By
Kevin Clerici
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Rumors connecting instructor's business card unfounded
University of Arizona officials said there is no truth behind rumors that a UA professor has been implicated in the double homicide of two professors at Dartmouth College, an Ivy League school in Hanover, N.H.
Members of national and local media inundated the UA yesterday with phone calls regarding a rumor that places a business card of a UA geosciences faculty member in a rented automobile connected with the Dartmouth homicides.
"No one on the investigative team has looked at anybody at Arizona," said UA spokeswoman Sharon Kha, an associate vice president of communications. "There was never a connection. It was a rumor that was unfounded."
On Jan. 27, two longtime Dartmouth professors, Susanne and Half Zantop, were found dead, stabbed in their home four miles from campus. The Zantops were a popular couple at the college and known in the community for their charity. They have two grown daughters.
For the past week, New Hampshire Attorney General Philip McLaughlin has refused to comment on details relating to the actual murders - including motive, murder weapon, time of death, specifics of the crime scene and where investigators are searching for information. No arrests have been made in connection with the case.
UA Police Chief Anthony Daykin yesterday called the New Hampshire Department of Public Safety - the agency leading the investigation - and the New Hampshire attorney general's office, which is providing legal counsel.
"I heard many of the same rumors and inquiries," Daykin said. "I checked with the New Hampshire state police and others. There is no connection between that investigation and the university or any of its employees."
The Daily Wildcat spoke with the instructor in question, who refuted the claims. The instructor's name is being withheld to protect his identity.
"Mostly, I want to squelch these unfounded rumors that have no connection with me," the instructor said. "The rumor is unsubstantiated, and it's been a distraction."
Andrew Marnell, the executive editor of the college paper, The Dartmouth, said news coverage of the deaths has been extensive.
"The case has been covered in the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald extensively, and it's been broadcast on television stations all over New Hampshire, Vermont and upstate New York." he said. "For us, I would say that this is one of the biggest stories that has happened at this college."
About 5,000 people attend Dartmouth College, which represents roughly half of Hanover's population, Marnell said.
Kha said she first received an inquiry Friday, but yesterday her voicemail was overflowing with messages from reporters - among them reporters from Newsweek and several Boston papers. She spoke yesterday with MSNBC.
The rumor started, Marnell said, when WNDS-TV in Derry, N.H., reported that it had traced a business card found in a white rental car that was returned to the Thrifty Car Rental at the Manchester Airport.
"The station traced the card to a university in Arizona," Marnell said. "That's where the connection to your school came, but it has never been confirmed as to which school in Arizona."
The possibility that the UA was mistaken with another Arizona college has arisen.
When asked about an ASU professor being implicated, Arizona State University Police Chief John L. Pickens said yesterday he would "not confirm or deny any investigation."
Pickens said he, too, received numerous phone calls about the rumor.
Sunday, major media outlets in New Hampshire and Massachusetts reported that the investigation had moved outside of the United States.
Yesterday, Senior Assistant Attorney General Kelly Ayotte said to The Dartmouth that the recovered white vehicle was one of many vehicles that were being examined by investigators. Ayotte said in a news conference that investigators are in no way short on leads.
Kha spoke yesterday with the UA instructor that has been targeted. Kha said the instructor "is not upset, but was pretty confused over the weekend."
"I know reporters are just doing their jobs, but there was never a connection," Kha said. "The rumor was unfounded. It would be a tragedy if (the UA instructor) were somehow incorrectly linked with the double homicide."
