Cover photo credit WCAX – Haf and Suzanne Zantop, Dartmouth College professors murdered by two Chelsea teens in 2001.
| More than a decade after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that mandatory life sentences without the possibility of parole for juvenile murderers are unconstitutional, Robert Tulloch of Chelsea is edging closer to a new sentencing hearing, the Journal-Opinion reports. Tulloch is serving two such sentences after pleading guilty to murdering Haf and Susanne Zantop in Hanover, NH in 2001. He was 17 at the time of the killings. A New Hampshire Superior Court judge agrees with Tulloch’s attorneys who have argued that their client’s sentence violates the state constitution’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. “The state can still argue for life sentences without the possibility of parole during resentencing but must prove the facts, such as the child being incapable of change, beyond a reasonable doubt,” the Union Leader reported. Tulloch’s co-defendant, James Parker, also of Chelsea, was released on parole last June after receiving a sentence of 25 years in prison. |