New Haven Independent

The announcement came Friday in a press conference outside New Haven Superior Court.

Jovin was a senior at Yale University when she was killed at the corner of Edgehill and East Rock Roads on Dec. 4, 1998. The case has remained an unsolved mystery since then. After the case was transferred to the state cold case unit in Sept. 2006, some — including from a one-time “person of interest,” James Van de Velde, who was Jovin’s adviser at Yale and seeks to clear his name in the murder — have criticized the state’s lack of progress in the case.

Assistant State’s Attorney James Clark (pictured above at left) said his office has reopened the case by hiring a team of retired detectives, for a volunteer basis with a salary of only $1 per year, to give a renewed look at the years-long mystery.

Anyone who offers information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer is offered a hefty $150,000 reward — that’s $50,000 from the state plus $100,000 from Yale, according to Clark.

John Mannion (pictured) is one of that team of four state police detectives who’ve agreed to take on the case. He served the final five of his 21 years with the state as the commanding officer of the Central Major Crimes Unit. He and three colleagues started on the case six months ago, but their work was not publicly announced until this week.

“This investigation is re-vigored, renewed,” declared Mannion. Cops are looking for anyone who may have a “suppressed memory” of the incident, who may have heard or seen anything about her murder.

Michael Dearington’s State’s Attorney’s office will provide financial support to subsidize expenses of the investigation, but the office won’t be in charge of the probe, said Clark. Mannion declined to cite specifics on any progress that might have been made, but Clark said he’s the most optimistic he’s every been about the case in the last nine years: “We’re going to know everything there is to know by the time they’re done.”

Those with information are encouraged to call the investigative team at this private number: (203)676-1575, or at this email address.