Parole for Dartmouth prof slayer

A man who has spent two decades behind bars for murdering two Dartmouth College professors has been granted parole.

James Parker, 39, appeared before the New Hampshire parole board years after pleading guilty to killing Half and Susanne Zantop in Hanover in 2001.

Parker (left) served close to the minimum of his 25-years-to-life sentence for second-degree murder and said during his Thursday parole hearing that he was “deeply sorry.”

His lawyer and Department of Corrections staff said Parker has taken many steps to rehabilitate himself and help fellow inmates.

Parker was 16 when he and his fellow “class clown” pal, 17-year-old Robert Tulloch, hatched a plan to leave Chelsea, Vt., for Australia.

To raise $10,000 for the trip, they decided they’d knock on the doors of homeowners under the guise of conducting an environmental survey, then tie up their victims and steal their credit cards and ATM information before killing them. Parker said they picked the Zantop house because it looked expensive.

The pair fled the murder scene with Half ’s wallet, which contained about $340. They were nabbed at an Indiana truck stop weeks later.

Tulloch pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and got a sentence of life without parole. He’s scheduled for a resentencing hearing in June.

Susanne Zantop was the head of Dartmouth’s German studies department, while Half taught Earth sciences.