Police at Work on Composite of Palme Killer

STOCKHOLM — Investigators hope to release a composite picture on Thursday of the suspected assassin of Prime Minister Olof Palme, based on sketches by a Swedish portrait artist who may have seen the killer.

Police Chief Hans Holmer told a news conference that a 22-year-old artist had come forward with detailed drawings of a man she saw in an alley minutes after Palme was shot on a Stockholm street Friday.

“She is the first witness to give us a face,” he said. Other witnesses have provided only vague descriptions of the man’s clothing and build.

The identity of the artist, probably the most important witness to have come forward since the manhunt began, is being kept secret.

The woman told police that a man fitting the killer’s still-vague description ran past her soon after the murder. Police said she had a clear view of the man’s face as he passed under a street light and had produced several “very interesting” sketches.

300 Officers in Manhunt

Holmer said that after the latest breakthrough in the investigation he had doubled to 300 the number of officers involved in Sweden’s largest manhunt.

West German police experts from Wiesbaden were due to arrive here tonight with equipment that would enhance the artist’s sketches of the killer.

Swedish press reports said police also want West German help in determining whether the ammunition used to kill Palme could be traced to groups, possibly foreign ones, with West German links.

One of Palme’s sons, Marten, who was with his parents until shortly before the murder near a movie theater Friday night, was quoted today as saying he saw a suspicious-looking man following his father minutes before the assassination.