Transcript

Episode 716: The Dartmouth College Murders

From Morbid | Podcast · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 1 h 20 min · 15,732 words · 425 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Episode 716: The Dartmouth College Murders", an episode of Morbid | Podcast published October 10, 2025 (1 h 20 min, about 15,732 words). It mentions 28 people, works and ideas, including Jim Parker, Robert Tullik, Susanna Xantop, Adolf Ash, Hoff Xantop.

What this episode is about

The discussion centers around the Dartmouth College murders, a chilling case that highlights the complexities of crime and its impact on the community. The hosts also share personal anecdotes about their health and experiences while teasing the main topic, adding a layer of relatability to the grim subject matter.

Key takeaways

  • Sick voices: annoying or endearing? Turns out, it's a matter of audience perspective and personal taste.
  • From containment to celebration: when a cold becomes a badge of honor after a weekend of fun.
  • 2001 feels like yesterday for some; a lifetime ago for others—nostalgia operates on a personal timeline.
  • Crying at work? The mark of dysfunction. A 'no-tears' sign is the new workplace wellness indicator.
  • Behind-the-scenes chaos: sometimes, ice machines are more entertaining than the spooky stories we tell.

Who speaks in this episode?

  • Elena (Host) · 40 min speaking
  • Ash (Host) · 40 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 10:00: Clown in a Cornfield, Adolf Ash, Michael Mloud (Mikey), 2001
  2. – 20:00: Susanna Xantop, Dartmouth College, Hoff Xantop, Roxanna Verona
  3. – 30:00: Cindy McCollum, Murder, Roxanna Verona, SOG Seal 2000
  4. – 40:00: Murder, Susanna Xantop, Audrey McCollum, Dartmouth College
  5. – 50:00: Dartmouth College, Murder, Comparative Literature, Audrey McCollum
  6. – 1:00:00: Jim Parker, Robert Tullik, Murder, Philip Mlofflin
  7. – 1:10:00: Murder, Jim Parker, Robert Tullik, 2001
  8. – 1:20:00: Robert Tullik, Jim Parker, Murder

Notable quotes from "Episode 716: The Dartmouth College Murders"

  • Hey weirdos. I'm Elena. I'm Ash. And this is Morbid.
    about Adolf Ash · at
  • Remember thinking this couple that the two victims were just like the most adorable people and I was just like so sad for them. So it's a very crazy case. Okay, so it was…
    about Roxanna Verona · at
  • Oh wow. Now a few feet away, Hoff was there as well, lying on his side, his head resting on the bottom shelf of the bookcase. He landed so hard that it knocked aside several…
    about Hoff Xantop · at
  • And several detectives from New Hampshire State Police and the Grafton County Sheriff's Department. So, aside from a pretty brutal axe murder of two students a decade earlier…
    about Murder · at
  • Yeah, that's so [ __ ] As far as their colleagues at Dartmouth were concerned, Hoff and Susanna Xantop were among the most respected and beloved faculty on the entire campus.…
    about Dartmouth College · at
  • So the degree opened a lot of new professional doors for Susanna and a short time later she joined the faculty at Dartmouth as a professor of German and comparative literature.…
    about Susanna Xantop · at
  • The veins in Jim's neck pulsed violently. What? Reminding him of the movie Alien, he said. It was that pronounced. Wow. According to Jim, he and his best friend, Robert Tullik…
    about Robert Tullik · at
  • Rarely interacted with one another in the prison. On April 18th, 2024, after serving 22 years of his sentence in the New Hampshire State Prison for Men, Jim Parker was granted parole and was released in June of that year. Wow.
    about Jim Parker · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Jim Parker — Person · Perpetrator / suspect · 12 mentions · first at
    Identified as a teenage perpetrator; provides confession and plea deal; later granted parole in 2024.
  • Robert Tullik — Person · Perpetrator / primary suspect · 11 mentions · first at
    Teen co-perpetrator; linked via bootprints and fingerprints; pleads guilty and receives life without parole.
  • Susanna Xantop — Person · Victim / core case subject · 4 mentions · first at
    Second victim; her academic path and community role are emphasized to show the impact of the murders.
  • Adolf Ash — Person · Co-host · 2 mentions · first at
    Co-host who reacts to details, asks clarifying questions, and adds commentary on motives and media coverage.
  • Hoff Xantop — Person · Victim / core case subject · 1 mention · first at
    One of two Dartmouth remembering victims; his background, work, and murder details anchor the episode’s narrative.
  • Roxanna Verona — Person · Discoverer / key witness · 3 mentions · first at
    Friend who discovers the bodies and initiates the emergency response, providing critical early observations.
  • Audrey McCollum — Person · Neighbor / 911 caller / source of background lead · 4 mentions · first at
    Calls 911 and later recalls Hoff mentioning a troubled student; described as a former mental health professional.
    Out to their students if they thought they were struggling academically or emotionally, which is kind, which is so [ __ ] kind. A few weeks later, Hoff had described a student…
  • Bob McCollum — Person · Neighbor / first responder (civilian) · 2 mentions · first at
    Neighbor who receives Roxanna, helps respond, and (as a doctor) confirms victims are beyond help.
    This panicked state. And so they usher her inside and they're trying Okay, what happened? And she's like crying. She's trying to explain it. And she tells them what she…
  • Philip Mlofflin — Person · Referenced official · 2 mentions · first at
    Quoted as New Hampshire Attorney General explaining investigative reticence and information control.
    Pretty [ __ ] hesitant to share much of anything with the local and regional press and especially not residents of the town, which is frustrating but also likely a good thing.…
  • Cindy McCollum — Person · Neighbor / first responder (civilian) · 3 mentions · first at
    Accompanies Bob to the scene and guides first officer to the study; her prints are identified at the scene.
    Local newspaper, The Valley News, and asked him to please monitor the police scanner for any news or updates. Officer Brad Sergeant of the Handover Police Department was the…
  • Michael Mloud (Mikey) — Person · Behind-the-scenes staff (editor) referenced · 2 mentions · first at
    Mentioned as the episode editor and as someone in the hosts' household during COVID discussion.
    That's right. And Mikey, too. I know. It's so weird. Everybody's fine. My immune system is focused on other things in my body. It's like I got to pay attention to this. But…
  • Lindsay Lohan — Person · Pop-culture reference · 1 mention · first at
    Used jokingly to describe Elena's sick voice; not related to the case.
    Why do you sound like Lindsay Lohan? I don't think it's annoying.

Books & papers

  • Comparative Literature — Book · Academic field · 2 mentions · first at
    Susanna Xantop’s graduate study area and part of her professorial role; also tied to mentoring and social justice themes.
    Attention on raising her two daughters. eventually once the girls required a little less of her time, they got a little older, Susanna began taking graduate courses in comparative literature at Harvard. Oh, okay.
  • Con in the Cornfield — Book · Referenced source material (for a movie recommenda · 1 mention · first at
    Cited as the book that inspired the film discussed in the intro segment.
    Yeah, I am too actually cuz I just watched Clown in a Cornfield and it's as one does. It's based off of a book called Con in the Cornfield by Adam Caesar. I believe his name is…

Companies & orgs

  • Dartmouth College — Company · Key organization / setting · 5 mentions · first at
    Workplace of the victims and focal community affected; campus context shapes fear, grief, and investigation.
  • Harvard University — Company · Referenced educational institution · 1 mention · first at
    Where Susanna Xantop pursued graduate courses and earned her PhD, establishing her credentials.
    Attention on raising her two daughters. eventually once the girls required a little less of her time, they got a little older, Susanna began taking graduate courses in comparative literature at Harvard. Oh, okay.
  • The Valley News — Company · Local media outlet · 1 mention · first at
    Local newspaper whose editor is contacted to monitor police scanner for updates.
    Too late to be of any help to their friends. Yeah. Audrey later told a reporter it was obvious that they had been dead for some time. after she hung up with the 911 dispatcher…
  • Earth Sciences Department — Company · Victim affiliation unit · 1 mention · first at
    Named as Hoff Xantop's department at Dartmouth, part of his professional identity.
    Yeah, just a good dad. Now, in 1976, Hoff accepted a position in the earth sciences department at Dartmouth College where he would spend the next 25 years. throughout this…

Products & tech

  • SOG Seal 2000 — Product · Murder weapon type (key evidence) · 2 mentions · first at
    Knife model inferred from sheaths; tracing its sale leads investigators to the teenage suspects.
    Really [ __ ] up in Vietnam War era. It's like who did the thing? Now, according to the analysts, the sheaths were relatively new and designed to hold an SOG knife known as a…

Concepts & topics

  • Murder — Concept · Core topic · 20 mentions · first at
    The episode centers on a double murder investigation, motives, and legal outcomes.
  • Community Grief — Concept · Core theme · 1 mention · first at
    Dartmouth and surrounding towns struggle to grieve while fearing an unknown killer; explicitly discussed by leadership.
    Around Dartmouth pretty [ __ ] uneasy. I'd imagine. Yeah. so Dartmouth President James Wright told reporters, At the bottom line, we've lost two people whom we love and respect. a community such as ours has a has to find a way to grieve.

Places & events

  • 2001 — Event · Time anchor · 3 mentions · first at
    The murders occur in January 2001; the year frames investigative norms and public attitudes toward juvenile offenders.
    It's from 2001 which still feels like it was 10 years ago. 25 almost years ago.
  • Etna, New Hampshire — Place · Primary crime scene location · 1 mention · first at
    Small community where the murders occurred; its size and norms (locked doors) heighten the shock.
    Adorable people and I was just like so sad for them. So it's a very crazy case. Okay, so it was already dark when Roxanna Verona arrived at Hoff and Susanna Xantop's house in…
  • Hanover, New Hampshire — Place · Community setting · 8 mentions
    College town where Dartmouth is located; community fear and grief are described here.
    Now, situated along like the border of Vermont in an area of New Hampshire known as the upper valley, Hanover is a small town populated mostly by Dartmouth faculty, staff, and…
  • Vietnam War — Event · Historical reference · 2 mentions · first at
    Referenced to explain SOG (Studies and Observations Group) missions and the knife’s design context.
    Style of blade that's designed for and issued to members of the studies and observations group. Among other things, members of the SOG were typically assigned to special covert…

Media & podcasts

  • Clown in a Cornfield — Media · Off-topic recommendation · 3 mentions · first at
    Referenced as a horror movie recommendation and as part of the hosts' seasonal content plans.
    It was impromptu, but we're back. So, but yeah, I highly recommend Clown in a Cornfield. That'll be part of my recommendations probably that I post. It's really fun.
  • Bacon Championship — Media · Off-topic recommendation · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as an alternative show suggestion; unrelated to the case.
    And you didn't do what I suggested? Well, I have to choose because Ash suggested I watch Halloween Wars or Bacon Championship, which I will, but I can watch I watch that with…
  • Halloween Wars — Media · Off-topic recommendation · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as a show Ash suggests watching; unrelated to the murders.
    And you didn't do what I suggested? Well, I have to choose because Ash suggested I watch Halloween Wars or Bacon Championship, which I will, but I can watch I watch that with…

Full transcript with timestamps

Hey weirdos. I'm Elena. I'm Ash. And this is Morbid. It's morbid in the afternoon.

It's like the middle of the day. Smack dab. Um, and if you listen to the last episode, I mentioned that I have CO. So that's why I sound like this. In case you're like, "Why do you sound so annoying?"

Why do you sound like Lindsay Lohan? I don't think it's annoying. I'm like a little stuffed up.

I always prefer my sick voice. I I don't mind it, but I I always feel like it must sound annoying to other people.

Nah. Like I don't like to hear someone sick. I don't care because it makes me feel sick a little bit. So I feel that's why I'm apologizing ahead of time cuz

that's your tism. Sorry if it makes you feel sick. You're funny. But yeah, I got CO from the uh the shows this weekend. Worth it.

Worth it. So much fun. And to be honest, it's I'm okay. Like it's just been a kind of yucky cold. That's really it.

Um but so that's a good thing cuz sometimes CO will kick my ass. I know. I was very When you first tested positive, I was like, "Oh, one I was like, "Oh, [ __ ] I probably have CO." And then I tested negative and I was like, "My immune system is a baddie."

That's right. And Mikey, too. I know. It's so weird. Everybody's fine. My immune system is focused on other things in my body. It's like I got to pay attention to this.

But yeah, I've managed to keep everyone in the house not like COVID free. So, I've been wearing my mask. I've been staying my distance.

Yeah, she's staying the distance. True. I'm going for speed cuz I alone in her time of need cuz I made her pastina [ __ ] I think we talked about that last episode.

It's true. And I ate so much of it last night. I'll make you more. Oh, it's so good.

Pastina is the cure. But yeah, I apologize um if I sound annoying to you, but uh this is a we have a crazy case. I we'll talk about business if we if we have some, but uh usually we we only focus on like spooky episodes during October.

You said that's so valley girl. Um we we really sit in the darkness during October, but

uh we got a true crime case for you. Yeah, we're going to this October, I think, we're going to spooky, we're going to true crime, we're going to alien abduct, we're just going to try to hit everything for you guys. We we're in such a new place of like re revitalization that we just want to provide.

We just want to do all the cool things for you guys. Yeah, we just we feel good. We want you to feel good. Everything is good. G E W D. [ __ ]

I am not running off of spite anymore. So, that's that's great. You know how many days it's been since I cried in this office? A lot.

If it wasn't for Well, never mind. But yeah, you know. Yeah. I didn't The last time I cried, it wasn't workrelated. No. And that's

And before we used to have a countdown in this room of how many days it had been since I cried.

That's not even a joke. We literally made a sign that said, "It has been this many days since Ash cried in the office

because work was so horrible for about 3 years and everybody was always mad at us."

Yeah. So, yeah. So, we're not there anymore. And I'm glad it seems like you guys are feeling it along with us, which is like

just giving us even more happiness and more like just motivation to give you what we can give you.

Yeah. It just feels good. Yeah. I'm actually gonna post I want to start posting I've been saying I wanted to like post some like

recipes recipes and some recommendations for like books and movies and stuff and that's gonna start now too. So like

get ready for that on like the Instagram and stuff and it'll be fun. We're going to have a lot of fun guys and I'm excited.

I like it. Um this case is not fun. No. Uh the fun ends here. Okay. Just so everybody knows. I don't think I know this case.

This one I remember very vividly happening. It's obviously very recent or moderately recent then.

It's from 2001 which still feels like it was 10 years ago. 25 uh almost years ago.

You know, it still feels very it feels like it was literally 10 years ago. Like 2001 does not feel that long ago.

2001 feels like a very long time ago in my life. Not for me. I remember so vividly 20

I was 16. Yeah. So I was very Jesus. I was very sentient and very like aware of everything. So, I think it just hits a little harder.

2001 is the first date that I remember writing on a paper like in school. Wow. Whenever I hear 2001, I literally have a vivid memory of being in my first grade classroom and writing the year in like the little date space.

Look at that. Yeah. Isn't it weird? That is weird. I have a weird I have like a weird mind. Like I can see like pictures in my mind sometimes of times and of numbers. Yeah, I know. That's fun.

Yeah, you have a weird brain. You do, too. I love that for us. Cheers. Uh, cheers to weird brains. Uh, so yeah, before we get into that was our ice machine.

You really said before we get into it, it said, "Hold on. We're shutting off the ice machine." I feel like we should just leave this in.

Yeah. I think this is what the people want. I think you want the behind the scenes like we used to. where I just wouldn't edit out all the [ __ ]

Mikey, leave it in. Mikey's like a way better editor than I was, so like I would just leave everything in.

Don't say that. But yeah, leave it in. You know, some more vintage morbid of like ice machines turning on and [ __ ]

Yeah, maybe I'll fall off the couch later just for old time sake. Ho ho ho. If you weren't an early listener, I once fell off a recliner mid- recording and went ho ho. According according to Elena,

I'll never forget that sound. That ho ho sound. I survived. I don't even We were just sitting too. Like I don't know how I fell.

It was mid story. Leaning back too far and the whole recliner went. That recliner was awesome. You still have that?

Yeah. Yeah, we do. Let's go. Bring it back in. Bring it back. No, that that's when you banned me from sitting on the recliner and that's when we sat back on the floor

cuz you would either fall off of it or get too much and hit things and people would be like, "So, I did hear this thing."

Early days of morbid, I was always [ __ ] with something, whether it be a recliner, a bobby pin, a battery.

She would start playing with something and I would just hold my hand out like a parent like put it in my hand.

I was like, "That's going to make noise throughout the entire episode." I'll always be me. I at the live show the other night, I almost went out with gum in my in my mouth. Like I was like, "Oh, [ __ ] I have gum in my mouth."

She also immediately spilled broth. I forgot about that. Okay, Wilbert. Uh, time to be real with you guys. We cleaned it up. But

I was so worried about my tummy. I couldn't really eat that much. So, I was like, "Oh, I'll get ramen." Like that like like good genuine ramen that will like soothe my belly.

Genuine ramen. Yeah. Not like I was like I just said I was going to soo my tummy and then people heard ramen and they were like, "Bitch, are you okay?" But like I mean like from like a yummy like like place authentic. Um and I went to pour in the broth and I literally just knocked it all over the table in the green room of the Wilbur and I said I'm here.

It was immediate on impact she spilled broth all over the table and it was like not a little bit of broth. It was so much broth

and we said yep. I said I mean the room smelled really good. It smelled like broth. But then we like needed to move the posters to sell them somewhere else. It was a big thing. It was pretty great. I am who I am. That's all that I am.

Byebye. You know. All right. Um but yeah, so lots of We'll share some fun like seasonal stuff when we can on the socials like some recipes and some recommendations. I'm excited to start doing that.

Yeah, I am too actually cuz I just watched Clown in a Cornfield and it's as one does. It's based off of um a book called Con in the Cornfield by Adam Caesar. I believe his name is

Caesar. And I have the book. I watched the movie now and now I can't wait to read the book. Did you finish the movie?

Shout out to him. Uh I did. I finally I finished it cuz cuz I have co. So while the girls were at after school activities, I had like 45 minutes of just like quiet.

And you didn't do what I suggested? Well, I I have to choose because um Ash suggested I watch Halloween Wars or Bacon Championship, which I will, but I can watch I watch that with the girls.

Yeah. So, you want to watch I got to watch a horror movie. I got to watch something I can't have on when they are in the neighborhood even like I can't I never throw on a horror movie when they're

when they're in town. Yeah. Even if they're at a friend's house like near us, I'm like they could come back at any time.

It's true. I can't traumatize them like this. They just walk in and here like and I'm like oh god. So I immediately put on clown in a cornfield and was like finish him.

It's a fun [ __ ] movie. Should we cover it on screen? We should cuz it is fun as hell. I feel like it's Oh, Scream listeners. We're back.

We are. We're back. We didn't die. We did not die. We took some time off. We're so back.

It's like the one show that we like can take time off. So we took advantage. So we took advantage. And Caleb is like the most understanding human on the planet of Earth. Yeah, I think everybody everybody needed a lot

had stuff going on. It was impromptu, but but we're back. So, but uh but yeah, I I highly recommend Clown in a Cornfield. That'll be part of my recommendations probably that I post. It's really fun.

I feel like your recommendations are going to be like horror and like books and stuff. And mine are going to be like

cute boots for wide calf giries, which these are all things people need. Valid, well-rounded individuals. I just got so many cute boots for wide calf giries.

I love that. Here's the I got called out by the lady. Michaela is a wide calf girly.

I know. I actually took some of her recommendations. She bought so many boots. She did.

I was getting a pedicure the other day and the woman said, "Oh, your calves are so strong."

And I said, "What a lovely way of saying that." I said, "Did you just say that I have the thickest calves in the United Nations?"

She said, "No, so strong." She said, "So strong. So strong." And I was like, I love that. Personally,

I didn't know how to feel about it in the moment. They're so strong. She's saying like, you can kick some ass with these with these

with these thighs. You were with these thighs. I mean, sure. Why not? Then Exactly.

And apparently strong calves kick ass. I like it. There you go. Yeah. But I was like, you're like, well, look at that.

Okay. So then I was like, maybe I'm a wide calf girly. Cuz whenever I got boots in the past, I was like, why aren't these working all of a sudden?

See, my calves got too strong. it. I mean, everybody's got something. I have like my feet are super wide, so I can't fit like narrow shoes. Like, I have to get wide shoes.

So, it's all We all got something that's like we just have to be a little more mindful of when we buy things.

Exactly. Well, I have recommendations for my strong calf gals. I don't like wide calf. How about strong calf?

Strong calf. That's what we need to call. I'm reclaiming it. Michaela, you hear that? Strong calf.

Strong calf. Michaela, do you hear us? I know. I love you. I think she's so funny.

I love her a lot. I do too. Fellow Boston girl. I just wish good things for her.

I do too. I think she has good things. I send I send good vibes. I do too. And I by the power of Christ, I compel those who don't send her good vibes to go away.

Yeah. That's not cool. Oh, it compelling somebody means you want them to, right? By the power of Christ, I compel you.

Yeah. Cuz the whole thing is the power of Christ compels you to like get out of that person.

Yeah. I I compel you to to get to get to exercise out of situation. By the power of Christ. By the power of Christ.

All right. We should get into it cuz I could talk for hours about nothing. It's true.

And we have a bonus episode soon. So that's where we That's where we should do that. So we need to remember that we have that bonus episode where we can we can just [ __ ] talk the [ __ ]

you know, just like and I mean it in a good way. Like maybe we could just do like a life catch up. Would you guys like that?

Just let us know if you guys have any like any kind of ideas. We've had to be so structured for so many years.

That's the thing. So we don't now that we have one episode don't know what to do

every month that we can be like loosey goosey and like make it whatever we want. We almost don't know how to be unstructured because we've

you know so please if you guys have idea like we have some ideas but we also want to make it something that you guys like really dig and have fun with. So if there are ideas that you have that you're like I really wish you would do this for your bonus episode throw them our way. We'll at least consider all of them for sure. like you're the people who are listening so we want to make you happy.

Defo. All right. So, let's go back 24 years ago, I think, almost 25 to 2001. Let's go. So, this is I'm We're going to be doing the Dartmouth College murders.

Okay. I don't know. Um, this is a really It's a sad one. It really is. It's a rough one. It's a sad one. It's I remember this happening on I remember watching the news reports. I remember thinking this couple that the two victims were just like the most adorable people and I was just like so sad for them. So

it's a very crazy case. Okay, so it was already dark when Roxanna Verona arrived at Hoff and Susanna Xantop's house in Etna, New Hampshire at 6:30 p.m. on January 27th, 2001. The trio had been friends forever. They'd been friends for a lot of years. They met as co-workers um at Dartmouth College, which was pretty nearby. And they got together pretty regularly for like dinners, dinner parties. Like they were just like fun friends.

Yeah. They were what Amy Puller would call a good hang. Exactly. Great [ __ ] show, by the way.

There you go. So when Roxanna got to the door, she rang the bell and she waited. She was just like so excited to see her friends. They always answered all enthusiastically. It was just like, you know, excited to see each other. Yeah. But a few moments passed and no one came to the door there. So she was like a little she was like we have plans, you know, what are we doing here?

And I'm sure that was unusual. So she rang the bell a second time and waited. And when a few more moments passed with no sign of Susanna and Hoff, Verona tried the door handle and it turned like opened and she was like, "Wait a second."

Now to the residents of Etna, which has a population of like about 900. Oh [ __ ] locking your doors was kind of like foreign and unnecessary at this point. Like it really was. It was that kind of town.

2001 too. It was still a nicer time to be alive. It still was like, you know, and this is like this is the beginning of the year. It's January. We're still in that like innocent time of, you know, before

everything exploded in life, you know. So, it's a of course like there were things happening, but you know what I mean. A little more of an innocent time. Um, but after being in Etna for more than three decades at this point, Hoff and Susanna definitely were vigilant and they did lock their doors and they would like they would keep the door locked. They would unlock it to let people in and they would lock it again. Like they just were like that's just who they were. As soon as a guest arrived, locked the door.

Same smart. They were just, you know, they were just vigilant. So Roxanna remembered um all the times she'd arrived at the house before and Susanna was always ready to meet her guests. Like she was never somebody that you had to sit outside and like wait for her to come.

She was a good host. Yeah. And so she thought, okay, like cuz she's trying to obviously the last thing she wants to think is something bad happened. So her thought was, okay, it's cold outside. Maybe she just like was really busy cooking or something and she knew she wouldn't be able to like run to the door. So she didn't want her friend to wait in the cold cuz that's who Susanna is.

Wow. So she's like, "Maybe that's what it is." Like she just wanted me to walk in. So she was like, "Okay." She just left the door unlocked for me. That's what it is. So she also remembered too something about Hoff going to visit a friend that afternoon with plans for him to join a little later in the evening. So she was like, "So there you go. Hoff can't answer the door because he's not here and Susan is busy and she doesn't want me to be cold.

Bingo. That's what it is. So, she goes in, she drapes her coat and purse over the chair just inside the doorway and she makes her way to the dining room and she sees that set down, you know, there's like a dinner plates ready and she sets down the salad that she had brought and Hoff and Susanna were definitely not like neat freaks. Like they weren't like they didn't have like a museum house kind of thing, but they always definitely kept their house in order. Yeah, like tidy. So Roxanna was very surprised to find that there was like clearly like they had started to like get things ready for the evening, but the actual dining room table was still covered in papers as well and like other evidence that someone had been working there earlier in the day, which like they would have cleaned that up before setting the table. So she pokes her head in the kitchen and she's expecting to see Susanna there, but the

kitchen's empty. And she was like, "Okay." Okay. And she looks though and she's like clearly she started prepping dinner. Like there was evidence of that.

Mhm. So Roxanna calls out Susanna's name a few times expecting her to reply or just hearing some kind of movement at anything.

But the house is completely still and silent. Oh, that's so chilling. So she was like trying to think of other things. Maybe she ran out to get something cuz she forgot it. Like but she wouldn't have left the door unlocked when she did that. Like she all these things are going through her head. So she's confused. She's getting very panicky, very uncomfortable. And Roxanna makes her way down the hall to Hoff's study. And it's there that things really shifted into terror instead of just uncomfort,

discomfort, excuse me. So instead of just the orderly rows of books and neat stacks of paper on the desk that, you know, she was always used to seeing in there, the study was in a total state of disarray, like it had been ransacked. The first thing her eyes settled on too was Susanna's body lying just a few feet from the door.

Oh no. She was faced down with a pool of blood surrounding her head like a halo, Roxanna said.

Oh. But that wasn't all. Blood had also soaked through the sweatshirt that she was wearing and through her pants. She was covered.

Oh wow. Now a few feet away, Hoff was there as well, lying on his side, his head resting on the bottom shelf of the bookcase. He landed so hard that it knocked aside several heavy textbooks. Like clearly he had been like he had like there.

Yeah. Like Susanna, he was covered in blood. It had soaked through his wool sweater and down the legs of his pants.

Um one leg of his pants had a huge tear in the fabric. And Roxanna looked at Hoff's face and she said it was just waxing and lifeless, like completely drained of blood.

Oh, that's awesome. It was a very brutal scene. Just like the detail of his wool sweater, I don't know what that that just like did something to me.

When you look them up, they're just like the cutest couple. They just seems like

like good people. Yeah. The room had been completely ransacked. A card table had flipped on its side. A chair was turned over. Books and papers were everywhere, all splattered with blood, and they were scattered everywhere. Then Roxanna saw something that at first was so unexpected in the Zentop house that it was almost unrecognizable to her. On the floor by Hoff's left foot was a hard plastic knife sheath like the one used as like a hunting knife.

Okay. And she was like, "Yeah, that would not be in their house, right?" And she spotted a second sheath on the floor a few feet away near Susanna's uh sandal.

Strange. Each was about a foot long and 3 in wide, suggesting that whatever type of knife they were designed to hold was [ __ ] gigantic.

Like a big hunting knife. Yeah. That's massive. A foot long. Yeah. Like and 3 in wide was how big the sheath was.

Yeah. No. So once she was finally able to kind of get some clarity on what she was looking at, she started to panic. Obviously she needed to call someone. So, it occurred to her that, oh [ __ ] the killer or killers might still be in this [ __ ] house.

I was just going to say that like that terror washing over you that somebody could still be in there.

You're seeing your two dead friends brutally murdered in front of you. You're having to comprehend that and then also having that added [ __ ] like I got to get out of here.

I don't even know how to get out of here. Right. So, she did remember even through the terror that Hoff and Susanna's neighbor, Bob McCollum, uh, who she met several times at previous parties, she was like, "Okay, I remember him. I have to get to the neighbor." So, she ran out of the study and down the hall, grabbing her purse and coat before ripping the door open and frantically hunting for her car keys.

Oh, god. So, at the Mcllum house, Bob, his wife Audrey, their daughter Cindy, and Cindy's husband John were just sitting down to dinner to celebrate Bob's 76th birthday.

Oh, no. When they heard a frantic knocking at the front door and then they heard a woman just screaming.

Oh. So, Bob opens the door, finds Roxanna, and he's like, "Okay, I vaguely remember this woman from Hoff and Susanna's party."

Like, I know who this is. But she's in this panicked state. And so they usher her inside and they're trying like, "Okay, what happened?" And she's like crying. She's trying to explain it. And she tells them what she discovered at the Xantop. So Audrey calls 911 and Bob and Cindy, both doctors, drove over to the neighbor, their neighbor's house to see if there was anything they could do until the paramedics arrived. They ran right into there.

Wow. Like no thought for their own safety. Just like, "Let's go try to help our friends." So, as soon as they entered the study, Bob and Cindy knew they'd arrived far too late to be of any help to their friends.

Yeah. Audrey later told a reporter it was obvious that they had been dead for some time.

Uh, after she hung up with the 911 dispatcher, Audrey called her friend Steve Gordon, who was the editor of the local newspaper, The Valley News, and asked him to please monitor the police scanner for any news or updates. Officer Brad Sergeant of the Handover Police Department was the first to arrive on the scene and Cindy met him in the driveway and brought him into the house and then Bob walked the officer down the hall to the study. So they briefly took in the chaos of the room and the state of the victims and then the officer radioed the dispatcher and canceled the ambulance and then asked for the coroner to be sent. Now, within 10 minutes, Brad Sergeant was joined by Handover Police Chief Nick uh Giaonei, who quickly followed by was followed by a string of investigators from handover um and several detectives from New Hampshire State Police and the Grafton County Sheriff's Department.

So, aside from a pretty brutal axe murder of two students a decade earlier, there hadn't been a murder in the area in nearly half a century, and everyone seemed at loss for what they were supposed to do here. Did you say axe murder?

Yes. Oh, okay. So, they didn't have a lot of it, but when they did, they were big.

Yeah. So, Gone cleared the scene of any non-essential members of law enforcement just to preserve the maximum amount of evidence they could, and the McCollums and Roxanna Verona returned to the Mcllum house to answer some questions. Now, while the neighbors attempted to provide law enforcement with any information that they could to help aid the investigation, investigators started processing the scene. In the kitchen, there was food out on the counters and as Roxanna had said, it looked like someone had been preparing dinner when they were interrupted. There was also an opened bottle of Merllo wine on the counter with only one glass.

Okay. Like she was like having a glass of wine while cooking. Yeah. The weirdest thing about the scene was that while the study had been ransacked as though the killers were looking for valuables, the rest of the house was in pretty normal order.

So, they were looking for something in that study. Yeah. In fact, it was as though someone had hit the pause button on a remote control and left their evening, like what the Xanop's evening was just frozen in that moment before the murders. It was very chilling.

Yeah. Um because nothing else seemed to be missing from the house, robbery seemed like an unlikely motive for the murder. Mhm.

But if it was a robbery, what the [ __ ] else was the motive for killing these two people

so brutally, too? Yeah. Over the course of 3 days, investigators from multiple state and local agencies were in and out of that house. They were processing the scene, collecting whatever they could. Unfortunately, after days scouring the house, there was very little evidence that pointed them in the direction of a killer, like who it was. In total, state crime scene technicians removed 105 items from the entire house, including doorork knobs, key rings, a calendar, Hoff's laptop, bloodstained books from the office where the bodies were found, and in on top of that, a team of five forensic officers spent nearly a day combing the rugs in the house for any hair or fiber evidence that could identify the killer.

Wow. I think they just took whatever they could because there was so little evidence that I think they just were like, "Take everything, whatever we can."

A total of 19 different finger and palm prints were collected from the scene. At least two belong to the victims and three more were quickly identified as Bob and Cindy McCollum and Roxanna.

Mhm. Several others were soon identified as those of various investigators, which left a small number unidentified and potentially belonging to a killer. Outside the study, investigators discovered five drops of blood as well as five quote partial or near complete bloody bootprints that didn't match any footwear in the house.

Okay, so that was something. Yeah. The day after Hoff and Susanna's bodies were discovered, an autopsy was conducted. But it also didn't prove a whole lot. At least from an investigative standpoint, I I would say according to the ME, Dr. Thomas Gillson Hoff had suffered multiple stab wounds with injuries of the airway, heart, and lung. While Susanna's death resulted from multiple stab wounds with injuries of the skull, brain, major vessel, thyroid cartridge, airway, intestine, and spleen.

Wow. Yeah. I mean, that knife, they had some damage. They had been brutally stabbed to death, both of them. Hoff in the chest and Susanna in the head, chest, and stomach.

Oh god. The time of death was estimated to be a few hours before Roxanna Verona discovered their bodies. Oh.

And Gibson noted that given the extent and severity of the wounds, their deaths would have occurred within seconds to minutes, which at least there's that. You just hope closer to seconds.

Yeah. Aside from the bootprints and the five droplets of blood, the most promising lead was the plastic knife sheets left at the scene. Like that's a big deal. We saw that in the um Idaho murders. That knife sheath can really prove a lot. Yeah.

Um, the fact that you write to [ __ ] Amazon in that case. Yeah, for real. The fact that there were two sheets suggested to investigators that there were likely two killers.

I mean, two knives. Yeah. I mean, unless he uses one and then just takes out another, but that's very unlikely.

Um, in fact, that belief was supported by the fact that each sheath had a different set of fingerprints on it.

Ah, which detectives assumed belonged to the killers. Right. Unfortunately, when the prints were run through various databases, state and federal level, they never got a match,

which is even scarier because I'm like, "Oh, so this is like one of your first crimes."

Yeah. At least like what the [ __ ] right? So, the sheaths were also significant in that they didn't appear to belong to an ordinary hunting knife. In almost every rural state like New Hampshire, it wouldn't have been unusual for a person to own one or more hunting knives. It's just part of the culture,

right? But these sheets weren't familiar to any of the investigators. And upon further investigation, detectives learned that the sheaths were likely designed to contain what's colloially known as this SOG knife, a particular style of blade that's designed for and issued to members of the studies and observations group. Among other things, members of the SOG were typically assigned to special covert missions during the Vietnam War era. What? And the blade was designed to be untraceable in the event that the carrier was captured.

What? Yeah. So, was it almost left? It almost feels like that was left like to mock in that scenario.

Oh, they just do you know what I'm saying? Yeah. Like like here's the sheets but it's untraceable,

right? Yeah. That is Isn't that [ __ ] up? Really [ __ ] up in Vietnam War era. It's like who did the thing? Now, according to the analysts, the sheaths were relatively new and designed to hold an SOG knife known as a SOG Seal 2000, which was a 12in knife with a 7in blade and a 5in handle.

Wow. The knives themselves had only been on the market for roughly 5 years. Okay.

Uh but the sheaths were new this year and had only been on the market for about 10 months. So, there was that.

Okay. Unfortunately for investigators, the SOG Seal 2000 was a very popular knife with weapons collectors. So tracking down the seller of that particular knife would not be easy.

Yeah. But it was at least a start something. Yeah, you got to go on something. And before closing out the report, the analyst did note one other thing. Although it might have resembled a hunting knife to like an untrained eye, the Seal 2000 quote could only be considered a hunting knife if the intended prey were human. which is the most chilling statement I've ever read.

I'm sorry. Say that again. It could only be considered a hunting knife if the intended prey were human.

Says who? The analyst. What? Yeah. So, what is it used for otherwise? That's what he said. It It looks like a hunting knife. Like you would hunt deer and whatever the [ __ ] else people hunt.

Yeah. Yeah. Not used for that. No. He was like, "The only way that this is a hunting knife is if you're trying to hunt humans."

What the [ __ ] Yeah. Which is the most chilling statement. I hate that so much.

Yeah. Uh so while one set of investigators began the slow and very tedious work of tracking the knife to some kind of origin point, another group started looking into the backgrounds of the victims. Since it didn't look like this was a robbery as a motive and the murders had been so up close and so [ __ ] brutal. Yeah,

it was fair to assume the Xantos had been killed for some personal reason, right? Like it didn't make sense otherwise. In fact, on the night of the murders, Audrey McCollum remembered a recent conversation with Hoff in which he had mentioned something about a bad interaction with a student and she wondered if that might be related to their deaths. Okay,

now good for her to remember that in all her to think that clearly, you know. Now, according to McCollum, the Xanops had a reputation for teach for reaching out to their students if they thought they were struggling academically or emotionally,

which is kind, which is so [ __ ] kind. A few weeks later, Hoff had described a student in one of his classes that Audrey, who is a a former mental health professional, uh to her it sounded like the young man was struggling with bipolar or some other, you know, psychiatric disorder. Okay. And he needed help.

Okay. Um she said, "I think there may have been a troubled student and Hoff may have underestimated how troubled he was."

Oh. Um, McCollum's suspicion took an additional significance when later that evening, Handover police learned that Dartmouth campus police had received reports from residents of one of the dorms regarding a strange young man who'd showed up at their door asking to use the phone just a few hours after the Xanto's estimated time of death.

Oh, that feels connected. Yeah. During one interaction, the man reportedly asked residents if they had heard any police sirens before wandering off into the dark woods behind the dorma territory. I'm sorry, what?

Yeah. The [ __ ] Now, aside from the vague reports of like this strange [ __ ] on campus.

Sorry. Imagine having that experience in college. Somebody knocks on your door and is like, "Hey, can I use your phone? Did you hear any police sirens?"

And then it's just like, "Peace." Like the [ __ ] Like what the I would I'd cry. I' I'd huddle in the corner and cry and not stop.

I'd be like, "Police, you need to surround the building." Yeah. FBI, everybody.

Defend us. Everybody. Now, aside from these like crazy vague reports of like this weirdo on campus, there were no other unusual reports made that day or night. And no one close to the couple, including their two adult children.

Oh. Could think of any reason why someone would want to hurt them, let alone kill them. Oh, that breaks your heart that you you get to have your parents like for that long and that's how they

this is how it happens like leave like that's terrible in their own home. Yeah, that's so [ __ ]

As far as their colleagues at Dartmouth were concerned, Hoff and Susanna Xantop were among the most respected and beloved faculty on the entire campus.

That makes sense because again you look at pictures of them and you're like like they have such a welcoming energy even via photo.

Yeah, their vibes are correct. So, I can't imagine like I feel like walking into their classroom, you'd be like, "Oh, this is going to be a really good class."

Yeah. Coworker Susanna Hchel told reporters, "The first reason I wouldn't want to leave Dartmouth is that I wouldn't want to leave Susanna Xantop."

A like, "Wow, yeah, that's huge." Now, the murder of two well-loved professors wasn't the only thing on everyone's mind. There was also the matter of their killer. They're like, "This is a horrible situation. What the who the [ __ ] did this?"

Yeah. And is this random? Is this pointed? What is this? Now, uh, situated along like the border of Vermont in an area of New Hampshire known as the upper valley, Hanover is a small town populated mostly by Dartmouth faculty, staff, and students.

And like you said, it's a small town. You saw like 900 people. Yeah. Um, now this is uh so like Hanover is the So that was Etna. That was

Oh. Oh, I see. This is Hanover. Um, where like Dartmouth faculty, staff, and students. You said, "Honey, I have another small town."

I have another small town. Uh, it has a little over It's It's not like small by definition. I would say it has a small town feel.

Uh, cuz it has a little over like 10,000 residents. Okay. Um, it's one of the biggest towns in the region, in fact, but it does have that like homey

all-encompassing Dartmouth people kind of live here. Yeah. Um, like college town vibes.

Yeah. And because of the small town nature of the area, it seemed like the Xanops knew their killers. And if that were the case, it seemed equally likely the killers were still in the area.

Uh, one student told the press, "The fact that it's two professors suggested someone closer to home."

Yeah. So, the prospect of a killer just uh walking around made everyone in and around Dartmouth pretty [ __ ] uneasy.

I I'd imagine. Yeah. Um, so Dartmouth uh, President James Wright told reporters, "At the bottom line, we've lost two people whom we love and respect. a community such as ours has a has to find a way to grieve. And I think it's hard for us to do this under the circumstances because they can't they can't properly grieve because they're also [ __ ] terrified. Terrified. That's such a mix of emotions.

Yeah. And the fears and frustrations of this whole thing weren't just felt by people who worked with Hoff and Susanna. They also extended to the thousands of students who lived in and around the campus.

One Dartmouth junior said, "People are just scared. There's a lot of confusion about who, why, what. The confusion and frustration felt by everyone in Hanover and Etna were due at least in part to the silence and very slow flow of information coming from the state and local police working the case as well. From the moment the news of the murders broke, officials on the case seemed pretty [ __ ] hesitant to share much of anything with the local and regional press and especially not residents of the town,

which is frustrating but also likely a good thing. Yeah. State Attorney General Philip Mlofflin told reporters in the early days of the investigation, "What you're going to find from me is a real reticence to discuss the details of this case."

And I mean, sometimes you have to respect it. I remember thinking like just like uh you were touched on it earlier, the Idaho murders. I remember thinking like they're not saying anything. Like why are they not giving any information? I remember being frustrated, but

it does have a way of working out and you it's hard, but you just have to kind of believe in the the local law enforcement that they're going to do what they need to do.

Sometimes it's for the best and sometimes it gets them where they need to go, right?

Cuz especially in the age of like the internet and social media, it can [ __ ] up an investigation like that

so easy. I mean, look at how it all shaked out, you know, with like the Idaho investigation. Those poor roommates.

Oh, they got villainized immediately and ret-raumatized in a hundred different ways by people on social media saying that they were the killers,

right? Exactly. Or that they knew something. Social media has really it can do great things, but it's a detriment at the same time.

It's more of a detriment at this point. Like so they especially now like investigators have to be careful what they share because it will get [ __ ] up on the interwebs and it's like

it's just the way it is and back here in the early days of everything. They were still doing that just to make sure that town gossip didn't [ __ ] because it's like a real life social media you know.

Yeah. Now, according to Mclofflin, the silence from investigators in the AG's office was exclusively for the purpose of maintaining the integrity of investigation

like we were just saying, but obviously that didn't make it reporters or anyone else feel any safer.

No. And I mean, you're a reporter, you want to report on going. Now, while the state attorney general's office did its best to dodge questions about the investigation and trooper Chuck West worked to track down the seller of the murder weapons, the remaining detectives started digging deeper into Hoff and Susanna's backgrounds. As far as they could tell, both were teachers of the utmost integrity, and it seemed that whatever had motivated someone to kill them, it didn't have anything to do with their work at Dartmouth.

Okay. With professional problems ruled out, that left only their personal lives.

Yeah. After all, when it comes to murder, there really aren't that many reasons that someone's going to go so far to kill someone, especially that brutally,

right? And detectives had already ruled out the biggest. Now, Hoff and Susanna Zanto were born in Germany at the end of World War II, and their early lives were pretty ordinary, actually. Hoff's brother, Wolf, recalled his brother as quote, "A normal young man, not the fastest, not the smartest, but he would work harder."

Oh. In 1960, Hoff earned a degree in geology in Germany, then traveled to the US where he earned a PhD in geology. [ __ ] yeah.

From Stanford University. Okay, Hoff. In 1965. Work harder, he said. I got that.

Seriously, it was during that period of his life that he met Susanna, who was also studying at Stanford. Susanna graduated with her master's degree in political science in 1965.

Okay, girl. And that's when Hoff took a job with a mining company and the couple relocated to South South America actually.

Oh wow. 5 years later they were married. Um very much to the delight of their respective families who thought they quote made a beautiful couple.

Oh, they did. They did. Can confirm. They really did. Um a few years after their marriage, they had their first child. Um a daughter they named Veronica.

And it's Veronica with a K. Oh, I love that. I think Veronica is such a cool girl name.

Yeah. and a second daughter, Mariana, followed two day two years later. A two days later, it was crazy. Whoa.

Um, by the mid 1970s, Hoff had grown tired of working in the corporate world and hoped that a career in academia would not only allow him to pursue his passion for research. He loved research. Uh, but also he wanted to spend more time with his wife and daughters.

Oh. And he was hoping that that would allow him to do that. We [ __ ] love a girl dad.

We love a girl dad. Girl dad. Like all dads are special for sure. most of them. But

I mean, girl dads, I'm married to a girl dad, so I just have a special place for girl dad.

I hope Drew becomes a girl dad, but I'll take any any kid. Yeah, a good dad. Yeah, just a good dad.

Now, in 1976, Hoff accepted a position in the earth sciences department at Dartmouth College where he would spend the next 25 years. Uh throughout this period, Susanna focused most most of her attention on raising her two daughters. Um, eventually once the girls required a little less of her time, they got a little older, Susanna began taking graduate courses in comparative literature at Harvard.

Oh, okay. Earning her PhD in 1984. So, she has her masters from Stanford University and she has her [ __ ] PhD from Harvard University.

All while being a mama. Wow. Yeah. Women. Yeah. Women. Susanna. Susanna. Like it kills me how [ __ ] awesome these people were. Like it kills me.

It's usually the case. Yeah. It's just like and some [ __ ] takes them out. Oh yeah. I just have a feeling.

Yeah. So the degree opened a lot of new professional doors for Susanna and a short time later she joined the faculty at Dartmouth as a professor of German and comparative literature.

Cool. Uh she quickly became one of the most invaluable members of Dartmouth's faculty and like her husband, she was among the most popular professors on campus from by students.

That's so cool. Uh fellow lit professor Bruce Duncan said she was an important mentor to many students, particularly women.

Yeah, she just has that that vibe. More than just mentors, the Xantos became known around campus as some of the most supportive faculty at the school as well. Um Audrey McCollum recalled later, they would offer shelter for troubled people for various different kinds of reasons on a temporary bas basis. Wow. Welcome them into their [ __ ] home.

Oh, this makes me so nervous. But their kindness and compassion wasn't just limited to students. Hoff and Susanna seemed to collect friends literally everywhere they went.

Everyone wanted to be a part of them. They were just that those kind of people. And within a few years, their home became a regular gathering place for dinner parties, celebrations, social gatherings. Like that house was [ __ ] lively, happy, and like full of love.

You can you it translates through the story. Like you could feel it. And it kills me that's that like these demons turned it into something so different. It's like how [ __ ] dare you infiltrate these people and their lives. jealousy. So to nearly everyone who knew them, Hoff and Susanna were an ideal couple, a genuine partnership that literally operated on mutual respect and shared responsibility and love. Yeah,

that's it. But of course, they they were just like a natural fit, it seemed to everybody. But there were there were some times when people were like they didn't seem like a natural fit just because of they could be a little different.

Yeah. But I think that makes them more of a natural fit to be honest. I think like we've said it before, opposites kind of attract. Even if they're not fully opposite, they have their differences.

There's things that like complement each other. Like Hoff was methodical, detailoriented, a little rigid in his personality sometimes. Susanna on the other hand was more energetic, outgoing, very passionate in her work and her home life. Uh, one friend said, "What they had in common was their endless generosity, the openness of their home, their commitment to social justice, and the high standards they set for themselves."

Hell yeah. Uh, the couple's close friend, Maryanne Hirs, viewed their differences as, like we just said, more complimentary than anything else.

Um, she said their mutual devotion was based on the respect they held for each other's way of being.

Nice. That part I love their the respect they had for each other's way of being,

right? They never they didn't try to change each other. They just respected who the other person was and it worked.

That's a that's a that's love. Yeah, that's top tier relationship [ __ ] That's real love. So, despite the seemingly endless string of absolutely glowing reviews and character profiles of the couple, detectives on the case couldn't help but notice that everyone seemed to point out, like we just said, how different they were from each other.

Okay. And I think that's the only thing anybody could point out. After two weeks of very little progress and no new leads, they began to wonder, were those differences a strength in the relationship like so many were suggesting or maybe were they a source of tension? Like they just had to consider all these things.

Okay. Um, Captain Nick Gone said they had so many contacts here in Hanover and literally around the world. Um, and he said in a in a thorough investigation, we have to look basically at their entire lives.

Yeah. With all their contacts and new friends being made all the time, investigators had to wonder, had one of those new friends managed to penetrate the unbreakable bond between them. Perhaps

I see where they're heading. They're trying to go down some path. I mean, when there's no path, you got to go down some you got to forge one, you know.

Now, given the brutality of the crimes and the fact that little if anything had been taken from the house, investigators started to think, okay, so we're thinking this might be personal. Maybe it's a crime of passion,

right? Uh, also they further theorized that because quote the weapon that was used was heavy and they didn't think a woman would have used it, the killer was likely a man.

Okay. So they so they're starting to think like she's having some kind of affair basically.

Which also I'm like a woman can carry heavy things but like okay like sure very 2001 of you.

Like I guess we have to go somewhere here. Now whether or not investigators intended to imply anything about the way the case was taking shape their comments to the press about looking into the Xanto's personal lives Yeah. Yeah. And about the murders being a crime of passion.

People are going to run with that. They were interpreted by at least some journalists exactly how you did, meaning related to infidelity.

Pretty heavy-handed. Yeah, it definitely is. A reporter for the Boston Globe wrote, "Hey, detectives declined to describe or identify in any way the woman they believe had an affair with Hoff Xanto or the relationship between the woman and the presumed killer." So it's I think they're basically saying like Yeah.

So they think at this point at least they thought Hoff was having an affair and that some woman like hired somebody to do things. Yeah. I think maybe they're I don't think they know what they're doing here to be honest. It sounds very messy and it sounds very like

counterintuitive to be quite honest. Um vague language nonwithstanding here. It's clear that certain members of the press were under the impression that the working theory, like you said, was that Hoff was having an affair with a woman and the murders were retribution for that affair.

Okay, that's really shitty that to put that out there. To put that out there and remember like there's two grieving daughters. There's tons and tons of grieving and it's like you don't know them.

And that's the thing that they need to work with some theories and see how they pan out. Keep that close to the chest. I was going to say, you're keeping everything else quiet. Shut the [ __ ] up about that. What are you doing putting that out there? Cuz once it's out there, it's out there.

You can't take that back. Yeah. And it's like, and you're not going to change certain people's minds either.

Yeah. And you have these two daughters and they're sitting there having to probably defend against this. And it's like that's the last thing they need to do.

Yeah. With everything else they have going on. Now, in the months and years that followed, the question of an extrammarital affair would become a subject of considerable controversy with regard to the murder of the Xantos. The day the article was published, the editors of the paper received multiple calls from investigators and the New Hampshire Attorney General, all questioning the source of the information and the reliability of the anonymous source quoted in the paper. In fact, just one week later, The Globe would publish a follow-up editorial justifying the original article.

Oh. Uh, yeah. Editor Matthew Storin wrote, "Last Friday, The Globe published a front page story that said investigators were focusing on an extrammarital affair involving Hoff Santo as a likely motive." And it continued, "It was and still is our intent to provide readers with the most complete and accurate account possible of the ongoing Zanto murder investigation. To do so, we put our trust in three law enforcement officials who we have had we have every reason to believe had intimate, up-to-date knowledge of the investigation. It was certainly never our intent to increase the suffering of the Xanto family. You did though.

Yeah. Their friends or the Dartmouth College community. And we express regret for the pain our story undoubtedly caused them. I'm glad they did that.

I'm glad and I don't know. Maybe think. Yeah. Maybe think. We've all made mistakes. We've all done [ __ ] like that. And I have I'm very glad that they did that

because said I we should not have said that. A lot of papers wouldn't. No, they wouldn't

wouldn't do that. They'd be like, "Well, it's our journalistic integrity, so we're not going to go against it."

Exactly. Now, setting aside the fact that Storin's note never explicitly apologizes for publishing what was ultimately determined to be false and potentially slanderous information. I had a feeling

it was false, every course it was, which I know you knew that whole time cuz I made it pretty clear.

Yeah. Um, but it's pretty problem problematic because just one day after the article was published, law enforcement officials announced the identity of their primary suspect.

Oh, and he was far from the enraged, jealous husband the press had described. Okay.

So, it's like not only did you publish something without verifying that information cuz it's like, yeah, I know you said that you feel like you could trust this person and that they had intimate knowledge. That's a pretty big thing to throw out there. Yeah, you got to be sure. And especially when obviously they had a completely different suspect that it on your face.

Yeah. It's like now it looks real bad. Now you don't look great. Yeah. Maybe uh don't use that source again.

Yeah. Like don't be using that source and it's not good. So a lot of people thought that maybe the confusion over the investigation on the part of the press came from the silence from the investigators. Um, but in defense of that silence, Attorney General Philip Mclofflin told a reporter, "We've chosen to take this route in response to mistakes other agencies have made that became a detriment." Yeah.

So, they were seeing what was happening in other cases, and they were trying to make adjustments to make sure they did not make the same mistakes,

which is good. Ironically, the silence they had hoped would protect the integrity of the case led to more confusion,

but that wasn't on them. in the generation of countless false leads and useless tips from the public. All of which were just wasting a significant amount of time,

right? Well, a certain amount of transparency would have gone a long way with the public at this point, just a little bit. But the thing is, there really wasn't a lot to tell at this point. Within a week or two of the murders, the hunt for the owner of the SOG knives had produced a suspect.

So, they were again a week or two since the murders have happened, they already have a suspect. So, those two weeks, they couldn't give anything because it's like they're in the thick of it. Clearly, they were gathering a lot and really working. And if they had released any of that, it could have shot that right off track. And it's like they worked quick and they worked hard out.

So investigators clearly did spend considerable time digging into the victim's backgrounds hoping to find the killer's name there. But in the end, it was the evidence that led them to solve this case. It wasn't the background.

Okay. On the afternoon of February 15th, roughly 2 weeks into the search for the seller of SOG knives, detectives Chuck West finally got the break he was looking. He found a seller in Vermont who identified the knives as coming from his store.

I had a feeling that was where it was going to come from just because there were so few sold at this point, like they were very recently starting to sell.

Yeah. A few hours after Wes got confirmation, he received a call from the sheriff's office in Chelsea, Vermont, a small town just across the border from Hanover. And the information he had was a [ __ ] bombshell. According to Captain Arnold Kovi, the suspect New Hampshire investigators had been hunting for nearly a month was an I an iate husband or a murderous home invader, but a teenage boy.

A teenager. A teenage boy. So, a student. A teenage boy. Kovi added that as far as he knew 16year-old.

What? Jim Parker. Yeah. 16. Aren't they They're college professors, aren't they?

Yeah. So what? Yep. Hello. He wasn't one of the local troublemakers and in fact had never been in trouble with the law

16 or at school. He was never in trouble. So he seemed a unlikely suspect at first.

Yeah. But the knife belonged to Parker. Okay, so Chuck West got in his car and headed out to Chelsea to speak with the boy and his parents because he's a [ __ ] child.

When sheriff's state troopers Robert Bruno and Russ Hubard showed up at the Parker's house that afternoon, John Parker was uh surprised to say the least. John, he said Jim had never been in any trouble before, so it came as a shock to his parents when they heard the troopers were there to talk about a double homicide in New Hampshire. That would be shocking.

Parker invited them into his kitchen. John, who is obviously his father, um, and Jim was sitting at the table, but he hadn't yet been introduced. And Robert Bruno immediately suspected the boy at the table was their suspect without even being introduced,

just like with the body language or something, like the vibe in the room. Well, he said not only did he seem particularly interested in their presence, but he also could barely contain his anxiety as soon as he saw the trooper.

Huh. Later, Bruno would remember the way the veins in Jim's neck pulsed violently.

What? Reminding him of the movie Alien, he said. It was that pronounced. Wow. According to Jim, he and his best friend, Robert Tullik, had purchased the knives online and had intended to use them for camping and to build a fort, but they were too large and too uncomfortable to carry. Jim claimed that one day in early January, the two drove out to Burlington where they planned to sell the knives at the RV Army Navy store, but a customer outside the store offered them more money than the store would, so they sold them to an anonymous buyer. Doubt it. As for the Xantop murder in Etna, Jim told the troopers he hadn't heard about it.

H, which I'm like, which it's also like I was there for that, man. You're like, I live in Massachusetts and I knew about it. So the more Bruno and Hubard went over the story with Jim and his father, they began to notice small inconsistencies and changes in the details. Still, both men found it nearly impossible to believe that a [ __ ] teenager could have caused the amount of absolute [ __ ] chaos and havoc in the Zantop house. At most, they thought Jim could have been responsible for supplying the murder weapons.

Yeah, but that was about where it began and ended. Before leaving, the troopers asked if Jim would consent to being fingerprinted to compare his prints with the ones found at the scene. And he agreed he would go to the station, and they all drove to the sheriff's department.

Okay. At the sheriff's department, Jim made his formal statement in writing, adding more details about the supposed buyer than he'd given the troopers earlier now. So, all of a sudden, that anonymous buyer is becoming more and more detailed.

Yeah. He also appeared to minimize his relationship with Robert Tullik, implying he was more of a casual acquaintance.

Oh, okay. In the interview room, casual acquaintance that you're going to go [ __ ] make a fort making with.

Yeah, no big deal. For sure. In the interview room, Chuck West didn't waste any time confronting him about what he felt was a false statement about the knives.

Yeah. The thing was, like Bruno and Hubert, Wes couldn't imagine that a 16-year-old was the killer. So, we focused in on the supposed buyer of the knives, thinking that maybe Jim was covering for someone else.

Yeah. Yeah. Eventually, Wes got around to asking Jim if he had an alibi for the day of the murder, and he claimed that he worked until the afternoon. Then, he and Robert Tullik went to the movies. That was his alibi.

You got your You got your ticket stubs. While Wes questioned Jim Parker at the sheriff's office, Bruno and Hubard went to the Tull House where they were invited inside by Robert's mother and father, Diana and Mike. Like John Parker, Diane and Mike Tullk were very surprised to find their son was somehow connected to a murder investigation. But the story about the knives sounded to Diane like quote another one of Jim and Robert's stupid things.

Okay. A few months earlier, Robert had asked his mother to use her credit card to buy a pair of shoes. And she was furious to find that instead of shoes, he p purchased two stun master stun guns from an online store. What? I'm sorry. Why is your child buying weapons?

What? Why is your child buying stun guns? And that's not concerning. She wasn't concerned.

Like, I'd be pretty concerned. Yeah. When the troopers sat down with Robert, they were surprised by how different he was from his friend counterpart

or casual acquaintance, as Jim was saying. Sure. Only one year older than Jim Parker, Robert Tullik was far more articulate, considerate, and showed none of the signs of anxiety that Bruno had noticed in Jim Parker.

Okay. So, Robert recounted the story about buying the knives online, finding them cumbersome, but he was much hazier when it came to the details.

Uh-huh. According to Robert, Jim was the one who handled that knife sale to the guy outside of the Army neighbor Navy store. So, he couldn't really remember anything about him cuz he was like, I didn't really handle that part.

Convenient. He was also uncertain about the dates and times of the sale. Also convenient.

While they were talking, Bruno noticed that Robert had a bandage on his leg and asked the boy about it.

My jaw just opened, by the way. Robert told the troopers he and Jim were rock climbers and he cut his leg a few weeks earlier on a maple tree.

Rock climbing acquaintances. That is Yeah. Just casual. Yeah. This was the story he'd told just about anyone else who'd asked about it, so he figured it would be easily corroborated if the troopers wanted to check his story. Obviously,

Robert's story more or less matched what they had been told by Jim Parker. So, the troopers saw no reason to disbelieve him.

Okay. Before leaving, they asked if he would be willing to go to the sheriff's office to have his fingerprints taken, and he said "Sure."

Okay. They also wanted to take a look at Robert's footwear he had in the house, cuz remember,

boots. Yeah, boots. Boots. The boy went upstairs to his bedroom and came back with a pair of Nike sneakers and a pair of Vasque hiking boots. Mhm.

The same style, brand, and size as the bloody bootprint discovered at the crime scene.

I'm like, meanwhile, why aren't you [ __ ] yourself right now? Yeah. The troopers asked whether they could take the boots with them, and Robert agreed with the stipulation that he would eventually get them back.

Maybe the confidence here. Yeah. Despite the evidence pointing towards Jim and Robert as the most likely suspects, investigators still could not get themselves to believe that two [ __ ] teenagers had savagely murdered the Xantos.

Not only that, and for why? Well, that's the biggest question in my mind. And the other question is how the [ __ ] are they even connected?

Yeah. So, at most they thought the boys could lead them to the real killer. Like maybe they were covering for someone. So, after getting their fingerprints and taking their formal statements, they were both allowed to leave with their parents. That night, after their parents went to bed, Robert and Jim each grabbed a backpack and began filling it with whatever they thought would be useful. Stop.

Fishing gear, pens and pencils, a compass, and clothing. They had already talked about what would they would do if the police started focusing in on them, and the time had come for them to go on the run.

Stop. Yep. What? Yep. Before leaving the house to meet Robert, Jim tore a piece of paper from a notebook and scrolled a note to his parents that said, "I just had to talk to Robert alone. I will be back in the morning. Don't call cops."

If the evidence had already pointed towards Robert Tull and Jim Parker before, the fact that they had gone on the [ __ ] run, they'd gone on the yam.

The yam would certainly make investigators think twice about their innocence now.

Uhhuh. and their parents. But that wasn't the only problem. In his haste to pack a bag and get out of the house, Robert had forgotten to get the knives from their [ __ ] hiding place in the house.

If detectives found those have the knives. Yeah. If detectives found those, it would completely destroy their alibi and conclusively link them to the murders of Hoff and Susanna Hanto.

Now, when John Parker, Jim Parker's father, woke to find his son gone, he immediately went to the phone and called the police.

Good. And by 11:00 a.m., a manhunt was underway. In their initial statement to the press, investigators were very careful about how they frame the story, conscious of how things had been misinterpreted in the past. Yet, they were clear that Robert Tullik was being sought on two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the killings. By the next day, investigators had matched the both of their fingerprints to those found in the Zentop house and had also matched Robert Tullik's hiking boots to the bootprint left behind at the scene.

Yep. As far as the detectives were concerned, there was no question about it. Hoff and Susanna Zanto were murdered by two teenagers.

What the hell? To everyone who knew them, the news was [ __ ] shocking, if not impossible to believe. But one friend told a reporter, "Dartmouth to Chelsea doesn't seem like a long ways. Jimmy Parker was the class clown of the school." And another person said, "Everyone loved him."

Wow. Like investigators just days earlier said, everyone in Chelsea found it impossible to believe that these two smart, likable young men would have been capable of a brutal murder, much less two brutal meters and a savage home invasion. And when it came to public belief and acceptance, investigators didn't do themselves any favors because they were silent on criminal on critical elements of the case. And it kind of hindered the abil the public's ability to help locate the suspects because they weren't really giving anything. Yeah.

Regardless of the silence, Robert and Jim's attempt to avoid responsibility for what they did finally came to an end 3 days later.

I'm surprised they made it that far. Yeah. At an Indiana truck stop. Wow. Yeah, they got far.

They did. When a call from the pair was intercepted on a CB radio channel looking for a ride.

Shut the [ __ ] up. According to the press, when they were picked up by police in Indiana, the boys were quote so weary and rattled that one one gave his birth date as May 40th.

What? He was so tired. What? To Robert Tull, the game seemed to have reached its end. After being arrested, he waved his extradition rights and was immediately transported back to New Hampshire, where he was arraigned on two counts of first-degree murder. Jim Parker, though, attempted to stall his extradition. Uh John Parker said of his son, "He's scared to death of the legal system. He's scared to death of things most 16-year-olds in their wildest imaginations can't even fathom. But despite his efforts to stall, he was extraded back to New Hampshire a few days later.

It doesn't sound like he was scared to stab the life out of somebody." I really don't care about scared.

And he was arraigned on first-degree murder charges as well, although it might be difficult to imagine it now. In 2001, again, like I was saying, it was a different time.

Yeah. The American public still struggled with accepting the belief that teenagers could be capable of something so [ __ ] cruel and brutal like this murder.

Yeah. However, after a thorough search of the Tull turned up a wealth of new information, a clearer picture of Robert Tullik was emerging. And what it suggested was that he had a personality that was a lot darker than anyone knew.

Okay. In an interview with the prosecutor's office, Jim Parker described he and his friend as quote explorers, but they decided on a life of crime after concluding that every place had been explored.

I want you to really let that marinate. What? Really let that one sit. You're not an explorer if you think every place has been explored. So, I think we should just murder people.

That's the thought process. There is nothing more to that thought process. You know what that to that a straight line from we should explore places to we should brutally murder people.

The frontal lobe is so important. Frontal lobe is so important. Vital, one might say.

It's got we got to figure out how to make it grow faster. Or we got to keep people in boxes until it [ __ ] develops.

Yeah. Cuz like what the [ __ ] is that? I mean I think that's the whole idea of like living with your parents for as long as you do.

Stay in that box. Figure it out. In his statement, Parker explained how Robert had developed a hatred for the United States, among other things, and the pair concocted a convoluted and very childish plan to rob enough people to get however much money they needed to leave the country and travel to Australia. This is so juvenile. It also reminds me of like um what's his name's Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. I'm moving to Australia.

Alexander. Alexander's no good, very bad day. It's like I'm mad at everything, so I'm going to Australia. What? Yeah, it that's the thing. It's such a juvenile thought process. But also like absolutely diabolical

like Australia's going to eat your ass alive. Are you kidding me? Yeah, that's where they send convicts because they couldn't send them anywhere else.

Have you met Australia? Have you met Australians? They're not going to put up with your [ __ ]

Nay. No way. Nor I know my Australian listeners. You said, "Fuck that. Watch your dumb asses." Right out of there, idiots.

I can't believe like I don't like it here anymore, so I'm going to rob my way to Australia.

Yeah. And and the fact that two people were like, "Yep, sounds good." Yeah. Yeah. Totally.

Let's shake on it. Yep. So Parker said, "We assumed it would be a couple and somebody might have to go somewhere else and grab the other person and bring them into the same room and if there were any kids, we would have to do the same thing."

That's nice. So they were just going to like [ __ ] terrorize terrorize an entire family.

Cool. Awesome. That's what they figured, you know. That's what they were figuring. Good.

Um, according to the indictment, Robert and Jim had spent nearly 6 months talking about killing and on at least four occasions prior to January 2001, they stopped at random houses, quote, intending to steal bank cards and leave the occupants dead. So, they were planning this for a long time.

Wow. According to the indictment as well, one of those houses was that of Bob and Audrey McCullum.

Oh wow. The next it was the last of those attempts on January 27th, 2001 that they found the Xanto house where they murdered the two beloved professors. In the previous attempts, the boys were always denied entry when they knocked on the door. Oh,

it was only because Hoff and Susanna Xanto were so [ __ ] generous and so kind and compassionate that they were willing to allow the two into the house in the first place. They allowed them into their home

just because of who they were and who their hearts were. Wow. Yeah. When Jim Parker was informed that the attorney general intended to try him as a [ __ ] adult for what he had done because that's some adult [ __ ] that you did. play stupid games, win stupid prizes, which also would make him eligible for the death penalty, which Oh,

your dad said you were so scared of the legal system. Are you scared of uh being murdered by the legal system?

I said you're not scared to take the life of of two people. So, play stupid games, win stupid prizes, my friend.

Yep. Um so, of course, he made a deal in which he plead guilty to seconddegree murder in exchange for his testifying against his friend, Robert Tullik. Wow. It always happens in the end.

Tough guy. Always happens in the end. According to Parker, the murders and thefts were Robert's idea.

Um, on the day of the Xantop murders, uh, the boys knocked on their door pretending to be student researchers working on a project.

Oh, wow. So, they even played on his on their Yep. on what they would help. Yep.

As a professor, the roose definitely appeal appealed to Hoff Sananto and he invited them into his home. However, when Xanto criticized the two, according to them, quote unquote,

yeah, for being unprepared for research, Tel became irrationally angry. So, I'm like, wait a second. So, did you knock on their door to murder them and rob them, or did you knock on their door to be actual researchers? Because why would you get irrationally angry?

Make that make sense at that when you intended to murder them anyway? Because he clearly has some kind of problem. When Hoff turned his back to retrieve something from his desk, Tullik pulled out his SOG knife and began brutally stabbing Hoff in the chest, stomach, and face.

Wow. During the attack, the knife slipped. And Robert ended up cutting his own leg as well.

I hope it hurt so [ __ ] badly. Leaving blood on the carpet outside the study. And when she heard the commotion, Susanna ran to see what was happening, which was when Tullk shouted to Parker to quote slit her throat.

Oh my god. After killing the Xantops, Robert and Jim ransacked the office, ultimately stealing a few hundred dollars from Hoff's wallet before leaving.

And then they just went home. It was only later when they were miles away from the scene that Robert realized that they had left the [ __ ] knife sheaths behind at the house.

You [ __ ] idiot. They're so [ __ ] stupid. They then drove back to retrieve them, but by the time they arrived at the house, the police were already at the scene.

Are you kidding? So, they showed back up. Are you [ __ ] kidding me? So, they just went home.

Yeah. Along the way, they stopped by a river to wash the blood off their bodies and burn some of their clothes.

It is maddening how just like trivial that their entire plan is. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It really is. It's infuriating.

Yeah. I'm so angry right now that these two beloved professors who gave their hearts to their students, sheltered people in their home, traveled the world together, had two beautiful like these [ __ ] incredible people were taken off of this earth by two nimwits.

Two bumbling [ __ ] Road bums. Road bums. Because that actually genuinely that makes me so and I can't imagine. knocked on their door.

I can't imagine how their daughters and their friends felt when they found out that it was no matter who it was. But these two [ __ ] 16-year-old peeons.

The anger that I would I can't I'm angry right now. I'm angry and these aren't my parents or my like friends like

because you want to go to Australia because this world, this [ __ ] nation is not enough for you.

You had a no good, very bad day. You [ __ ] loser. You've seen nothing yet. You're 16. You You don't even pay bills, [ __ ]

What an [ __ ] Like true [ __ ] I need to know what happens to them. I'm so pissed right now.

Now, along with irrefutable evidence, Parker's confession all but ruled out the possibility of an acquitt for Robert Tullik.

Good. Uh so in March 2002, he plead guilty to first-degree murder. The next month, both of them appeared in Grafton County Superior Court for sentencing, where Tullik was sentenced to a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. Good.

And Parker was sentenced to 25 years to life with a minimum of 16 years before becoming eligible for parole.

Stupid. Robert Tullik sat completely emotionless when the sentences were read by the judge. But Parker cried way

openly wept. You literally murdered a woman. I don't want to hear it. If I was the judge, I'd be like, "Bang, bang. Get it together.

Yeah, get it together. No one wants to see this choice. Yeah. When he was asked if there was anything he wanted to say on his on his behalf, Parker said, "There's not much I can say. I'm just really sorry." There's not much you can say. Good. Spend the next 25 years to life figuring out what to say.

And when they asked Robert Telic the same thing, he said nothing. What a piece of [ __ ] Now, despite being held in the same prison, Jim and Robert rarely interacted with one another in the prison. On April 18th, 2024, after serving 22 years of his sentence in the New Hampshire State Prison for Men, Jim Parker was granted parole and was released in June of that year. Wow.

But he is required to have regular meetings with a representative from the parole office until 2098. Good. In 2012, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Miller versus Alabama that mandatory life sentences for crimes committed by juvenile offenders were unconstitutional, requiring states to review all rulings of juveniles sentenced to life in prison. A few years later, in 2014, the New Hampshire Attorney General's office announced that Tullik's case would be among those under review for potential reentencing.

I don't think this one applies. This did not necessarily require all offenders to be re-sentenced.

It just required states to consider the evidence and make a convincing argument if they wanted to uphold the life sentence without parole. Tulk's case was argued back and forth for several years until April of 2025 this year when the state supreme court unanimously declined to hear the case. Chinchin effectively unholding upholding the sentence of life without parole. Yeah, this murder was fully planned out.

Fully like executed. These two people lost their lives because this [ __ ] had a very good terrible no good day and wanted to go to Australia.

Mhm. Good. I hope you're having a very terrible no- good day and you long for Australia every day that you open your eyes in prison. Truly, you piece of [ __ ]

Cuz as of now, there's little to no chance Robert Tullik will ever be released from.

He doesn't deserve to be. No, he doesn't. And honestly, I don't think the other kid did either. No, that's [ __ ] It is such a brutal case. The only thing I can say is that I hope where what's his name? Jim uh Parker where he wasn't like the ring leader and obviously he's a [ __ ] follower.

Yeah. You hope that he figured out his [ __ ] in prison and plans to do better now that he's

on there for 22 years, I think. So, it's like you hope I hope he got it together

with the frontal lobe development. He learned how to lead and lead to do something good in life. Yeah,

but but [ __ ] Wow. I can't I had no idea how that was going to end and like no matter what it would have been absolutely horrible. But the fact that it's two 16-year-olds who were just [ __ ] whiny, grumpy little [ __ ]

and couldn't handle life here cuz it's so [ __ ] terrible. I'm like, it wasn't terrible then. It's It's pretty shitty now.

What do you think now? But it's also like you're pretty [ __ ] privileged. You both live at home with your parents. Yeah,

it I that's infuriating. Yeah. I feel so hard for for Susanna and for Hoff and for their kids.

Yeah. I can't imagine having to come to terms with like your parents ever being murdered, but to be murdered by two 16-year-olds who prayed on their kindness like

and their love of of knowledge and academia and like just willingly like welcoming these two into their home.

I am genuinely like actually so pissed off right now that that's the way that ended. I never expected I was too. I was really pissed.

Wow. Yeah. And there's like, you know, there's like videos from like the trial where like one of them is describing the whole series of events and it's just like you can't believe that this is a [ __ ] teenager

and they're just so disconnected from like it's wild and like Jim Parker clearly was just immature.

Yeah. And not just immature, but you know what I mean? He has a very immature vibe about him

and he at least has emotions about it which like shows kind of remorse makes any of it okay and Robert Tullik I think just

is clearly disturbed to be in jail forever. Wow. It's just so it's so upsetting. I remember watching it unfold and being horrified by it. You also feel for like their parents too because it's like

they were your whole totally like talk about the rug being ripped out from underneath you.

Totally sidewiped by it. I mean they never got they didn't get in trouble with in school. They were in trouble with the law. It's not like they that's why their fingerprints didn't come up in

and they were so beloved like in their community. It sounds like he was a class clown.

Yeah. Jim Parker was Jim Parker was a class clown. The [ __ ] That's crazy. It shows you though. It's like

anybody. It's so easy for someone to become a very dangerous follower of a very dangerous person.

You just can't trust people. You got to really keep hold of your own convictions and not let other people sway it.

Wow. Because it's so sad. It really is. That is a moving ca. All cases are so moving, but that is a particularly moving case.

Yeah. Wow. That was I'm so angry right now. Yeah. Same. But with all that being said, we hope you keep listening and we hope you keep it weird.

You know, not to keep it this weird. Yeah. And if you don't, then just go away. Yeah. Truly.

Not to Australia. They don't want you. They don't want you.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Episode 716: The Dartmouth College Murders"?

Elena (Host), Ash (Host).

What is "Episode 716: The Dartmouth College Murders" about?

The discussion centers around the Dartmouth College murders, a chilling case that highlights the complexities of crime and its impact on the community. The hosts also share personal anecdotes about their health and experiences while teasing the main topic, adding a layer of relatability to the grim subject matter.

What is mentioned in this Morbid | Podcast episode?

28 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Jim Parker, Robert Tullik, Susanna Xantop, Adolf Ash, Hoff Xantop, Murder. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Episode 716: The Dartmouth College Murders"?

The episode runs 1 h 20 min; the transcript is about 15,732 words in 425 timestamped sections.

More from Morbid | Podcast

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.