One of two teenagers who killed a pair of Dartmouth professors inside their home more than 25 years ago is asking a judge to reduce his prison sentence.
Robert Tulloch was originally ordered to serve consecutive life sentences after stabbing Half and Susanne Zantop inside their Etna home in 2001. Tulloch was 17 years old at the time of the crime, which made national headlines and spawned a cross-country manhunt. James Parker, who was 16 years old, was also arrested and pleaded guilty to the murders.
In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling that found mandatory life sentences for juveniles are unconstitutional, opening the door for Tulloch to have his sentence reviewed.
Parker was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, after cooperating with authorities. He was paroled in 2024 after serving nearly 24 years.
Tulloch’s resentencing hearing is scheduled to begin Monday in Grafton County Superior Court. In a court filing this week, his attorney argued that based on similar cases — both in New Hampshire and around the country — Tulloch’s sentence should be reduced to 30-40 years in prison, before he could become eligible for parole.
“Robert Tulloch’s prison records show he has matured and that, while there were some initial instances of misconduct, he has been free of major disciplinary violations over the last thirteen years,” attorney Richard Guerriero wrote in a court filing.
Tulloch’s sentencing paperwork includes lengthy observations from a mental health therapist who has treated the defendant in recent years. The clinician said Tulloch expresses “significant remorse for what he sees as a heinous and unforgivable crime.”
As of Friday afternoon, state prosecutors had not yet filed their own sentencing recommendations with the court.
Supreme Court clears way for new sentence
Tulloch and Parker were childhood friends in Chelsea, Vermont. As teenagers, they made “fantastical plans to leave the area, travel the world, and eventually settle in Australia,” according to Tulloch’s sentencing documents.
They began stealing mail and vehicles to fund their trip, and on Jan. 27, 2001, entered the Etna home of Half and Susanne Zantop, who were both Dartmouth professors. The teenagers claimed they were conducting an environmental survey, but within minutes, stabbed the Zantops and fled.
They were eventually taken into custody in Indiana in February of that year.
After agreeing to cooperate with authorities, Parker was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, while Tulloch was handed down two consecutive life sentences.
In 2021, the Supreme Court ruled in Miller vs. Alabama that mandatory life sentences for juveniles violated the Eighth Amendment's prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment. The decision unleashed a wave of resentencing hearings across the country, including five cases in New Hampshire where minors were serving life sentences.
In his court filing, Guerriero said a review of those cases and others nationally show an average sentence of 30-40 years.
The sentencing hearing is scheduled for three days in Grafton Superior Court in North Haverhill, beginning Monday in front of Judge Lawrence MacLeod. Once the judge hands down a sentence, both sides have the opportunity to appeal to a three-judge sentencing review panel, or prosecutors could file an appeal with the New Hampshire Supreme Court.
