Re: 1/7/02 - NH Register: Suspect's old friend works on mystery
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Suspect's old friend works on mystery
Randall Beach, Register Staff January 07, 2002
[picture]
Jeff Mitchell, a friend of James Van de Velde, in his Westport office. Chris Volpe/Register
NEW HAVEN — Jeff Mitchell is not a police officer nor is he a private investigator. But in an effort to clear his old friend, James Van de Velde, of police suspicion he killed Yale University student Suzanne Jovin, Mitchell has spent nearly three years in a free-lance bid to solve the crime.
Mitchell appears to be nearly as obsessed with cracking the case as is Van de Velde, the only person named by police as a suspect in the December 1998 murder. Van de Velde maintains he is innocent.
Mitchell, a self-employed software developer now living in Westport, has a Web site thread devoted to the case, and has interviewed many people about the murder.
Mitchell has also walked the route Jovin used the night she was killed, driven from there to the East Rock site where she was found dying, and gone door-to-door on nearby streets, asking people what they might have seen.
While he walked and drove, Mitchell used a stopwatch to check the timing of events that evening, Dec. 4, 1998.
During an interview in his small Westport office, Mitchell freely admitted he had not come up with any crucial new evidence. But after analyzing what is known about the case, he has theorized Jovin was randomly abducted by several people seeking money, then stabbed and dumped at the corner of East Rock and Edgehill roads.
"My most important contribution is just to look at this in a logical manner," he said. "Logic and common sense."
Mitchell acknowledged it would be "very unusual" for somebody to brazenly pluck a young woman off a downtown street corner on a Friday night.
But he said, "Maybe you're high on drugs, you feel like you can do anything. Maybe they saw her walk by and it was a crime of opportunity."
He theorized the abductors "flew into a horrible rage" when they discovered Jovin wasn't carrying her wallet that night.
Mitchell, whose hobby is exposing fraudulent stock companies, certainly doesn't think police are being logical when they continue to consider Van de Velde, Jovin's thesis adviser, as a suspect.
In fact, he thinks police have not made much progress in the case because they have spent so much time focusing on Van de Velde, whom Mitchell calls "an innocent man."
Although Mitchell realizes people will think he is prejudiced on behalf of his friend, he said, "I went into this totally open-minded … Before I even contacted Jim, I did some research (on the murder)."
Mitchell said the more he delved into the case, the more obvious it became to him that Van de Velde was not involved.
"Even though not a shred of evidence has ever been found that should even make him a suspect - no blood, fiber, fingerprint, motive, etc. - the only way to clear his name is to find the person who actually did it," Mitchell wrote on his Web site thread (http://www.siliconinvestor.com/subject.aspx?subjectid=32074)
"Thus, this thread is not intended to merely be a rehash of material released to the public via press conferences and media reports, but a very real attempt to find the killer(s)," Mitchell added.
Mitchell, like Van de Velde, is 41. Both grew up in Orange. They met in junior high school, then attended Amity Regional High School in Woodbridge. Van de Velde was president of the Student Council; Mitchell was vice president.
Asked how his old friend has changed since being named as a murder suspect, Mitchell said, "He feels total frustration. Things that seem obvious to him and me don't seem obvious to other people. That gives him and me a more cynical view of things, of the media.
"I know his entire life is now devoted to this," Mitchell said. "Every single day he writes about something related to the situation or talks about it - his lawsuits or ways we think of that can help solve the crime."
Mitchell referred to Van de Velde's civil suit against the New Haven Police Department and other litigation against Quinnipiac University, which dismissed him from a master's program there. He has also sued the Hartford Courant for libel.
Van de Velde now lives in Virginia and works at the Pentagon. He declined to comment on Mitchell's efforts.
David Grudberg, who is Van de Velde's attorney, said Mitchell has "devoted great time, energy and intelligence to Jim's cause, to help solve the crime and help clear Jim. His (Mitchell's) critical thinking and his willingness to question what authorities and the media have said, have been a great asset."
Mitchell said he and Van de Velde have e-mail or phone conversations several times a week about the case.
Mitchell criticized New Haven police for too much "secrecy" in their investigation. That's why he asked the state Freedom of Information Commission to release the files of investigator Andrew Rosenzweig, who was hired by Yale to probe the case.
FOI officials have declined to do this, but several FOI board members agreed to read the voluminous files to see whether any of it should be released.
"The more information we have, the better chance we have of solving this," Mitchell said. "And we want the public to have it too. I think if the public knew (what's in the files), this crime could be solved very fast."
In a case that offers so few clues, Mitchell got excited when a published report revealed a 20-ounce Fresca bottle was found near Jovin's body.
Mitchell investigated what stores sell Fresca in the area she was walking Dec. 4. He said only the Krauszer's on York Street sold it (and was open at 9 p.m. that night). Mitchell said he confirmed during an interview with the storeowner that they sold Fresca. (The store has since closed.)
Police have said Jovin was last seen walking north on College Street toward Elm Street. But Mitchell said if she bought the Fresca, she likely made it as far as York Street or the adjacent part of Elm Street before being abducted.
Mitchell noted police have said a tan or brown van was seen parked near the murder scene.
"What police should have asked the public is, 'Did anybody see a mysterious tan van near Krauszer's or the (nearby) Daily Caffé?' " Mitchell said.
"They've (police) blown this case from the start," Mitchell said. "This is crime-solving for idiots."
Police spokeswoman Judith Mongillo said New Haven Police Chief Melvin Wearing declined to comment.
But Mongillo said, "The information police believe should be made public has been released, in conjunction with the State's Attorney's office."
She cited several press conferences authorities have held and the police department's TIPS hotline on the case (1-866-888-TIPS).
Asked whether he thinks the murder will ever be solved, Mitchell said, "Yeah, I do. Because certain people will talk and my theory is based on more than one person being involved."
©New Haven Register 2002
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