LOS ANGELES, Oct. 24 – 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 anything else about him — except that his horn-rim eyeglasses were left at the scene of the Aug. 9 mass slaying, presumably as he fled.

Homicide Lt. 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 belonged neither to Sharon Tate nor to any other of the four slain with her at the actress’ 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.

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 Dr. 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 owner’s left ear apparently is about ¼ to ½ inch higher than his right.

However, both Dr. Hoeft and Lt. 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 Corp., which has more than 200 branches across the nation. A spokesman said the likelihood of tracing them to a single outlet is remote.

While the lenses accommodate an unusually near-sighted person, they are relatively common, he added.

It may be helpful to police, however, that only about 10% of the lenses made by his firm are of plastic, he said. Parents frequently buy them for young children or active young adults. Athletes often wear them because they are shatter-resistant.

The lenses on the glasses found 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 have been questioned as a result of tips following distribution of the flyer, but they have been released.

He said the best police hope is that a doctor or laboratory technician recognizes the glasses from their description in the flyer.

It would be “too astronomical” a task, he said, to check 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 half-way there.”

The lenses’ prescription, according to the flyer prepared by police, is as follows:
Right eye: -300 -25 x 160
Left eye: -375 Sphere PD (peripheral vision) 67.

The American Optical-made frame is described as a “Manhattan,” and is numerically characterized as 46/21 5 1/2.

By JERRY COHEN