1,100 Tips Received on Serial Slayings

Investigators are processing more than 1,100 tips in connection with the stabbing deaths of five women in Clairemont and University City, police said Monday.

And the number of full-time investigators searching for what police believe is a serial killer has been increased to 21, with more increases expected today, Capt. Dick Toneck said at a press briefing.

Of the 1,100 tips phoned into the San Diego Police Department, Toneck characterized 140 as “Class A, priority-1 leads.” He said another 472 have been earmarked for “immediate follow-up” and telephone contact has been made on another 200 to 300.

At a briefing on the investigation Monday morning, Toneck clarified statements made Friday about police having suspects under surveillance.

“What I mean by surveillance is, we need to contact certain people who have been seen as possible suspects,” Toneck said. “As far as the true word of surveillance --sitting there watching and seeing what somebody is doing--(surveillance) in that case is probably a bad term.

“We have a situation where we don’t know who the suspect is, but somebody does. And we’d like to do something before the suspect strikes again. We want people to give us every possible lead they can. We’re buried, but we want more.”

Toneck said six high-ranking police officials also have been assigned to the case. In addition to him, they are Deputy Chief Cal Krosch, Lt. Gary Learn and three sergeants in charge of homicide units.

He characterized Class A tips as ones in which police have “a name or a place where the person may work.” He said investigators have been dispatched to interview people as the natural follow-up to such tips.

But not enough is known about the killer to have a specific suspect in mind, Toneck said.

“He could be just about anybody,” he added. “It’s really hard to say. We don’t know if he’s a construction worker or a businessman. We wish we knew more.”

This much is known: Toneck described the suspect as a dark-skinned man “5-foot-7 to 5-foot-10--we want to keep our options open on that--with a light build and short, dark curly hair.”

He said the composite drawing released after a suspect was seen running from the apartment where Holly Suzanne Tarr was murdered on April 3 is still valid.

Toneck said the number of tips had increased steadily since Pamela Gail Clark, 42, and her daughter Amber Clark, 18, were found stabbed to death in their University City home Sept. 13. He said the morale of the full-time force had been affected by the deluge of tips.

“Based on what I’ve seen, their thought processes now are very high, given the number of tips they have to work on,” he said.

Toneck said the media had been “very good, very fair,” and he attributed the large number of tips to the “high profile” given the case in press and broadcast accounts.

“I want to keep it a main story as much as I can,” he said. “Every time you broadcast something, the phone lights up. As long as it’s news, we want to keep it news--for you, as well as for us.”

He said police are using a psychological profile of the killer that was put together, in part, by the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va. He described the killer as “very savage. . . . He’s stabbed five females for no apparent reason. We don’t have a motive.”

He declined to say whether the killer leaves a “signature” piece of evidence, as serial killers have been known to do.

“Until you catch somebody,” he said, “forensic evidence doesn’t give you a lot of help.”

Toneck also cast doubt on reports that the killer may have arrived at the scene, or left immediately after the killings, by using a San Diego Transit bus (Route No. 5) that serves University City and Clairemont.

And police have eliminated from consideration, he said, a primer-paint-colored Ford Pinto that witnesses claim to have seen the suspect drive away in moments after Tarr was slain.

Toneck called the investigation “unprecedented” and said that it was “the highest-profile serial-type murder case we’ve ever had.”

He said reaction within the city--and particularly the neighborhoods involved--had evolved from one of shock and hysteria to “an understanding of how people can help us.”

“As evidenced by the 1,100 tips, people are starting to understand they need to be more aware of their surroundings and have better security in their homes,” he said. “Some people may be tired of hearing this, but you need to be aware of who’s at your door before you open your door. You need to form Neighborhood Watch groups and be active in them. After you get into your car, lock your car. Beware of your surroundings. That’s the biggest thing we have to say.”