Fund for teens' families grows

About 100 donations received so far

Monday, April 23, 2001

The Associated Press

The Dartmouth Murders

CHELSEA, Vt. - A fund for the families of two teenagers charged with killing two Dartmouth College professors has collected nearly $10,000, according to a teacher who recently visited the older suspect.

DeRoss Kellogg said about 100 people have sent checks to help the families of Robert Tulloch and James Parker, the Chelsea, Vt., teens who are accused of murdering Half and Susanne Zantop in their Hanover home in January.

The donations have ranged from $10 to $1,000, Kellogg said. Two-thirds have been from strangers to the families, he said, and most have been from New England, including a few from Hanover and members of the Dartmouth community.

Kellogg spent an hour visiting Tulloch in the Grafton County jail in Haverhill on Saturday, two days after a grand jury indicted the teenager on first-degree murder charges.

"He's doing well. He seems to be living from week to week," said Kellogg. "He's not looking too far into the future. He's living in the present."

Also along for the visit were Tulloch's younger brother, Kienan, 16, and Nancy Kerwin, the Chelsea Public School librarian who advises the student council. Tulloch was president of the council last year.

Most of the visit was devoted to a discussion of the books that Tulloch has been reading, Kellogg said. Tulloch, 17, also asked his younger brother abut his grades.

"Robert is still playing the older brother here," Kellogg said. "He was very insistent he found out how Kienan did on his latest report card."

Parker, 16, is being held at a juvenile detention center in Concord.

Prosecutors are seeking to have Parker tried as an adult, a process that could take months.

{snip}

© Concord Monitor and New Hampshire Patriot
P.O. Box 1177, Concord NH 03302

603-224-5301

-----