2001 Dartmouth College Murders - Capture

Capture

The Zantops' bodies were found later that evening by family friend Roxana Verona. Investigators believed at first that it was a crime of passion by someone having an affair with Half, but that idea was soon disproved. There were several false leads (Associated Press reported at least three persons of interest were interviewed by police and that "A task force set up after the murders also received hundreds of phone calls, letters and e-mails from people with wild theories about the killings"), but after finding a bloody footprint and the two distinctive knife sheaths at the scene, the police traced the knives back to Parker three weeks after the murders.

Upon meeting with him, they learned that 16-year-old Parker was not regarded as a troublemaker. As well as having a good alibi, he told them that he bought the knives with Tulloch to build a fort, but that they had sold them at a surplus store after finding they were too heavy. While he agreed to undergoing fingerprinting, investigators paid Tulloch a visit. Although they doubted that the pair were the killers and told him that he did not have to speak with them, Tulloch agreed to speak with them and gave the same story. Upon inquiring about the deep cut just above his right knee, he told them that he slipped on a rock and cut himself on a metal spigot. When they asked to fingerprint him and borrow boots for matching purposes, he signed a search warrant. The same request had not been made of Parker because it was suggested by a detective whom they had phoned to get his version of the story.

On the following day, Tulloch and Parker were discovered to have left their homes. Parker's father found a note stating "Don't call the cops," although he did. Police found that Tulloch's bootprints matched those found in the Zantops' home, and both sets of fingerprints matched those at the crime scene. A warrant was put out for Tulloch's arrest, while Parker, still a minor, was sought for questioning in the murders. Sensing that police would be looking for their car, they abandoned Parker's silver Audi at a truck stop in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, and planned to hitchhike to California. A truck driver who picked them up in New Jersey announced their intent to travel west via CB radio, and a police officer pretended to be another driver and offered to pick them up. At the Flying J truck stop in Spiceland, Indiana, the pair were captured by authorities.