Hanover Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone said in an interview Monday that the investigation which resulted in a June 8 raid of Alpha Delta fraternity had been "suspended" for the time being. A majority of the materials seized in the search had already been returned in late June.
AD's alumni adviser John Engelman '68 said that Hanover Police were searching for a sexually explicit videotape, reaffirming what The Dartmouth reported in a June 10 article.
According to Engelman, Hanover Police Captain Frank Moran told him on the morning of the raid that the warrant was issued in order to find a tape of a woman engaging in consensual sex with a member of the fraternity, a tape Engelman does not believe exists.
Whereas the sex was consensual, the taping alledgedly occurred without the female's knowledge or permission. New Hampshire law dictates a $2,000 fine or up to a year in prison for videotaping a sexual act without the consent of both parties involved -- a misdemeanor crime.
Moran told Engelman the name of the male involved, whom the alumni adviser immediately recognized as a member of the Class of 2003, Engelman said. He then learned that the female, whose name was also provided by Moran, was a member of the Class of 2006 by speaking with AD members. He confirmed her class year by searching the Dartmouth Name Directory. Giaccone still will not discuss the parties involved, even refusing to confirm or deny the allegations of a sex tape.The status of the case also remains unclear.
"It's an investigation that has not resulted in the arrest or charges being brought -- it's still an open investigation," Giaccone said, despite having told a reporter for the Valley News that "the principal investigation is closed."
"It's really a matter of semantics," he said. "In essence the case has been suspended."
The status of the nearly two-year-long investigation changed in June following a timely lead that led to the search days before Commencement, Giaccone said.
AD's attorney George Ostler "was told by Moran that the investigation has essentially been closed," Engelman said, though Ostler told The Dartmouth that he remains skeptical that the case will ever close.
"Frankly I don't know on what criteria Hanover Police will make a formal closing of the files. That's fairly rarely done," Ostler said. "Police don't want to box themselves in."
Engelman only recently decided to speak publicly about the incident. In an interview with The Dartmouth on June 9, he would neither confirm nor deny the motivation behind the search warrant. He said he changed his mind after he heard about the circulation of misinformed speculation within the weeks following the police raid.
"For example," he said, "one alumnus told me that the rumor he had heard was that they were looking for kiddie porn, and I just thought it was necessary to squash that idle speculation."
Police do not expect to make any arrests directly pertaining to the warrant. While Giaccone has consistently insisted that more arrests would be likely, he clarified on Monday that his statements were referring to arrests unrelated to the investigation. He speculated that ancillary arrests would be made concerning stolen items, such as street signs and parking meters, that were found in the house during the search.
In addition to those arrests, charges are still being pressed against the two members who were arrested for possession of marijuana during the raid, Darnell Nance '06 and Kemper Pierce '08.
Engelman noted that both were offered "a lesser charge than drug possession" in exchange for pleading guilty.
Dartmouth administrators have expressed support for the fraternity, Engelman said.
"When this whole story broke, the College obviously couldn't take sides but they did offer support," he said. "They sent a representative over to the house on the day of the search just to provide a resource there if any member of the fraternity wanted to talk to her about what was going on."
Even College President James Wright stepped into the situation at one point.
"President Wright called me on a couple of occasions to express his concern and support," Engelman said. "He just knew what was happening and just wanted to call to make sure that the fraternity was OK. And he didn't ask to be reassured that this was going to come to nothing."
Engelman said he has been keeping alumni as well informed as possible, but remains uncertain about the exact reasons behind the warrant.
"I can only speculate. My guess is that she heard a rumor and that she decided, for whatever reason, to believe the rumor," taking the allegation to the police, he said, noting again it was speculation.
The fraternity's physical plant was searched by 14 police officers in early June, attracting the attention of national media who focused on the fraternity's "Animal House" connection.
Staff reporters Rebekah Rombom and Stuart A. Reid contributed to this report.
