Slaying Suspect’s Bail Set at $1.2 Million

The suspect in the rape and murder of a Fountain Valley woman was being held Friday on $1.2-million bail in Springfield, Mo., where he was charged with shooting a policeman, according to authorities here.

Garden Grove Police Lt. John Woods said Friday that warrants charging Timmy Lee DePriest, 29, with murder, rape and auto theft in connection with the death of Hong Thi Nguyen will probably be filed next week. Officers said there is no rush to file the charges because DePriest is already being held.

Nguyen, 26, was found naked and unconscious Dec. 17 in a vacant lot in Garden Grove near where she worked. She died four hours later in an Orange County hospital from a gunshot wound to the head. An autopsy showed that she had been raped.

DePriest was arrested Thursday evening in downtown Springfield after a 15-block chase with police who recognized him from a drawing given to officers during a briefing. DePriest, according to officers, emptied his .25-caliber revolver, hitting police Cpl. Larry Robinson, 40, in the chest and shoulder. DePriest was eventually subdued by Robinson and three other officers, Springfield Police Lt. David Haun said.

Robinson was released from the hospital Friday.

Chief Assistant Prosecutor Sam Phillips told a judge in Circuit Court in Springfield on Friday that DePriest vowed just before he shot Robinson that he would neither return to prison nor be arrested alive, according to a story in today’s editions of the News-Leader in Springfield.

DePriest, who police said once lived in the Springfield area, was formally charged with first-degree assault on a police officer, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. He was also arraigned on a charge of armed criminal action.

Missouri officials also have charged DePriest with the unlawful use of credit cards and an automobile belonging to Nguyen. They said DePriest had charged $600 of merchandise on Nguyen’s Sears credit card.

In requesting the $1.2-million bail, Phillips said DePriest had at least three prior felony convictions for rape, first-degree robbery and burglary, according to the News-Leader. Phillips said DePriest had fled from police in Springfield and neighboring Republic three times in the last 10 days.

DePriest, appearing calm and dressed in a jail uniform, spoke only once when he told the judge that he was attempting to get an attorney to represent him, the newspaper said.

Woods said Garden Grove police will send investigators to Springfield on Tuesday to search Nguyen’s car, which police allege DePriest took after the murder. Police said DePriest was living in San Bernardino when the slaying occurred.

Police said DePriest arrived in the Springfield area two days after the slaying.