Neighbors Aid Dartmouth Slay Suspects' Families

March 13 -- Neighbors of the two teenagers accused of killing two Dartmouth College professors have established a fund to help the families of the suspects.

Robert Tulloch, 17, and James Parker, 16, both of Chelsea, Vt., were arrested on Feb. 19 in Indiana and charged as adults with first-degree murder in the stabbings of Dartmouth professors Half and Susanne Zantop.

The Zantops were found dead by a dinner guest arriving at their secluded home near the Dartmouth campus in Hanover, N.H., on Jan. 27. The slayings shocked the 6,500-student campus and community.

The teens allegedly stabbed the professors multiple times in their heads and chests. Authorities have refused to discuss a motive or any connection between the boys and the victims.

"We've started a fund called 'Chelsea Community Cares,' and there's two family units in it, one for the Parker family and one for the Tulloch family," said Deross Kellogg, a teacher who said he has known the two families for years.

"We're not passing any sort of judgement on the boys," Kellogg added. "This is merely a fund to help the family. It's not intended to be a defense fund. There are three other dependent children in the two families and they need help.

"I've known these families and the boys for many, many years and they're good people," he said. "When something happens out of the ordinary to a family in Chelsea, it's a small town of about 1,200 people, and we get together and help each other."

Three friends of the two suspects have been subpoenaed, along with their parents, to appear before an investigative grand jury that is scheduled to convene on Friday in Hanover, N.H., according to reports in several New England newspapers.

One parent, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Manchester Union Leader that investigators said they did not believe that those subpoenaed had told everything they knew the first time they were questioned.