Investigators questions teens' parents in
professor murders

HANOVER, N.H.
(March 17, 2001 3:05 p.m. EST) - Fulfilling their part of a deal to avoid testifying before a grand jury, parents of the teen-agers accused of killing two Dartmouth College professors met with investigators Friday.

The parents of Robert Tulloch, 17, and James Parker, 16, attended separate meetings with investigators who are looking into the Jan. 27 stabbing deaths of Half and Susanne Zantop in their Hanover home. Tulloch's younger brother was also at one of the meetings.

Tulloch and Parker, both of Chelsea, Vt., are charged with first-degree murder. They were arrested Feb. 19 in Indiana.

Tulloch is considered an adult under New Hampshire law. Prosecutors are seeking to have Parker also stand trial as an adult.

Lawyer George Ostler said Tulloch's parents, Michael and Diane, and his brother, Kienan, 16, met with investigators at the Hanover Police Department.

Kevin Griffin, who represents Parker's parents, John and Joan, said that couple met with investigators at his Vermont office.

Griffin said the Parkers were questioned under oath. Ostler would not say if the Tullochs were under oath.

Both lawyers refused to detail what their clients said during the sessions.

Half Zantop, 62, and his wife, Susanne Zantop, 55, had been longtime Dartmouth professors. Half Zantop taught earth science, while Susanne Zantop was chairwoman of the German studies department.

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