Controversy surrounds the story of the 1993 deaths of six colleagues of the Arizona State University professor questioned by investigators in connection with the Zantop murders.
Stanley N. Williams, a former visiting professor at Dartmouth in earth sciences and a professor of volcanology at ASU, allegedly ignored scientific data that predicted the eruption of Colombia's Galeras Volcano, according to author Victoria Bruce, whose book about the tragedy is due out March 20.
"Stanley Williams failed to read ... pertinent seismic data, which could have possibly saved the lives of many people in the expedition," Justin Loeber, a publicist for publisher HarperCollins in New York, told the Boston Herald.
Williams also erred when he claimed to be the only survivor of the tragedy, according to Bruce's book. A New York Times article from 1993 calls Williams "the lone survivor."
"Stanley had gone around in his circle and in the media ... saying he was the sole survivor at Galeras, despite five other people who lived," Loeber said.
Williams and his wife, Lynda, were in Hanover the weekend professors Half and Susanne Zantop were murdered to attend the 90th birthday party of Williams' dissertation adviser, Richard Stoiber, a professor emeritus of earth sciences. (Stoiber died last Friday at his home in Norwich, VT.)
Police impounded the white car Williams had rented from Thrifty Car Rental at the Manchester airport. Senior Assistant Attorney General Kelly Ayotte told reporters last week that the car was one of several being detailed by investigators.
She said the man who rented the white car was not a suspect, although she did not identify him as Williams.
Williams declined to comment to The Dartmouth on the Zantop investigation, saying, "I have been advised by the authorities that they would prefer that I not talk about the Zantop case."
He also declined comment last night on the controversy surrounding his book and the Galeras tragedy. "These are police matters and business matters. I really shouldn't interfere with them."
Williams directed questions to his publicist, who could not be reached for comment, but told the Herald Monday, "[Williams] does address the fact [in the book] that given the information he had at the time, neither he nor his colleagues could have known Galeras was going to erupt."
Williams has written a book with Fen Montaigne about the eruption and deaths of his colleagues. "Surviving Galeras" is due for release in April. Eight expert volcanologists testify in the book that Williams had no way of knowing the volcano would erupt.
However, Bernard Chouet, a geophysicist at United States Geological Survey who conducted a study of the same volcano said the eruption was apparent. In January of 1993, Galeras exhibited behavior similar to behavior before a July 1992 eruption, Chouet told the Herald.
Peeling said Williams' claim to being the only survivor was in error: "Stan initially said he was the sole survivor because that was his memory of the event. When he was reminded by others that he was not the sole survivor, he stopped saying [it]."
On Jan. 14, 1993, Williams led a party of 15 volcanologists and tourists up to Galeras's crater. The scientists were assembled for a conference that Williams had organized.
Galeras is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, but it had been quiet for several months at the time. The monitoring station in Pasto, a city of 300,000 located a few miles east of the volcano, reported no signs of trouble, Williams told The Dartmouth in November 1999.
Standing on the rim of the crater, Williams urged the scientists to leave as soon they had completed their tasks. However, 10 people were still in and around the crater when the ground began to shake.
Nine members died, but Williams survived, though he was severely injured.
"Before people could really have much chance to do anything except look up, it exploded, and instantly, nine people were dead. Everybody that was standing next to me, talking to me, was dead," Williams said in an interview with The Dartmouth in November 1999.
Flying rocks punched a hole into Williams' skull and broke his jaw. As he fled, one leg was broken and another shattered.
Incandescent rocks rained from the sky, igniting his clothes and backpack as he crawled behind a large boulder to protect himself.
Several hours passed before anyone was able to venture near the crater to check for survivors. Once found, Williams was flown to the local hospital where he underwent surgery, but was quickly evacuated to Arizona State University by air ambulance, where the hospital was better equipped to treat him.
Since the eruption, Williams has undergone surgery 16 times.
At the time, doctors were unsure whether he would ever regain his full physical or mental abilities.
But Williams spent only a month in the hospital, and after a year and a half, went back to Galeras.
Friends Fingerprinted
Meanwhile, the police have fingerprinted friends of the Zantops in order to rule out prints found at the scene.
Neighbor Bob McCollum, who was one of the people who found the bodies, was fingerprinted, along with other, unidentified individuals.
Giaccone said police officers called to the scene on the night of the murders are also being fingerprinted.
