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

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (887)	1/26/2001 4:20:54 PM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1400

Re: 1/12/01 - Complaint: James Van de Velde vs. The Hartford Courant, David Altimari and Eric Weiss RETURN DATE: February 27, 2001 : SUPERIOR COURT JAMES VAN DE VELDE : J. D. OF HARTFORD VS. : AT HARTFORD THE HARTFORD COURANT COMPANY, : JANUARY 12, 2001 DAVID ALTIMARI AND ERIC WEISS COMPLAINT 1. Plaintiff James Van de Velde is a resident of Virginia. 2. Defendant Hartford Courant Company publishes, and at all relevant times published, the Hartford Courant, a daily newspaper based in Hartford, Connecticut. 3. Defendant David Altimari is, and at all relevant times was, a staff writer for the Hartford Courant. 4. Defendant Eric Weiss is, and at all relevant times was, a staff writer for the Hartford Courant. 5. In December 1998, plaintiff was employed as a faculty member in the Political Science department at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. He enjoyed an excellent personal and professional reputation. 6. Beginning on December 9, 1998, plaintiff was the subject of numerous stories in the print and broadcast media identifying him as a suspect in the murder of Suzanne Jovin, a Yale student murdered on December 4, 1998. 7. Plaintiff vehemently denied any involvement in the Jovin murder, and continues to this day to maintain his innocence. No accusation has ever been brought against him. 8. On January 11, 1999, Yale University announced that it was relieving Van de Velde of his teaching duties for the Spring 1999 semester. Yale indicated that Van de Velde was, according to the New Haven Police, in a "pool of suspects" in the Jovin murder investigation. No other members of the "pool" were publicly identified. 9. This January 11, 1999 action and announcement spawned further intense media interest in plaintiff, and all aspects of his life. On January 12, 1998 the Courant reported the cancellation of plaintiff's classes, and identified him by name as a suspect in the Jovin murder investigation. 10. On January 13, 1999 the Hartford Courant published an article, authored by defendants Altimari and Weiss, entitled "From Pillar to Pariah", sub-titled "Yale Professor Combats Suspicions He Killed 'Inspiring' Senior." See Exhibit A attached. The article appeared on page A-1 of the Courant, as the paper's lead headline. 11. The article recounted plaintiff's personal and professional background. It specifically questioned Van de Velde's conduct with respect to two female television news reporters. The January 13th article stated that Van de Velde "was the target of police complaints filed by two local television reporters. Both filed complaints with New Haven police although no action was ever taken, sources said. In one case, Van de Velde was accused of looking into the windows at the home of one of the reporters, and constantly phoning her after she broke off a fledgling relationship, a police source said." 12. These statements were false, defamatory, and malicious. 13. The plaintiff requested in writing that the defendants retract these libelous statements, in as public a manner as that in which they were made, but said defendants failed to do so. 14. Media interest in the Jovin murder investigation, and plaintiff's status as the only named "suspect" in that investigation, intensified in the weeks and months following publication of the January 13th article. The allegation that plaintiff was the target of New Haven police complaints filed by women journalists has been repeated by others reporting on the story. It has been highlighted and emphasized in media stories seeking to explain how plaintiff, who had an excellent reputation and no history of misconduct, could be the lone named suspect in the Jovin investigation. 15. The false statements in the January 13th article furthered suspicion and public speculation that plaintiff could have been responsible for the death of Suzanne Jovin. 16. As a result of defendants' January 13th publication, plaintiff's good name and character have been greatly injured; he has been held up to public scrutiny and humiliation; he has been subjected to baseless innuendo attacking his character; his ability to find and keep employment has been severely affected; and he has suffered great mental anguish and embarrassment. WHEREFORE, the plaintiff claims damages. THE PLAINTIFF, JAMES VAN DE VELDE By____________________________________ David T. Grudberg JACOBS, GRUDBERG, BELT & DOW, P.C. His Attorney RETURN DATE: February 27, 2001 : SUPERIOR COURT JAMES VAN DE VELDE : J. D. OF HARTFORD VS. : AT HARTFORD THE HARTFORD COURANT COMPANY, : JANUARY 12, 2001 DAVID ALTIMARI AND ERIC WEISS STATEMENT OF AMOUNT IN DEMAND The amount in demand, exclusive of interest and costs, is more than Fifteen Thousand ($15,000.00) Dollars. THE PLAINTIFF, JAMES VAN DE VELDE By____________________________________ David T. Grudberg JACOBS, GRUDBERG, BELT & DOW, P.C. His Attorney

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (887)	11/30/2001 1:13:35 PM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1400

Re: 11/28/01 - NH Register: Van de Velde reveals mindset Note: Corrections (by me, Jeff) contained in footnotes Van de Velde reveals mindset Randall Beach, Register Staff November 28, 2001 NEW HAVEN - James Van de Velde, the only person named by police as a suspect in the slaying of Yale student Suzanne Jovin, says in a court deposition [1] that the publicity adversely affected his mind and "spirit." Van de Velde's description of his mental state was revealed during his recent deposition in the civil suit he filed against Quinnipiac University in Superior Court, New Haven. Van de Velde said he plans to file new lawsuits soon, probably before Tuesday [2], the third anniversary of Jovin's death. He did not elaborate, but in the past has said he intends to sue Yale University, the New Haven Police Department and perhaps other parties. There is a three-year statute of limitations on civil claims. Van de Velde, 41, has said Yale unfairly refused to allow him to do classroom work during the semester after the murder [3]. Yale has said it removed him from the classroom because his presence would have been a distraction. Van de Velde has also alleged that the police botched the investigation and should never have named him as a suspect. An intent to sue the Police Department has not been filed in the City Clerk's office, according to an official there. Van de Velde sued Quinnipiac in January for defamation, claiming the school wrongfully dismissed him from a master's degree program soon after news reports that he was a suspect in Jovin's death. He alleged Quinnipiac officials made "false, defamatory and malicious" statements about him while explaining why he was dismissed from the broadcast journalism program. Quinnipiac officials have said he was dismissed for academic reasons [4]. Van de Velde, who has also sued the Hartford Courant for libel, has consistently maintained his innocence in the crime. Nobody has been charged in the case. Jovin, 21, was stabbed to death on a corner in the city's East Rock neighborhood [5]. Police revealed in October that DNA had been recovered from under Jovin's fingernails and tests showed it was not Van de Velde's [6]. But they said they still could not eliminate him as a suspect. In court documents for the Quinnipiac suit, Van de Velde and his attorney, David Grudberg, alleged, "Plaintiff has suffered physical, emotional, economic and non-economic damage since first being publicly identified in the New Haven Register on Dec. 9, 1998, as supposedly the prime suspect in the murder of his student, Suzanne Jovin." The Register on that date reported that a "Yale educator who taught Suzanne Jovin" was the lead suspect in the murder, but did not name Van de Velde. Later that day, TV and newspaper reporters went to Van de Velde's office to ask whether he was the person being questioned by police. He allowed the TV and newspaper reporters to interview him and denied any involvement in Jovin's murder. He said he had told police the same thing [7]. In the court documents, the plaintiffs said on Jan. 11, 1999, Yale University and/or the New Haven Police Department identified Van de Velde as being among a "pool of suspects" in the Jovin investigation. In the writ, Van de Velde said he has suffered: "loss of short-term memory, lethargy of spirit, lethargy of daily ability" and a "numbing feeling, especially when I had to hear about, or deal with, the case." Van de Velde, who now works at the Pentagon in the Defense Declassification Referral Center, also said in the document he has an "inability to maintain focus on detail/inability to concentrate." He added he has an "inability to read long text/inability to perform mathematical computations I used to be able to perform without difficulty." In addition, Van de Velde said he experiences "involuntary shaking when news reports are heard that insinuate my guilt in the murder of my student." He said since April 2000, he has visited doctors, including psychologists, 31 times. He said his other symptoms include anxiety, depression, an "inability to experience pleasure" and a "loss of self-respect, self-esteem and self-confidence." Register reporter William Kaempffer contributed to this story. ©New Haven Register 2001 zwire.com [1] The source document was a written interrogatory, not a deposition. Van de Velde has never been deposed by Quinnipiac. [2] "Probably by Tuesday" is pure speculation. [3] Yale never refused to allow Van de Velde to do classroom work. [4] Quinnipiac actually wrote that they had suspended Van de Velde because of information they claimed to have received from WVIT and WTNH about his internships there. Quinnipiac officials were informed -- prior to leaks to the press -- that their claims were absolutely untrue. The Complaint itself can be viewed at Message 15253819 [5] There is no evidence or NHPD statement that proves or alleges Suzanne Jovin was 'stabbed to death on a corner in the East Rock's neighborhood' of New Haven. She was found there bleeding to death, having been stabbed, and she died. [6] It was Assistant State's Attorney Michael Dearington, not Wearing or the NHPD, who revealed DNA existed under the fingernails of Suzanne Jovin. Dearington specifically ducked the question about whether Van de Velde was a suspect and still refuses to call him one. [7] Ned Berkowitz of WTNH stalked Van de Velde outside his dentist's office at 9:40am December 9, 1998 and asked him whether he was the person questioned the previous night and whether he "hurt" Suzanne Jovin. "He allowed the TV and newspaper reporters to interview him" was 6 hours later after Channel 8 aired the ambush interview on the noon news.

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (887)	1/25/2004 10:21:06 AM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1400

Re: 1/25/04 - NY Times: '98 Killing Suspect Wins Some Redemption '98 Killing Suspect Wins Some Redemption By STACEY STOWE Published: January 25, 2004 ive years ago, when James R. Van de Velde was publicly identified as a suspect in the killing of a Yale student, he watched his reputation incinerate. This month, when the Connecticut university he sued for libel agreed to a financial settlement, a small but integral piece of his name was restored. Last week, Mr. Van de Velde settled the libel suit against Quinnipiac University in Hamden, winning $80,000 in damages for its false claim in 1998 that he was fired from two television internships after the university dismissed him from a graduate program in broadcast journalism. He is also married and has been working in the intelligence field. The Quinnipiac dismissal of Mr. Van de Velde, a lecturer at Yale University and a former Navy intelligence officer, followed the stabbing death of his student, Suzanne Jovin, on Dec. 4, 1998. Her body was found in the East Rock section of New Haven, a quiet neighborhood of stately homes not far from the Yale campus and less than half a mile from where Mr. Van de Velde was living. The killing of Ms. Jovin, 21, a smart, attractive senior from Germany, panicked the Yale community. She was stabbed 17 times in the back and neck; the police said she knew her attacker. The crime remains unsolved. A little more than a month after the slaying, the New Haven Police Department publicly identified Mr. Van de Velde, her thesis adviser, and said he was in a pool of 5 to 10 suspects. No other suspects were identified. Yale officials canceled his classes and did not renew his contract. Mr. Van de Velde, who once hoped to be a network foreign affairs analyst, did appear on television: identified as a potential murderer. He had yearned for high-profile success, and now he was infamous. And yet, Mr. Van de Velde, 43, a Yale graduate who lives outside Washington, has never been charged with the crime. He was interrogated for four hours after Ms. Jovin's death. In February 2000, he passed a lie detector test. He hired a detective to find the killer but said the New Haven police refused to share evidence with the investigator. In October 2001, Michael Dearington, the state's attorney for New Haven, announced that DNA from skin cells found under Ms. Jovin's fingernails belonged to a man but did not match that of Mr. Van de Velde. Five years after Ms. Jovin's death, the police, who have announced no new leads, have yet to declare that Mr. Van de Velde is no longer a suspect. "I don't think we've ruled out anybody completely," Bonnie Winchester, a department spokeswoman, said on Tuesday. She said Mike Quinn, a New Haven police detective, was investigating the case; neither Mr. Quinn nor Lt. Herman Badger, who directs the detective division in the department, returned several phone calls. In addition to the Quinnipiac lawsuit, Mr. Van de Velde's lawyer and high-school friend, David T. Grudberg, has filed two others: a defamation suit against The Hartford Courant that is pending and a federal lawsuit against the New Haven Police Department and Yale University. That lawsuit charges Melvin H. Wearing, the retired New Haven police chief; four detectives; and Yale officials with causing Mr. Van de Velde to be publicly branded as a suspect in the Jovin killing. But Mr. Van de Velde wants something money cannot buy: his good name. His lawyer said Tuesday that although the lawsuits can "hold people accountable for what they've done to Jim, he isn't sure the Police Department will ever recant its statement implicating him." "I hope someday the New Haven Police Department will have the integrity to admit it wronged James Van de Velde," he said. "I have real doubts whether that is going to happen." Short of taking out billboards, there are few outlets available to proclaim one's innocence. The billboard route would hardly suit Mr. Van de Velde, who most recently worked as a senior analyst for the Joint Intelligence Task Force for Combating Terrorism at the Defense Intelligence Agency after passing numerous background checks. Hence, he said, the lawsuits. In the meantime, he has reached the sobering conclusion that he can never regain the time and opportunities lost after he was named a suspect. More than four years ago, a quote by Mr. Van de Velde in a New York Times Magazine article revealed his determination to do so: "I want the life I had completely back. And I see no reason why I shouldn't be able to get it." But his comments last week suggested that he had gained a different perspective. Although he was cautious about releasing any details of his personal life, Mr. Van de Velde revealed that he had gotten married and that the experience had caused him to re-evaluate his goals. "I discovered I have to achieve happiness as something personal," he said, in the deliberate phrases characteristic of the academic he once was. "I can't expect it as a result of some achievement, status or wealth. I've found happiness in other ways." Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company nytimes.com