Eyeglasses Key Clue In Search For Tate Killer
October 24, 1969
Los Angeles Times
By Jerry Cohen
Times Staff Writer
Police are seeking a nearsighted person with an unusually small,
"volleyball-shaped" head as a suspect in the Tate murder case, it was
learned Thursday.
Detectives said they don't know his name or any thing else about
him-except that his horn-rimmed eyeglasses were left at the scene of the
August 9 mass slaying, presumably as he fled.
Homicide Lieutenant Robert Helder displayed the glasses at a press
conference Thursday and said it was his opinion that they probably were
knocked off during a struggle with one of the five victims.
A process of elimination established that the glasses belong to neither
Sharon Tate nor to any other of the four slain with her at the actress's
rented Benedict Canyon Estate, he added.
Helder said the glasses were inside the residence where the bodies of two
of the victims, Miss Tate and hair stylist Jay Sebring, were discovered.
Doesn't Name Spot
But he declined to say exactly where, or if they lay near either Miss
Tate or Sebring.
Helder characterized the glasses as a key clue and said they constituted
the physical evidence, which he had said late last week could "point us in
the direction of the killers."
He repeated that no definite evidence exists to show that more than one
person committed the crime, but from the physical facts, detectives deduce
two or more persons were involved.
The glasses have amber rims, are of a common American make and have
prescription lenses for a person "who would have difficulty getting along
without them," Helder said. The lenses are made of plastic, which is
relatively uncommon.
Indecipherable hand or fingerprint smudges were found on the spectacles,
but no blood stains.
During the press conference, Helder said the owner was "a person" with "a
small or moderate" sized head. He also said he did not know whether the
owner was a man or woman.
But Dr. Wayne Hoeft, who analyzed the glasses for police about six weeks
ago, said the glasses belonged to a male. "They were the type a woman would
not choose,” he said.
The frames were shaped to adapt to an unusually small and remarkably
round head, or "volleyball-shaped," as Doctor Hoeft, president of the Los
Angeles County Optometric Society, described it.
The optometrist pointed out that most persons heads are irregular, from
front to back and from temple to temple, unlike that of the owner of the
glasses found at the slaying scene.
The bows of the glasses also indicated, he added, that the owners left
ear apparently is about 1/4 to 1/2 in. higher than his right.
However, both Dr. Hoff and Lieutenant Helder said the glasses could have
been jarred out of alignment by a blow or by striking the floor.
The spectacles were manufactured by the American Optical Corporation,
which has more than 200 branches across the nation. A spokesman said the
likelihood of tracing it to a single outlet is remote.
While the lenses accommodate an unusually nearsighted person, they are
relatively common, he added.
It may be helpful to police, however, that only about 10% of the lenses
made by this firm are plastic, he said. Parents frequently buy them for
young children or active young adults. Athletes often wear them because they
are shattered-resistant.
The lenses on the glasses were scratched, indicating they were possibly a
year or two old, said Dr. Hoeft.
He said police prepared a flyer on the basis of his analysis, which was
mailed to all members of the county society. In addition, police have made
widespread distribution of the flyer to other optometric and ophthalmology
societies and organizations.
It was understood that at least two persons had been questioned as a
result of tips following distribution of the flyer, but they had been
released.
Hope For Recognition
He said the best police hope is that a doctor or laboratory technician
recognizes the glasses from the description in the flier.
It would be "to astronomical" a task, he said, to check the individual
records of all manufacturers, laboratories and doctors in the nation.
In response to questions, he said he still could not "frankly" speculate
on a motive.
"If we had a motive," he said, "we'd be halfway there."
The lenses prescription, according to the flyer prepared by police, is as
follows:
Right Eye: - 300-25 x 160
Left Eye: - 375 Sphere
P D (peripheral Vision) 67.
The American optical-made frame is described as a " Manhattan," and is
numerically characterized as 46/21 5 1/2.
