Evidence Released in Darthmouth Killings
C O N C O R D, N.H., March 26, 2001 -- One of two teenagers accused of murderingtwo Dartmouth College professors left bloody footprints in thevictims' home, and investigators later found two knives in thatsuspect's bedroom, according to court documents released today.
Police concluded that footprints inside and outside the home ofHalf and Susanne Zantop matched Robert Tulloch's left boot, thedocuments said.
Tulloch, 17, and James Parker, 16, both of Chelsea, Vt., areaccused of fatally stabbing the Zantops in the professors' Hanoverhome Jan. 27.
Vermont detectives who searched Tulloch's home found two knivesin a box under some magazines, the court papers released todayindicate. In earlier documents, police said Parker bought twoknives over the Internet that match the murder weapon.
Investigators also have said they found Parker's fingerprints on aknife sheath found at the Zantops' home.
Prosecutors Drop Fight to Keep Info Secret
A Concord District Court judge released several search warrantsand other arrest information today after prosecutors said they nolonger would fight to keep the documents secret.
Earlier this month, a judge released some censored documentsdescribing what led police to the suspects.
The papers released today also said that during a search ofTulloch's home Feb. 16 and Feb. 17, investigators saw "severaldocuments including literature, school essays, and books, including'Der Fuhrer,' which addressed the topics of Germany, Hitler and theinactivity of America during the Holocaust."
Police also saw literature "referencing the Ku Klux Klan" andviolent computer games.
Assistant Attorney General William Delker said authorities donot consider the materials they found in Tulloch's home to beneo-Nazi materials, saying they were more akin to historicaldocument than racist advocacy.
"There were no neo-Nazi materials or Holocaust revisionistmaterials found in his bedroom, or anywhere, for that matter," hesaid today.
Motive Remains a Mystery
Authorities have refused to speculate on any possible motive.
The day the German-born professors were murdered is HolocaustRemembrance Day in Germany. Friends have said the Zantops werepolitically active and believed strongly that Germany should faceup to its past.
Prosecutors had fought the release of the documents, saying itwould harm their investigation. The state Supreme Court had beenscheduled to hear the state's appeal April 18.
"The state no longer believes that the ongoing investigationwill be materially compromised by the release of these materials,"Attorney General Philip McLaughlin wrote.
The Vermont Supreme Court also was expected to release similardocuments. Documents in Massachusetts — where the boys' getaway carwas found Feb. 18 — also could be released this week. The teensabandoned the car in Sturbridge, Mass., as they headed toCalifornia. They were arrested Feb. 19 in Indiana.