Murder Case Spurs Harvard Reward Offer

The University offered a $5000 reward yesterday for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any individual responsible for the murder of Business School employee Carol Peterson.

Charles U. Daly, vice president for government and community affairs, said yesterday that his office is coordinating the reward offer, and will provide the money "when and if a suspect is apprehended."

Daly said he would be glad to provide some money out of his office's budget, and added that "to my knowledge, a reward of this kind has not been offered by the University in the past, and certainly not in the last few years."

Peterson, who was murdered last week in the vestibule of her Cambridge apartment house, was an administrative assistant to Lawrence E. Fourakger, dean of the Business School.

Daly said he consulted with David Gorski, director of security, before making the decision to offer the reward, and that Gorski advised him that a reward might be effective.

Delivered to Police

Daly said that a letter announcing the reward was hand delivered yesterday to the office of Cambridge Police Chief Frank Pisani.

However, a spokesman for the police department said yesterday that Pisani may not have received a copy of the letter.

"The letter didn't get delivered into his hands. He knew about the reward only because the news media had been calling him about it all day," the spokesman said.

Gorski said that "the effort is definitely being coordinated through the Cambridge Police, although they should have been contacted, which they weren't."

Chief Pisani could not be reached for comment last evening.

The letter, released to the public yesterday afternoon, stated that the reward would be paid to any individual who provides police with previously unknown information concerning the murderer of Peterson "upon final conviction of the person or persons guilty."

In addition, according to the letter, any dispute that arises "over the reward or claims put forward therefor" is to be settled by an independent arbitrator appointed by the University.

Daly said that any person with information of assistance in the investigation of the murder should notify the Cambridge police department's homicide unit.

Police said yesterday they believed Peterson was attacked just after unlocking a door on the ground floor.

She had worked for Harvard since 1949 and was Fouraker's assistant since 1972.