Re: 12/2/07 - Hartford Courant: Who Killed Suzanne Jovin?
Who Killed Suzanne Jovin?
December 2, 2007
The Suzanne Jovin murder case is one of the most vexing in memory, not only because it hasn't been solved in almost a decade, but because of the perplexing, even obstructionist, behavior of law enforcement.
The 21-year-old Yale undergraduate was stabbed to death in 1998. Her body was found beside a road in the East Rock section of New Haven. Despite no evidence linking him to the crime and no obvious motive, James Van de Velde, Ms. Jovin's adviser, was interrogated and named a suspect by New Haven police. They have never named anyone else, arrested Mr. Van de Velde or admitted they wrongly accused the professor.
The university added to Mr. Van de Velde's burden by unfairly relieving him of his duties shortly after the murder because of the "distraction" to his students.
Inexplicably, the New Haven state's attorney's office failed to refer the unsolved murder to the state's cold case office, which is set up to handle just this sort of situation. Instead, it agreed in 2000 to let two former New York City police officers, including Patrick Harnett (who would later lead the Hartford Police Department), conduct a private investigation at the behest of the university.
Those two turned up the fact that several witnesses saw a brown van at the scene. Mr. Van de Velde had a red jeep. They obtained a sample of Mr. Van de Velde's DNA, which didn't match male DNA found under the victim's fingernail. A dispute with New Haven prosecutor James Clark reportedly ended their promising investigation.
Finally, in August 2006, the case was turned over to the state's cold case office. Now comes word that a crack team of veteran state police officers has been working on the Jovin case for the past seven months.
In an unusual agreement with the New Haven state's attorney's office, they are reviewing the evidence and re-interviewing key people, including Ms. Jovin's parents, who are in no less hellish a situation than Mr. Van de Velde. Imagine losing your daughter to such a violent act and having no clue as to why for more than a decade.
Let's hope this third attempt to find justice for Ms. Jovin is open and thorough. To be successful, it will require full cooperation from local police and prosecutors and a fresh perspective.
It's time to release the Jovin family and Mr. Van de Velde from purgatory.
courant.com |
