A Vermont man, who was 17 when he murdered two Dartmouth College professors 25 years ago, is seeking to have his life sentence reduced to a minimum of 30 to 40 years. Robert Tulloch, now 43, was automatically sentenced to life without parole after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in the 2001 stabbing deaths of Half and Susanne Zantop.
The U.S. Supreme Court's 2012 ruling that mandatory life sentences without parole are unconstitutional for juveniles, a decision later applied retroactively, has given hundreds of juvenile offenders a chance at freedom. Tulloch's resentencing hearing, the last for five men serving life sentences in New Hampshire for murders committed as teenagers, began Monday in Grafton County Superior Court.
Arguments for Resentencing
In a court filing last week, Tulloch's attorneys argued that a minimum sentence between 30 and 40 years is appropriate. They cited a review of similar cases involving juvenile offenders in New Hampshire and nationwide cases impacted by the Supreme Court's rulings. Attorneys Richard Guerriero and Oliver Bloom also highlighted Tulloch's prison records, indicating significant maturity and a lack of major infractions since 2012, with no minor infractions since 2017. Many of his disciplinary write-ups were for possessing too many books.
Therapy records quoted in the filing indicate Tulloch has expressed "significant remorse" for his actions, which he attributes to "warped youthful thinking." His attorneys stated he has a "good capacity for empathy."
The Crime
According to Tulloch's friend, James Parker, the pair concocted a plan to kill strangers, steal money, and move to Australia out of boredom. For several months, they posed as surveyors to gain entry into homes. On the day of the murders, they were let into the Zantops' home by the couple themselves. Susanne Zantop, 55, was the head of Dartmouth's German studies department, and her husband, Half Zantop, 62, was an Earth sciences professor.
Parker, who was 16 at the time, told prosecutors that Tulloch stabbed Half Zantop and then directed Parker to attack Susanne Zantop, whom Tulloch also stabbed. The teens were linked to the crime by fingerprints on a knife sheath and a bloody boot print. They fled Vermont after being questioned by police and were arrested weeks later at an Indiana truck stop.
The Accomplice's Sentence
James Parker cooperated with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to being an accomplice to second-degree murder. He was released on parole in 2024 at age 40, having served nearly the minimum term of his 25-years-to-life sentence. During his parole hearing, Parker described his actions as "unimaginably horrible" and acknowledged that no amount of time could change or alleviate the pain he caused.
Juvenile Sentencing in the U.S.
The U.S. remains the only country that allows discretionary life sentences for minors. Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia have banned the practice, while another five states permit it but have no individuals currently serving such sentences, according to the Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth. New Hampshire lawmakers have previously rejected efforts to end life sentences for juveniles.
In 2018, Tulloch argued that mandatory life without parole for juveniles violated the state constitution. While a judge initially asked the state Supreme Court to weigh in, it declined. Last July, Superior Court Judge Lawrence MacLeod agreed with Tulloch, finding that the state constitution categorically prohibits such sentences as "cruel or unusual" punishment.
Nationwide, studies indicate that over 75% of juvenile lifers resentenced after the U.S. Supreme Court rulings have received sentences of less than 40 years, according to a 2024 study in the Journal of Criminal Justice. In New Hampshire, other juvenile offenders have received sentences ranging from 25-years-to-life to 45-years-to-life.