Hunt Goes On for ‘Shrewd’ Florida Killer : Crime: Five college students have been murdered. Many in the community are arming themselves amid widespread terror.

As police intensified a manhunt Wednesday for a serial killer described by one official as “shrewd and methodical,” fear continued to stalk this university town, where five students have been found brutally murdered in the last four days.

“It’s almost surreal. We’re living hour by hour and, until an arrest is made, the anxiety continues,” said Art Sandeen, university vice president for student affairs. “You can’t believe it’s happening.”

The grisly murders have shocked this college town, where stately live oak trees hung with Spanish moss and Victorian houses on Main Street normally help create a sleepy Old South atmosphere. But there is nothing normal about Gainesville now.

The terror that pervades this city has driven many students to go home and give up on the semester altogether. Hundreds more have left at least until after Labor Day. Those staying are rushing to beef up security in off-campus apartments, where three-fourths of the university’s 34,000 students here live.

Many are arming themselves. At M&C; Army Surplus, David Lipcon, a 23-year-old law student, Wednesday morning was considering everything from a $730 SIG-Sauer 9-millimeter semiautomatic to a can of Mace for $16.99.

“I’ve been thinking about a gun for a while now, but this business is making me do it,” said Lipcon. “I mean, we live in the area.”

Teams of FBI agents and investigators from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement have arrived here to work on developing a profile of the killer. “My gut instinct is that we’re dealing with one suspect, a male,” said Gainesville Police Chief Wayland Clifton. “That same instinct tells me he’s probably still in the Gainesville area.”

In a warning to area residents, Clifton said: “This is not someone who does not know what he is doing.”

All of the murders have been committed in rental apartments situated just to the southwest but within walking distance of the campus.

The first victims found were those of University of Florida freshman Christina P. Powell, a 17-year-old from Jacksonville, and her roommate, 18-year-old Sonya Larson of Deerfield Beach.

Police confirmed Wednesday that the killer entered their apartment through an unlocked door and that their bodies were mutilated. The cause of death was multiple stab wounds, according to autopsy reports.

Eight hours later, in an apartment just outside the Gainesville city limits, Alachua County sheriff’s deputies discovered the body of Christa L. Hoyt, an 18-year-old student at nearby Santa Fe Community College, who also worked full time for the sheriff’s department as a records clerk. A department spokesman said she had died of multiple stab wounds but refused to comment on persistent reports that she had been beheaded.

Tuesday morning two more slain students were discovered in the Gatorwood Apartments directly across the street from the campus. Manuel R. Toboada, a 23-year-old student at Santa Fe, and Tracey Inez Paules, 23, a student at the university, were found bludgeoned to death, sheriff’s deputies said. Both were from Miami.

The apartments of the last three victims had been forcibly entered, police said.

Vail Gardner, a 21-year-old University of Florida junior, said Wednesday that last year she lived in the apartment directly across from Toboada and knew him well. “Manny was a big, strong guy; he was not easy prey,” she said. “That brings it home: No one is safe. We just laugh at how scared we are. No one can even sleep around here.”

Nonetheless, on the third day of the fall semester, classes were held, with attendance reported at 75% to 80% of normal. The deadlines for dropping and adding courses and withdrawing from the university have been extended, and university officials said that no one will be penalized for missing class this week.

“We hope it’s over, but until an arrest is made we are going to live hour by hour with a lot of anxiety,” said Sandeen. “It’s not just the students. In the entire community, there is anger, fear, concern and tremendous sorrow for the victims and their families. People are muddling through. This is on everybody’s mind, and you can’t get away from it.”

Clifton, who said the police telephones are ringing at the rate of 1,400 calls an hour, expressed confidence that the killer would be caught soon, although he added that no specific suspects had been identified.

“We’re trying to put a security blanket over the city,” he said. “We’ve got more police per capita on the street than any city in the country. I’m confident we’re making it very hazardous for him to strike.

“I’m very worried, obviously (about further killings),” Clifton said. “I don’t want to agitate this individual to commit further crimes. But I’m confident we’re going to find our suspect.”