Bob McCollum took time out yesterday from his jam-packed interview schedule, which started at 5 a.m. with a camera crew knocking on his door, to pay a tribute to his slain friends.
Bob McCollum sent a letter to his senators.
The ever politically active Susanne and Half Zantop always encouraged their friends to pay attention to politics and to get involved, whether they agreed with their views or not.
And, perhaps fittingly, the last email message the Zantops sent to Bob and Audrey McCollum urged them to tell their senators to vote against the confirmation of former Sen. John Ashcroft for Attorney General.
So, Bob McCollum did just that. He sent email messages yesterday to Republican Sens. Judd Gregg and Bob Smith of New Hampshire asking them to say 'nay' when the Senate votes on Ashcroft later this week.
Although the effort may be futile considering the two senators allegiance to Ashcroft, McCollum said he did it to fulfill what he feels was the Zantops' "last request" of their friends.
And though the Zantops probably did not know when they sent the email at 8:33 a.m. Saturday -- the day they died -- that it would be their last contact with the McCollums, it seems strangely appropriate for two people for whom a commitment to activism was an everyday affair.
McCollum said the Zantops always wanted all of their friends to take time to be politically aware and active within community as they were.
Audrey McCollum said she feels she has a duty to the Zantops as well -- to ensure that they are remembered for the people they were, and not simply as victims of an awful crime.
That's why she's talked to just about every reporter who's called her late at night or knocked on her door early in the morning.
And though her husband is barred from relaying to the media any of what he saw the night of the murders, Audrey McCollum is talking with every breath about what she remembers of her next-door neighbors.
The McCollums have been barraged with media attention for obvious reasons but also because of the lack of information coming from law enforcement officials about the murders.
State Attorney General Philip McLaughlin said yesterday that the police began to "appreciate the extent to which these events were going to be scrutinized by the media."
As a result, the state will continue to hold news conferences everyday at noon until further notice.
In yesterday's news conference, McLaughlin revealed little more about the crime yesterday except to say that an arrest is "not imminent."
McLaughlin said the investigation of the bloody handprint in Massachusetts Hall turned out to be "irrelevant" and that, as of now, the police "have no idea" who committed the horrendous crime.
"We're not ruling in or out anything." However, he said, "I can assure the public there is progress being made."
He refused to comment on any specifics of the crime scene, the killings, or whether the police had potential suspects.
Investigators finished their analysis of the Zantop residence, but the home will continue to remain closed.
McLaughlin said the findings from the forensic investigation are being processed quickly, but that the results would not be released to the public.
McLaughlin maintained that the investigation team still could not rule out the possibility that the Zantops were victims of a random attack.
He also said did not know whether "one or two people or a small group of people" were the perpetrators
He could not speak to how long the investigation would take before an arrest is made, saying "I don't know where we'll be Friday."
McLaughlin said he did not think it would be "possible for the president of this university to be more cooperative."
McLaughlin said he is entrusting campus security to Safety and Security and the Hanover Police, but that there was no reason for unreasonable alarm.
