James Parker is coming back to New Hampshire to face charges, but whether he will charged as an adult with first-degree murder charges is still unclear.
Parker, 16, of Chelsea, Vt., waived his right to protest extradition in a hearing today in Henry County Superior Court in New Castle, Ind.
A spokesman for the Parker family, Kevin Ellis, said the boy will seek to be prosecuted as a juvenile, and not as an adult.
New Hampshire state law considers a person a juvenile until the age of 17. Parker's alleged accomplice, Robert Tulloch, 17, has already been arraigned on two counts of first-degree murder for the stabbing deaths of professors Susanne and Half Zantop.
Parker will plead not guilty on both charges, Ellis said.
Ellis also said before the court hearing, that the boy's father, John Parker, did not intend to give his son and Tulloch a head start when they fled Chelsea, Vt., a week ago.
On Wednesday, an affidavit released by Lebanon District Court appeared to show that John Parker waited approximately eight hours before notifying police that his son had left with Tulloch.
The affidavit said John Parker saw his son drive away from their Chelsea home around 3 a.m. last Friday, then followed the boy to Tulloch's home.
John Parker then returned home and found a note from his son asking him not to alert police. Parker waited to call police until about 11 a.m., according to the affidavit.
In response to allegations that John Parker allowed his son and Tulloch to get a head start knowingly, Ellis said the younger Parker also wrote in the note that he and Tulloch would return to Chelsea on their own, but that was not written in the affidavit.
"They were going to come back," Ellis said. "There was no delay in calling the police."
Douglas Brown, a lawyer for the Parker family, told the Valley News that the elder Parker alerted authorities as soon as it became clear his son was not coming home as promised.
Brown said Parker did not believe the boy was considered a suspect in the murders at the time. Police had questioned the teen, but told the family they were questioning several people who purchased knives similar to ones used in the killings, Brown said.
Earlier this week, Orange County, Vt., Sheriff Dennis McClure said authorities told him that one of the boys purchased a 12-inch military-style knife on the Internet.
State Attorney General Philip McLaughlin refused to confirm that report, but chastized McClure for releasing such information.
Parker's parents visited their son at the Henry County Jail this morning. They brought him a different pair of sneakers to wear, Ellis said.
Parker likely would return to New Hampshire later today or tomorrow, Henry County, Ind., Prosecutor Kit Crane said.
Authorities have released no information concerning the motive behind the killings, but "PrimeTime Live" last night reported that literature was found in Tulloch's bedroom about the Third Reich, White Supremacy and Holocaust Revisionism, citing anonymous law enforcement sources.
Authorities have not confirmed that any such literature was found nor if there is any connection between the literature and murders.
However, the Zantops, though they were not Jewish, were known to have had strong feelings about the Holocaust and felt compelled to fight anti-Semitism, according to friends who spoke with The Dartmouth.
"PrimeTime Live" also reported that their sources said a boot seized from the Parker home allegedly matched bloody footprints recovered from the Zantop home.
The police have been tightlipped throughout the investigation, even after Tulloch and Parker were arrested at a truckstop in Spiceland, Ind. Monday by Indiana police.
Tulloch was extradited to New Hampshire Wednesday afternoon via an FBI plane, after waiving his right to protest extradition Tuesday.
Tulloch was arraigned on first-degree murder charges in Lebanon District Court Wednesday evening. He is being held without bail at the Grafton County Jail, awaiting a probable cause hearing set for next Wednesday.
