Accused Killer of 2 Was Convicted Twice of Assault : Plea: Dean Roger McGrath, who had been ordered by the court not to harass his former girlfriend, said he is not guilty of first-degree murder.

Dean Roger McGrath, accused of shooting to death his ex-girlfriend and her sister and wounding another man last week, had twice before been convicted of beating the girlfriend and was under court orders not to harass her, according to court records.

McGrath, 29, was on probation after being convicted Oct. 17 of misdemeanor battery on Marleene Evelyn Taylor, 32, when he entered the woman’s Sepulveda duplex early July 11 and allegedly shot her and her sister, Kathleen Taylor Fien, 30, with a shotgun.

He also shot Anthony Deluca, 28, as he ran from the house calling for help, police said. Deluca is recovering from shotgun wounds to his arm at an undisclosed hospital, Los Angeles Police Detective Michael Brandt said Friday. Two children, a 4-year-old fathered by Deluca and a 2-year-old fathered by McGrath, were asleep when the attack occurred but were not injured.

McGrath, who was arrested about 12 hours after the shootings, pleaded not guilty Friday to two counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. He could face the death penalty because the crime involved multiple victims, one of several criteria that warrant a death sentence.

After the October battery conviction, McGrath was sentenced to 45 days in jail and 24 months probation. He was ordered by a judge not to harass Taylor, but he repeatedly missed subsequent court appearances on the progress of his probation and failed to enroll in a court-ordered domestic violence program, according to documents.

He eventually enrolled in the program in April and was ordered to return to court Oct. 16 to prove that he had completed it.

In an earlier dispute on Sept. 4, 1987, McGrath grabbed Taylor, with whom he had been living for about a year, by the throat and threw her onto a couch, causing her to hit the back of her head against a wall, according to a police report filed with the court documents. He also struck her mouth with the back of his hand, verbally abused her and kicked a bedroom door off its hinges, the report states.

The couple had been arguing about rent at the Northridge apartment they shared, Taylor told police.

McGrath pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of corporal injury stemming from his arrest in the 1987 case and was sentenced to 24 months probation, court records show. As in the later case, he was ordered not to harass Taylor.

According to the police report, Taylor had filed a previous spousal battery complaint against McGrath in May, 1987, but court documents did not indicate the disposition of that case.

McGrath allegedly killed Taylor and Fien 12 days after being released from County Jail, where he had served 66 days on a drunk-driving warrant. While McGrath was in custody, Deluca either began visiting often or moved into the duplex Taylor shared with Fien.