Access to Dartmouth case records denied

MONTPELIER, Vt. – A Vermont judge refused Monday to open records that might explain why authorities accused two teen-agers of killing two Dartmouth College professors.

“Piecemeal dissemination of information does not promote an understanding of the investigation and charges in this case; rather the opposite occurs, and has occurred, in this case,” Vermont District Court Judge Patricia Zimmerman ruled in Barre.

The Associated Press and other news organizations sought the records, including affidavits for search warrants. AP lawyer Philip White said he would appeal immediately to the Vermont Supreme Court.

The warrants included a request for physical evidence from the suspects, James Parker, 16, and Robert Tulloch, 17, according to Zimmerman’s decision. Prosecutors say releasing documents could jeopardize their continuing investigation, and Zimmerman said the investigation clearly is ongoing.

Authorities obtained 10 different search warrants in Vermont as they sought evidence against the two teen-agers, who live in the small town of Chelsea, about 25 miles from Dartmouth. Parker and Tulloch are accused of fatally stabbing Half and Susanne Zantop on Jan. 27 in their home a few miles from the Hanover, N.H., campus.

Authorities have said nothing about a possible motive and almost nothing about their evidence. A sheriff told the AP earlier that authorities sought out Parker and Tulloch because one had bought a military-style knife on the Internet. The sheriff also said fingerprint evidence linked one suspect to the scene.

Sources have told other news organizations a knife sheath or sheaths at the scene bore one of Parker’s fingerprints and that a boot print linked Tulloch to the home.

The first four Vermont warrants were based on information provided by New Hampshire investigators. After completing those searches, Vermont officials returned to court the next day for four more warrants to seize items they had seen but had not been authorized to take, Zimmerman’s ruling said.

A ninth warrant was issued the same day based on information New Hampshire officials obtained “from a New Hampshire citizen concerning the location of potential evidence,” she said.

The final warrant, seeking evidence from the teen-agers themselves, was issued Saturday based on the results of unspecified forensic tests.

All the affidavits requesting the warrants, as well as inventories of items seized, were closed by Zimmerman and another Vermont judge at the request of prosecutors.

Meanwhile, in Haverhill, N.H., Parker was arraigned at a closed juvenile hearing Monday. Authorities treated him as an adult while he was on the lam, but he reverted to juvenile status after returning.

Prosecutors are trying to have him certified as an adult for trial. Defense lawyer Cathy Green said he should retain his juvenile status.

“I represent an overwhelmed adolescent who is now within the protection of the juvenile justice system of New Hampshire, which is where we think he should be,” she said after the arraignment in Grafton County Superior Court.

Parker’s parents, John and Joan, held hands as they walked into the courtroom. They avoided reporters.

Tulloch, an adult under New Hampshire law, will go before a judge on Wednesday in Lebanon for a preliminary hearing on evidence. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, as was Parker when he was being treated as an adult.

The pair was caught last week at an Indiana truck stop.

Also in New Hampshire, police in Hanover on Monday sent an e-mail to members of the Dartmouth Outing Club, an outdoor adventure group, asking for information about the sale of certain equipment.

“Our task force is looking for information from club members concerning sales of equipment to, or purchases from, local area residents from December 15, 2000 to the current date,” Detective Eric Bates wrote.

“The information about equipment sales may shed more light on the ongoing Zantop investigation.”

Bates did not say what type of equipment the police are interested in, or how it might be related to the case.