Prof named suspect as Jovin probe continues

JULIA TIERNAN/YH The body of Suzanne Jovin was found at the corner of Edgehill Road and East Rock Avenue on the night of Fri. Dec. 4. New Haven police named Jovin's senior essay advisor, political science lecturer James Van de Velde, and official suspect on Mon. Jan. 11.

It has been more than a month since Suzanne Jovin, DC '99, was fatally stabbed at the corner of Edgehill Avenue and East Rock Road, and New Haven and Yale police are still searching for clues. But while the investigation remains stuck in neutral, authorities released a list of suspects which includes political science lecturer James Van de Velde, Jovin's senior essay advisor, on Mon., Jan. 11.

Van de Velde's status as a suspect has been widely reported in various media outlets, but New Haven Police Department spokesperson Judith Mongillo insists he is only one of a number of people being investigated. "Professor Van de Velde is in a pool of suspects in the case," she said. "He is not a prime suspect. We have not zeroed in on a suspect as of yet." Detectives have searched the professor's car and dusted it for fingerprints, but declined Van De Velde's offers to allow them to search his apartment, give them a blood sample, and take a polygraph examination.

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Repeating his December denial of involvement in the murder, Van de Velde released a statement on Mon., Jan. 11 through his lawyer, Ira B. Grudberg. "Any suggestion that I had anything to do with the death of my former student is deeply, deeply painful and outrageous. I am innocent," the statement read.

Nonetheless, the University has taken drastic action in response to the official naming of Van de Velde as a suspect. President Richard Levin, GRD '74, and Yale College Dean Richard Brodhead, BR '68, GRD '72, along with other administrators, agreed to cancel the professor's lecture course, Intelligence Collection Analysis, and seminar, International Drug Trafficking.
Acting Director of Public Affairs Tom Conroy explained, "It is inevitable that [Van de Velde's] classroom presence would be accompanied by continuing speculation about events outside the classroom. That would constitute a major distraction for
students and impair their educational
experience."

Still, Levin and Brodhead maintain the University isn't considering dismissing the political science professor. "The Administration presumes him innocent of wrongdoing and the murder," Brodhead said. "The cancellation of the courses doesn't follow from a judgment or a prejudgment of his hypothetical involvement in the Jovin case." Van de Velde will be allowed to continue his research at the University.

Van de Velde responded to the Administration's decision with disappointment. "I regret Yale's eleventh hour decision to cancel my classes and my inability to teach my students this semester," he said in his statement. "I believe the University severely underestimates its students' ability to choose their courses maturely, to overcome distractions, and to make the most of their respective educational experiences."

Student reaction to Van de Velde's suspension from teaching was mixed. Howard Clark, BK '01, regrets the cancellation of Van de Velde's lecture course. "I was looking forward to taking the class," Clark said. He insisted that he sees the professor "as a teacher and lecturer, not a suspect." But political science major Angela Campbell, CC '99, supported the Administration's decision. "I would definitely want to take his seminar, but I don't want to take one of his classes," she said. "He could have committed the murder and later got caught, which would be very disruptive to the seminar."

While Yale reacts to Van De Velde's suspension, police are stepping up their efforts to track down Jovin's murderer. In recent weeks, they've turned to medical experts and Federal Bureau of Investigation criminologists. Mongillo said DNA specialist Dr. Henry C. Lee, who testified about DNA evidence in the O.J. Simpson case, has been brought into the case.

In addition, a group of Yale and New Haven police detectives traveled in December to FBI headquarters in Quantico, Va., where they worked together with members of the Behavioral Science Unit to construct a possible psychological profile of Jovin's killer. Mongillo said the New Haven and Yale police detectives investigating the murder case are continuing to receive aid and cooperation from FBI units.

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