Police Again Beef Up Serial Slaying Task Force

Six detectives have been added to the force investigating the Clairemont-University City serial killings, bringing the total number of officers involved with the case to 34, San Diego police said Tuesday.

At a morning press briefing, Capt. Dick Toneck said the detectives were added late Monday, increasing to 27 the number of full-time investigators assigned to the case.

In addition, Toneck, Deputy Chief Cal Krosch, Lt. Gary Learn and four sergeants are overseeing the case for the San Diego Police Department.

Toneck called the case, in which five women have been stabbed to death inside their homes, the department’s “No. 1 priority” and the “highest-profile” murder investigation he has experienced as a police officer.

He said that, of the 27 detectives working the case, only five are part of a full-time homicide team. He said that, of the department’s six full-time homicide units, only one--a five-person contingent headed by Sgt. Ed Petrick--is assigned exclusively to the serial killing.

He said that officers from departments other than Homicide had been commissioned to work on the case, “and in this situation, we’ve made them homicide officers.”

Toneck was asked about reports that a man fitting the description of the suspect’s composite was seen driving away from an area near the Honors Drive home in University City where Pamela Gail Clark, 42, and her daughter, Amber, 18, were killed Sept. 13.

“I don’t know of anyone who has said they saw this person leave the crime scene,” Toneck said. “We don’t have anybody (any witness) who says they saw this person come out of the house. If we knew anything, we’d tell you. We’d be happy to tell you we had a suspect, but we don’t.

“I wish I had something to report, but there’s nothing new. I’m sorry there’s nothing more.”

Police describe the suspect, who was seen running from the Clairemont apartment where Holly Suzanne Tarr was killed April 3, as a dark-skinned man, 5-foot-7 to 5-foot-10, with a light build and short, dark, curly hair.

Toneck said Monday that police had received more than 1,100 tips from the public, 140 of which were “class A, priority one leads.” He said another 472 had been earmarked for follow-up and telephone contact made on another 200 to 300.

Tuesday he said he had “no new information” about the total number of tips.

A police helicopter was dispatched to University City Tuesday afternoon after callers said they had seen a man in their neighborhood who matched the description of the suspect, as depicted in the composite drawing.

But the calls were a “false alarm,” police said.