HELPING CONVICTS MIGHT HAVE COST CHURCHGOER'S LIFE; MAN FOUND SLAIN IN MOTEL ROOM.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Daily News Staff Writer

Field Terry Simes' relatives say he was a faithful Christian and aspiring actor who spent much of his time visiting jail inmates and ex-convicts and trying to set them on the right track.

They think he was trying to help the man who stabbed him in a Sierra Highway motel room, took his wallet, gold chain, ring and watch and drove off in his BMW sedan.

``The very man that he ministered to is the very man that took his life,'' Simes' sister Edna Kelly said Thursday from the five-bedroom east Palmdale house where her brother lived with their 75-year-old mother. ``This is the way we feel. He gave his life doing God's work. Isn't that the way to go?''

Sheriff's homicide officials said Simes was found stabbed to death on the floor at the Tropic Motel room shortly before 1 a.m. Wednesday. The motel owner said Simes was with another man when he checked in between 10:15 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

Shortly before 1 a.m., the motel owner said, a tenant in a neighboring room called the manager and reported hearing a violent struggle next door. When the manager checked the room, there was no sound of a struggle. The other man came to the door and said Simes had left to buy a drink.

Suspicious, the manager returned to the motel office to contact his boss. While he did, the second man drove off in Simes' car. When the manager checked the room again, he found Simes dead.

``He checked into the motel, and the next thing you know there is a struggle,'' said Los Angeles County sheriff's homicide Sgt. Gean Okada. ``He was killed for an unknown reason.''

Kelly believes her brother was killed because he dressed well and was known to carry money. He frequently rented rooms for ex-convicts and others with nowhere to live, she said.

On Tuesday night, Simes was at home sleeping when he received a phone call, Kelly said. The call came from a woman, but Kelly does not know who. Simes went out, telling his mother to be sure to wake him the next morning at 6.

``He had every intention to return,'' Kelly said.

Simes' family believes the woman knew the man who stabbed Simes and asked Simes to help him out.

Kelly said her brother attended First Missionary Baptist Church in Littlerock and helped many men and women over the years.

``He would give them his last few dollars,'' said Kelly. ``He did all he could for people.''

The Rev. Henry Hearns, First Missionary Baptist Church pastor, said news of Simes' death came hard to the congregation.

``He was in the middle of a ministry,'' Hearns said. ``He visited the jails and would share his food with the hungry.''

Simes was scheduled to start a temporary part-time job Wednesday as a data-entry operator at Jones Intercable and later to begin a permanent federal job. He had been offered a job with the U.S. Postal Service, his sister said.

Simes also was attending Antelope Valley College and had earned a real estate license.

``He wanted to rise to the top,'' Kelly said. ``He wasn't a lazy guy.''

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Photo: Simes