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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 (917)	3/27/2001 11:42:05 PM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1397

Re: 3/27/01 - Boston.com: Criminologists more convinced professor deaths were botched burglary or thrill kill Criminologists more convinced professor deaths were botched burglary or thrill kill By Harry R. Weber, Associated Press, 03/27/01 CONCORD, N.H. -- New evidence released in the murders of two Dartmouth College professors has convinced some criminologists who have reviewed the case that the crime was a burglary gone awry or a thrill killing. The evidence released Monday includes notes found in the bedroom of the older of the two Vermont teens charged with killing Half and Susanne Zantop that refer to the surveillance of a building. And according to the documents, a car matching the description of one owned by the other suspect's mother was seen speeding out of the victims' driveway the day before the murders. "Given their past history and the (surveillance), the burglary gone wrong would be at the top of the list of motives, with the thrill kill second on the list," said John Philpin, a retired Reading, Vt., forensic psychologist and criminal profiler who has worked on more than 300 murder investigations. The only previous run-ins James Parker, 16, and Robert Tulloch, 17, had with police were two breaking and entering incidents. The Chelsea, Vt., teens, along with friends, reportedly broke into two homes last year and were eventually required to attend a reform program for young offenders. Investigators said Tuesday the burglary and thrill kill angles are being considered as a motive, and that they remain unsure of a possible connection between the German-born professors and the suspects. Also Tuesday, documents released by the New Hampshire Supreme Court show that two different sets of unidentified footprints were found on papers on the floor in the Zantops' study. Previously, police said Tulloch's footprints were found at the scene. The new documents say the unidentified impressions don't match Tulloch, and that police are testing the prints against footwear seized from Parker. "Burglary gone awry is the simplest possible explanation," said Jack Levin, a criminology professor at Northeastern University in Boston and director of the Brudnick Center on Violence. "The fact that there may have been some surveillance suggests this may have been a methodical, planned crime." The fact that investigators found weapons, blood and prints suggests the killers were sloppy, criminologists said. "The victims were not dispatched professionally and in a hurry," said John Kirkpatrick, a University of New Hampshire criminology professor. "The scene was probably pretty ugly and there was a lot of blood, and it was probably a result of a lot of pent up rage." Levin said the suspects may not have intended to kill the couple when they first went into the house. "During the heat of the moment, they may have panicked and in a frenzy killed the Zantops," he said. Kirkpatrick agreed. "The purchase of a knife rather than a firearm is key," Kirkpatrick said. "If you're going to kill someone, a gun is more effective. Knives tend to be more for threatening." "This looks like a horrible tragedy that spun quickly out of control," he added. "Once it starts, it's hard to get that violent genie back in the bottle." Whatever the motive, criminologists said the evidence that has been released suggests the crime was pathological in nature. The documents show the home was found a bloody mess, with furniture overturned and papers strewn about. "Adolescents are capable of some pretty spectacular pathology," said Philpin. "You have two intact families, but that doesn't mean there is warmth in those homes. If both of them believed that they didn't matter, then everything is objectified. The thing that still bothers me is the brutal nature of the confrontation." Levin said he was struck by the fact that Holocaust-related literature was found in Tulloch's bedroom. The Zantops were killed on Jan. 27, Holocaust Remembrance Day in Germany. But prosecutors said none of the literature found involved neo-Nazism, Holocaust revisionism or white supremacy. And they said Tuesday that a notation in one of the affidavits that Ku Klux Klan literature was found was erroneous. boston.com

To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (917)	3/28/2001 11:11:52 AM
From: Jeffrey S. Mitchell	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1397

Re: 3/28/01 - YDN: Yale adds $100K to Jovin case reward Published Wednesday, March 28, 2001 Yale adds $100K to Jovin case reward BY ANDREW PACIOREK YDN Staff Reporter In an effort to induce witnesses to come forward, Yale has added $100,000 of its own money to the $50,000 state reward previously offered for information pertaining to the 1998 murder of Suzanne Jovin '99. New Haven Police Chief Melvin H. Wearing and State's Attorney Michael Dearington announced the increase to the reward at a press conference Tuesday, but released little new information about the case other than the existence of a light brown or tan van witnesses saw near the crime scene at the corner of East Rock and Edgehill roads on the night of the murder. "It is believed that there are individuals who have unreported information that may aid in this investigation," Dearington said. Yale President Richard Levin said Tuesday night that University officials initially thought about posting a reward two years ago but decided against it. They offered the increase to the state reward Tuesday after investigators requested it. "I wouldn't want to second guess the investigators," he said. "They asked us to do this and they feel there's a good reason to do this at this point." Although Yale is fronting the new reward money, the only University representative present at the announcement was Yale Police Chief James Perrotti, who did not speak and declined to answer questions. "Perrotti represents law enforcement here," Levin said. "He seemed like an obvious person for that announcement." The reward was posted on Old Campus bulletin boards during the day Tuesday, but not in several other areas. Ellen Jovin, Suzanne's older sister, made an impassioned plea for anyone with information to report it to police "even if it seems trivial, and even if it seems irrelevant." "Every day we grieve for Suzanne," Jovin said. "Every day we miss her, and every day we know we have with us the knowledge of the terrible way in which she died." Wearing and Dearington said the reward is an attempt by police to boost an investigation that has produced few leads and no arrests. "There is nothing new we can hang our hat on," Wearing said. Wearing said James Van de Velde '82, whom Yale officials first named as a suspect in January 1999, is still in a pool of suspects consisting of several people who "could have had the opportunity" to commit the crime. "We just weren't able to eliminate him from the process," Wearing said. "There are extenuating circumstances that make him a suspect in this case." Wearing said Van de Velde originally became a suspect because the "facts and circumstances led detectives to suspect him." In addition to maintaining his innocence, Van de Velde has previously called for Yale to increase the reward and for officials to further publicize it. He criticized the police investigation and his continued status as a suspect Tuesday night. "In New Haven, first individuals are named suspects by the University and police working in concert, then the investigation is conducted, then 28 months later the public is asked for help in locating a vehicle," Van de Velde said. "The case was originally handed to imbeciles or worse, and is now supervised by enablers of misconduct -- all at the expense of keeping a murderer free." The original detectives who supervised the investigation, Capt. Brian Sullivan and Sgt. Edward Kendall, retired recently rather than face internal ethics charges relating to another murder case in which they were alleged to have hidden evidence. Sullivan still faces criminal charges of hindering an investigation and tampering with evidence. In addition to the reward, Wearing announced the creation of a new NHPD hotline, 1-866-888-TIPS. He encouraged anyone with information about the Jovin case or any other crime to call the number. Wearing did not offer further information about the brown van, other than to say its driver may have seen something that would aid in the investigation. Jovin was last seen walking north on College Street at about 9:25 p.m. Dec. 4, 1998, shortly after she dropped off the keys to a University car at Phelps Gate. Her body was found shortly before 10 p.m. that night at the corner of East Rock and Edgehill roads, about two miles north of campus, and police say she could not have walked that far in so short a time. By Connecticut law, the governor may offer a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to an arrest in a felony, and Gov. John Rowland did so in late March 1999. New Haven police posted fliers around Old Campus the next month. But the original reward has had no takers, so Yale upped the ante Tuesday. Ellen Jovin said she did not know if the higher reward would increase the chances of finding her sister's killer. "It's hard," she said. "It's been a long time." Copyright © 2001 Yale Daily News. All rights reserved. yaledailynews.com