university's hiring a detective may prove a response to an institutional as well as the public need to catch the killer.
©New Haven Register 2000
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