More than 25 years after entering the home of two Dartmouth professors in Etna and killing them, Robert Tulloch was resentenced Monday to serve at least another 20 years in prison before he will become eligible for parole.
Tulloch was originally ordered to serve consecutive life sentences after stabbing Half and Susanne Zantop, and making off with $340. He was 17 years old at the time of the crime, which was also carried out by James Parker, who was 16 years old. Parker cooperated with authorities after his arrest, and was given a sentence of 25 years to life.
In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling that found mandatory life sentences for juveniles are unconstitutional, opening the door for Tulloch to have his sentence reviewed.
On Monday, prosecutors along with Tulloch’s attorneys announced they had reached agreement on the terms of his resentencing: Tulloch will serve 45-years to life, making him first eligible for parole approximately two decades from now, when he is 62-years old.
“The brutality and the violence here were incredible,” said assistant attorney general Ben Agati.
The Zantop’s murders made national headlines and spawned a cross-country manhunt. Tulloch and Parker were taken into custody more than a month after the slaying in Indiana after hitchhiking from New England.
Dr. Veronika Zantop, one of the professors’ daughters, made a virtual appearance during Monday’s hearing in North Haverhill. Through courtroom speakers, she explained how the killings altered her family’s life forever.
“This wasn't a crime of passion or retribution,” said Zantop, who is a psychiatrist. “He wasn't using substances. He wasn't psychotic. There was just sheer depravity.”
She said she doesn’t support his release from prison when he becomes eligible for parole.
Tulloch’s lawyer, Richard Guerriero, was also his legal counsel in 2001, when Tulloch and Parker both pleaded guilty. In court paperwork filed last week, Guerriero had proposed a sentence of 30-40 years in prison, based on the sentences handed down in similar cases.
“The law and the science are clear: that an offense committed by a teenager, by a 17 year old, is different than an offense committed by an adult,” Guerriero told the court.
Tulloch, dressed in an olive prison jumpsuit, his hands shackled, was visibly distraught during portions of the hearing. He had prepared a statement, he said, but told the court he saw no point in reading it aloud after hearing from Zantop’s daughter.
“I don't know what else to say, your Honor. It's meaningless now,” said Tulloch. “But I'm sorry.”
Judge Lawrence MacLeod accepted the revised sentence of 45-years to life, and offered his sympathies to the Zantops.
“The effect of these crimes just ripples on forever,” said MacLeod.
Supreme Court clears way for new sentence
Tulloch and Parker were childhood friends in Chelsea, Vermont. As teenagers, they made “fantastical plans to leave the area, travel the world, and eventually settle in Australia,” according to Tulloch’s sentencing documents.
They began stealing mail and vehicles to fund their trip, and on Jan. 27, 2001, entered the Etna home of Half and Susanne Zantop, who were both Dartmouth professors. The teenagers claimed they were conducting an environmental survey, but within minutes, repeatedly stabbed the Zantops and fled with $340. They left behind a sheath for a knife, as well as other evidence.
Prosecutors would later learn that the youth had attempted to break into at least four other homes in the weeks leading up to the Zantop’s murders, and intended to kill whoever they found inside.
After agreeing to cooperate with authorities, Parker was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, while Tulloch was handed down two consecutive life sentences.
In 2021, the Supreme Court ruled in Miller vs. Alabama that mandatory life sentences for juveniles violated the Eighth Amendment's prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment. The decision unleashed a wave of resentencing hearings across the country, including five cases in New Hampshire where minors were serving life sentences.
