Suzanne Jovin, a 21-year-old Yale University senior from Germany, was brutally stabbed 17 times in the head and neck on December 4, 1998, just after hosting a holiday pizza party for adults with intellectual disabilities as part of her Best Buddies chapter leadership. Found bleeding on a sidewalk at East Rock and Edgehill roads in New Haven, Connecticut—about 8 miles from the off-campus Trinity Lutheran Church event—she was pronounced dead at Yale-New Haven Hospital at 10:26 p.m.
Unsolved Status
Despite exhaustive searches, her case remains New Haven’s only unsolved homicide from 1998, amid 15 total murders that year—all others closed. Jovin had dropped off program participants in a borrowed university station wagon, chatted briefly with classmate Peter Stein around 9:25 p.m. en route to return keys at Phelps Hall, and was last seen walking toward Elm Street before the 9:58 p.m. discovery.
Renewed Appeals
Retired lead detective Ed Kendall revisits the site annually, including a December 4, 2025, vigil marking 27 years, urging witnesses from the neighborhood or Yale community to come forward with even minor details. A $150,000 reward ($100,000 from Yale, $50,000 from Connecticut) stands for information leading to arrest and conviction.
This enduring mystery—Jovin’s vibrant promise cut short—highlights cold case persistence amid early DNA-era limits. Tips: New Haven PD or Connecticut State Police.
