VR #115: Homicide

September 11th, 1975 | S Whitney St

Stolen: Cash

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Suspect Description:

Claude's daughter was interviewed a total of five times by Visalia police - once at the scene, later on that day, and three times in October (the last of which was a hypnosis session). At each interview, she tried her best to recall any physical characteristics of the killer. Unfortunately, she was unable to commit to very many descriptors.

She generally described him as a white male with light skin, between 5'8" and 5'11", possibly in his late twenties, medium to stocky build, angry eyes, strong hands, and a "masculine," low, raspy voice that sounded more like a growl. His mask was a dark ski mask with some kind of white, zig-zag stripes (though at one interview she said they might have been multi-colored). He wore dark clothing and soft shoes that squeaked, possibly tennis shoes.

She felt that his hair was a lighter color, either brown or blonde (basing this on the color of the hair on his hands, his eyebrows, and his complexion).

Investigators asked her at each interview if she could commit to a weight estimate, and she insisted that she was unable to guess his weight at each one. Nevertheless, they forced her to provide a number, and the numbers she provided ranged from 150 lbs to over 170 lbs.

The ski mask may have had the eyes, nose, and mouth cut out. The white zig-zag stripes were near the mouth and may have gone all the way around the mask. The mask seemed to come down to mid-neck level.

She consistently described his hands as having no odor, no jewelry (rings or watches), and no identifying marks (like a scar). In one interview she stated that they were wet, like he was perspiring.

She noted that his actions seemed deliberate and effortless, like he had planned the kidnapping step-by-step.

At a hypnosis session in Los Angeles on October 23rd, she described his face as very round, and described his jaw as being large. Her description of his clothing was more detailed too: he wore a dark windbreaker that was zipped up all the way to his neck and didn't go past his waist, and the windbreaker had cuffs that were tight around his wrists. He wore dark pants (probably slacks, not jeans) that had no breaks or cuffs.