Zantop Investigation Continues, Still No Motive

by J. Lawrence Scholer

As evidence mounts against the two teens accused of killing the Half and Susanne Zantop, their motive remains a mystery. Court documents released by the prosecution tell little of the possible motive. Investigators also appear stumped.

The arrest warrant for Robert Tulloch contains a handwritten note from the a Lebanon District Court judge that expressed the lack of a motive. Judge Albert J. Circone, Jr. wrote, "The investigation has not shown any connection between the Zantops, Parker, and Tulloch, and no reason for Parker or Tulloch to be at the Zantop home."

At this point, investigators are pondering whether the murders were the result of a burglary or "thrill kill."

Investigators are still busy collecting evidence against Tulloch and James Parker and now are examining the boys’ academic history. Investigators have interviewed or will interview former teachers from kindergarten to high school. They recently obtained a court order for the release of school records.

Chelsea school superintendent Dave Potter believes that the authorities are seeking grades, attendance records, and medical records. By Vermont law, these records are confidential. Chelsea Public School is releasing some records with the oversight of a lawyer. The school will provide legal counsel for subpoenaed teachers if requested.

Tulloch, a senior, attended Chelsea, but had received enough credits for graduation and so had not attended school recently. Parker, a junior, attended Spaulding High School in Barre, Vermont during his sophomore year. He transferred back to Chelsea after one year.

Investigators have also searched a green 1996 Subaru station wagon owned by the Parkers. They conducted tests on a spot of blood on the passenger side floor mat.

A Canaan, NH man saw a similar green station wagon exit the Zantops’ driveway at 2:30 before the day of the murders, Friday, January 26. The man, Paul Newcity, had to swerve to avoid the speeding Subaru. Newcity believes he saw only one person in the car, but could not be sure as the events unfolded quickly.

"It made a pretty strong impression on me. It was leaving fast," said Newcity. "That’s very out of the ordinary for the neighborhood. People don’t leave their yard at that rate of speed."

Newcity described the driver as a thin, dark-haired, clean shaven, white male in his early twenties. Newcity identified the car as a Volvo.

A recent discovery of two different footprints at the murder scene has not stopped the investigation in any way. One footprint does not match footwear worn by Tulloch or the police. One set of footprints had been identified with Tulloch. The imprint of Tulloch’s left boot was found inside and outside the house. Parker’s footwear has not yet been compared with the mystery print in the state laboratory.

Parker’s lawyer maintains his client’s innocence and urges the public to withhold judgment until footprint evidence is released. "It’s incomprehensible and inconceivable that Jimmy Parker had anything to do with this crime," said his lawyer, Doug Brown. "The nature of these documents does not undermine [the Parker’s] confidence in the innocence of their son."

Authorities, however, did discover Parker’s fingerprints at the murder scene. The prints were found on one of two knife sheaths.

The majority of evidence has incriminated Tulloch. On Monday, March 26 officials released DNA evidence which connected Tulloch to the murders. A DNA test confirmed that blood found on two knives in Tulloch’s bedroom was Susanne Zantop’s. The two military knives were found in a box under a pile of magazines. They were identical to each other and matched the sheaths found at the crime scene. One knife contained the blood of another person who has not yet been identified.

The knives in question were SOG Seal 2000 military knives. The SOG Seal 2000 knife has a seven inch blade and a five and a quarter inch handle. The sheath is over a foot long and nearly three inches wide.

Parker confirmed to authorities that he did purchase the knives, but claims he sold them before the murders. Parker told investigators that he paid $180 for the knives, but he did not know the date of purchase or have a receipt. Parker first claimed that he took the knives to Tulloch’s home where they opened the box. Later, he admitted that he had kept the knives at his home.

Soon after receiving the knives, Parker told authorities that he and Tulloch went to Burlington, Vt. to sell them. Parker entered an Army/Navy store alone and attempted to sell the knives to the store clerk. Parker says that as he was displaying the knives, a store customer offered to buy them. The customer, allegedly a white male with brown hair and a five o’clock shadow, paid a total of $120 for the knives.

From the earliest stages of the investigation, rumors had circulated that Tulloch possessed neo-Nazi and white supremist literature in his room. ABC "Primetime" first broke the story. Attorney General Philip McLaughlin rebuked the claim, but police records state that such materials were found in a police search of Tulloch’s bedroom. Susanne Zantop had strong feelings about the Holocaust and kept a collection of Third Reich history books in her College office. She and her husband, both German, felt that their homeland should face the past and take responsibilty for its former actions.

Police observed literature such as "Der Fuhrer," and Ku Klux Klan documents.

"There were no neo-Nazi materials or Holocaust revisionist materials found in his bedroom, or anywhere, for that matter," said Prosecutor William Delker. Delker considered the court documents as "unfairly harmful to the defendants."

Friends and family of Tulloch and Parker were scheduled to testify before a Grafton County grand jury on March 16. The suspects’ parents fought against testifying and sought a less stressful remedy.

"Basically we’re just trying to make this [happen] with as less trauma [sic] as possible," said the Tulloch’s attorney, George Ostler, "just where everybody kind of cooperates and everyone gets what they want."

Among those summoned were Gaelen McKee, Tim Courts and his son, Tulloch’s girlfriend Christiana Usenza, and four other friends of Parker and Tulloch. Usenza did not appear in court at that date, but did appear on April 20. Assistant Attorney General Kelly Ayotte excused her because Usenza went on a trip to Mexico with her mother.

In early March, police obtained search warrants for the teens’ backpacks. The search yielded a camping ax in Parker’s bag and other unspecified "objects capable of inflicting injuries or death." Parker told police he was carrying the ax.

It is doubtful that the ax is the murder weapon. Autopsies confirmed that the death was by stabbing – an ax murder would not be classified as a stabbing.

DeRoss Kellogg, a sixth grade teacher who taught both Tulloch and Parker, has set up a fund for the families. Kellogg says that the aim of the fund is not to raise money for defense, but to help ease the financial burden on the families resulting from travel, lost wages, and phone bills.

"Donations have already started to come in," said Kellogg, a few days after the fund’s inception.

Kellogg and other Chelsea residents have contributed to the fund.