No Charges for Preacher in Death of Transvestite

A minister for the homeless has been released from County Jail after prosecutors decided not to file a murder charge against him in the death of a transvestite prostitute.

Fred Ray Belloff, 58, was arrested Tuesday by San Diego police investigating the death of a man dressed as a woman.

The victim, Donald Pierce, 36, was struck by a car and dragged about 50 feet by a brown station wagon at about 3:30 a.m. Sept. 4.

The incident occurred at 38th Street and University Avenue, where Pierce reportedly worked as a prostitute.

After reviewing the case, the district attorney’s office decided not to file a murder charge and Belloff was released from jail Thursday night.

District attorney spokeswoman Linda Miller said Friday that witnesses to the incident told police that Pierce apparently had robbed the minister.

“Apparently Mr. Pierce ripped off Mr. Belloff, took his money, and left his vehicle,” Miller said.

“He (Belloff) hit Mr. Pierce (with the car) but didn’t know it. We had no way of showing Mr. Belloff intended to hurt Mr. Pierce.”

Miller said she did not know why Pierce was in Belloff’s car, but another witness who was also present and slightly injured verified to prosecutors that Pierce had robbed Belloff.

Belloff, who has a ministry for the homeless under the name of Christ’s Missionary, said two of his followers who came to the county courthouse Thursday. The two young men told a reporter that Belloff’s congregation is larger at certain times of the year due to weather conditions, because the congregation is composed of the homeless.

The minister’s wife, Beth Belloff, told a reporter Sunday that her husband’s arrest was a mistake. She said her husband was in the area that night looking for homeless people who needed jobs. She said her husband’s ministry is near the corner of University and Euclid avenues in East San Diego.

Belloff was robbed by Pierce, she said.

She said reports of her husband’s arrest were embarrassing to their ministry but that they would continue their programs for the homeless in San Diego.

Pierce was the fourth transvestite to die violently in San Diego since June, but even before Belloff was released, police said this incident was not related to the other deaths.

Two transvestites were shot to death in June near the San Diego Wild Animal Park, and another was killed in Normal Heights in early July.