CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A man who pleaded guilty as a teenager to the 2001 stabbing deaths of two married Dartmouth College professors is challenging his life sentence without parole, saying the New Hampshire Constitution prohibits it.
Robert Tulloch was 17 when he murdered Half Zantop and Susanne Zantop in Hanover as part of a conspiracy he and his best friend hatched to rob and murder people and then flee to Australia with the loot.
A hearing was scheduled for Wednesday in Grafton County Superior Court to discuss the legal issues in Tulloch's case.
Tulloch, 41, is awaiting resentencing at a later date following a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that declared mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles to be “cruel and unusual” punishment. A separate ruling made that decision retroactive, giving hundreds of juvenile lifers a chance at freedom. In 2021, the court ruled that a juvenile did not have to be found competent to be sentenced to life without parole.
At least 28 states have banned such punishments for crimes committed when the defendant was a child. But attempts to pass similar legislation in New Hampshire have been unsuccessful.
The New Hampshire Constitution states that no court shall “fix excessive bail or bonds, impose excessive fines, or inflict cruel or unusual punishments.”
That language would mean that someone who committed a crime as a child would be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Tulloch's attorney, Richard Guerriero, wrote in a brief. He also argued that the language of the state constitution is broader and more protective than that of the U.S. Constitution.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire and other organizations filed a brief in support of Tulloch.
Prosecutors said in court papers that Guerriero's argument is unpersuasive. They have said it is possible they will seek a similar sentence of life without parole for Tulloch.
If a judge finds that the state constitution allows life sentences without the possibility of parole for crimes committed by children, Guerriero also asks for findings that a defendant is unable to commute his sentence and for proof beyond a reasonable doubt that such a sentence is appropriate.
Tulloch is the last of five men awaiting resentencing under a state Supreme Court ruling. Three were resentenced to lengthy sentences with the possibility of parole. One was resentenced to life without parole after he refused to attend his hearing or allow his attorneys to argue for a lesser sentence.
Tulloch's boyfriend, James Parker, 40, was released from prison on parole in June. He was 16 at the time of the crimes. Parker had pleaded guilty to being an accessory to second-degree murder in the death of Susanne Zantop. He was serving nearly the minimum sentence of his 25-years-to-life sentence.
Parker agreed to testify against Tulloch, who had planned to use an insanity defense at his trial. But Tulloch changed his mind and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.
The teens, bored with their lives in nearby Chelsea, Vermont, wanted to move to Australia and estimated they would need $10,000 for the trip. They eventually decided to knock on homeowners’ doors under the pretense of conducting an environmental survey, then tie up their victims and steal their credit cards and ATM information. They planned to get their captives to give them their PIN numbers before killing them.
For about six months, they tried to gain access to four other homes in Vermont and New Hampshire through mediation, but were either turned away or found no one home.
Parker, who worked with prosecutors, said they chose Zantop's house because it looked expensive and was surrounded by trees. Susanne Zantop, 55, was the chair of Dartmouth's German studies department, and her husband, Half Zantop, 62, taught geosciences.
Parker and Tulloch were arrested weeks later.
