Despite court documents to the contrary, investigators did not find any neo-Nazi, Ku Klux Klan, or other white supremacist literature in Zantop murder suspect Robert Tulloch's bedroom, according to Assistant Attorney General William Delker.
The New Hampshire Attorney General's office, however, has not issued any formal statement concerning the misleading documents, but in an interview today, Delker said, "It would be unfairly harmful to these defendants" for this information to be construed as true.
Delker did confirm that "Der Fuhrer" and other literature relating to the Holocaust and Germany were found in Tulloch's bedroom. He characterized the literature as "history books" and not racist or white supremacist in nature.
Tulloch, 17, and James Parker, 16, both of Chelsea, Vt., are each charged with two counts of first degree murder in the deaths of Dartmouth professors Susanne and Half Zantop.
Delker declined to comment on whether the state's investigation is closer to finding a motive for the crime or a link between the suspects and the victims.
Other documents released later yesterday show that the afternoon before the Zantops were killed, a Canaan, N.H. man saw a green station wagon -- which police say matches a Subaru owned by Parker's family -- speeding out of the Zantops' driveway at 115 Trescott Road in Etna.
In an interview with the Valley News, Paul Newcity said the car was driven by a young male driver who almost caused an accident.
"It made a pretty strong impression on me. It was leaving fast. That's very out of the ordinary for the neighborhood," Newcity said. "People there don't leave their yard at that rate of speed."
Newcity, 40, told police he saw what he thought to be a dark green Volvo station wagon when he driving along Trescott Road around 2:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 26.
Newcity told the Hanover Police that the driver of the green station wagon appeared to be a thin, dark-haired, white male in his early 20s, with no facial hair.
Newcity and another man who was riding with him that day told the Valley News that they had to swerve to avoid the station wagon. Newcity said he only saw one person in the car, but that things happened so quickly he could not be sure whether there may have been a passenger or whether it was actually a Volvo.
Parker's parents own a green 1996 Subaru station wagon, which investigators said was "consistent" with Newcity's description.
Also, Tulloch's boots were seized. His father, Michael Tulloch, "stated that the Vasque hiking boots were his son's only pair of winter boots.
Investigators compared blood-stained footwear impressions from the crime scene and found that some of the footprints were made by a Vasque boot.
Investigators concluded that a footprint in the Zantops' living room "was made by Tulloch's left Vasque boot."
Also, two knives not believed to be the ones used to kill the Zantops, were found in the silver Audi in which the two boys fled the Upper Valley. One knife described as "tactical" and another "hunting" knife were found in a toolbox in the trunk of the car.
