December 4, 1998. New Haven, Connecticut. 21-year old Suzanne Jovin, a senior student at Yale University, leaves her apartment in order to return a set of keys to a building located on the Old Campus. Before she can return home, Suzanne is found murdered in a residential area located nearly two miles from the campus and it turns out she has been stabbed 17 times and had her throat slit. Suspicion soon turns towards a Yale lecturer named James Van de Velde, who was functioning as Suzanne’s senior thesis advisor, but he maintains his innocence and there is no evidence linking him to the crime. Over the years, a number of different leads emerge, including a promising alternate suspect who was a student at Yale, but the crime is never solved. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the controversial murder of Suzanne Jovin. Special thanks to listener Karen Leabo for the narrating the opening of this episode.

f you have any information about this case, please contact the top line for the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice’s Cold Case Task Force Unit at 1-866-623-8058.

Additional Reading:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Suzanne_Jovin

https://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/1999/08/yale-murder199908

https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2008/07/16/investigators-seek-the-someone-jovin-referenced-in-hour-before-stabbing/

https://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/articles/2184-new-leads-in-a-cold-case

https://www.courant.com/2001/10/27/test-shows-dna-not-from-jovins-yale-adviser/

https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Tips-in-1998-slaying-of-Yale-student-Suzanne-11530105.php

https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Jovin-murder-mystery-continues-20-years-later-13438017.php

https://www.nhregister.com/connecticut/article/Prosecutor-James-Van-de-Velde-no-longer-a-11435141.php

https://www.wtnh.com/news/connecticut/new-haven/investigators-ask-for-publics-help-in-solving-25-year-old-homicide-cold-case-in-new-haven/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvsLjCFNZdE

“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.

The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.