Re: 12/4/2025 -- 27 years after Yale student Suzanne Jovin’s killing, original investigator speaks in New Haven
27 years after Yale student Suzanne Jovin’s killing, original investigator speaks in New Haven
By Ethan Fry,
Staff WriterDec 4, 2025
Retired New Haven police detective Ed Kendall speaks during a brief news conference and moment of silence at the site of Suzanne Jovin’s 1998 murder in New Haven on Thursday, marking the 27th anniversary of the Yale student’s killing, which remains unsolved.
Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media
NEW HAVEN — One of the original detectives to investigate the killing of 21-year-old Yale University senior Suzanne Jovin in New Haven marked the 27th year since the killing with a plea for new information, at the site where her body was found.
"The loss of Suzanne, who was a loving daughter, sister, friend, and classmate, was devastating," Ed Kendall said, reading a statement while standing in front of a tree where Jovin was found at about 10 p.m. Dec. 4, 1998, stabbed 17 times. "She was a vibrant, kind, intelligent young woman at the dawn of her bright future."
"We are seeking further investigation and justice for Suzanne," Kendall said before leading about a half-dozen other former colleagues in a moment of silence. "We ask anyone who might have information to please come forward and contact the New Haven Police Department."
The state has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Jovin's killer. Yale has committed an additional $100,000.
The team investigating the killing, which is being led by the New Haven State's Attorney's Office, can be reached at 1-866-623-8058 or via email at jovin.case@ct.gov.
Jovin's killing remains one of the state's most prominent cold case homicides. Her body was found off East Rock Road in the tony Prospect Hill neighborhood. Earlier that evening Jovin had organized a holiday party for the Best Buddies charity organization. Jovin's former thesis adviser, who was identified in media reports as one of a "pool of suspects" in the case, later settled a lawsuit against the city and Yale. No other suspects have been publicly named.
"Authorities are interested in all available information or leads, no matter how remote or trivial that information may seem, and want to hear from anyone who has heard something, seen something, or who may even have repressed the knowledge of something that could be related to the murder of Ms. Jovin," according to a Web page on the homicide maintained by the state.
"We're really interested in anybody in the neighborhood, anybody that might have seen something or anybody at the university that may have information," Kendall said, adding that a handful of former colleagues who mark the anniversary of the homicide where Jovin's body was found — and that Jovin's is the only of the 15 homicides from 1998 that is still unsolved. "We all are in contact, even though we are retired, we still talk to try to develop new information about the case."
Dec 4, 2025
Ethan Fry
Reporter
Ethan Fry has been a reporter with Hearst Connecticut since 2019. Prior to working at Hearst, he worked at the Valley Independent Sentinel and the Journal-Inquirer of Manchester. He also has worked at the Danbury News-Times. He's a fan of irony, the New York Mets, Manchester United Football Club, classic films, and the Oxford comma.
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