Former Roommate of Prince Tells of Robbery Spree, Talk of Stabbings : Justice: Accused murderer discussed how he’d stab to death anyone who surprised them during robberies, felon testifies at hearing.

A convicted felon who once shared an apartment with the man suspected of killing six women in San Diego said Thursday that his former roommate committed frequent burglaries, spoke often of stabbing people and once came home with blood drippings on his pants.

The man was granted immunity in testifying at the preliminary hearing of Cleophus Prince Jr., the 24-year-old Birmingham, Ala., native accused of stabbing to death five women in Clairemont and University City and one in East San Diego during 1990.

Municipal Judge Patricia A. Y. Cowett began the third day of Prince’s hearing by asking the media not to publish or broadcast the witness’s name or photograph or where he is incarcerated.

Cowett said a witness who testified earlier in the week had encountered “problems” with fellow inmates after his voice and photograph revealed his identity.

In some of the most damaging testimony so far, the 21-year-old man from North Carolina said he and Prince moved into the Top of the Hill apartments in East San Diego during 1990 and that their time together was marked by a spree of breaking into homes and robbing them.

He said Prince enjoyed watching attractive women as they lingered by swimming pools in bathing suits. He said that, on one occasion, Prince made a comment about a woman’s attractiveness, and then he and his roommate broke into her apartment.

“Prince said that if, as we entered the apartment, anybody showed up, we would both step to the side,” the witness said, “and he would stab them.”

He said Prince referred to stabbings more than once but never admitted having killed any of the victims in the so-called Clairemont-University City series.

“He said at times he had to go into houses and kill people,” the roommate said. “But I didn’t believe him.”

The man said he based his skepticism on Prince being “a talker,” but as one who sometimes offered detailed descriptions of homicidal techniques:

“He said he would stab them in the neck and try to go to the heart with it (the knife). He said that was the best way to kill people.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Daniel Lamborn asked the witness if Prince “ever talked about what he would do upon entering a house?”

“If anybody was there,” the man said, “he would kill them.”

One evening, the man said Prince arrived home with blood splattered on his pants, saying he “had had a fight with his girlfriend . . . one of his girlfriends.”

The witness said Prince drove a gray Chevrolet Cavalier, similar to one a black man was seen driving away from the Buena Vista Gardens on the afternoon in April, 1990, when Holly Suzanne Tarr, who had been lounging at the apartment swimming pool, was killed in her brother’s apartment.

And the man said that, in one of the apartment robberies they committed together, Prince took a big butcher knife from the kitchen and kept it. Police say each of the six victims in the series was stabbed repeatedly--with large knives of varying sizes.

He said that, for part of the time he lived with Prince, their other roommate was Charla M. Lewis, Prince’s girlfriend, who is scheduled to testify today. But later, Lewis moved out, the man said, and he and Prince moved into a larger unit in the same building.

It was during this period, he said, that Prince became far more vocal about burglaries and stabbings and even encouraged his friend to come along on numerous break-ins.

Prince is accused of having stolen jewelry from women that police say he stabbed to death, and, in one case, raped before killing. Authorities say he stole a ring from Tarr, the third victim in the slayings, and later gave it to Lewis.

Thursday’s witness failed to tie items of stolen jewelry to specific victims, but said Prince hung the rings, bracelets and necklaces on the wall of their apartment or placed them on the dresser in his bedroom.

As the man spoke, Prince gazed at him with a sneering expression, blinking frequently, sometimes glancing away. The man on the witness stand never once looked at Prince, nor did he meet the eyes of Prince’s lawyer on an aggressive cross-examination.

Prosecutors showed that Prince and the man shared the apartment in May, 1990, when Elissa Naomi Keller was found stabbed to death in a building across the street from where Prince and the man lived.

Police say that Prince stole a gold nugget ring from Keller.

The man said Prince owned numerous sets of gray cotton gloves, which he used in breaking into houses and that his technique of opening doors with a credit card was virtually foolproof.

The next witness was far less effective. Juan Rivera said that in 1990 he worked as a painter and maintenance man at the Buena Vista Gardens apartments, where three of the four Clairemont slayings took place.

Rivera, who testified in Spanish, said through a translator that he observed a black male running “very fast” shortly after Holly Tarr was stabbed on April 3, 1990. Rivera said he was “about 10 meters away” when he saw the man.

He said the man was about 25 or 26 years old and wore a short-sleeved red T-shirt. But Rivera claimed he did not see the man’s face and had no way of knowing what the man looked like, despite having aided police in putting together composite drawings of the suspect.

Such drawings were widely distributed after the Tarr slaying, but Rivera seemed inclined to disavow any role in having contributed.

In reference to a video lineup, in which he identified Prince as the suspect, he said, “No, I can’t say he was the one. I was told I had to pick one of those six persons standing up there.”

Sarah Canfield, a UC San Diego student, and her former roommate, Stephanie Squires, testified about a scary encounter with a man they identified as Prince. Squires, who once lived at Buena Vista Gardens, said Prince was eyeing her one day at her new apartment.

She said he was sitting across from the swimming pool at an apartment complex near University Towne Centre, where she moved after leaving Clairemont.

Three days later, in late April, 1990, Canfield said, she was baking Squires a birthday cake while standing in the kitchen in her bathing suit. She, too, frequently used the pool, she said.

She said the door was locked, but the knob began turning. Canfield said she thought it was Squires coming home unexpectedly, but instead of opening the door, she looked out the peephole and saw a man she identified “positively” as Prince.

“He was looking out toward the pool,” Canfield said. “He was playing with the whiskers on his chin and looked a little bit nervous, which is why I didn’t open the door. Ordinarily, I would have.”

Canfield called the police. Several days later, she and Squires identified Prince in a video lineup as the man they had seen.

The hearing resumes at 9 a.m. today.