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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 (898)	2/8/2001 1:29:37 PM
From: VivB	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1397

Jeff, It now appears that we have another reason to be thankful for the Internet -- the precise times which show up on the e-mail trail will now help us account for our "whereabouts" when we are "home alone." Viv

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (898)	2/17/2001 4:05:39 AM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1397

Re: 2/16/01 - AP: Police issue arrest warrant in Dartmouth College murders; Vermont teen sought in deaths of Zantops Police issue arrest warrant in Dartmouth College murders Vermont teen sought in deaths of Zantops By Harry R. Weber, Associated Press, 2/16/01 CONCORD, N.H. -- Police said late Friday night they have issued a warrant charging a Vermont teen-ager with the murders of two Dartmouth College professors. State police said they were looking for Robert Tulloch, 17, of Chelsea, Vt. Police have a warrant charging him with two counts of first-degree murder in the Jan. 27 stabbing deaths of Susanne and Half Zantop. Police say the teen may be driving a silver-colored Audi, and he may be traveling with a 16-year-old male companion, who is also being sought in connection with the homicides. Police did not say how they identified the suspect, nor did they immediately release any further information from state police headquarters in Concord, which is 65 miles south of the Dartmouth campus in Hanover. A man who answered the phone at Tulloch's home refused comment and hung up. Rick Ackerman, a Chelsea highway foreman who lives about four miles away from Tulloch, said he has seen the police going back and forth from the suspect's home. He said that at about 11:45 p.m. Friday there was a forensic truck, crime lab officials and four or five state police cars in front of Tulloch's home. "We were outside our garage washing our truck and wondered what was going on," Ackerman said. "I asked the guy at the country store and he said they were looking for someone." He added, "But tonight in another store they told me they were looking for Robert Tulloch. I know of his parents. They seem to be all right people. The mother, I've run into her a few times." In an e-mail to Dartmouth students, college president James Wright continued to urge students to take reasonable safety precautions. Wright reiterated that community members should not hesitate to seek out the college counseling office and other support resources. He said he is relieved that a warrant has been issued. But, he added, "I would be more relieved if they apprehended" the suspect. "This shows that they're making some real progress." When asked if he knew of any connection Tulloch had with the college, Wright said, "I have never heard the name before, and I do not know of any connection to the Dartmouth community. His name does not show up in any place in our records." Earlier Friday, New Hampshire's top prosecutor denied a report that the murders of the Zantops probably resulted from an affair Mr. Zantop was having. The Boston Globe reported Friday that authorities believe the murders were "crimes of passion, most likely resulting from an adulterous love affair involving Half Zantop." Attorney General Philip McLaughlin made his denial in a news release. "No responsible and knowledgeable law enforcement official would provide the Globe with the information it attributed to official anonymous sources," he said. "In fact, investigators do not hold the belief attributed to them in the Globe story." Globe Editor Matthew V. Storin responded promptly. "We stand by our story," he said. He said any suggestion the Globe made up the story "is just absolutely, positively false." Zantop, 62, and his wife, 55, were stabbed to death in their secluded off-campus home. They were found by an arriving dinner guest. Authorities have released little information about the case, and stuck with that policy Friday. "We wouldn't confirm or comment on any facts in the Globe story. We remain extremely optimistic and believe the investigation is progressing positively and hope to resolve this matter sometime in the foreseeable future," said Dan Mullen, a senior assistant attorney general. Mullen said prosecutors are keeping quiet for fear of jeopardizing the investigation. "We have run across (instances) where potential suspects in other cases have picked up information in the media that made it more difficult to investigate that case," he said. At a news conference a week ago, Charles Prouty, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston office, said the FBI has developed a profile of the likely killer, but officials are not ready to release that yet. Authorities believe the Zantops, who frequently opened their home to students and other guests, were killed by someone they knew or let into their home. Half Zantop taught earth sciences. Susanne Zantop was chairwoman of the German Studies Department. Both were natives of Germany and traveled abroad frequently. boston.com ===== Note: Yesterday the Boston Globe ran a story entitled "Love affair eyed in N.H. killings; Husband involved with unidentified woman, officials say." Unless half Zantop was having an affair with the 17 year old boy's mother, it looks like the Globe has some serious explaining to do. boston.com

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (898)	4/14/2002 12:27:05 AM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Respond to of 1397

Re: The Jovin and Zantop Murder Investigations: One Comparison Suzanne Jovin was killed on December 4th, 1998. Five days later, the New Haven Register blared the headline: "YALE TEACHER GRILLED IN KILLING". Susanne and Half Zantop were killed on January 27th, 2001. Four days later, The Dartmouth student newspaper's lead story was "STUDENT IS POTENTIAL SUSPECT". James Van de Velde, the as of then unidentified Yale teacher, was questioned by police for an hour three days after the murder, then for four hours the next night. The Dartmouth student, whose name was kept confidential, was questioned by police for an hour two days after the murder, then for four hours the next night as well. Both Van de Velde and the Dartmouth student believe they were "prime suspects" because they were one of the last people to see the murder victims alive. Eventually DNA evidence (not properly tested until more than two years after the crime) exonerated Van de Velde. The Dartmouth student was quickly ruled out and the real killers have been caught and convicted. So why did Van de Velde have his life destroyed and reputation ruined whereas the Dartmouth student apparently suffered no ill effects whatsoever? The answer, in my opinion, lies in the comparison of the leadership of both local police departments. I say "leadership" because both Van de Velde and the Dartmouth student both called their interrogations extremely unprofessional. For example, here is a snippet from the relevant The Darmouth article: He said the police attempted to use "entrapment techniques" by saying that they had reason to believe he was at the Zantop home the day of the murders. The student said adamantly that he had never been to the Zantop home and did not know where they lived until he read The Dartmouth's email message. He said the police never presented him with any evidence that would lead to the belief that he was ever at the Zantop home. "First you ask questions. You don't start by making assumptions." "They asked me if I had a vehicle, and I said, 'I don't even have a driver's license.'" The student said the police asked him "questions that had nothing to do with the case," such as whether he had a girlfriend. The police also asked if he practiced "Santería," a religion that involves ritual sacrifice. Message 15281405 I'm not in a position to evaluate what is and is not proper internal police interrogation. I suppose if you can entice someone into a true confession simply by pretending like you have the goods on them then why not. However, unlike the local police in the Zantop case, the New Haven police decided they were clairvoyant-- that despite no motive or evidence Van de Velde had anything to do with the murder that he just had to be their guy. Had they kept this thought to themselves, the only negative ramification would have been that the trail would have simply grown colder each day they refused to consider alternate scenarios. Instead, the NHPD decided to manipulate Yale, the local media, and most despicably, the Jovin family, in a desperate attempt to appear like it was only a matter of time before they had enough to arrest Van de Velde. In doing so, they withheld key information from the public that, in my opinion, may have led to the case being solved very early on. I'm frankly shocked that the Mayor of New Haven and the President of Yale have remained steadfastly silent on this horrendous and obvious example of police incompetence at the top. With the solving of the Zantop murders, the question of "could this have been handled differently" is no longer academic. Sadly, apparently each has chosen to sit back and let the courts decide their legacy. - Jeff