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Pastimes : Murder Mystery: Who Killed Yale Student Suzanne Jovin? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: PatiBob who wrote (450)	3/1/2000 12:13:00 PM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Respond to of 1397

Suzanne Jovin?s Vicious Murder Remains an Enigma In an exclusive 20/20 interview, Jim Van de Velde, a former Yale University lecturer, and a suspect in the murder of Suzanne Jovin, discusses the impact of the murder investigation on his life. (ABCNEWS.com) ----- March 1 ? The night of Dec. 4 1998, was unseasonably warm for New Haven, Conn. This photo of Suzanne Jovin was taken on the night of her murder. (ABCNEWS.com) At 9 p.m., Suzanne Jovin, a beautiful and talented Yale University senior, finished hosting a pizza party for one of her many projects, the local chapter of the Best Buddies program. Less than two hours later, Jovin would be dead, the victim of 17 stab wounds in an attack so vicious the tip of her attacker?s knife broke off and lodged in her skull. Tragically, most of the questions surrounding Jovin?s murder, carried out just steps away from Yale, remain unanswered. ABCNEWS?s John Miller investigates the mystery and its shattering effect on Yale University, the victim?s family, and on the prime suspect himself, tonight on 20/20, at 10 p.m. ET. The ?Leading Suspect? Still reeling from the loss of a bright and talented student, the Yale community was stunned to learn that New Haven police considered a political science lecturer their leading suspect. Jim Van de Velde, the first and still the only publicly named suspect in the case, was Jovin?s senior thesis adviser at the time of the stabbing. Van de Velde says that four days after Jovin?s murder he was called in by the New Haven Police, for what he assumed would be routine questioning. He says he quickly realized the session was anything but routine when detectives grilled him for four hours. On Jan. 11 last year, one month after Jovin?s murder, Yale University took the unusual step of announcing to the press that Van de Velde was in a ?pool of suspects? possible connected to the murder and canceled his classes. Since then, Van de Velde says he?s lived under a cloud of suspicion that has prevented him from carrying on with his life. Van de Velde adamantly denies any role in the murder of Suzanne Jovin. ?I have never committed an act of violence in my entire life?Nothing has been revealed to link me to this crime and nothing will,? he says. Van de Velde insists he is an innocent man whose life and career have been ruined by baseless suspicion. ?It doesn?t escape me. And will not likely escape me until the police arrest someone or withdraw their label of me as a suspect,? he says. Unanswered Questions New Haven police have said repeatedly that Van de Velde is one in a ?pool of suspects.? Nevertheless their inability to fully check out his alibi on the night of the murder ? he says he was at his home alone at the murder ? and the assertion of several local women that Van de Velde was ?creepy,? which he heatedly denies, are still significant elements of the investigation. No charges have been brought against him or anyone else. At Yale University, initial fears of a killer on the loose subsided after the police department said they believed Jovin was murdered by someone she knew. Today, the university says it would like to downplay attention to the murder, that it is time to move on. Meanwhile, Dr. Tom Jovin still struggles to come to terms with his daughter?s tragic death. ?I feel like I?ve died with my daughter. Amputation of the soul or something like that,? he says. Initially surprised to hear Van de Velde?s name connected to his daughter?s death, Jovin now calls on him to re-establish contact with the New Haven police. Van de Velde stopped cooperating with the New Haven police last year. In his in-depth 20/20 investigation, ABCNEWS? John Miller speaks for the first time on network television with Jim Van de Velde, and reveals new information about the alleged suspect pool. Miller also discusses the results of polygraph tests taken by Van de Velde, details on the murder weapon, and the chronology of the crime. Tune in to 20/20?s exclusive report this Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET. abcnews.go.com Video clip: abcnews.go.com