CT CT - Suzanne Jovin, 21, Yale student, New Haven, 4 Dec 1998
- Thread starter mysteriew
- Start date
We are coming up for another anniversary in this case so I will give a bump:
Randall Beach: Many trying to solve the mystery of who killed Suzanne Jovin
Mitchell says it’s “a mystery” he is driven to solve.
He and I share a keen interest in this case and both of us are frustrated that the killer has not been found. For each of us, it’s personal. Jovin died in my neighborhood, about four blocks from my house; Mitchell’s longtime friend, James Van de Velde, was named as a suspect soon afterward.
When I first interviewed Mitchell at his home in Westport in 2002, Van de Velde was still listed as a suspect and Mitchell was trying to dig up information that would implicate somebody else and clear his old high school friend.
At least that’s my belief about Mitchell’s motivation. But last week he told me, “This was never about clearing Jim’s name. It was about: there was a murder and somebody has to be brought to justice for that.”
Randall Beach: Many trying to solve the mystery of who killed Suzanne Jovin
Mitchell says it’s “a mystery” he is driven to solve.
He and I share a keen interest in this case and both of us are frustrated that the killer has not been found. For each of us, it’s personal. Jovin died in my neighborhood, about four blocks from my house; Mitchell’s longtime friend, James Van de Velde, was named as a suspect soon afterward.
When I first interviewed Mitchell at his home in Westport in 2002, Van de Velde was still listed as a suspect and Mitchell was trying to dig up information that would implicate somebody else and clear his old high school friend.
At least that’s my belief about Mitchell’s motivation. But last week he told me, “This was never about clearing Jim’s name. It was about: there was a murder and somebody has to be brought to justice for that.”
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2009
- Messages
- 58,814
- Reaction score
- 275,685
Jan 21 2019 rbbm.
Cold Cases, Open Wounds
"In 1998, Yale senior Suzanne Jovin was found fatally stabbed in the back near the corner of Edgehill and East Rock roads. Dec. 4, 2018 marks the 20th anniversary of her murder.
“From our perspective, this year is no different than any before,” the victim’s parents, Donna Arndt-Jovin GRD ’68 and Thomas Jovin, shared in an email with the News. “Suzanne was a good citizen (and a good student) of Yale, was happy there and derived great benefits from an outstanding institution of higher learning.”
On the night of her murder, she was walking back to campus from a pizza party for the New Haven chapter of Best Buddies, an international organization dedicated to serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. A celebrated member of the Yale community, she posthumously received the Special Elm and Ivy Award from The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven in 1999. There are numerous dedications honoring her contributions to the Yale community, including a memorial plaque in the Davenport College courtyard. The Suzanne N. Jovin Memorial Fund continues to support promising undergraduate students who “reflect Suzanne’s aspirations and commitments.”
Over the intervening 20 years, the Jovins have maintained close contact with public investigators in New Haven. They are still searching for conclusions to be made about the circumstances of her death. In an email to the News, her parents credited the University as an “outstanding institution of higher learning.” But they urged the University to finally share the information gained by its private investigators with the New Haven and Connecticut authorities.
“For whatever reason, the University has opted, at least up to now, not to release the material,” the Jovins wrote. “We by no means condemn the University, merely urge it to join us in facing the challenges generated by the violence that is so prevalent in our society.”
University spokesperson Karen Peart stated that Yale “has cooperated fully with the investigation and has provided all available information that the law enforcement authorities have requested.”
—
Cold Cases, Open Wounds
"In 1998, Yale senior Suzanne Jovin was found fatally stabbed in the back near the corner of Edgehill and East Rock roads. Dec. 4, 2018 marks the 20th anniversary of her murder.
“From our perspective, this year is no different than any before,” the victim’s parents, Donna Arndt-Jovin GRD ’68 and Thomas Jovin, shared in an email with the News. “Suzanne was a good citizen (and a good student) of Yale, was happy there and derived great benefits from an outstanding institution of higher learning.”
On the night of her murder, she was walking back to campus from a pizza party for the New Haven chapter of Best Buddies, an international organization dedicated to serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. A celebrated member of the Yale community, she posthumously received the Special Elm and Ivy Award from The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven in 1999. There are numerous dedications honoring her contributions to the Yale community, including a memorial plaque in the Davenport College courtyard. The Suzanne N. Jovin Memorial Fund continues to support promising undergraduate students who “reflect Suzanne’s aspirations and commitments.”
Over the intervening 20 years, the Jovins have maintained close contact with public investigators in New Haven. They are still searching for conclusions to be made about the circumstances of her death. In an email to the News, her parents credited the University as an “outstanding institution of higher learning.” But they urged the University to finally share the information gained by its private investigators with the New Haven and Connecticut authorities.
“For whatever reason, the University has opted, at least up to now, not to release the material,” the Jovins wrote. “We by no means condemn the University, merely urge it to join us in facing the challenges generated by the violence that is so prevalent in our society.”
University spokesperson Karen Peart stated that Yale “has cooperated fully with the investigation and has provided all available information that the law enforcement authorities have requested.”
—
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2009
- Messages
- 58,814
- Reaction score
- 275,685
Suzanne Jovin's murder near the Yale University campus remains unsolved after 21 years
Sept 2019 rbbm
"Despite appeals, the mystery student never came forward.
And why was Suzanne walking away from campus when she’d told two separate witnesses that her plans were to study and sleep?
Over the years, other evidence came to light. In 2001, police revealed a witness had seen a tan-coloured van close to the crime scene.
Years after that, a cold case team discovered a witness had reported seeing a man running away from where Suzanne’s body had been found – a witness who said the man looked nothing like Van de Velde.
It seemed investigators, intent on pursuing the innocent teacher, had dismissed the eye-witness.
The cold case team released a composite sketch of the running man, but who would recognise him after so many years?
In 2013, James Van de Velde was officially cleared
Sept 2019 rbbm
"Despite appeals, the mystery student never came forward.
And why was Suzanne walking away from campus when she’d told two separate witnesses that her plans were to study and sleep?
Over the years, other evidence came to light. In 2001, police revealed a witness had seen a tan-coloured van close to the crime scene.
Years after that, a cold case team discovered a witness had reported seeing a man running away from where Suzanne’s body had been found – a witness who said the man looked nothing like Van de Velde.
It seemed investigators, intent on pursuing the innocent teacher, had dismissed the eye-witness.
The cold case team released a composite sketch of the running man, but who would recognise him after so many years?
In 2013, James Van de Velde was officially cleared
I will give this case another bump with a recently posted video about the case by someone who knows a lot about it. I do not think it was religious extremists or any University Lecturer my suspect would be that knife wielding maniac the Connecticut River Valley Killer:
I will give this case another bump with a link to a recent Podcast about it:
Suzanne Jovin - Criminal Discourse Podcast
Suzanne Jovin - Criminal Discourse Podcast
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2020
- Messages
- 58
- Reaction score
- 316
Listened to the Murder Squad podcast today about Suzanne's murder
I did a search of the internet over the last 12 months and there really isn't any substantial updates on her case. If you look at the references on the Wikipedia page on her murder there are none since 2018.
en.wikipedia.org
Murder of Suzanne Jovin - Wikipedia
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2018
- Messages
- 36,968
- Reaction score
- 246,534
It’s been 9,125 days since Jovin was killed.
“It was a tragedy,” said John DeStefano, New Haven’s mayor at the time of the homicide. “A tragedy for the family. A tragedy for the Yale community.”
“I recall distinctly having attended the eulogy service at Battell Chapel, and the doctor and his wife were there,” Doug MacDonald, former assistant chief of the New Haven Police Department, remembering the sight of Jovin’s parents who had traveled here from Germany.
“The doctor delivered the eulogy, which is something you just can’t forget,” said an emotional MacDonald, who worked for the New Haven Police Department for 30 years.
On the night of the homicide, he served as acting chief.
Jovin attended a pizza party on Dec. 4 for Best Buddies, a group that pairs students with special needs. Afterward, she made several stops and was last seen walking north on College Street around 9:30 p.m.
Yale University is still offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Jovin’s killer, while the state is offering a $50,000 reward. Learn more about the rewards at the Suzanne Jovin Homicide Investigation Team’s website.
www.wtnh.com
“It was a tragedy,” said John DeStefano, New Haven’s mayor at the time of the homicide. “A tragedy for the family. A tragedy for the Yale community.”
“I recall distinctly having attended the eulogy service at Battell Chapel, and the doctor and his wife were there,” Doug MacDonald, former assistant chief of the New Haven Police Department, remembering the sight of Jovin’s parents who had traveled here from Germany.
“The doctor delivered the eulogy, which is something you just can’t forget,” said an emotional MacDonald, who worked for the New Haven Police Department for 30 years.
On the night of the homicide, he served as acting chief.
Jovin attended a pizza party on Dec. 4 for Best Buddies, a group that pairs students with special needs. Afterward, she made several stops and was last seen walking north on College Street around 9:30 p.m.
Yale University is still offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Jovin’s killer, while the state is offering a $50,000 reward. Learn more about the rewards at the Suzanne Jovin Homicide Investigation Team’s website.
Investigators ask for public’s help in solving 25-year-old homicide cold case in New Haven
News 8’s Sarah Cody has covered the killing of Yale University student Suzanne Jovin for nearly 25 years. A passionate group of people are still bothered by this case since her death on Dec. …
www.wtnh.com
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2009
- Messages
- 58,814
- Reaction score
- 275,685
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2009
- Messages
- 58,814
- Reaction score
- 275,685
Suzanne Jovin Homicide Investigation
Suzanne Jovin, a talented and popular senior at Yale University, was stabbed to death near the corner of Edgehill Road and East Rock Road in New Haven on December 4, 1998.
Contact the Jovin Investigation Team
Toll-Free Tip Line
(Statewide)
1-866-623-8058
U.S. Mail:
Cold Case Unit
P.O. Box 962
Rocky Hill, CT 06067
E-mail:
[email protected]
Dec. 4, 2025
27 years after murder of Yale student Suzanne Jovin, retired detective urges public's help
Twenty-seven years after the brutal killing of Yale student Suzanne Jovin, the retired police sergeant who once led the investigation returned to the corner of East Rock and Edgehill Road — where her body was found — to honor her memory and renew calls for information that could help solve the...
www.nbcconnecticut.com
The case has since been transferred from New Haven Police to the state’s Cold Case Unit under the State’s Attorney’s Office. It is still an open case with that department''.
Former Detective Remembers Suzanne Jovin - New Haven Independent
& reads a statement at the site where her body was found.
www.newhavenindependent.org
“It is not forgotten that Suzanne Jovin was stabbed 27 years ago,” said Kendall. “The loss of Suzanne, who was a loving daughter, sister, friend, and classmate, was devastating.” Kendall said that they are seeking “further investigation and justice” for Jovin and that, even though he is now retired, he and other cops are still working to solve her case.''
Suzanne Jovin was found stabbed to death about 30 minutes after leaving a holiday party for adults with developmental disabilities that she helped organize.
Last edited:
Similar threads
Guardians Monthly Goal
Our goal for the month is 50 new Guardians members to sign up. Have you been thinking about becoming a member?
Click here to find out how!
Staff online
-
FraizeAdministrator
Online statistics
- Members online
- 124
- Guests online
- 1,012
- Total visitors
- 1,136