Murderer Called ‘Predator and Bottom Feeder’ : Sentencing: Prosecutor tells jury the convicted killer of a Fountain Valley woman deserves to be executed.

A convicted murderer with a long history of violence and sexual assaults was described by a prosecutor Monday as a “predator and bottom feeder” who deserves to die for his crimes.

Timothy DePriest, 33, who is already serving a life sentence in another state, showed little emotion during closing arguments in Orange County Superior Court. Jurors must recommend whether he should serve a life sentence or be put to death for the December, 1989, robbery, attempted rape and murder of a Fountain Valley mother.

Deputy Public Defender Lewis W. Clapp asked jurors to spare the life of his client, who suffered an abusive upbringing, mental problems and personality disorders. But Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher J. Evans told jurors that DePriest never showed his victims any mercy.

Hong Thi Nguyen, 26, who worked as a seamstress at a Garden Grove bridal shop, was “beaten like a rag doll” before DePriest shot her in the head and dumped her naked body alongside a trash bin behind a pharmacy, Evans said.

DePriest was convicted of those crimes on Feb. 5.

Evans told jurors that Nguyen risked her life to escape Communist rule in Vietnam and worked hard to seek a better life for her family, only to fall victim to senseless crime.

“He is a predator and bottom feeder,” Evans said, telling jurors that DePriest has “earned” the death penalty. “He enjoys the crimes that he does, he does it over and over for the fun of it.”

During his closing argument, Clapp criticized Evans’ descriptions of DePriest as unfair name calling used to dehumanize DePriest so jurors could more easily condemn him.

Clapp asked jurors to look into their “hearts of hearts” while recalling DePriest’s abusive upbringing and psychiatric reports about his mental defects, as well as the defendant’s mother, who abandoned her son as a youngster and later used drugs with him as he became older.

“The choice belongs to you,” Clapp said.

At the time of Nguyen’s murder, DePriest was on parole in California for an earlier rape. He stole Nguyen’s car after killing her, skipped parole and went to Missouri. There, DePriest sexually assaulted a woman and shot and wounded a police officer who tried to catch him.

He was sentenced in Missouri to life in prison plus 57 years.

While jurors will make a sentencing recommendation, the final decision will be made by Orange County Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey.

If DePriest is sentenced to life in prison, it is unclear in which state he would serve his sentence first. If sentenced to death, DePriest will join other inmates on death row in California.