Police Release Drawing of Possible Killer : Crime: Authorities believe the man may be responsible for a series of robberies near the 72-year-old victim’s Van Nuys home.

Police believe that they are “just a telephone call away” from finding at least one man who savagely beat and killed a 72-year-old woman in her Van Nuys home two months ago.

Detectives on Wednesday released a composite sketch of the man they think killed Aliza Levi on Oct. 11 after breaking into her house. They don’t know the man’s name or if he had an accomplice, but they think that the man, who they believe is a transient, may also be responsible for a series of robberies near Levi’s home in the 7900 block of Norwich Avenue.

Levi’s daughter Iris Levi, 44, says she wants the man caught so justice can be served and, in the process, learn the answers to her haunting question:

“Why did he have to kill her? Why?” she asked. “He could have just tied her up and taken what he wanted.”

Aliza Levi surprised a burglar at 12:10 p.m. while her husband was out running errands. The man beat her and stabbed her repeatedly as she screamed and struggled for about three minutes, police said. Her death marked the second time in a week that a Van Nuys senior citizen was slain at home, killings that shocked the community.

The Levis had returned from one of their frequent trips to Europe that week.

The burglar stole a distinctive black deck-style shoe with a reptile-like design, roughly a size 9, from the home.

Police assembled the description of a man seen carrying a shoe like that after the slayings. He is described as a Latino, 140 to 150 pounds, 5-foot-5 to 5-foot-7, 25 to 28 years old with a scar on his left cheek and a bluish-green tattoo of a snake on his right forearm.

“When we started out on this, all we had was a shoe,” Detective Roberta Moore said. “We’ve made a success in putting a face to that shoe.”

Authorities are offering a $25,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the killer or killers.