Inmate Pleads Not Guilty in 1989 Murder Case

SANTA ANA —  A man currently serving a life sentence in Missouri pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that he raped and murdered a Fountain Valley woman two years ago.

Timothy Lee DePriest is accused of killing Hong Thi Nguyen, whose naked body was found in a Garden Grove alley on Dec. 17, 1989. The 26-year-old seamstress had been shot in the head.

About two weeks after Nguyen’s death, DePriest, 31, sexually assaulted a woman in her home in Missouri and shot at and nearly killed a police officer. He was convicted of those crimes and is serving a life sentence plus 57 years in Missouri, his home state.

The Orange County district attorney’s office is seeking the death penalty against DePriest in connection with the Nguyen murder.

“She was plucked out of the street, raped and shot in the head, and that deserves the death penalty,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher J. Evans, who is prosecuting DePriest. “This is definitely a death penalty crime.”

Public Defender William Kelley, who is representing DePriest, has criticized the district attorney’s office for extraditing his client and forcing an expensive death penalty case on the taxpayers when DePriest is already serving a life prison term.

After DePriest’s arraignment on Monday, Kelley said he presented prosecutors with a deal that would have avoided a costly trial, but ensured that DePriest would remain behind bars for the rest of his life. He said the offer was rejected.

Evans said that Kelley’s offer of a life sentence is no guarantee that the defendant would not eventually be paroled. He noted that DePriest has a parole review scheduled before the year 2000 for the Missouri crimes.

DePriest, who was extradited in October, is being held without bail in Orange County Jail.