"We love our son, and we want the press to know that he is innocent until proven guilty," said Diane Tulloch, a registered nurse who works with a firm associated with the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

Many in the men's hometown, a small blue-collar community about 25 miles from Dartmouth, said they were shocked by the possbility of the teens' connection to the murders. Many described them as positive and having goods senses of humor, incapable of murder.

"[Tulloch] was your run-of-the-mill good student," said Tulloch's neighbor Molly Jackson, a ninth grader in the Chelsea Public Schools.

She said Tulloch played soccer, was president of the student council and a member of the debate team.

Controversy over the suspects' motive and identity began on Friday, when The Boston Globe reported that "investigators believe the killings of Dartmouth College professors Half and Susanne Zantop were crimes of passion, most likely resulting from an adulterous love affair involving Half Zantop."

Later that day, the New Hampshire Attorney General Philip McLaughlin denied the Globe's report, stating, "Investigators do not hold the belief attributed to them in the Globe story... No responsible and knowledgeable law enforcement official would provide the Globe with the information it attributed to official anonymous sources."

Globe Editor Matthew Storin responded on Friday. "We're very comfortable with our story," he said. "We stand by our story."

Globe editors refused to comment further on the story yesterday.