On January 27, 2001, Dartmouth College professors Half and Susanne Zantop, aged 62 and 55 respectively, were stabbed to death at their home in Etna, New Hampshire. Originally from Germany, the couple had been teaching at Dartmouth since the 1970s. High school classmates James J. Parker, age 16, and Robert W. Tulloch, age 17, were charged with first-degree murder.
Parker pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for testifying against Tulloch, and was sentenced to 25 to life. Tulloch pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and received the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without parole. In 2014 the New Hampshire Supreme Court ordered Tulloch's sentence reviewed.
Half and Susanne Zantop
Half Zantop met Susanne Korsukewitz while they were both studying at Stanford University in the mid-1960s. They were both from Germany. Fascinated with geology, Half had earned a bachelor's degree from Freiburg University, while Susanne was working on her master's degree in political science. After Half earned a Ph.D. in geology in 1969 at Stanford and worked as a field geologist, he and Susanne were married in 1970. They had two daughters, Veronika and Mariana.
Susanne taught in the German department at Dartmouth College and was chair of that faculty. Half taught geology and earth science, and was popular among many of his students. In 2000, they had begun discussing retirement in the near future.
The murders
Tulloch and Parker went to the Zantop residence on the morning of January 27, 2001. Posing as students doing research for a school survey, they intended to take the occupants by surprise, threaten them into revealing their PINs, and rob and kill them. Half allowed them inside while Susanne was preparing a dish for a dinner she was hosting that evening at home.
According to his confession, Parker said that Zantop was "an alright guy" and that they did not need to kill him. Tulloch allegedly became angered when Zantop, a professor of earth science, told him that he had to come more prepared (for questions for the purported research). Tulloch resented the comments and attacked Zantop when he turned away to look for a phone number. Tulloch took his SOG Knife and repeatedly stabbed Half in the chest and face, cutting his own leg accidentally in the process.
When Susanne came from the kitchen and tried to stop him, Parker stabbed and injured her, allegedly at Tulloch's orders. Tulloch also stabbed her in the head and body, killing her. Covered in blood, the pair left after taking $340 from Half's wallet. They left their knife sheaths at the scene.
Discovery and capture
The Zantops' bodies were found that evening by family friend Roxana Verona, who had arrived as an invited guest for dinner. She immediately notified police.
Investigators at first speculated that it was a crime of passion by someone having an affair with Half, but that idea was soon disproved. There were several false leads. The Associated Press reported at least three persons of interest were interviewed by police and that "A task force set up after the murders also received hundreds of phone calls, letters and e-mails from people with wild theories about the killings". After finding a bloody footprint and the two distinctive knife sheaths at the scene, the police traced the knives to Parker three weeks after the murders.
According to the 16-year-old Parker, he had not gotten into trouble at school or in the community. He had an alibi for the time of the crime. He said that he bought the knives with Tulloch in order to build a fort. He claimed that they sold them at a surplus store after finding they were too heavy. Parker agreed to undergo fingerprinting.
The investigators paid Tulloch a visit. At that time, they doubted that the pair were the killers and told Tulloch he was not required to speak with them. Tulloch did talk with them without a lawyer present and told them the same story as had Parker. When they asked about the deep cut above his right knee, he told them that he slipped on a rock and cut himself on a metal spigot. When they asked to fingerprint him and borrow boots for matching purposes, he signed a search warrant.
The same request had not been made of Parker because it was suggested by a detective whom they had phoned to get his version of the story.