On the tenth anniversary of the murder of College professors Susanne and Half Zantop, members of the Dartmouth community interviewed by The Dartmouth said they will privately commemorate the lives of the College professors.
The Zantops were murdered in their home on Jan. 27, 2001, in Etna, N.H., by two local teenagers.
Both professors had taught at the College since the 1970s. Susanne Zantop chaired the German Studies department and was active in the comparative literature department and women's and gender studies program, while Half Zantop was an earth sciences professor, The Dartmouth previously reported.
"They were incredible teachers," history professor Annelise Orleck said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "Susanne was a fierce promoter of justice, a great believer in building community, and Half [had a] wonderful sense humor and incredible dedication to his students. I think that those will live with us, his students and friends, forever."
Irene Kacandes, chair of the German Studies department, said she hoped the Zantops are remembered for their lives and contributions to the College rather than just their death.
"I think the hardest thing about losing people this way is that attention is focused on how they were killed, instead of how they lived," Kacandes, who was also a close friend of the Zantops, said. "I would love it if that could be reversed. Susanne and Half both had a great sense of humor, love of family, of friends. They did their work incredibly well, as scholars and as members of the community. They were very conscientious. I would love for that to get passed on to today's undergraduates instead of the horror of how they were killed."
The College established a memorial garden for the Zantops in 2009 located between Wheeler and Richardson Halls. The garden was funded largely by the Provost's Office, and was also made possible by various gifts from faculty members and friends of the Zantops, The Dartmouth previously reported.
"It was a particularly fitting thing," Kacandes said. "Susanne loved to garden highly talented. Half knew a lot about rocks, earth. The architecture of the Zantop Memorial Garden reflects both of them a very meaningful, symbolic and fitting place."
The comparative literature department created the annual Susanne Zantop Memorial Lecture in 2002 in honor of Zantop's contributions to the department, according to Kacandes.
After the murders, members of the Dartmouth community were devastated by the event, The Dartmouth previously reported.
"I was utterly horrified to learn of the murder of Dartmouth professors whom I knew," classics professor emeritus Edward Bradley said. "The nature of the killing was horrific to the worst degree they were not murdered, [they were] butchered. There was a universal reaction of horror and shock and great, great sadness."
Professors interviewed by The Dartmouth said that, in addition to feeling extreme grief, they had difficulty accepting what had happened to the Zantops.
"I felt disbelief for a long time," Kacandes said. "When I realized I had to believe it, there was shock, great pain, a sense of loss, numbness, dysfunction, sadness. After a while you put your own life back together, carry on, because you know that's what they would have wanted you to do."
There was confusion on campus as to who had committed the crime as well and fear that it could have been a student, Kacandes said.
"It was hard for the community to find out that it was young people, not our young people, not Dartmouth students, but they were young people and could have been people in our community," Kacandes said.
Robert Tulloch, then 18, was later found guilty of the murders and sentenced to life in prison, The Dartmouth previously reported. James Parker, then 17, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to being an accomplice in the murders and testifying against Tulloch.
Several people interviewed by The Dartmouth praised the College's actions in the days following the murders.
"The College handled a very difficult situation as well as it could have," Kacandes said. "Safety was first issue, [making] sure people knew what had happened. In the immediate aftermath of the murder, [former College President James Wright and Susan Wright] opened their door and hundreds of faculty members went there to seek solace. The College was very sensitive to the needs of the Zantop family and their close friends, and they assisted in every way with the memorial service."
In the days and weeks following the murders, regional and national media outlets poured into the town. The attention that the College received was unprecedented, according to Omer Ismail '02.
Ismail is a former member of The Dartmouth Senior Staff.
In addition to intruding on the already grieving community, the media increased the pain with their incorrect theories on the reason for the murder, Kacandes said. The Boston Globe published an erroneous story alleging that the murder was the result of an extramarital affair, The Dartmouth previously reported.
"Those of us who were close friends of Zantops were bombarded by the media and it was a very painful part of the experience," Kacandes said. "The press in the meantime floated theories that were wrong. I and others felt betrayed by reporters who put false stories out there."
Ismail said it was challenging to cover such a major story for The Dartmouth, especially since Staff members had known the Zantops.
"We were trying to cover the story as accurately, as sensitively and as often as we could," he said. "It was very personal for us."
The coverage of the murders extended beyond television crews to numerous books, a play and a movie.
Mitchell Zuckoff one of the reporters who covered the story for The Globe co-wrote a book titled "Judgment Ridge" that detailed the Zantop murders. The book, published in 2004, went on to inspire a film adaptation by director Jay Craven in 2010.
Eric Francis, a reporter for People Magazine, also wrote a book chronicling the incident, titled "The Dartmouth Murders."
