Case 287: Half & Susanne Zantop

This is similar in a way to Rope by Hitchcock. Worth watching if you haven't seen it, about 2 very arrogant young men who murder someone they consider worthless in order to commit the 'perfect crime' as they are superior to others

Ok, this is interesting but this exact same case was on another popular true crime podcast this week! Told from a completely different angle, it still converged the same way. Did you know this was happening?

Hi there, after listening to this episode, it brought to mind another similar case. This happened in BC, but two Aussies were killed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Northern_British_Columbia_murders

Thank you for speaking on the juvenile offender laws. Interesting to hear their daughter’s take on everything as she has grown up. No doubt her education and profession have given her a different insight into everything with the loss of her parents. I worked for my state’s parole board at one time. I didn’t see any juvi cases but saw plenty of other inmates. At one point before I left we had a similar resentencing law passed which meant we got to see lots of people we normally wouldn’t because they would never technically be eligible and our DOC gave them the opportunity. Any who, I know I’ve seen my share of kids or, what’s classed as an *adult* in the system, who made horrible, life-altering mistakes. And I’ve seen some scary, scary individuals. It’s wild all around to see everything that comes into play in these situations. Thank you for another great episode!!

I appreciated that Casefile added a discussion of juvenile sentencing to this case, because it's a subject i feel pretty strongly about despite being very much in the minority, i think. But i think as vicious as this case is, it's one where you can very clearly see *why* juveniles shouldn't be sentenced as adults. Their brains just aren't developed yet. They lack an adult's impulse control, they lack the ability to fully comprehend meaningful long-term consequences, and they're more easily influenced by fantasy and wish-fulfillment. Nothing about this case was rational or rooted in any kind of adult understanding of reality. And i do think this is one situation where the teens showed guilt and would have a chance of successful rehabilitation as they got a taste of consequences and, well, grew up. They were absolutely not adults, and even though this is a terrible double homicide case, I'm glad the teens who did this will at least be considered for parole. I'm grateful the victims' family seems to recognize that as well; it's rare, but so important.

Don't hassle the Half.

My gosh, those details at the end were so incredibly upsetting. Senseless and tragic deaths.

This is vintage casefile. Great writing. So soothing. Thank you.

Many parallels with Leopold and Loeb. And like those two professed geniuses, they were despicable idiots. Tragic and fascinating.

I'm disgusted, frustrated,and saddened to hear that both now men have been granted parole. One of the Zantop's daughters is a psychiatrist and like her parents, a remarkable person. I can't even imagine her feelings on this. I can't imagine how I would feel as a child of these victims or better yet, a parent of James and Robert. How could you reconcile on either side?

Finally Casefile comes to Vermont. I remember when this happened, I never delved into the details of this case but my brother was briefly classmates with one of the kids in Barre VT.

These kids thought they were smart 🤦🏼‍♀️

I was in the middle of the other one when it was deleted, when can I finish that episode??

Two episodes in one week?