Judgment Ridge: The True Story Behind the Dartmouth Murders (59 page)

Filley, Christopher M., James P. Kelly, and Bruce H. Price, “Violence and the Brain: An Urgent Need for Research,”
The Scientist,
April 2, 2001.

Forth, A.E., and H.C. Burke, “Psychopathy in Adolescence: Assessment, Violence, and Developmental Precursors,” in
Psychopathy: Theory, Research and Implications for Society
(Kluwer Academic Publishers: 1998).

Forth, A.E., S.D. Hart, and R.D. Hare, “Assessment of Psychopathy in Male Young Offenders,
Psychological Assessment,
1990, Vol. 2.

Gladwell, Malcolm, “Crime and Science: Damaged,”
The New Yorker,

February 1997.

Kreiger, Barbara L., “The Alma Mater,” in
Miraculously Builded in Our Hearts: A Dartmouth Reader,
Edward Connery Lathem and David M. Shribman, eds. (University Press of New England, Hanover, New Hampshire: 1999).

Miller, Peter, “Chelsea, Vermont,”
Vermont Life
, Autumn 1972.

Nelson, Daniel M., “Knowing Our Place,” in
Miraculously Builded in Our Hearts.

Powers, Ron, “The Apocalypse of Adolescence,”
Atlantic Monthly,
March 2002.

Price, Bruce H., Kirk R. Daffner, Robert M. Stowe, and M. Marsel Mesulam, “The Comportmental Learning Disabilities of Early Frontal Lobe Damage,”
Brain,
1990.

Tulloch, Michael, “Chairmaking Demo Overcomes Handicaps,”
Windsor Chronicles,
Winter 2000.

Court Cases

The State of New Hampshire v. Blair,
143 N.H. 669, 669 A. 2d 448 (1999).

The State of New Hampshire v. Cegelis,
138 N.H. 249, 638 A. 2d 783 (1994).

A
cknowledgments
‌

W
e began covering the tragedy of the Zantops’ deaths for the
Boston Globe,
where we’ve worked a combined thirty years and where we forged a writing partnership and an enduring friendship. Our
Globe

colleagues Steve Kurkjian, Marcella Bombardieri, and Doug Belkin did remarkable work on this story for the paper, and we’re grateful for their insights, their support, and their endurance in the thigh-high snow.

Our friend and longtime colleague Gerry O’Neill read and improved the manuscript and, as always, demonstrated why he’s the best newsman we know.

Todd Shuster urged us to team up for this book, and then he and his partner Lane Zachary made it possible. Our editor, Dan Conaway, recognized the potential of this story and the potential in us. We’re grateful to him and to Gail Winston. We also thank Nikola Scott, Jill

Schwartzman, Olga Gardner Galvin, and the entire HarperCollins team.

An extra large bouquet to Alison Fife, M.D., our forensic-psychiatrist- on-call, who was enormously generous with her time and her expertise in helping us understand the minds of teenage killers, these two in particular. David Meier, chief homicide prosecutor in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, first suggested we talk with Dr. Fife, and we thank him for that.

The people of Chelsea, Vermont, opened their homes and their thoughts to us, offering valuable insights into their lives and the lives of Robert Tulloch and Jim Parker. We especially want to thank Andy Pomerantz, Jack and Annette Johnson, Brad Johnson, Zack Courts, David and Mary Savidge, Coltere Savidge, Cabot Savidge, Kip Battey, Matt Butryman, Sada Dumont, Tyler Vermette, Rob Olsen, DeRoss Kellogg, Cora Brooks, Doug Lyford, Diane Mattoon, Patricia Davenport, John O’Brien, Ned Battey, Will Gilman, Karen and Jay Keller, Steve Kamen, and Maggie Neale. We’re also grateful to Kevin Ellis, Bob Sherman, Doug Brown, Dan Sedon, Johannes Gamba, Luke White, Rowdy Kyle Tucker, Nancy Lee Tucker, Omer Ismail, Ginny Luther, and Bart Fletcher. Very special thanks to Andrew, Diane, and Andy Patti.

Getting to know the Zantops posthumously made us wish we had known them in life. Among those who made clear the enormity of the loss were Jim Reynolds, Wolf Zantop, Alex Bertulis, Dr. Thomas Korsukewitz, Werner Gocht, Helen Mango, Audrey McCollum, Irene Kacandes, and James Wright.

Members of the New Hampshire attorney general’s office, most notably Phil McLaughlin, Kelly Ayotte, and Michael Delaney, were unfailingly gracious and as cooperative as the law would allow. Special thanks to Major Barry Hunter and Trooper First Class Chuck West of the New Hampshire State Police; Chief Nick Giaccone and Detective Frank Moran of the Hanover Police Department; and Sergeant Jocelyn Stohl and Detective Sergeant Ray Keefe of the Vermont State Police. They are an honor to their badges and were a great help to us.

Indeed, the entire team of investigators did impressive work, as evidenced by the results and the voluminous files they left behind. Deserving special mention are Lieutenants Russell Conte and Wayne Fortier; Sergeants Mark Mudgett, James White, and Robert Bruno, and Troopers Russell Hubbard and Kathleen Kimball, all of the New Hampshire State Police. Also, Tim Pifer, director of the New Hampshire State Police Laboratory; Major Robert White of the Vermont State Police; Detective Eric Bates and Sergeant Brad Sargent of the Hanover Police Department; and Allison Vachon of the New Hampshire Office of Victim/Witness Assistance. We also owe a debt of gratitude to Glenn Libby of the Grafton County Jail and Joe Panarello and Jan Hale of the Belknap County Jail. The county prisoners of New Hampshire are in good, strong hands. Thanks also to Jeff Lyons at the state prison in Concord.

Mike Nikitas and John Herrholz of NECN shared videotapes and hot coffee with us, and we thank them. Richard Abate was always there to offer valuable and critical insight into the book publishing world. Brian McGrory led us to Richard, and for that and so many other things we thank him. Helene Atwan didn’t let contract language stand in the way of this book. Richard Brackett runs the best restaurant in Greater Boston, period.

At the
Globe,
we owe debts to many friends, collegues, and ex-colleagues, among them Matt Storin, who gave us leaves of absence to write this book, Helen Donovan, Louisa Williams, Ben Bradlee Jr., Nick King, Lisa Tuite and the entire
Globe
library staff, Fiona Luis, Sally Jacobs, Larry Tye, Wil Haygood, Joe Kahn, Steve Bailey, Marjorie Pritchard, Ande Zellman, Ken Whitney, and publisher Richard Gilman. We were introduced to each other nearly twenty years ago by Christopher Callahan, who remains a true friend.

Jeff and Andrea Feigelson made sure there was always a warm bed in New York. The same holds true for Jon Tisch. Dave Holahan, Kyn Tolson, and Greg and Tierney Fairchild put up with nonstop chatter about the book, even on the beach when the conversation should have been about waves and body-surfing. Harry Goldgar always comes to mind as a great teacher of literature and writing. Thanks to Bobby Gordon for his interest in our work. Mary C. Velasquez’s early support

of the book included a bike trip up and down the hills of Chelsea. Ellen Jarrett’s encouraging reading of the first draft was just what was needed at that moment. Talks about the case with Jennifer Peter, a fel-low journalist and friend, were always illuminating. At the end, Karin Koehn provided an inspiration that felt good and right and made crossing the finish line unexpectedly special.

Our families have been endlessly patient with us, and we could never have written this book without their support.

Sid Zuckoff taught by example that any job worth doing was worth doing right. Gerry Zuckoff was a constant source of warmth and compassion. Allan Zuckoff has always been a beacon, searching out a righteous path and illuminating it for others fortunate enough to follow him. Isabel Zuckoff’s curiosity about Robert and Jim helped define the questions that needed to be asked and answered. Eve Zuckoff’s clear-eyed sense of right and wrong charted a course through the shades of gray. Suzanne Kreiter, to whom this book is co-dedicated, treads softly on dreams spread under her feet.

Special thanks as well to John and Nancy Lehr, and to John, Kellie, and Julia Lehr. Nick and Christian Lehr, who were always asking how the book was coming along and when it would be finished (that is, when they weren’t asking, “What’s for dinner?”) are, quite simply, the greatest pleasure any father could hope for.

About the Authors
‌

D
ICK
L
EHR AND
M
ITCHELL
Z
UCKOFF
are veteran

reporters and were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize at the
Boston Globe
. Both are on the journalism faculty at Boston University. Lehr is coauthor of
Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob,
which was a
New York Times
bestseller and a
Boston Globe
bestseller for forty-eight consecutive weeks and won the 2001 Edgar Award for nonfiction. Zuckoff’s honors include the 2000 Distinguished Writing Award from the American Society of Newspaper Editors. His book
Choosing Naia: A Family’s Journey
was a
Boston Globe
bestseller and won the Christopher Award. They live in the Boston area with their families.

Visit
www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

P
RAISE
FOR
‌

Judgment Ridge

“One of the best books of the year.” —
Boston Globe

“I was spellbound by this brilliantly reported and intricately plotted account of the Dartmouth murders. The collision of good and evil in a small New England town is scary and heartbreaking.”

—Dominick Dunne

“Zuckoff and Lehr . . . examine in fascinating detail the ordinariness of the boys’ grudges—typical high school controversies about the student council and the debate team—and how, in Tulloch’s mind, the idea of random killing became an obsession.” —
The New Yorker

“Join[s] Truman Capote’s classic
In Cold Blood
as one of the standards in crime writing.” —
Boston Globe

“A harrowing account . . . [that] reveals two of the more chilling characters in recent nonfiction.” —
Washington Post Book World

“Irresistible. . . . It pulls you in. . . . The book’s strength is in the strong and ingenious way the narrative is constructed. . . . Certain facts— including those of the murder—are skillfully left until the police learn them. . . . Like good fiction, [
Judgment Ridge
] takes us to the dead end of human behavior and makes us look over the edge.”

—
Hartford Courant

“I’m an evangelist for this sensational, riveting book. Everybody should go out and buy it.” —Jeffrey Toobin, CNN

“Spellbinding. . . . [Reveals] the story behind the headlines. . . . Multifaceted and richly believable.” —
Denver Post

“Remarkable. . . . Haunting. . . . Transcends traditional true crime books [and] attempts to get at the root causes and wider ramifications of almost unimaginable acts of violence.” —
Tucson Citizen

“A tour de force of reporting. . . . A gripping narrative.”

—
Worcester Telegram & Gazette

“A suspenseful and chilling story.” —
Ft. Pierce Tribune
(FL)

“Similar to . . .
In Cold Blood
. . . . A nuanced portrait of a serial killer as a young man.” —
Maxim

“A sensational news story. . . . Irresistibly absorbing.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“A sorrowful tale of teenagers drawn to murder, artfully structured. . . . Lehr and Zuckoff keep readers both informed and slightly off balance, so that when they describe what actually happened on the day of the crime, it seems at once unspeakable and inescapable.”

—
Kirkus Reviews

“A chilling and revealing look at a crime that fueled concerns about adolescents and violence in a post-Columbine environment.” —
Booklist