Cleophus Prince Jr.

Last updated

Cleophus Prince Jr.
CleophusPrince.jpg
Born (1967-07-24) July 24, 1967 (age 56)
Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Other namesThe Clairemont Killer
OccupationFormer Navy mechanic
Criminal statusIn prison
Conviction(s) July 12, 1993
Criminal charge
Penalty Death
Details
Span of crimes
January 12 –September 13, 1990
State(s) California
Location(s) Clairemont Mesa and University City neighborhoods of San Diego
Killed6
Date apprehended
March 3, 1991
Imprisoned at San Quentin State Prison

Cleophus Prince Jr. (born July 24, 1967) is an American serial killer who was convicted and sentenced to death in 1993 [1] for the rape and murder of six women in San Diego County, California. The killings occurred between January and September 1990 and became known as the Clairemont serial killings as most of the murders took place there. Before these crimes and while serving in the United States Navy, Prince was court-martialed in 1989 due to larceny. Upon being convicted, he was recommended to be discharged after serving his sentence. Multiple books have been written on Prince and his crimes.

Contents

Crimes

Cleophus Prince was court-martialed in October 1989 and convicted of larceny. After serving a brief sentence, he was recommended for discharge from the Navy. Two months later, he moved into the Buena Vista Gardens apartment complex, [2] which was close to the location of the first three murders. He lived at the Buena Vista complex until May 2, 1990. [3]

Before his arrest, police characterized the then-unknown serial killer as a "disorganized opportunist"[ citation needed ] for the common patterns in the crimes. In each case, Prince entered the female victim's residence during daylight hours through an unlocked door or window, surprising them during or just after they bathed and stabbing them to death with knives taken from their kitchen. [4] Police also theorized that Prince may have stalked some of his victims, including Pamela Clark, by following them home from a fitness club in the Miramar neighborhood, [5] near his former girlfriend's residence. [3]

In addition to the murders, Prince was convicted of multiple burglaries and attempted burglaries from April 1990 through February 1991. [6]

Murder victims

Apprehension

A composite drawing of the killer was distributed in April 1990 based on an eyewitness description; a maintenance worker had seen the killer fleeing the Buena Vista Gardens apartment complex following Holly Tarr's death. [17] [18] San Diego police initially focused their attention on an accused rapist in January 1991, citing similarities in the suspect's description, method and opportunity. [19]

Prince was caught in February 1991 after he tried to break into a Scripps Ranch house. [20] A woman whom he followed home from the Miramar Road health club was getting ready to shower when she heard a noise at the front door. She ran from the house and sought help from a neighbor, who came and confronted Prince. Prince claimed he was trying to find a female friend who had entered the woman's home, [6] but eventually gave up and scuttled away. The eyewitnesses took Prince's license plate number and identified him from photographs. He was arrested on February 4, 1991, in the parking lot of a health club after police alerted health club workers to be on the lookout for his automobile. [5] [6] After his arrest, Prince agreed to provide blood. Saliva samples and the DNA results connected him to the murder of Janene Weinhold. [21] That murder connected him to the others by the pattern presented by the murders. [20] [22]

Pamela Clark regularly exercised at the Miramar Road health club before noon and a swimming pool attendance log placed Prince in the vicinity of Holly Tarr. [5] Prince struck when he knew his victims would be showering and thus be less attentive to their surroundings. He later bragged about the killings to a friend [21] and took to wearing the dead woman's wedding ring on a chain around his neck. He gave another ring to his girlfriend as a Christmas present after taking it from Tarr. [12] [21]

Arrest

Prince was arrested on an unrelated theft charge on March 3, 1991, in Birmingham, Alabama, where he was visiting family, then released on bail. [23] Birmingham Police East Precinct officer Steven Lampley contacted Prince by phone and told him that there was more bail paperwork that had to be completed. He told Prince that if he came to the precinct office, they would not have to send marked police units to his home (Birmingham Police Department Arrest Report 910313853). [ citation needed ] After six hours of telephone conversations, Prince walked into the precinct with his mother and was taken into custody. [24] He was extradited to San Diego, where the trial was held.

Trial

After viewing physical evidence, a judge ordered Prince to stand trial in March 1992. The defense argued unsuccessfully that Prince should be cleared of three murder charges due to lack of evidence. [22] Prince was found guilty on July 13, 1993, on all six counts of first-degree murder and 21 other felony charges. [25] [26] After later deliberations, the jury rendered a verdict of death, [27] which the judge handed down on November 5, 1993. [1]

Prince is serving his sentence on death row at San Quentin State Prison. [28] Prince appealed his sentence, claiming that extensive media coverage had created a presumption of guilt in the jury pool, but the Supreme Court of California denied his appeal in 2007. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Quentin Rehabilitation Center</span> Mens prison in California, US

San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (SQ), formerly known as San Quentin State Prison, is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chester Turner</span> American serial killer (born 1966)

Chester Dewayne Turner is an American serial killer and sex offender who was sentenced to death for sexually assaulting and murdering fourteen women and an unborn baby in Los Angeles between 1987 and 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Suff</span> American serial killer on death row

William Lester Suff, also known as The Riverside Prostitute Killer and The Lake Elsinore Killer, is an American serial killer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mule Creek State Prison</span> California State Prison for men

Mule Creek State Prison (MCSP) is a California State Prison for men. It was opened in June 1987, and covers 866 acres (350 ha) located in Ione, California. The prison has a staff of 1,242 and an annual operating budget of $157 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Hughes (serial killer)</span> American serial killer

Michael Hubert Hughes is a convicted American serial killer on death row in San Quentin. Hughes was initially sentenced to life without parole for the murders of four women and girls in California. Later, he was convicted of committing three further murders of women, linked to the crimes via DNA profiling. At the second trial, he was sentenced to the death penalty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grim Sleeper</span> American serial killer (1952–2020)

Lonnie David Franklin Jr., better known by the nickname Grim Sleeper, was an American serial killer who was responsible for at least ten murders and one attempted murder in Los Angeles, California from 1984 to 2007. He was also convicted for rape and sexual violence. Franklin earned his nickname when he appeared to have taken a 14-year break from his crimes, from 1988 to 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Floyd Thomas Jr.</span> Convicted American serial killer

John Floyd Thomas Jr. is an American serial killer, serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the murders of seven white women in the Los Angeles area during the 1970s and 1980s. Police suspect Thomas committed 10 to 15 more murders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility</span> Prison near San Diego, California

Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility is a California state prison located in unincorporated southern San Diego County, California, near San Diego. It is a part of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. It is a 780-acre (320 ha) facility. It is the only state prison in San Diego County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodney Alcala</span> American serial killer (1943–2021)

Rodney James Alcala was an American serial killer and sex offender who was sentenced to death in California for five murders committed between 1977 and 1979. He also pleaded guilty and received a sentence of 25 years to life for two further murders committed in New York and was also indicted with a murder in Wyoming, although charges were dropped due to a technicality. While he has been conclusively linked to eight murders, Alcala's true number of victims remains unknown and could be much higher – the actual number could be as high as 130.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Stuart Tay</span> 1992 murder in California, United States

Stuart Anthony Tay, was an American teenager from Orange County, California and a student at Foothill High School. Five teenagers believed that Tay was planning to betray them in a planned theft of computer equipment, so they arranged to kill him. All of the perpetrators were students at Sunny Hills High School. Most of the perpetrators had planned to attend elite colleges and universities, including Ivy League schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfredo Prieto</span> Executed Salvadoran-American serial killer

Alfredo Rolando Prieto was a Salvadoran-American serial killer. After being initially convicted for a single murder, he would later be connected to eight other murders committed in Virginia and California between May 1988 and September 1990 via DNA profiling. Sentenced to death in both states, Prieto was executed by lethal injection in Virginia in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Urdiales</span> American serial killer (1964–2018)

Andrew Urdiales was an American serial killer who was convicted in Illinois in 2002 of killing three women and convicted in California in 2018 of killing five women. He was sentenced to death in California and died by suicide a few months later in California's San Quentin Prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Little</span> American serial killer (1940–2020)

Samuel Little was an American serial killer who confessed to murdering 93 people, nearly all women, between 1970 and 2005. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)'s Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP) has confirmed Little's involvement in at least 60 of the 93 confessed murders, the largest number of confirmed victims for any serial killer in United States history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivan Hill</span> American serial killer

Ivan Jerome Hill, also known by his nickname The 60 Freeway Killer, is an American serial killer who raped and murdered at least eight women in Los Angeles between 1986 and 1994. Hill dumped his victims' corpses along the East-West Highway, known as "California State Route 60", contributing to his nickname. Hill was captured based on DNA profiling nearly a decade after his last murder and was sentenced to death in 2007.

Juan Chavez was a Mexican serial killer who, between 1986 and 1990, killed at least six gay men in three cities in Los Angeles County, California. On June 21, 1999, he was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, but he committed suicide by hanging himself at Folsom State Prison just two months later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bouncing Ball Killer</span> Unidentified American serial killer

The Bouncing Ball Killer, also known as the Bouncing Ball Slayer, the Bouncing Ball Strangler, and the Rubber Ball Strangler, was a serial killer who is believed to have raped and murdered at least six women between May 1959 and June 1960 in Los Angeles, California. A majority of the victims were elderly and all but one was strangled to death. During the investigation, a multitude of suspects were detained, and although one reportedly confessed to the crimes, no one was ever convicted of the murders, and the identity of the killer remains a mystery.

The San Diego serial murders were a series of murders of women that, according to the official investigation's version, occurred between 1985 and 1990 within San Diego, California, and the surrounding area. At least 28 victims were sex workers and were known to use drugs, with four remaining unidentified.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Convicted serial killer gets death sentence". Lodi News-Sentinel. Associated Press. 6 November 1993. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  2. ↑ Granberry, Michael (5 March 1991). "Burglary Try Led Police to Troubled Suspect". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Man charged in 5 San Diego murders investigated in sixth". The Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. 6 March 1991. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  4. ↑ "San Diego area gripped by fear as police search for serial killer". The Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. 15 October 1990. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 Platte, Mark (15 March 1991). "Health Club Link Probed in Serial Slayings". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 People v. Prince, 57Cal. Rptr. 3d543 (Supreme Court of California30 April 2007).
  7. ↑ Granberry, Michael (17 January 1990). "Slain Dancer Felt Trapped, Friends Say". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  8. ↑ Granberry, Michael (12 March 1992). "Fiance of First Alleged Prince Victim Tells of Finding Body". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  9. ↑ Granberry, Michael (1 November 1990). "Slain Student's Parents, Friends Honor Her in Children's Park". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  10. ↑ Granberry, Michael (3 November 1990). "Slain Woman's Father Mad at Mayor's No-Show". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  11. ↑ "Okemos senior slain during a visit to California". The Argus-Press. Associated Press. 4 April 1990. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  12. 1 2 "Serial killer's sentencing hearing cut short". The Argus-Press. Associated Press. 5 August 1993. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  13. ↑ Granberry, Michael (8 April 1990). "Michigan Residents in Shock Over Slain Teen". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  14. ↑ Platte, Mark; Granberry, Michael (7 March 1991). "Suspect Allegedly Had Slain Woman's Ring". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  15. ↑ Platte, Mark (4 March 1992). "Woman Describes Finding Mother's Body". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  16. ↑ Granberry, Michael (13 January 1991). "Serial Killer's Hand Is Still Felt a Year After First Slaying". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  17. ↑ "Police release sketch of suspected killer". Ludington Daily News. Associated Press. 14 April 1990. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  18. ↑ Granberry, Mike (1 November 1990). "Serial killers: most vexing of all". Gainesville Sun. Los Angeles Times. pp. 1A, 8A. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  19. ↑ Montes, Eduardo (16 January 1991). "Slayings probe focuses on alleged rapist". Ocala Star-Banner. Associated Press. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  20. 1 2 Moran, Greg (1 May 2007). "Death sentence is not overturned for 1990 S.D. murders". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  21. 1 2 3 "Genetic tests tie Alabama man to murder". The Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. 4 March 1992. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  22. 1 2 "Alabama man will stand trial for six murders". The Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. 12 March 1992. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  23. ↑ "Manhunt for suspected murderer ends in Alabama". Gadsden Times. Associated Press. 4 March 1991. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  24. ↑ "Arrest in San Diego slayings". Lodi News-Sentinel. Associated Press. 4 March 1991. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  25. ↑ Granberry, Michael (14 July 1993). "Guilty Verdict Reached in Deaths of 6 Women : Crime: Cleophus Prince is convicted on all 27 counts against him in the San Diego-area series of stabbings. He could receive the death penalty". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 28 June 2024.
  26. ↑ Greenberg, Brigitte (15 July 1993). "Alabama man faces death penalty for serial killings". The Tuscaloosa News. Associated Press. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  27. ↑ "Jury set to begin deliberations on fate of convicted serial killer". Gadsden Times. Associated Press. 12 August 1993. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  28. ↑ Ramsland, Katherine. "The Clairemont Killer". truTV Crime Library. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.