Police Stage Biggest Hunt for the Killer of 5 Women

San Diego police are mounting their “most comprehensive homicide investigation” ever to help solve the serial killings of five women in the Clairemont-University City area this year, including 15 full-time investigators and a neighborhood police patrol, authorities said Monday.

Three teams of investigators were temporarily assigned to the case on Thursday, when Pamela Clark, 42, and her daughter Amber, 18, were found stabbed to death at their University City home.

The department said Monday that 15 homicide investigators will work full time on the serial killings, along with about 10 other technical specialists and neighborhood patrol officers.

“We’ve never put this number of people on any one series of cases for an extended period of time,” Deputy Chief Cal Krosch said Monday. “We’ve done huge stakeouts with 50 or 60 officers for a short duration, but we’re talking full-time job until we get this guy.”

Investigators already have linked the Clark deaths to three others, all of which occurred within several blocks of 3400 Clairemont Drive in January, February and April. The victims all were attractive young women between 18 and 21, with brown hair.

Amber Clark closely resembled Janene Marie Weinhold, an earlier victim. Police believe the killer may not have been expecting Amber’s mother, Pamela, to be home at the time of the attack.

Police are looking for a young black man, 18 to 23 years old, 5-foot-7 to 5-foot-10, with medium build and close-cropped hair. A University City neighborhood resident saw a man who fit that description early last week and reported it to police. That description fits the man described by police in the Clairemont killings. Police said they are investigating the possibility that he worked distributing flyers.

During a press conference Monday, police outlined other similarities that lead them to believe the cases are linked: two victims belonged to same health club, the killings all occurred during the same general time of day, and more than one woman had showered beforehand.

During a press conference Monday, Krosch and homicide Lt. Gary Learn said that studies of serial killers make it likely that the man is a violent loner, may hold a regular job, and could have taken time off work for a few days after the killings to calm down. They said the killer may have staked out his victim for days before attacking.

Police are certain that someone knows the killer.

“We’re convinced of it,” Krosch said. “Nobody is so much of a loner that nobody in the world knows him. If people are observant and looking and calling in, we’ll catch the guy.”

Five homicide investigators have worked since Jan. 12 on the case of Tiffany Paige Schultz, a 20-year-old San Diego State student, who was the first of the five to die. Schultz, who moonlighted as a nude dancer, was stabbed more than 50 times.

On Feb. 16, Weinhold, a 21-year-old UC San Diego student, was found stabbed to death less than two blocks from Schultz’s apartment.

On April 3, Holly Suzanne Tarr, an 18-year-old high school senior from Michigan, visiting her brother in San Diego, was found stabbed to death at his apartment. Her brother lived at the Buena Vista Apartments, the same complex where Weinhold was slain.

In late May, police booked Luis Lebron, a truck driver, on suspicion of murder in the three cases but released him the same day. The day after Schultz was killed, Christopher Jon Burns, her fiance with whom she shared an apartment, was booked on suspicion of murder and held for five days in County Jail.

There has been no sign in any of the cases that the killer forced his way into the homes, police said. The killings all occurred between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. In each instance except the Schultz case, police found a knife in the house later identified as the murder weapon.

All of the murder locations are linked in another way: San Diego Transit bus line No. 5 stops near each spot. Krosch said police soon would interview bus drivers who are driving that route for possible leads.

They also are comparing notes with authorities in Gainesville, Fla., where five college students were slain last month in apartments near the University of Florida. About 160 police and military personnel have been scouring acres of woods and marshes for clues about the killings.

“They’ve had five murders, with a knife used as a weapon,” Krosch said. “We’re not looking that hard at it (the Florida slaying spree) other than as a base we need to touch. I wouldn’t put much stock into the Gainesville situation but we’re leaving no stone unturned.”

Krosch said a normal homicide investigation usually warrants a team of five investigators. The Clairemont-University City murders are getting 15, including the original team of Sgt. Ed Petrick and four investigators plus Learn, eight new detectives from special operations, and another sergeant.

On Sunday, a team of 35 officers--some on horses, some in helicopters and some with dogs--scoured canyon areas in University City between 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. They found nothing that would help in the investigation, police said.

“You have to keep an investigation manageable to keep from stumbling into each other,” Krosch said. “We feel that we have manageable numbers to handle all our leads.”

Police have begun to brief residents of the areas where the murders occurred.

Aaron Solomon, who lives on an adjacent street just a few houses away from the Clark home, said Monday that police believe the suspect may have had a job delivering flyers to the neighborhood and used that as his method of “casing” victims.

He said police took from his residence a plastic bag used in conjunction with a promotion for the American Cancer Society. Another woman in the neighborhood said a number of homes had received flyers Monday morning from a maid service.

Krosch said police indeed were investigating the connection of the killer to the flyers as one of more than 200 leads they were pursuing. Police also were checking to see who may have made service deliveries during the time of last Thursday’s murder.

The mother-daughter slayings have stunned the neighborhood, residents said.

“Everybody is really shook up,” Solomon said. “The neighbors are thinking maybe it’s somebody who passes out flyers and uses that to try to determine which doors are locked and which aren’t. There has been no forced entry in any of the cases, so the question about flyers has gotten a lot of talk around here.

Solomon’s neighborhood was the scene of activity Monday morning when police responded to reports of a woman’s screams coming from a house on Honors Drive, the same street where the Clarks were murdered. Police said the call amounted to nothing.

Solomon said the area’s Neighborhood Watch group met Sunday night, and more than 100 residents attended. Police are holding a 6:30 p.m. meeting tonight with University City residents at the Standley Junior High School to answer questions and help calm nerves.

The Guardian Angels announced that they intend to patrol University City streets with a nine-member force until the crisis “dies down.”

After the death of Holly Suzanne Tarr on April 3, the Guardian Angels were criticized for harassing young black men in the area who fit the description of the suspect seen running from the scene of the murder.

During the police press conference Monday, officials urged residents throughout the city, especially women, to keep their doors and windows locked and not to open the door for anyone they don’t know.

“Quite frankly, after the third (murder) case in Clairemont, we had a number of officers finding that females had their doors wide open and it concerned our detectives,” Krosch said.

The killer “has restricted himself to a very confined area of the city but we’re not discounting the possibility of him popping up somewhere else,” he said.

Last Thursday’s killings have shaken students at University City High School, where Amber Clark completed her sophomore and junior years.

Brett Weiss, a teacher at the school, said students were “feeling very vulnerable.”

“The female students, especially, are terrified,” said Weiss, who teaches literature. “A lot of them say their parents have them locked inside their houses and have made siblings take college stickers off their cars.”

At the time of her death, the younger Clark was enrolled at Mesa College, and Mesa parking stickers were affixed to the bumper of her car.

“A lot of the kids knew Amber, and of course, they’re very shaken,” Weiss said. “But really, most of the kids are disturbed by this. It’s horrifying, especially with police helicopters hovering over your house. The murders are constantly on the brink of their awareness.

“I think what’s disturbing to a lot of the students and teachers is trying to look for rational explanations to the behavior of a psychopath.”

Mary McNaughton, the principal of University City High, said Amber transferred to another school for her senior year, but she is unsure which one.

“We’re all saddened and shocked that something this violent can happen in our own neighborhood and to someone who went to school here.”

Police announced Monday that a $15,000 reward for information leading to the killer has swelled to $35,000. Of that amount, Crime Stoppers is contributing $5,000, the Police Department is giving $25,000 seized in drug forfeitures and $5,000 is coming from a University City service club.

“Hopefully,” Krosch said, “this will sweeten the pot a little and someone will step forward.”

Those with information are urged to call the Police Department at 531-2500 or Crime Stoppers at 235-TIPS.