Two teens arrested in connection with Dartmouth slayings
By Billy O'Keefe
TMS Campus

Two days after announcing a huge break in the murders of Dartmouth College professors Half and Susanne Zantop, authorities in Henry County, Ind. announced the arrest Monday morning of two teenagers in connection with the Jan. 27 slayings.

Henry County Sheriff Kim Cornk confirmed that police arrested Robert Tulloch, 17, and James Parker, 16, at 4 a.m. EST Monday and charged them with two counts each of first-degree murder.

At a news conference Monday, Cornk said that he heard via CB radio that a truck driver was carrying two teenagers looking for a ride to California. Cornk said that the truck driver was unaware that the students were wanted by police.

Authorities communicated with the driver and said that he'd volunteer to pick up the teenagers at a nearby truck stop, where Henry County Sgt. Bill Ward, posing as a truck driver, apprehended the teenagers without incident.

Cornk said that New Hampshire authorities expect to arrive in Indiana Monday afternoon.

Authorities had announced on Saturday a nationwide search for Parker and Tulloch, both of whom reside approximately 25 miles from the college.

Both students fled early last week, but returned home a few days later before leaving again.

No details have been released regarding the relationship between Parker and Tulloch and the two professors.

Orange County, Vt., Sheriff Dennis McClure said Monday the students became suspects after one purchased a military-style knife on the Internet. Tulloch and Parker allegedly stabbed the professors multiple times in the chest and head.

McClure said that authorities asked the pair last week to provide fingerprints, which they did, and that the prints matched enough to warrant the weekend-long investigation.

A friend and colleague of the Zantops found them dead when he arrived for a dinner engagement.