Death Urged for Killer of 6 Women : Courts: Jury recommends that Cleophus Prince Jr. be executed for slayings in 1990 that terrorized San Diego. Judge sets sentencing for Oct. 12.

A former Navy mechanic given the boyhood nickname of “Little Pie” because of his moonish face and easygoing disposition, stands to become the 371st person on California’s Death Row after a jury recommended Tuesday that he be executed for the stabbing deaths of six women in 1990.

The jury deliberated two days on a sentencing recommendation for Cleophus Prince Jr., 26, who was convicted last month on all 27 counts against him, including the rape of one victim and numerous counts of burglary and attempted burglary.

The jury recommended death as the punishment for all six slayings. San Diego County Superior Court Judge Charles R. Hayes then dismissed the 21 lesser counts and set sentencing for Oct. 12.

Prince remained motionless and stared straight ahead throughout the polling of the jury. Upon entering and leaving the courtroom, he offered a wan smile to his mother, Dorothy Prince of Birmingham, Ala., who later collapsed outside the courtroom.

Prince’s father, Cleophus Prince Sr., was not present at Tuesday’s hearing; he suffered an apparent heart attack in San Diego late Monday, defense attorney Loren Mandel said. The elder Prince returned to Alabama after his release from a hospital.

As each juror responded “yes” to whether they had opted for the death penalty, jury foreman Thurman Killens hesitated when asked if he had voted for a death sentence in connection with the slaying of Holly Suzanne Tarr, an 18-year-old actress from Okemos, Mich.

Tarr was killed while visiting her brother, a General Dynamics employee, during the spring break of her senior year of high school.

Killens held his head in his hands and cried softly. Finally, he looked up and, with tears streaming down his face, answered “yes.” Juror Jacquelyn Barker also broke down during the polling process.

Tarr’s mother, Dorothy Rubin of Chicago, said she believed that justice had been served but worried that years may pass before Prince is executed. Robert Alton Harris, the last person executed in California, was put to death in the gas chamber in 1992 for slayings he committed in 1978.

“It doesn’t bring Holly back,” Rubin said. “We may have another 10 years to go, and that’s not right.”

Defense attorney Mandel said of the jury’s recommendation: “I’m very sad (but) I’m not surprised. It’s one more needless death . . . but I think it will happen.”

The Tarr case may become a factor in Prince’s appeal. Mandel took issue with a videotape played during a portion of the trial. The tape, made months before Tarr’s death, depicted a radiant young woman who dreamed of becoming a Broadway actress.

During the playing of the tape, Mandel broke down and cried, forcing the judge to call a recess. Mandel said later that the tape reminded him of his own teen-age daughters. But on Tuesday, he said the tape may have “manipulated” the jury unfairly.

In a series of killings that provoked the largest police search in San Diego history, Prince came to be known as “the Clairemont killer,” referring to the neighborhood in which the first three victims were slain.

The crimes, which terrorized the nation’s sixth-largest city for most of a year, followed an eerie pattern that forced many women to flee the Clairemont area or keep weapons within reach.

Several victims were stalked; one was followed from a fitness club near Miramar Naval Air Station, where Prince had been stationed until December, 1989. Each victim was stabbed repeatedly with knives from their own kitchens, one as many as 50 times.

Prince’s demeanor throughout the trial baffled the victims’ families.

“I’m amazed that he’s still so stoic,” said Joseph Lazzaro, whose wife, Pamela Gail Clark, 42, and stepdaughter, Amber Clark, 18, were Prince’s fifth and sixth victims. “I mean he just sits there, like a statue. . . . He remains a curiosity.”