Detectives in the State College Bureau of Police Services are pursuing a new lead in the four-year-long investigation of the murder of Dana Bailey, a University student who was stabbed to death in her State College apartment.

Tom Jordan, a State College police investigator, said an anonymous tipster provided information about a possible suspect during the last two weeks.

The suspect worked for a heating contractor at the time of the killing and would have been familiar with rooftops near Bailey's apartment, according to the tip.

The informant, who did not reveal his identity, would not phone the police because he said he is wanted by police. Instead he gave the tip to a third party, who forwarded it to police.

The suspect is described as a 5-foot-10-inch white male with curly, dark hair. He drove a gold or bronze Pontiac Trans Am with stripes. Jordan said the police are following the lead because of this and other similarities between this tip and FBI composites.

Police found Bailey's body on March 5, 1987, at her apartment, 132½ S. Allen St., above Crabtree Jewelers. She sustained six or seven stab wounds to the heart and lungs. Bailey was 21.

Before the informant came forward, police had already suspected that Bailey's killer stalked her from an abandoned apartment above Graham's Newsstand, 124 S. Allen St., and entered her room through an unlocked kitchen window.

Police have asked that the informant contact them with more information about the suspect. They are asking him to call either Centre County Crime Stoppers (1-800-352-7463) or Operation Crimetap (234-0909).

The informant contacted a guest on a television show titled "Getting Away with Murder." The show, produced by WJAC-TV in Johnstown, aired in February and provided brief summaries of five unsolved murders in the station's viewing area. Before the show ended, the informant called one of the guests that had been interviewed regarding Bailey's murder.

The informant told the guest he could not call the police, but would like to make his information known to them. The guest then phoned police with a description of the suspect.

Jordan said he was not in a position to grant immunity to the informant, but that the phone lines provide anonymity.

Police are contacting heating contractors in Centre, Huntingdon and Clearfield counties and asking the companies to retrieve work orders that could help identify possible suspects.

At the outset of the investigation in 1987, police mistakenly released a photograph to the local news media that depicted a woman who was not the victim. Police quickly found and released a photograph of Bailey.

In subsequent weeks, rumors circulated among University students that a second stabbing victim had been found.

In April 1987 police announced that a $15,000 reward was being offered to anyone providing information leading to the conviction of Bailey's murderer. An informant is still eligible to receive that reward, Jordan said.

The FBI formed a composite of the killer that was also released by police in April 1987. That composite described the killer as an unkempt white male, age 20 to 26, who probably lived and worked in the area. Jordan said one of the reasons he is following up on the most recent tip is because it seems to correlate with the FBI's composite.

Marty Radovanic, executive producer of special projects for WJAC's news department, said the station began planning the show "Getting Away with Murder" last year.

"(We) decided to look at some of the more notorious unsolved murders in our viewing area," he said. Radovanic said the show focused on the Bailey murder because it was the most recent.

Radovanic said that three times during the half-hour program he "made a pitch" for residents with information about any of the unsolved murders to call the local authorities.

Mike Porter, WJAC's State College bureau manager, taped the segment of the show that reviewed Bailey's murder.

"After the show aired I saw Tom Jordan and asked him if he got any responses," Porter said. "(Jordan) said there were several callers."

Both Porter and Radovanic said they worked for WJAC at the time of the Bailey murder and remember it well.

"I can remember that it was the kind of crime that just isn't supposed to happen in a community like State College," Radovanic said.

Porter said, "It was strange, so close to our station and the police station . . . right in the heart of town."