L.A. ‘Intruder’ Tied to Slaying in San Francisco

Homicide investigators confirmed today that a weekend murder in San Francisco is linked to the recent “Valley Intruder” assault-killings in the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys, Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman R. Block announced.

Block declined to reveal how the attacks in cities 400 miles apart were linked, saying only that members of his special task force who went to San Francisco have determined that the crimes are “related.”

Sheriff’s Sgt. Frank Salerno, a veteran homicide investigator who helped solve the infamous “Hillside Strangler” murders in 1978 and 1979, said last week that his work on the strangler case taught him one thing:

“Most serial murders don’t stop. They might relocate. They will kill again.”

Cunning and Dangerous

Deputy John Broussard of the sheriff’s information bureau today described the killer as “extremely diversified, cunning and very, very dangerous.”

The Valley Intruder--described by survivors as a gap-toothed, curly-headed man in his late 20s or early 30s--is believed responsible for at least seven killings, several of them involving sexual attacks, and as many as 13 other rapes and beatings in the Los Angeles area since last March.

Now, investigators say, he is the prime suspect in the attack in San Francisco on accountant Peter Pan, 66, and Pan’s wife, Barbara, 64.

San Francisco police say the Pans were shot by an intruder who apparently entered their Lakeside District home through an unlocked door or window, sometime between 10 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday. The assailant ransacked the home before fleeing, investigators said.

Found by a Son

The Pans were found Sunday morning by a son who stopped by for a visit. Peter Pan was pronounced dead at the scene. Barbara Pan was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where she was reported in stable condition today.

Sheriff’s deputies say that in the attacks here, the intruder usually entered through an unlocked door or window and usually ransacked the victims’ homes.