True Crime & Justice

Young Killers

The Parker Transcripts: The making of teen murderers

Vermont teens, were charged in February 2001 with 1st degree murder for the January 2001 stabbing deaths of husband-and-wife Dartmouth College professors, Half and Susanne Zantop. Half was an earth science professor, and Susanne was the chairwoman of the German department. The teens were arrested at an Indiana truck stop two days after fleeing Vermont.

The teen-age killers of two Dartmouth College professors in their home a year ago had unsuccessfully targeted 4 other families. In the 6 months before the murders in Hanover on Jan. 27, 2001, Tulloch and Parker went to 4 other randomly chosen homes planning to talk their way in, get the residents' ATM cards and PIN numbers and then murder them.

Robbery was the motive in the slaying of two Dartmouth College professors who were stabbed in their home, prosecutors said. An indictment is the first statement from prosecutors alleging a motive for death. The jury for Robert Tulloch will be asked to consider two theories of first-degree murder; that it was "purposeful," with no motive specified, and that it was committed during a robbery, Attorney General Philip McLaughlin said in a statement.

Chronology

Attorneys for Tulloch filed documents giving notice that they will rely on the insanity defense when the 1st-degree murder case against him comes to trial April 2002.

Robert W. Tulloch, 17, of Chelsea, pleaded innocent to two charges of first-degree murder on Tuesday, less than two weeks after a Grafton County, NH grand jury handed up the two indictments against him.

In addition to fingerprint evidence, court documents describe 2 knives Parker bought over the Internet in early January, 2001. Deputy Medical Examiner Thomas Gilson analyzed identical knives and found they were consistent with the Zantops' wounds.

Grand jury indicts Tulloch

A friend of Tulloch and Parker, Gaelen McKee, 15, had little to say after the long grand jury session, which took place behind closed doors.

The two teenage boys will continue their high school education as they await trial.

18-year-old Christiana Usenza is the girlfriend of Robert Tulloch, 17.

Clues but not all the pieces to the Zantop slayings

Records from a fitness center indicate that the 2 teenagers accused were not in the facility at the same time as the Zantops, the health club's lawyer said.

Teens Accused in Dartmouth Killings Collected Hate Literature - Investigators found Neo-Nazi and white supremacist literature in the room of Robert Tulloch, 17.

PrimeTime: Dartmouth Murders (Transcript)

Teen Indicted in Professors' Deaths Charged in January Slayings of Two Dartmouth Professors

Vermont town grasps for explanation -- The community of the two teens charged with murders struggles to believe they were involved. One way or another, Robert Tulloch and James Parker have been partners for nearly a decade - rafting rivers, climbing mountains and debating for their high school team. According to friends and neighbors, the pair did everything together. According to authorities, that included murder.

Arrest Warrant -- New Hampshire Attorney General Philip McLaughlin, State Police Colonel Gary M. Sloper, Hanover Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone and FBI Special Agent In-Charge Charles S. Prouty announce an arrest warrant has been issued in the double homicide investigation of Half Zantop and Susanne Zantop, who were murdered in their residence on January 27, 2001, in the town of Hanover, NH.

Prosecutors object to defense claim that forensic evidence is unreliable because lab is unaccredited -- Prosecutors objected Thursday to claims by lawyers for a teenager accused of killing two Dartmouth College professors that forensic evidence in the case is unreliable because the state police laboratory is not accredited. The motion filed by lawyers for Robert Tulloch, 18, does not cite any specific case in which the Concord lab has produced flawed tests.

Judgment Ridge by Dick Lehr (Author), Mitchell Zuckoff (Author)
The harrowing story of the murders of Half and Susanne Zantop, two beloved Dartmouth College professors who were savagely butchered in their home on January 27, 2001. The messy crime scene soon led investigators to James Parker and Robert Tulloch, a couple of popular teenagers from nearby Chelsea, Vt. But after being interviewed by detectives, the two promptly fled, leading authorities on a three-day manhunt that ended abruptly at a truck stop in Illinois. While the stunned and bewildered residents of Chelsea muscled their way through choking crowds of reporters (the already sensational story was made all the more lurid by the suspects' youth and the sleepy, idyllic setting) and came to terms with the unimaginable (two of their own townspeople were murderers), Parker and Tulloch were remanded to New Hampshire and arraigned on murder charges that were supported by an arsenal of incriminating evidence.
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