
The Dartmouth Murders /// Part 2 /// 779 Part 2 of 2 www.TrueCrimeGarage.com The 2001 homicides of two Dartmouth College professors completely shocked and rocked Hanover, New Hampshire to it's core. No one could imagine something like this happening in a town best known for being the home of an elite academic institution. Half and Susanne Zantop were both loved and very highly respected by students and faculty at the Dartmouth College. The Zantop’s bodies were found on a Saturday evening, inside their home by a friend, who had arrived as an invited dinner guest. The double homicide investigation that followed was headed up by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office. This was an “all hands on deck” situation with multiple law enforcement agencies working the case. The investigation went beyond state lines and tested both the college and the community. Beer of the Week - Gravel Donuts by Outerbelt Brewing Garage Grade - 4 and a half bottle caps out of 5 Check o...
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Thanks for joining our first ever support group for puppies. By show of pause, who's eaten a computer cable called a dongle?
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I ate a dongle before we had Lemonade Pet insurance. So to avoid a vet bill, they waited for me to poop the dongle.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
You pooped a dongle?
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I pooped a dongle.
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You pooped a dongle.
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I pooped a dongle.
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I pooped a USB stick.
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He pooped a dongle.
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Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Welcome to True Crime Garage. Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, thanks for listening. I'm your host, Nick, and with me, as always, is a man who saw the lights go out on Broadway. Here is the captain.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
And in that moment, it wasn't good to be seen and it wasn't good to see you. Thanks for listening. Thanks for telling a friend
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
today. We are still drinking some gravel donuts by the good folks over at Outer Belt Brewing. This is a solid ipa, a great New England ipa. It's a mild, hazy, but not mild on flavor. It reminds me a little bit more of a Midwest ipa. Juicy with just the right amount of bitterness.
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Garage grade, four and a half bottle
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
caps out of five. And let's give some thanks and praise to our friends for helping us out this week. First up, a big shout out to Logan and Layla in Fort William.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
And a big we like your jib goes out to Sarah Coughlin from North Granby.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
And here's a cheers to Minnow's mama from Liston, Indiana. And last but certainly not least, we have Sharon Spiller from Richmond, Virginia. Everyone we mentioned, they went to our website, clicked on that pint glass that put some beer in the fridge for us for this week. And for that we say thank you.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Yeah, bwr you in beer run. If you want to keep the lights on, you want to keep the show
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Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Apple subscription and Colonel.
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That's enough of the business all right,
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
everybody gather round, Grab a chair, grab a beer. Let's talk some true crime. The police were tracking down these leads. They were following where the evidence was taking them. This information that they had gleaned from the sales reports of these knives had taken them to the doorstep of Jim Parker and his parents. And before even leaving the Parker residence, some of these other detectives, remember we said that there were 30 plus investigators working this case. They sent other investigators to the home of the Tullocks to interview best friend of Jim Parker, Robert Tullock. Remember, Jim told the police, I bought the two knives for me and my buddy.
Puppy Participant
Yeah.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
One was going to be mine, one was going to be his. This is what we bought them for. We, they didn't work out well, so we sold them during that. Sit down. The police aren't really trusting what Jim Parker is saying because he looks so nervous. In fact, one of the detectives telling Jim Parker, look, I've been doing this long enough. I can tell when somebody's lying to me. Kind of planting that seed of not calling him a liar, not saying he's a liar, not especially in front of his parents, but planting that seed of. I kind of know you're not telling me the whole story here, right. What we learn here, Captain, is that they did the right thing by sending other investigators to talk to Robert Tullock and his parents. You want to keep these two separate? But the reason for doing so in that moment was not because the detectives were suspicious that Jim Parker had killed the Zantops, not because they were suspicious that even his buddy Robert Tullock had killed the Zantops. They somewhat believed the story of selling these knives to somebody or at least giving these knives to somebody else. Right in that moment, investigators believed, we're talking about two high school kids here. We think they know something that they're not willing to tell us. We think they know who they gave or sold the knives to. And if we can find that person or persons, that is very likely our killer. Now, the flip side of that coin is you have detectives at the home of Diane and Mike Taulik. Robert, their son, is home at that time as well. So now we have a sit down going on at the Tolleck's home, very similar to what was taking place at the Parker residence.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
But if you're law enforcement, you have to remember when you're at the Parker's house, what do you see? A green Subaru. Now you're talking to his buddy, you're
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at the Tolux house, and what do you find?
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
A pair of hiking boots, same size, same brand, Same brand. And again, it's a unique brand. It's unique New York.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
You know, what they're not seeing at the Tolik's house that they were seeing at the Parkers is a very nervous teenager. This Robert Tullock was described as cool as a cucumber. Yes. They found size 11 and a half hiking boots, same brand that they were looking for. And they asked the Tallex, can we take these hiking boots with us for, for testing?
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Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Father Mike says, look, those are my son's boots. Should I get an attorney here? What's my move here? And the detective was. Was very cool as a cucumber as well. Tells the father, look, if you say the boots stay, they stay. If you tell me that I can take them, we're going to take them. We're going to test them, and we'll give them back to you. And so Father Mike tells his son Robert, these are your boots. What do you say? Robert says, go ahead and take them. So they take the boots. And Robert also says, just like Jim Parker said, he was willing to go down to the sheriff's office and be fingerprinted. And so he's there at the sheriff's office. He sees his buddy Jim there as well. They don't. They don't talk while they're there at all, but they do see each other and recognize that each other is at the sheriff's office, both for the purpose of getting fingerprinted and I'm sure probably some other questionings going on at this time. Now, police, the authorities let both of these teenagers go after joining them at the sheriff's office for a bit, the cops let both Robert and Jim go home with their parents that day. Because really, the reality of it at that time was despite all the signs pointing strongly at these two boys knowing something or being involved, it seemed like the police needed more to build their case or just didn't think that these kids were vicious killers. They're high schoolers. Their parents loved them. They seem to be respectful and polite. We know the police were wrong, at least in that moment. The boy's parents, rightfully so, had forbidden the two of them to contact each other until this whole thing got sorted out. It appears that both parents thought that this was just some kind of misunderstanding, right? That the cops weren't being rude or being bad cops. They had evidence that led them to their sons. Their sons are cooperating. They're cooperating and, well, they seem like
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
nice kids from a nice family. Nice Community, popular kids. It just seems very strange. And what is their connection to these professors? None.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
There is none.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
And then what is the connection to even the college?
Support Group Host
None.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
To the town of Aetna. They had never, as far as the parents were concerned, they had never been there. Their sons had never been there. One thing that we shouldn't, we need to make sure that we don't miss here and is of note, is that Robert Taulak had a pretty bad cut on his leg. And that, of course, did not go unnoticed by the detectives.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
If I'm a detective, I'm going, well, I'm looking into these two kids and I'm getting some yeses, but I'm getting some no's too. But I need to keep them on the radar. They're not supposed to have communication with each other, but that's not what happens.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Yeah, if you're detectives, you're thinking, I have their fingerprint information, I have their.
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The boot.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
The boot. And so now I'm going to, I'm going to take this, give it to the people that can make the comparisons and wait to hear those results. But they do. Yes. Captain's right. The two, the two teenage sons contact each other, even though the parents said that they were not to speak to one another. They, they do what every other teenager does. You just wait till mom and dad fall asleep and then do what you're told not to do. So they, they make some communication via phone call and it appears that that is all they needed to ignite the two onto a get out of Dodge situation. We do have John Parker, Jim's father, who says that he was sleeping, but then he heard a vehicle start up and he runs to the window. He sees Jim driving and pulling out of the driveway. This is a silver Audi that is owned by the Parker family. He quickly, John Parker, the father, quickly calls the Tolux, right, to say, hey, my son just took off in our car. I'm guessing he's probably going to your place to see your son. The phone keeps ringing and ringing and ringing. He tries a few different times. Nobody picks up.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
If you're a little bit suspicious of your teenage son doing something very dumb and very heinous, I think your suspicions and your red flags, all the alarm bells are going off as your son is leaving the house that night.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Yeah. So John finds a note left by Jim, his son, that says, I just had to talk to Robert alone. I will be back in the morning. Don't call the cops again.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Another red flag.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
So dad tries calling the Tolux house. Nobody answers. He hops in another vehicle and drives out to the Tolux home. And now, eventually, we have parents talking to parents face to face. John Parker tells the Talluks about the note that Jim had left. The parents kind of agreed, like, okay, this makes some sense. Our kids aren't used to being talked or interviewed by detectives or police. They were just at the sheriff's office. Okay, this makes some sense here. They probably just wanted to talk, go somewhere and sort some stuff out, and maybe they would be back in the morning just like Jim Snow indicated they were not. They did not come back that morning.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Right.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
John Parker calls the lead investigator, Chuck west. This is at 11am and he says, my son Jim is gone. So an APB went out for Robert Tallock and Jim Parker and that silver 1987 Audi 500 that they were driving with Vermont plate CDG 690. So officers from various agencies working the case gathered to draft search warrants. Right, because now you're, you're. These two teenagers are behaving very suspiciously and appear to be on the run. So you are not waiting for test results to come back at this point. Now you're getting search warrants. But all at the same time here, Captain, the lab reports do come back. Fingerprints on the knife and sheaths matched Jim Parker. And of course, he admitted to owning the knives.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
And he has no reason to be there.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
No. The sheets had been found in the room with the dead bodies of Mr. And Mrs. Zantop.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Right.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
And now police had confirmation that the knives Jim and Robert had admitted to owning were in fact the murder weapons Vermont State Police Trooper Jocelyn stole. She's out driving in her cruiser. She's rushing off to an unrelated emergency call when she comes across a car stuck in the snow on Bethel Mountain Road. So this is, this is the Audi. The, the, the 1987 silver Audi was stuck on the side of the road after it appears it had skidded on a ice patch. The two. There's two teenage boys dressed in black standing outside of the car. They agree to provide license and registration, but something about them triggered Stahl's Spidey senses. She's asking, you know, where are you going? They say that they're going skiing. This is a state trooper. She's like, sure, you're going skiing. And the ski mountain was. There is a ski mountain in that area. It's in the opposite direction of where they were traveling. So that's a, That's a flag. Further, the boys are not dressed for skiing, and the vehicle there is no skiing gear with them. Instead what she sees is two large black backpacks bulging with something inside. These are in the vehicle. The boys were shifty and weird. Stole ran their licenses, finds no records. But she also knew that there had been some burglaries in the area. So this is what she's suspicious of, that these guys might, these teenagers might have been breaking into houses. But she was in a hurry. Remember she's got that other emergency that she needs to respond to. So she quickly puts together a report and has to race off to this other scene. The last line of her report about this incident, finding the boys in the vehicle on the side of the road, reads, my suspicions of criminal activity were significant. Now we have these search warrants are in full effect. Right now we got searchers tackling Robert's room. In Robert Tollock's room we have Gary Lawrence, who noticed a cardboard Florida citrus box in the corner. His room tucked in next to a bureau. Inside of this cardboard box they find some notebooks and other stuff. Under the notebooks were two duct tape bundles that turned out to be a mitten and a sock. Inside those, that mitten that was wrapped in duct tape and that sock that was wrapped in duct tape, they find foot long SOG seal, 2000 knife in each. In Robert's haste to get out of Dodge, it appears he had completely forgot to pack the knives at the murder scene. The murderers completely forgot to leave the scene with the sheaths here. These two kids appear to have taken off on the run and. And by the time that Robert realizes that he forgot to bring the knives, they're already on the road. He and Jim are already on the road. So now the police are in possession of the suspected murder weapons. The boy story was that they had sold these knives to some guy. Well, you know that's not true.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Parker and Tolik, they're young and dumb.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Other items seized from both homes were clothing, computers, notebooks, writings and a book about Hitler. A search of the Parker's green Subaru yielded a floor mat that was taken for testing. It would come back with positive. With positive blood evidence and the blood belonging to Suzanne Zantop.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
So we have the fingerprint evidence, we have the boot print evidence. This is all matching our two kid suspects. And now we find the murder weapons in their possession.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Yes. Yeah, it's. It's in the room of one of your suspects. Bedroom of one of your suspects.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
And well, and now we have these two numb nuts. They're on the run from law enforcement.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
So you're going to collect this evidence. And you're going to charge both of these individuals with the slayings, even though that they are not in your custody. And that's going to have a domino effect of. Now we got a nationwide manhunt for these two teenagers. What we would learn is that Robert and Jim had driven south to Massachusetts and then they were heading west. They decided that they had to lose the vehicle because they knew that police would be looking for this vehicle. We say it all the time, don't we, captain? Vehicles. Cops love vehicles. They're so much easier to find than people.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Yeah, they're bigger.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
They parked the car in a lot at a busy Sturbridge aisle truck stop in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. So at this service station they are talking to different truck drivers and whatnot. And they find a tow truck driver. His name's John Moran, who was. He's. He works part time as a cop, but he also drives a tow truck or reverse. That he probably drives the tow truck part time and works full time as a cop. He said that he thought the boys looked nervous and noticed that they had New Hampshire plates. When he saw an APB out for the two boys in that plate. This is six hours later when he sees the apb though, after seeing the boys, he does call this into police. So now police are hot on the trail, right? They go out to this stir bridge and they find the vehicle, the Audi that they had left behind. The boys are gone. By this time, they had ended up being successful hitching a ride west. A trucker with the awesome name of Rowdy Tucker and his wife Nancy had picked up the boys, taking pity on them because it's snowing, it's cold outside. And these are kids, right? Yeah, they're teenagers.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
They thought they're trying to help these kids out and luckily we have them on surveillance footage. Get in into the truck.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
The boys introduced themselves as Sam and Tyler. They said that they were headed to California to try to get fishing jobs. The Tuckers were so nice that they not only gave them a ride but also bought them snacks and stuff at the truck stop before hitting the road. They ride together about 220 miles to get the Columbia, New Jersey. The Tuckers used a CB radio to find other truckers who might be able to transport Sam and Tyler further west. This is as far as we can take you. We're going to see if anybody else can help you out. So another trucker, his name is James Hicks, agrees. He is driving. He says he's driving a truck full of M&MS. To Chicago. The snack, not multiples of the rapper.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Not the rapper, just to be clear. Yeah, not the rapper holding cans of moose stew.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
That's right. What is awesome here though?
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Well, if you're going from New Jersey to Chicago, you're going probably 90 to I 70. Gonna pass right through Ohio, right through Indiana.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Yeah. So while this is all going on, this is very cool because the police are hot on the trail of this hot Sam and Tyler. You know, the fake names that they're using?
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Horrible names.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
New Hampshire Attorney General Philip McLaughlin issued a statement that the teens possibly using the name Sam and Tyler were hitching rides at truck stops on interstate highways and everyone should be on the lookout. By the early morning of February 20, the boys were in the Hicks truck approaching the end of his route in Chicago. Right, the Eminem route that, that golden Eminem route that everybody knows about that runs from New Jersey to Chicago. That's how the chocolate is made. Hicks got on his CB radio and said, hey, can anybody give a ride to two boys who want to go to California? He had mentioned that they had been picked up initially in New Jersey. So a male voice responds, sure I can. They agree to meet at the Flying J Travel Plaza in New Castle, Indiana. Hicks truck pulled in at 3:45am and he drops off the boys. This next bit is from the book Judgment Ridge. The trucker on the other end of the CB radio at that time turns out not a trucker at all. He was Sergeant Bill Ward, a 22 year veteran of the Henry County, Indiana Sheriff's Department. So he's working the overnight shift. He is eating a meal with three fellow officers at the Flying J Truck Stop restaurant. They discussed the fugitives.
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Right.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
They had heard the APB go out for these two teenagers.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Well, I believe he also saw it on the news.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
They're talking about this when they're having their meal and they actually talk about the idea that, well, if, if they're heading this way, if they're heading out west to California, that Indiana would be a logical place for them to travel through along their route to California. So a couple of hours later, when Sergeant Ward was in his patrol car, he hears the trucker Hicks CB call for someone to pick up two teenage hitchhikers. He told Hicks he'd meet them at the Flying J truck stop on i70 in New Castle, Indiana. He calls his buddies for reinforcement. So this guy pretends to be another trucker that's willing to drive these kids. When they pull up, the cops are face to face. With Robert Tullock and Jim Parker. And Robert Tullock says to one of the officers, you've got us.
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Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
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Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
All right, we are back silly monkeys. Cheers to the people in the back.
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Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Tall cans in there.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Cheers to everyone. Power to the people. Here we go. We got our guys in custody now after their attempt to flee out west by hopping trucks and getting picked up by the police thinking that they had a third connection in, in picking up another ride out in Indiana. But that was not to be. Turns out to be the police.
Interviewer
And.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
And you have a lot of evidence. Right. Thanks to the evidence, investigators pretty much by this point know the who, when, where and how about this case. But the motive continued to elude everyone.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Yeah. Because we don't have connections from the killers to the victims.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Yeah. And you now have detectives interrogating the parents individually for hours trying to figure out what the connection was. And the focus of this questioning was the family's connection to the area of Hanover. What was the relationship with the Zantops and what were Robert and Jim doing in that neck of the woods. And as the captain pointed out before in this story is that neither of the parents had any idea, any idea of any connection whatsoever that their sons would have with the area with the Zantops, frankly, with Hanover at all.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
But law enforcement has something on their side.
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Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
We have two killers, meaning all you have to have is one of the killers break. And to tell you all the details of the crime and why they, they committed the crime.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
And it the parents in both cases, Robert Tallock's parents and Jim Parker's parents, they seem to be unable to process the knowledge that their children were murderers. Like even when the police are pointing out all this evidence that says, look, this all leads to your son and his friend, they have a difficult time wrapping their minds around this whole idea. And then on top of that, the townspeople seem to feel equally shattered.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Again, these are popular kids. They're likable kids, got decent grades, had
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
friends, got great grades, were considered to be intelligent kids.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
And no Criminal history.
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Correct.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Now what we start to see here is two different paths by these individuals that were arrested together for committing the same crimes. So you have Jim, he's in jail. We have Robert Tallok, he's in jail, but he's getting into fights at the jail. And it's reported that he was picking on persons he deemed to be weaker prisoners. He was sneaking letters to his girlfriend at the time and obsessively reading Something Wicked this Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. And he was also trying to. He was planning an escape. We know that he confided in a biker turned Czech fraudster who went by the nickname of Ranger. So Ranger is going to be transported. Ranger takes the opportunity to talk to police while he's being transported. So this is deputy Chad Morris that is doing the transportation here. So he says. He tells the deputy that Robert Talik told me that this crime was random. In fact, he and his buddy Jim initially they intended to kill the Zantop's neighbors. They went to that house, knocked on the door, nobody answered. So they just kicked the can down the road and went to the next house. He said that he was told by Robert that there was no connection to the Zantops. They did not know who they were. They had not seen them prior to that day. He said Robert told him that the. That this was his first murder and that he had wanted to get, quote, a few under his belt to get some street cred. Finally, Ranger told the deputy that the only item that the kids actually stole was Half's wallet. So this is backed up. They know this. The police know this from having been at the crime scene.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Yeah, there wasn't much money in there.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
$340 is what was found in house wallet. And from my understanding they used that money to buy two shirts and a pair of rock climbing shoes. So these two very lovely, wonderful people that so many adored, that so many loved their company parents. Turns out their lives were worth two shirts and a pair of rock climbing shoes to these two teenagers. Anyway, the story was that Jim and Robert had gained access to the Zantops home by pretending to conduct an environmental survey for a school project. They selected Aetna, the area of Aetna simply because they thought people would be rich. The people that lived there would be rich. They had struck out at two previous homes before getting invited inside the home by Half.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Well again, he probably only let them in because he's an educator. He's trying to help these kids out.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Well, and this deputy says, hey Ranger, you need to Sit down with investigators and tell them everything that you're telling me. As the story goes on, he tells them that Robert said that he deliberately selected a home with someone present because the purpose of the whole operation was robbery. They didn't want to just steal things. They wanted to rob someone, get their ATM cards and get their PIN numbers from them, personal identification number from them, so they could use these ATM cards at will. But the other part of this, that's even more sinister, again, this is according to a jailhouse snitch. Ranger tells the detectives that Robert told him, look, this was all kind of just an excuse for him. He wanted to kill somebody while he was out there doing this robbery.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
I guess they had loose plans to, hey, let's get some money, and then we'll go live an awesome, I think they said, badass life in Australia. So they were trying things like stealing people's mail and trying to steal cars and all this stuff. But like, you're saying you can go, well, we can break into houses. That'd be a great way to get money. Or we could rob somebody, even, let's say gunpoint. Where this becomes very sinister is when somebody says, no, we'll just kill them.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Everything the captain just said is spot on. The thing here is it seemed like the two boys shared this idea that where they grew up, Chelsea was boring and that they were destined for greater things.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Yeah, it's weird because they also seem like they're like, they didn't want to live a boring life, and they didn't like people that weren't trying to better themselves. But all these other opportunities they talked about, like, joining the army or even the British forces, but they're like, but the training, that would be too difficult.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Yeah, that's why most people don't join the training.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
But it just makes no sense because it seemed like they were anti people that weren't trying to make themselves better and wouldn't by doing something hard. That's what makes you better. By going through a tough training, that's what makes you better.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Right. You know, they weren't into drugs. They didn't do things like drugs or drink. In fact, the two of them even shunned away from fast food or any type of unhealthy food.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Very strange.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
And they did. They talked about living these badass lives, but unfortunately, it turned to things that were illegal activities like breaking and entering, burglary, joyriding, and boosted cars. And then, of course, these two murders. Now, no bail was granted to either teen due to the severity of the Charges. Thankfully, an investigative grand jury indicted both boys. The indictments revealed the evidence against the boys and, and the prosecutor's theory of the crime. It appears that Robert and Jim were looking to collect about $10,000 roughly through different types of criminal activity to travel to and live in Australia. Working for the money. Too slow. Too mundane. So as the captain pointed out, they stole from neighbors mailboxes looking for credit cards. They stole an atv. They tried to sell it, but couldn't do it without the title. They kept running into problem after problem with their half baked plan.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Well, they're also dumbasses.
Interviewer
Yeah.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Yep. And this.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
But. But that's where it becomes evil though, because again, it doesn't. Look, I'm just. Maybe I'm a horrible person. But you get these two teenagers, they don't like the, the living situations. Like you said, getting a job and saving the money, that's not fast enough. So you commit some crimes that really only affect somebody financially. Big whoop. They end up getting the money, they move to Australia, they live their badass life out. But once somebody decides that we need to murder somebody, that's when these two really become evil.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Yeah. And as said, there was a couple of other failed attempts. One attempt that we know about is something that took place in July of 2000 when the two teenagers went to and approached a home. The homeowner, they had actually cut the phone lines to this house. Yeah, the homeowner, for some reason, this is after 10 o' clock at night, it's dark out. He is living in Vermont, but he. This is Green Goose Road in Vermont. He previously had lived in New York and maybe it was a little bit of the New Yorker inside of him that was like, you know what, I'm not opening up this door. So he talked to one of the teenagers. It's reported that it was Robert who had approached the door and had Jim hide outside. Robert approaches the door and now the homeowner is talking to Robert through the door and he's letting him know, look, I got a gun, I'm armed. If you guys attempt to come in here, or if you attempt to come in here, I am going to. There will be shots fired. The story that Robert tried to sell to this guy through the door was that his vehicle had broken down and he needed to use a phone. And the homeowner is like, cool, there's a payphone right down the street within walking distance. Go ahead and go use that phone.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Well then like you said, the, the homeowner realizes somebody cut his phone line so now he thinks something's up and he stands guard basically all night waiting for the, for this kid to try something.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Yep, yep.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
And, and on top of that, like you want to talk about evil, you have tolik that goes to the door. Knock, knock, knock. Hey, I'm gonna try to be the ruse and waiting as Parker with a mask on. But they also dug shallow graves to put these individuals in.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Yeah, they had previously dug the grave to put whatever person was home. And that's what's crazy too. Like we can sit here in magnifying glasses as much as we can, as much as we can attempt to. Those conversations behind closed doors leading up the plotting of these different adventures that they were going to go on. That's where a lot of the psychology comes into play because you start to wonder like is, is one of these guys purposely steering the ship to saying hey, you know what would be best is if we commit crimes where there is a victim present rather than just breaking and entering and going through somebody's home. It's, it's gets very difficult to say here.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
But like I was saying earlier, the thing that law enforcement has on their side now is that we have two killers. They're kids, they're numb nuts. One of them is going to speak and you can kind of threaten both of them. Hey, one of you is going to speak. And the first person to do it is going to get the best deal.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Yeah. So this comes about in December of 2001. The short of it here is that Robert and his attorneys were planning on an insanity defense for Robert. A big problem with that insanity defense is going to be that Jim, his partner in crime, was making a plea deal with the prosecution. Part of that deal is that Jim would tell the prosecution everything and would testify against Robert in exchange for reduced charges of being an accomplice to second degree murder of the death of Suzanne. His sentence would be 25 years to life. But he could apply for a reduced sentence after serving 16 years and eight months. So in court in December, this is the 7th of December, Jim gives a five hour confession. Under questioning from the prosecutor, no details were spared. In his complete account of all that had occurred. Jim confirmed that they selected the Zantops home simply because it looked expensive. Jim said that after the murders and the failed escape to California, he started to see Robert in a different light. He said things that he hadn't liked about Robert stood out more and more to him now. And one of the things he was pointing out, he said that that his friend Robert was, was Rather violent toward his own dog, which Robert said that he hit the dog because he said the dog was stupid. This whole insanity defense was based around the idea that Robert. They say Robert was in full blown manic episode when he killed half Zantop. So Robert kills half, Jim kills Suzanne. Insanity defense. But the problem was in New Hampshire, there was no statutory standard for an insanity defense. Basically, it was up to the. The jury, right? They're not. There's no guidelines to decide if Robert or anyone had been insane at the time of a killing. And according to the book Judgment Ridge, the insanity defense had never been successful at any murder trial by a jury in the state of New Hampshire. That's. That's an uphill battle, my friend. So then Jim pled guilty, turned on Robert. Robert and his family and his attorneys then decided that there was too much evidence of premeditation to risk going for this insanity. Right? You can't say, hey, I was in full blown manic episode when I killed this man. And yet there's a mountain of evidence that you sat around plotting to kill somebody. You were planning this for weeks, for months. So they dropped the insanity plea and Robert ended up pleading guilty. Robert was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
So Tolik is sentenced to life without the possibility, possibility of parole. Parker is sentenced to 25 years with the possibility of parole.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
25 to life with the possibility of parole. And then, of course, there were people that were rightfully angered by the plea agreement because it seemed that Jim got off easy with a mere accomplice charge, even though he had personally cut Suzanne's throat. But the prosecutor publicly reminded people that Jim was only 16 at the time of the murders, and he had demonstrated willingness to take responsibility for his actions, which was not on display by the other suspect. In her message to the media after the hearings, she simply said, justice has been served in this case. Now, Jim started off serving his sentence at the New Hampshire State Prison in Concord. His days were filled with things like schooling, guitar and piano lessons. Robert was sent to a smaller prison facility in Berlin. New Hampshire prison officials, they decided, look, the decision was made that Jim and Robert would never be together in the same facility. But Robert immediately became known as uncooperative and got into fights. Prison officials also learned of an attempted escape that he was planning. So he was sent to the state prison in Concord and assigned a maximum security cell in the secured housing unit until he was deemed eligible to be returned to Gen Pop. So for a while, they did. They were housed in the same facility,
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
boot Print evidence, the confessions, the murder weapons.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
That's a lot. And look, that's a thorough job by detectives and by the New Hampshire State
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Police Department and the sheriffs for catching them on the run.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Shout out to those boys in Indiana.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Yeah.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Now I don't want to go too far down this road, but there was a in 2012. So the US Supreme Court made a ruling in Miller v. Alabama in 2012. After that ruling, five New Hampshire cases came under review based off of that ruling, off of that Supreme Court ruling. This one of those included Robert Tollocks. As a result of that, in 2014, a Superior Court in New Hampshire ruled that this applied retroactively to Robert Tullock's case, along with some others, that it would be up for review for resentencing. The state appealed, but the New Hampshire state court affirmed. So appeals by the defendants in the other cases held up as well. Robert is currently scheduled for a resentencing hearing sometime in 2024. In fact, it's originally scheduled for for July. So that may have already happened. He may have already been resentenced. As for Jim, in the fall of 2018, his attorney petitioned the court for an early release. Remember, he would be eligible for an early release or reduced sentence. And after having served at least 16 years of that original sentence, the short of it, as much as nobody, or at least the Zantop daughters and the people that knew the Zantops do not want these two individuals back out, out of prison. What we would end up having is Jim Parker has been paroled in 2024. This year, Jim had served the the requisite amount of his sentence to be considered for parole. Jim recently had a hearing in which the parole board members asked him questions about whether he was rehabilitated. Now we know what Jim did. We know how horrible and heinous these crimes were. We know how horrific and brutal the act was. But we challenge you to watch the video of Jim's parole hearing and not pity him. He's nearly 40 years old. He's been in prison since he was 16. He comes across as remorseful, introspective, humble and soft spoken. This is from the nhpr. Quote, Parole board member Ronald Bassett noted Jim had a stellar disciplinary record and has worked with nonprofit groups on art projects. Parker earned bachelor's and master's degrees. He's been a part of theatrical, musical and sports activities and has helped developed inmate education guides. He has lived in transitional housing, which is usually the final placement for resident prior to their release. So all of these things are lining up in what the parole board would say. This. This is the way that you get granted parole. If you. If you. If you want a stepping stone to parole and eventually a release. Do some of these things. Do all of these things. You know, in theory, the purpose of our prison system is to rehabilitate. I. I rarely think that that happens, especially when we're talking about a double homicide case. In this case, I think it. It's been achieved. I mean, he. This seems to. Jim, seems to represent the best case scenario of the good. Our prison system can accomplish. True reform. So Jim Parker was released just this year.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Well, let's play a little clip from that parole hearing, and you could be the judge.
Interviewer
We usually start these proceedings by asking the resident to tell us what they did.
Jim Parker (Confessing Suspect)
Okay. In 2001, when I was 16, I entered the home of the Santops pretending to be a student and to have an interview. And during the interview, when Mr. Zantop pulled out his wallet, my co. Defendant and I. He attacked Mr. Zantop. And then when his wife came in, I restrained her. And then when. And then I cut her throat. She fell to the floor.
Interviewer
Why did you do that? It's.
Jim Parker (Confessing Suspect)
I just. It's so hard to. I've gone over it and over it and just finding an explanation for that. It's just. I just don't know how I could. How I could do that.
Interviewer
Well, let's put yourself back to 2001.
Jim Parker (Confessing Suspect)
Okay. 2001, you were 16? Yeah.
Interviewer
You're not alone.
Jim Parker (Confessing Suspect)
That's correct. Robert Tullock.
Interviewer
All right. And you two were. Had. Tried to do this in other homes that day. You were doing this why?
Jim Parker (Confessing Suspect)
We were. We were attempting to get money to go overseas and live some sort of life of adventure or whatever. Some sort of.
Interviewer
So were you planning on robbing people?
Jim Parker (Confessing Suspect)
Yes, we were planning on obtaining there, yeah.
Interviewer
The violence, was that a part of your plan?
Jim Parker (Confessing Suspect)
Yes.
Interviewer
You were going to kill somebody?
Jim Parker (Confessing Suspect)
Yes.
Interviewer
What do you think about what you did?
Jim Parker (Confessing Suspect)
I think it's unimaginably horrible. And I just. I mean, I know there's. There's not an amount of time or things that I can do to change it or alleviate any pain that I've caused.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
This one's tough for me because I do hear remorse in that clip. But because of his parole, I think it's likely that Tullock will be paroled as well. Just who knows when.
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
Yeah. Per the conditions established by the parole board, Jim Parker must not have any contact with anyone in the Zantop family and must continue to seek mental health treatment. As we said earlier, Robert remains in prison. The book Judgment Ridge, the True Story behind the Dartmouth Murders really captures this case very well from start to finish. And a lot of the things that we just simply didn't have the time to cover here today in its conclusion states, had Tolik and Parker been apart, arguably this crime would never have occurred. In tandem, they brought out the worst in each other. The book depicts Robert as a near perfect specimen of a true psychopath, but it does not absolve Jim who went along with Robert's plan with no resistance. Arguably, the corruption of Jim is the second tragedy in this case, but let's not forget the first. The lives of Half and Suzanne Zantop snuffed out in 10 minutes time by two teenagers looking for an adventure foreign.
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
Thank everybody for joining us here in the garage. Thanks for telling a friend about the show. Thanks for telling your mama and papa about the show as well. Colonel do we have any recommended reading for the beautiful listeners this week?
Nick (True Crime Garage Host)
We are very happy to be recommending Judgment Ridge the True Story behind the Dartmouth Murders by Dick Lear and Mitchell Zuckoff. This is the definitive book about this case that really captured everyone in that area during this time. So if you want to learn more our show we dive deep into these cases but this one goes super down into the depths of of this intriguing true crime story. Check out Judgment Ridge, the True Story behind the Dartmouth Murders. You can find that recommendation and many more on our recommended page on our website true crime garage.com and until next
Captain (Co-host True Crime Garage)
week, be good, be kind and don't.
Interviewer
Sa.
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In this gripping second installment on the Dartmouth Murders, hosts Nic and the Captain continue their deep dive into the 2001 double homicide of professors Half and Suzanne Zantop in Etna, New Hampshire. The episode picks up as law enforcement's complex investigation leads them to two local teenagers, Robert Tulloch and Jim Parker, unraveling the details of their capture, the shocking lack of motive, the failed escape, psychological profiles, and ultimately, the justice process—including recent updates on parole and resentencing. With their hallmark blend of meticulous research and candid discussion, Nic and the Captain explore what drove two privileged teens from "nice families" to commit such a senseless and brutal crime.
[03:08–07:00]
Memorable Quote:
"I can tell when somebody’s lying to me. I kind of know you’re not telling me the whole story here, right." – Nick (04:00)
[06:05–09:08]
Memorable Quote:
"This Robert Tullock was described as cool as a cucumber..." – Nick (06:28)
[09:40–12:42]
[13:33–20:27]
Memorable Quote:
_"Vehicles—cops love vehicles. They’re so much easier to find than people." – Nick (18:55)**
[20:27–24:39]
[28:53–36:10]
Memorable Quote:
_"Half and Suzanne Zantop—turns out their lives were worth two shirts and a pair of rock climbing shoes to these two teenagers." – Nick (32:51)**
[34:51–36:25]
Notable Exchange:
"They didn’t want to live a boring life... all these other opportunities... but the training would be too difficult."
"That’s why most people don’t join—the training." – Captain & Nick (35:35–35:56)
[38:12–40:07]
[41:11–44:06]
[44:06–49:47]
[49:47–53:25]
[53:35–55:00]
[55:13]
| Key Evidence | Who/Where | Result/Significance | |-------------------------------------|------------------|-------------------------------------| | Knife sales records | Parker, Tulloch | Lead police to the suspects | | Matching hiking boots | Tulloch home | Forensic match to crime scene | | Fingerprints on sheaths/knives | Jim Parker | Places him in proximity to murders | | Police interviews | Both families | Reveal nervousness and storytelling | | Duct-taped murder weapons | Tulloch room | Contradicts their "sold knives" claim| | Blood on Subaru mat | Parker family car| Suzanne Zantop’s DNA | | Manhunt and capture | Multi-state | Boys caught after elaborate chase | | Parole confession (2024) | Jim Parker | Direct admission and remorse |
For those new to the Dartmouth Murders case, this episode of True Crime Garage offers clarity, a chronological rundown, and rare insight into how two seemingly typical teens became the architects of one of New England's most baffling double homicides.
"Had Tolik and Parker been apart, arguably this crime would never have occurred. In tandem, they brought out the worst in each other." – Nick, quoting Judgment Ridge (54:03)