The Dartmouth Murders /// Part 2 /// 779 | Forensic Files

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[Music] n [Music] [Music] welcome to True Crime garage wherever you are whatever you're doing thanks for
listening I'm your host Nick and with me as always is a man who saw the lights go
out on Broadway here is the captain and in that moment it wasn't good to be seen
and it wasn't good to see you thanks for listening thanks for telling a friend [Music]
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through Apple subscription and Colonel that's enough of the business all right everybody gather around grab a chair
grab a beer let's talk some true crime [Music] [Music] the police were tracking down these
leads they were following where the evidence was taking them this information that they had gleaned from
the sales reports of these knives had taken them to the doorstep of Jim Parker and his parents and before even leaving
the Parker residents some of these other detectives remember we said that there were 30 plus investigators working this
case they sent other investigators to the home of the toic to interview best friend of Jim Parker
Robert Tock remember Jim told the police I bought the two knives for me and my buddy yeah one was going to be mine one
was going to be his this is what we bought them for we they didn't work out well so we sold them during that sitdown
the police aren't really trusting what Jim Parker is saying because he looks so nervous in fact one of the detectives
telling Jim Parker look I've been doing this long enough I can tell when somebody's lying to me kind of planting
that seed of not calling him a liar not saying he's a liar not especially in front of his parents but planting that
seed of I I kind of know you're not telling me the whole story here right what we learn here Captain is that they
they did the right thing by sending other investigators to talk to Robert Tok and his parents you want to keep
these two separate but the reason for doing so in that moment was not because the detectives were suspicious that Jim
Parker had killed the xant Toops not because they were suspicious that even his buddy Robert toic had killed the
xant Toops they somewhat believed the story of selling these knives to somebody or at least giving these knives
to somebody else right in that moment investigators believed we're talking about two high school kids here we think
they know something that they're not willing to tell us we think they know who they gave or sold the knives
to and if we can find that person or persons that is very likely our killer now the flip side of that
coin is you have detectives at the home of Diane and Mike tolik Robert their son
is home at that time as well so now have a sit down going on at the toic home very similar to what was taking place at
the Parker residence but if you're law enforcement you have to remember when you're at the Parker's house what do you
see a green Subaru yep now you're talking to his buddy you're at the to's house and what do you
find a pair of hiking boots same size same brand same brand and again it's a unique brand it's Unique New York you
know what they're not seeing at the toic house that they were seeing at The Parkers is a very nervous teenager this
Robert toic was described as cool as a cucumber yes they found size 112 hiking boots same brand that they were looking
for and they asked the toxs can we take these hiking boots with us for for testing yeah father Mike says look th
those are my son's boots should I get an attorney here what what's my move here and and the detective was was very cool
as a cucumber as well tells the father look if you say the boots stay they stay if you tell me that I can take them
we're going to take them we're going to test them and we'll give them back to you and so father Mike tells his son
Robert these are your boots what do you say Robert says go ahead and take them so they take the boots and and Robert
also says just like Jim Parker said he was willing to go down to the Sheriff's Office and be fingerprinted and so he's
there at the sheriff's office he sees his buddy Jim there as well they don't they don't talk while they're there at
all but they do see each other and recognize that each other is at the sheriff's office both for the purpose of
getting fingerprinted and I'm sure probably some other questionings going on at this time now police the
authorities let both of these teenagers go after joining them at the sheriff's office for a bit the cops let both
Robert and Jim go home with their parents that day because really the reality of it at at that time was
despite all of the signs pointing strongly at these two boys knowing something or being
involved it it seemed like the police needed more to build their case or just didn't think that these kids were
vicious Killers they're high schoolers their parents loved them they seem to be resp respectful and polite we know the
police were wrong at least in that moment the boy's parents rightfully so had forbidden the two of them to contact
each other until this whole thing got sorted out it appears that both parents thought that this was just some kind of
misunderstanding right that the the cops weren't being rude or being bad cops that they had evidence that led them to
their sons their sons are cooperating they're cooperating well they seem like nice kids from a nice family nice
Community popular kids it just seems very strange and what is their connection to these professors none
there is none and then what is the connection to even the college none to to the town of Etna do they had never as
far as the parents were concerned they had never been there the their sons had never been there one thing that we
shouldn't we need to make sure that we don't miss here and is of note is that Robert tolik had a a pretty bad cut
on his leg and that of course did not go unnoticed by the detectives if I'm a detective I'm going well I'm looking
into these two kids and I'm getting some yeses but I'm getting some NOS too mhm but I need to keep them on the radar
they're not supposed to have communication with each other but that's not what happens yeah if you're
Detectives you're thinking I have their fingerprint information I have their the
boot the boot and so now I'm going to I'm going to take this give it to the people that can make the comparisons and
wait to hear those results but they do yes Captain's right the two the two teenage Sons contact
each other even though the parents said that they were not to speak to one another they they do what every other
teenager does you just wait till Mom and Dad fall asleep and do what you're told
not to do so they they make some communication via phone call and it appears that that is all they needed to
ignite the two onto a get out of Dodge situation we do have John Parker Jim's father who says that he was sleeping but
then he heard a vehicle startup and he runs to the window he sees Jim driving and pulling out of the driveway this is
a silver Audi that is owned by the Parker family he quickly John Parker the father quickly calls the
toic right to say hey my son just took off in our car I'm guessing he's probably going to your place to see your
son the phone keeps ringing and ringing and ringing he tries a few different times nobody picks up if you're a little
bit suspicious of your teenage son doing something very dumb and very heinous I think your
suspicions and your red flags all the alarm bells are going off as your son is leaving the house that night yeah so
John finds a note left by Jim his son that says I just had to talk to robber alone I will be back in the
morning don't call the cops again another red flag so dad tries calling the to's house nobody
answers he hops in another vehicle and drives out to the toic home and now eventually we have parents
talking to parents face to face John Parker tells the toic about the note that Jim had left the parents kind of
agreed like okay this makes some sense our kids aren't used to being talked or interviewed by detectives or police they
were just at the Sheriff's Office okay this makes some sense here they probably just wanted to talk go somewhere and
sort some stuff out and maybe they would be back in the morning just like Jim Snow indicated they were not they did
not come back that morning right John Parker calls the lead investigator Chuck West this is at 11:00 a.m. and he says
my son Jim is gone so an APB went out for Robert toic and Jim Parker and that silver 1987 Audi 500 that they were
driving with Vermont plate CDG 690 so officers from various agencies working the case gathered to draft search
warrants right because now you're you're these two teenagers are behaving very suspiciously and appear to be on the run
so you are not waiting for test results to come back at this point now you're getting search warrants but all at the
same time here Captain the lab reports do come back fingerprints on the knife sheets matched Jim
Parker and of course he admitted to owning the knives and he has no reason to be there no the the sheets had been
found in the room with the dead bodies of Mr and Mrs zantop Right and now police had confirmation that the knives
Jim and Robert had admitted to owning were in fact the murder weapons Vermont State Police Trooper Joselyn
stall she's out driving and her Cruiser she's rushing off to an unrelated emergency call when she comes across a
car stuck in the snow on bethl Mountain Road so this is this is the AI the the the 1987
silver AI was stuck on the side of the road after it appears it had skitted on a ice patch the two there's two teenage
boys dressed in black standing outside of the car they agreed to provide license and
registration but something about them triggered sto's Spidey senses she's asking you know where are you
going they say that they're going skiing this is a State Trooper she's like sure you're going skiing and the
ski mountain was there is a ski mountain in that area it's in the opposite direction of where they were traveling
so that's a that's a flag further the boys are not dressed for skiing and the vehicle there is no
skiing Gear with them instead what she sees is two large black backpacks bulging with something inside these are
in the vehicle the boys were Shifty and weird stole ran their licenses finds no records but she also
knew that there had been some burglaries in the area so this is what she's suspicious of that that these guys might
these teenagers might have been breaking into the houses but she was in a hurry remember she's got that other emergency
that she right needs to respond to so she quickly puts together a report and has to race off to this other scene the
last line of her report about this incident finding the boys and the vehicle on the side of the road reads my
suspicions of criminal activity were significant now we have these search warrants are in Full Effect right now we
got searchers tackling Robert's room uh in Robert tok's room we have Gary Lawrence who noticed a cardboard
Florida Citrus box in the corner of his room tucked in next to a bureau inside of this cardboard box they find some
notebooks and other stuff under the notebooks were two duct tape bundles that turned out to
be a mitten and a sock inside those that Mitten that was wrapped in duct tape and
that sock that was wrapped in duct tape they find a foot long SOG SEAL 2000 knife in
each in Robert's haste to get out of Dodge it appears he had completely forgot to pack the
knives at the murder scene the murderers completely forgot to leave the scene with the sheaths here these two kids
appear to have taken off on the run and by the time that Robert realizes that he forgot to bring the
knives they're already on the road he and Jim are already on the road so now the police are in possession of the
suspected murder weapons the boy story was that they had sold these knives to some guy well you
know that's not true Parker and like they're young and dumb mhm other item sees from both homes were clothing
computers notebooks writings and a book about Hitler a search of the Parker's green Subaru yielded a floor mat that
was taken for testing it would come back with positive with positive blood evidence and the blood belonging to
suzan zantop so we have the fingerprint evidence we have the bootprint evidence is all matching our
two kid suspects mhm and now we find the murder weapons in their possession yes yeah it's it's in the room of one of
your suspects bedroom of one of your suspects and and well and now we have these two numbnuts they're on the run
from law enforcement so you're you're going to collect this evidence and you're going to
charge both of these individuals with the slangs even though the they are not in your custody and that's going to have
a domino effect of now we got a nationwide manhunt for these two teenagers what we would learn is that
Robert and Jim had driven South to Massachusetts and then they were heading west they decided that they had to lose
the vehicle because they knew that police would be looking for this vehicle we say it all the time don't we Captain
Vehicles cops love Vehicles they're so much easier to find Than People yeah they're bigger they parked the car in a
lot at a busy Sturbridge aisle truck stop in Sturbridge Massachusetts so at this
service station they are talking to different truck drivers and whatnot and they find a tow truck driver his name's
John morren who was he's he works part-time as a cop but he also drives a tow truck or reverse that he probably
drives the tow truck part-time and works full-time as a cop he said that he thought the boys looked nervous and
noticed that they had New Hampshire plates when he saw an APB out for the two boys in the in that
plate this is 6 hours later when he sees the APB though after seeing the boys he
does call this into police so now police are hot on the trail right they go out to the Sturbridge and they find the
vehicle the Audi that they had left behind the boys are gone gone by this time they had ended up being successful
hitching a ride West a trucker with the awesome name of Rowdy Tucker and his wife
Nancy had picked up the boys taking pity on them because it's snowing it's cold outside and these These are kids right
they're yeah they're teenagers they they thought they're trying to help these kids out and luckily we have them on
surveillance footage get in into the truck the boys introduced themselves as as Sam
and Tyler they said that they were headed to California to try to get fishing jobs the Tuckers were so nice
that they not only gave them a ride but also bought them snacks and stuff at the
truck stop before hitting the road they ride together about 220 miles to get the
Columbia New Jersey the Tuckers used a CB radio to find other truckers who might be able to
transport Sam and Tyler further west this is as far as we can take you we're going to see if anybody else can help
you out so another trucker his name is James Hicks agrees he is driving he says he's
driving a truck full of M&M's to Chicago the the snack not not multiples of the rapper not the rapper yeah just
to be clear yeah uh not the rapper holding cans of moose stew that's right what what is awesome here though well if
you're going from New Jersey to Chicago You're Going probably 90 to I70 going to pass right through Ohio
right through Indiana yeah so while this is all going on this is very cool because the police
are hot on the trail of this hot Sam and Tyler you know the fake names that they're using horrible names New
Hampshire attorney general Philip mlin issued a statement that the teens possibly using the names Sam and Tyler
were hitching rides at truck stops on interstate highways and everyone should be on the lookout by the early morning
of February 20th the boys were in the Hicks truck approaching the end of his route in Chicago right the Eminem route
that that golden Eminem route that everybody knows about that runs from New Jersey to Chicago that's how the
chocolate is made Hicks got on his CB Radio and said hey can anybody give a ride to two boys who want to go to
California he had mentioned that they had been picked up initially in New Jersey so a male voice responds sure I
can they agree to meet at the Flying J Travel Plaza in Newcastle Indiana Hicks truck pulled in at 3:45
a.m. and he drops off the boys this next bit is from the book judgement Ridge the
trucker on the other end of the CB radio at that time turns out not a trucker at
all he was Sergeant Bill Ward a 22-year veteran of the Henry County Indiana Sheriff's Department so he's working the
O overnight shift he is eating a meal with three fellow officers at the Flying J Truck
Stop Restaurant they discussed the fugitives right they had heard the APB go out for
these two teenagers well believe he also saw it on the news they're talking about
this when they're having their meal and they actually talk about the idea that well if if they're heading this way if
they're heading out west to California that Indiana would be a logical place for them to travel through along their
route to California so a couple of hours later when Sergeant Ward was in his patrol car
he hears the trucker Hicks CB call for someone to pick up two teenage H hitchhikers he told Hicks he'd meet them
at the Flying J truck stop on I70 in New Castle Indiana he calls his buddies for
reinforcement so this guy pretends to be another trucker that's willing to drive
these kids when they pull up the cops are face to face with Robert tolik and Jim Parker and Robert Tok says to one of
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[Music] [Music] all right we are back you silly monkeys cheers to the people in the back
tall can in the air cheers to everyone power to the people here we go we got our guys in custody now after their
attempt to flee out West by hopping trucks and getting picked up by the police thinking that they had a a third
Connection in in picking up another ride out in Indiana but that was not to be turns out to be the police and you have
a lot of evidence right thanks to the evidence investigators pretty much by this point know the who when where and
how about this case but the motive continue to elude everyone yeah because we don't have connections from The
Killers to to the victims yeah and you now have detectives interrogating the parents
individually for hours trying to figure out what the connection was and the focus of this questioning was the
family's connection to the area of Handover what was the relationship with the xant Toops and what were Robert and
Jim doing in that neck of the woods and as the captain pointed out before in this story is that neither of the
parents had any idea any idea of any connection whatsoever that their sons would have with the area
with the xant Toops frankly with Handover at all but law enforcement has something on their side now we have two
killers meaning all you have to have as one of the killers break and to tell you
all the details of the crime and why they they committed the crime and it the parents in both cases Robert tok's
parents and Jim Parker's parents they seem to be unable to process the knowledge that their children were
murderers like even when the police are pointing out all this evidence that says
look this this all leads to your son and his friend they they have a difficult time ramping their minds around this
whole idea and then on top of that the town's people seem to feel equally shattered again these are popular kids
they're likable kids got decent grades had friends got great grades were were considered to be
intelligent kids and and no criminal history correct now what we start to see here is two different paths by these
individuals that were arrested together for committing the same crimes so you have Jim he's he's in jail we have
Robert tolik he's in jail but he's getting into fights at the jail and it's reported that he was picking on person
he deemed to be weaker prisoners he was sneaking letters to his girlfriend at the time and obsessively reading
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradberry and he was also trying to he was planning an escape we know that he
confided in a biker turned Czech fraudster who went by the nickname of Ranger so Ranger is going to be
transported Ranger takes the opportunity to talk to police while he's being transported so this is Deputy Chad
Morris that that is doing the transportation here so he says he tells the deputy that Robert
toic told me that this crime was random in fact he and his buddy Jim initially they intended to kill the xant
Toops neighbors they went to that house knocked on the door nobody answered so they just kicked the can down the road
and went to the next house he said that he was told by Robert that there was no connection to the xant Toops they did
not know who they were they had not seen them prior to that day he said Robert told him that the that this was his
first murder and that he had wanted to get quote a few under his belt to get some street
cred finally Ranger told the deputy that the only item that the kidss actually stole was Hal's
wallet so this is backed up they know this the police know this from having been at the crime scene yeah there
wasn't much money in there $340 is what was found in Hal's wallet and from my understanding they use that
money to buy two shirts and a pair of uh rock climbing shoes so these two very lovely wonderful people that so many
adored that so loved their company parents turns out their lives were worth two shirts and a pair of rock climbing
shoes to these two teenagers anyway the story was that Jim and Robert had gained
access to the xanto's home by pretending to conduct an environmental survey for a
school project they selected Etna the area of Etna simply because they thought people would be rich the people that
live there would be rich they had struck out at two previous homes before getting
invited inside the home by Hal zantop well again he probably only let them in because he's a educator who's trying to
help these kids out well and this Deputy says Hey Ranger you need to sit down with investigators and tell them
everything that you're telling me as The Story Goes On he tells them that Robert
said that he deliberately selected a home with someone present because the purpose of the whole operation was Rob
they didn't want to just steal things they wanted to Rob someone get their ATM cards and get their PIN numbers from
them personal identification number from them so they could use these ATM cards at will but the other part of this
that's even more Sinister again this is according to a jailhouse snitch Ranger tells the detectives that
Robert told him look this was all kind of just an excuse for him he wanted to kill somebody while
he was out there doing this robbery I guess they had loose plans to hey let's get some money and then we'll go live a
awesome I think they said badass life in in Australia so they were trying things
like stealing people's mail and trying to steal cars and all this stuff but like you're saying you can go well we
can break into houses that'd be a great way to get money or we could rob somebody even let's say gunpoint where
this becomes very Sinister as when somebody says no we'll just kill them everything the captain just said is
spoton the the the thing here is it seemed like the the two boys shared this idea that where they grew up Chelsea was
boring and that they were destined for greater things yeah it's weird because they also seem like they're like they
want to live a boring life and they didn't like people that weren't trying to better themselves but all these other
opportunities they talked about like joining the Army or even the British forces but they're like but the training
that would be too difficult yeah that's why most people don't join but it just makes no sense because
it seemed like they were anti- people that weren't trying to make themselves better and would it by by doing
something hard that's what makes you better by going through a tough training that's what makes you better right they
you know they weren't into drugs they they didn't do things like drugs or drink in fact the two of them uh even
shunned away from fast food or any type of unhealthy food it's very strange and they they did they talked about living
these badass lives but unfortunately it turned to things that were illegal activities like
breaking and entering burglary joy riding and boosted car and then of course these two murders now no bail was
granted to either teen due to the severity of the charges thankfully an investigative grand jury indicted both
boys the indictments revealed the evidence against the boys and the prosecutor's theory of the crime it
appears that Robert and Jim were looking to collect about $10,000 roughly through
different types of CRI criminal activity to travel to and live in Australia working for the money too slow
too mundane so as the captain pointed out they stole from Neighbors mailboxes looking for credit cards they stole an
ATV they tried to sell it but couldn't do it without the title they kept running into problem after problem with
their half-baked plant well they're also dumbasses yeah yep and th this but but that's
where it becomes evil though because again it doesn't look I'm just maybe I'm a horrible person but you get these two
teenagers they don't like the the living situations like you said getting a job and saving the money that's not fast
enough so you commit some crimes that really only affect somebody financially big whoop they they end up
getting the money they move to Australia they live their badass life out but once
somebody decides that we need to murder somebody that's when these to really become evil yeah and as said there was a
couple of other failed attempts one attempt that we know about is something that took place in July of
2000 when the two teenagers went to and approached to a home the homeowner they had actually cut
the phone lines to this house yeah the homeowner for some reason this is after 10:00 at night it's dark out he is
living in Vermont but he this green Goose Road in in uh Vermont he previously had lived in New
York and maybe it was a little bit of the New Yorker inside of him that was like you know what I'm not opening up
this door so he talked to one of the teenagers that it's reported that it was Robert who had approached the door and
had Jim hide outside uh Robert approaches the door and now the homeowner is talking to Robert through
the door and he's letting him know look I got a gun I I I'm I'm armed if you guys attempt to come in here or if you
attempt to come in here I am going to there will be shots fired the story that Robert tried to sell to this guy through
the door was that his vehicle had broken down and he needed to use a phone and the homeowner's like cool there's a pay
phone right down the street within walking distance go ahead and go use that phone well then like you said the
the homeowner realizes somebody cut his phone line so now he thinks something things
up and he stands guard basically all night waiting for the for this kid to try something yep yep
and and and on top of that like you want to talk about evil you have toic that goes to the door knock knock knock hey
I'm going to try to be the ruse in Waiting this Parker with a mask on but they also dug shallow Graves to put
these individuals in yeah they had previously dug the grave to put whatever person was
home and that's that's what's crazy too like we C we can't we can sit here in magnifying glasses as much as we can as
much as we can attempt to those conversations behind closed doors leading up the plotting of these
different Adventures that they were going to go on that's where a lot of the psychology comes into play because you
start to wonder like is is one of the these guys purposely steering the ship to saying hey you know what would be
best is if we commit crimes where there is a victim present rather than just breaking and
entering and going through somebody's home it's it's gets very difficult to say here but like I was saying earlier
the thing that law enforcement has on their side now is that we have two killers they're kids they're numbnuts
one of them is going to speak and you can kind of threaten both of them hey one of you is going to speak and the
first person to do it is going to get the best deal yeah so this comes about in December of 2001 the short of it here
is that Robert and his attorneys were planning on an insanity defense for Robert a big
problem with that Insanity defense is going to be that Jim his partner in crime was making a plea deal with the
prosecution part of that deal is that Jim would tell the prosecution everything and would testify against
Robert in exchange for reduced charges of being an accomplice to second degree murder of the death of Suzanne his
sentence would be 25 years to life but he could apply for a reduced sentence after serving 16 years and 8
months so in court in December this is the 7th of December Jim gives a 5-hour confession under questioning from the
prosecutor no details were spared in his complete account of all that had occurred Jim confirmed that they
selected the xant Toops home simply because it looked expensive Jim said that after the murders and the failed
escape to California he started to see Robert In a Different Light he said things that he hadn't liked about Robert
stood out more and more to him now and one of the things he was pointing out he said that that his friend Robert was was
rather violent toward uh his own dog which Robert said that he hit the dog because he said the dog was
stupid this whole Insanity defense was based around the idea that Robert that they say Robert was in full-blown manic
episode when he killed Hal zantop so Robert kills Hal Jim kills Suzanne Insanity defense
but the problem was in New Hampshire there was no statutory standard for an insanity defense basically it was up to
the jury right they're not there's no guidelines to decide if Robert or anyone had been insane at the time of a killing
and according to the book judgement Ridge the insanity defense had never been successful at any murder trial by a
jury in the state of New Hampshire that's that's an uphill battle my friend so then Jim pled guilty turned on Robert
Robert and his family and his attorneys then decided that there was too much evidence of premeditation to risk going
for this Insanity right you can't say hey I was in fullblown manic episode when I killed this man and yet there's a
mountain of evidence that you sat around plotting to kill somebody you were planning this for weeks for months so
they dropped the insanity plea and Robert ended up pleading guilty Robert was senten to life without the
possibility of parole so toic is sentenced to life without the possibility of perole Parker is
sentenced to 25 years with the possibility of perole 25 to life with the possibility of parole and then of
course there were people that were rightfully angered by the plea agreement because it seemed that Jim got off
easy with a mere accomplice charge even though he had personally cut Suzanne's throat but the prosecutor publicly
reminded people that Jim was only 16 at the time of the murders and he had demonstrated willingness to take
responsibility for his action which was not on display by the other suspect in her message to the media after the
hearings she simply said justice has been served in this case now Jim started off serving his sentence at the New
Hampshire State Prison in Concord his days were filled with things like schooling guitar and piano
lessons Robert was sent to a smaller prison facility in Berlin New Hampshire prison officials
they decided look the decision was made that that Jim and Robert would never be together in the same facility but Robert
immediately became known as uncooperative and got into fights prison officials also learned of an attempted
Escape that he was planning so he was sent to the state prison and Concord and assigned a maximum security cell in the
secured housing unit until he was deemed eligible to be returned to genp pop so for a while they did they were housed in
the same facility bootprint evidence the confessions the murder weapons it's a lot and look that that's a thorough job
by detectives and by the New Hampshire State Police Department well and and the the sheriffs for catching them on the
Run shout out to those boys in Indiana yeah now I don't want to go too far down this
road but the there was a in 2012 so the US Supreme Court made a ruling in Miller
V Alabama in 2012 after that ruling five New Hampshire cases came under review based off of that ruling off of that
Supreme Court ruling this one of those included Robert tox as a result of that in 2014 a superior court in New
Hampshire ruled that this applied retroactively to Robert tok's case along with some others
that it would be up for review for resentencing the state appealed but the New Hampshire State Court affirmed so
appeals by the defendants in the other cases held up as well Robert is currently scheduled for a
resentencing hearing sometime in 2024 in fact it's originally scheduled for for July so that may have already happened
he may have already been resentenced as for Jim in the fall of 2018 his attorney
petitioned the court for an early release remember he would be eligible for an early release or reduced sentence
after having served at least 16 years of that original sentence the short of it as much as nobody or at least the zantop
daughters and the people that knew the xant Toops do not want these two individuals back
out out of prison what we would end up having is Jim Parker has been paroled in 2024 this
year Jim had served the requisite amount of his sentence to be considered for parole Jim recently had a hearing in
which the parole board members asked him questions about whether he was rehabilitated now we know what Jim did
we know how horrible and heinous these crimes were we know how horrific and brutal the Act was but we challenge you
to watch the video of Jims parole hearing it it and not pity him he he's nearly 40 years old he's been in prison
since he was 16 he comes across as remorseful introspective humble and softspoken uh this is from the
nhpr quote Parole Board member Ronald bassette noted Jim had a stellar disciplinary record and has worked with
nonprofit groups on art projects Parker earned bachelor's and Master's degrees he's been a part of theatrical Musical
and sports activities and has helped developed inmate education guides he has lived in transitional housing which is
usually the final placement for Resident prior to their release so all of these things are lining up in what the parole
board would say this this is the way that you get granted parole if you if you if you want a uh
stepping stone to parole and and a eventually a release do some of these things do all of these things you know
in theory the purpose of our prison system is to rehabilitate I I rarely think that that
happens especially when we're talking about a double homicide case in this case I think it it's been
achieved I mean he this seems to Jim seems to represent the best case scenario of the good our prison system
can accomplish true reform so Jim Parker was released just this year well let's play a little clip
from that parole hearing and you could be the judge um and we usually start these proed by asking the resident to
tell us what they did okay um in 2001 when I was 16 um I entered the home of the sand Toops
pretending to be a student um and to to have an interview and during the interview when Mr zantop pulled out his
wallet uh my codefendant and I um he attacked Mr zantop and then when his wife came
in I uh I restrained her and then when uh and then I I I cut her throat she fell to the
floor why did you do that it's I just it's so hard to I've gone over it and over it and
just finding an explanation for that it's just I just don't know know how I [Music]
could how I could do that let's put yourself back 2001 okay was it 2001 2001 you were 16 yeah you were not alone
that's correct Robert T all right and you two were tried to do this in other homes that day and you were doing this
why we were we were attempting to get money to to go overseas and live some sort
of life of adventure or whatever some sort of so so were you planning on robbing
people yes we were we were planning on obtaining there yeah the violence was that a part of your
yes you going to kill somebody yes what do you think about what you did I think it's unimaginably
horrible and I just and I mean I I know there's there's not an amount of time or things that I
can do to change it or alleviate any pain that I've caused uh this one's tough for me
because I do hear remorse In that clip but because of his parole I think it's likely that tolik will be pared as well
just who knows when yeah per the conditions established by the parole board Jim Parker must not have any
contact with anyone in the zantop family and must continue to seek mental health
treatment as we said earlier Robert remains in prison the book judgment Ridge the true story behind the
Dartmouth murders really captures this case uh very well from start to finish and a lot of the things that we just
simply didn't have the time to cover here today in its conclusion had toic and Parker been a part arguably
this crime would never have occurred in tandem they brought out the worst in each other the book depicts Robert as a
near perfect specimen of a true psychopath but it does not absolve Jim who went along with Robert's plan with
no resistance arguably the corruption of Jim is the second tragedy in this case but let's not forget the first the lives
of half and Suzanne zantop snuffed out in 10 minutes time by two teenagers looking
for an [Music] adventure want to thank everybody for joining us here in the garage thanks for
telling a friend about the show thanks for telling your mama and pop about the show as well Colonel do we have any
recommended reading for the beautiful listeners this week we are very happy to be recommending judgment Ridge the true
story behind the Dartmouth murders by dick Lear and Mitchell zuckoff uh this is the definitive book about this case
that really captured everyone in that area during this time so if you want to learn more our show we dive deep into
these cases but this one goes super down into the depths of this intriguing True
Crime Story check out judgement Ridge the true story behind the dart myth murders you can find that recommendation
and many more on our recommended page on our website true Crim garage.com and until next week be good be kind and
don't m [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] have a question or need how- to advice
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The Dartmouth Murders /// Part 2 /// 779

Part 2 of 2

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The 2001 homicides of two Dartmouth College professors completely shocked and rocked Hanover, New Hampshire to it's core. No one could imagine something like this happening in a town best known for being the home of an elite academic institution. Half and Susanne Zantop were both loved and very highly respected by students and faculty at the Dartmouth College. The Zantop’s bodies were found on a Saturday evening, inside their home by a friend, who had arrived as an invited dinner guest. The double homicide investigation that followed was headed up by the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office. This was an “all hands on deck” situation with multiple law enforcement agencies working the case. The investigation went beyond state lines and tested both the college and the community.

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Brief Summary

Teenagers Jim Parker and Robert Tok murder Hal and Suzanne Zantop, leading to a manhunt and shocking revelations about their motives.

Key points

Advanced AI at Your Fingertips. Meta AI can answer your questions and summarize notes, making life easier.
True Crime Garage Introduction. Hosts Nick and Captain welcome listeners to another episode of True Crime Garage.
Police Investigate Jim Parker. Detectives question Jim Parker about the knives linked to a murder case.
Teenagers on the Run. Jim Parker and Robert Tok go missing after a suspicious night, prompting an APB.
Cops Face Off with Fugitives. Police apprehend Jim Parker and Robert Tok after a clever ruse at a truck stop.
The Sinister Intentions Behind the Crime. Robert and Jim's robbery plans were just a cover for their desire to kill.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

They sold these knives to somebody else, right?

4:54WatchAug 7, 2024

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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