Dartmouth Killer Resentenced, Eligible for Parole in 20 Years

A Vermont man who was 17 when he stabbed two Dartmouth College professors to death in 2001 was resentenced Monday to 45 years to life in prison, making him eligible for parole in approximately 20 years. Judge Lawrence MacLeod of Grafton County Superior Court handed down the sentence in North Haverhill, New Hampshire, after prosecutors and defense attorneys reached an agreement that avoided a three-day hearing, according to AP News.

Robert Tulloch, now 43, will be eligible for parole in 2046 at age 62 — the same age as his victim, Half Zantop, at the time of the murder. The resentencing was driven by U.S. Supreme Court rulings that mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles are unconstitutional.

The Crime That Shocked Two Communities

On January 27, 2001, Tulloch and his 16-year-old accomplice, James Parker, knocked on the door of the Zantop home in Etna, New Hampshire, pretending to conduct an environmental survey. Once inside, they stabbed Half Zantop, 62, and Susanne Zantop, 55, to death. The teens had been planning for months to kill strangers, steal money, and move to Australia, making four failed attempts before succeeding at the Zantops’ home.

Half Zantop was a popular Earth Sciences professor at Dartmouth, while Susanne Zantop chaired the college’s German Studies department. Colleagues described them as open, giving, and dedicated to mentoring students. “If they hadn’t been the kind of people they were, so open and giving, they probably would not have been killed,” Dartmouth Professor Linda Fowler told WCAX.

Both Tulloch and Parker were from Chelsea, Vermont — a small town where everyone knows each other. The crime devastated both the Dartmouth community and the tight-knit Vermont town. “It was a terrible thing. Two young boys that grew up in town, we knew them both, and to have this happen was just a shock to the community,” Chelsea resident Frank Keene told WCAX.

A Daughter’s Testimony

Veronika Zantop, a daughter of the victims and a psychiatrist, addressed the court remotely, calling Tulloch a “psychopath” and urging the longest possible sentence. “This wasn’t a crime of passion or retribution,” she said. “He wasn’t using substances, he wasn’t psychotic. There was just sheer depravity.”

Tulloch abandoned his prepared statement after hearing her testimony. “After listening to that, I feel disgusted by even thinking I could say anything that would mean anything,” he said, according to the Union Leader. Prodded by his lawyer, he added, “I’m sorry, even though I can’t imagine, after hearing the talk, that you would care at all.”

The Legal Journey

Tulloch pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in 2002 and received mandatory life without parole. Parker, who cooperated with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, received 25 years to life and was paroled in 2024 after serving 23 years.

The legal landscape shifted when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Miller v. Alabama (2012) that mandatory life without parole for juveniles is unconstitutional, later making that ruling retroactive. The decision gave hundreds of juvenile lifers nationwide a chance at resentencing.

In October 2025, Judge MacLeod went further, ruling that life sentences for juvenile offenders violate the New Hampshire Constitution’s prohibition on “cruel or unusual punishments.” New Hampshire remains one of 22 states that have not banned life without parole for juveniles.

The Sentence and Its Implications

Tulloch was resentenced to two concurrent terms of 45 years to life. His lawyers had argued for a minimum of 30 to 40 years, citing his prison record — no major infractions since 2012 and no minor infractions since 2017 — and what they described as “significant remorse” and a “good capacity for empathy.”

New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella said in a statement that the “agreed upon sentence provides certainty that Tulloch will remain incarcerated for a substantial period of time, allows Tulloch to pursue some measure of rehabilitation, and it secures important protections for the community.”

New Hampshire Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati noted the gravity of the crime. “Both sides have reached a consensus — and what cannot be forgotten, though, has to be the horror of what this defendant did,” he told the court, as reported by WCAX.

Broader Context

Tulloch’s sentence of 45 years to life is at the higher end of the national trend. A 2024 study published in the Journal of Criminal Justice found that more than 75% of resentenced juvenile lifers nationwide received sentences of less than 40 years. Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia have banned life without parole for juveniles entirely.

Judge MacLeod’s October 2025 ruling that juvenile life without parole violates the New Hampshire Constitution could have implications beyond Tulloch’s case, potentially influencing future sentencing of juveniles in the state and bolstering legislative efforts to end the practice.

What’s Next

Tulloch will remain incarcerated until at least 2046, when he will be eligible for parole at age 62. His conduct in prison over the next two decades will likely play a significant role in any future parole determination. For the Zantop family, the Dartmouth community, and the town of Chelsea, Vermont, the case serves as a lasting reminder of a tragedy that unfolded 25 years ago — and the complex legal questions that continue to surround the sentencing of juvenile offenders.