Who wants a client like that long-term?
From what I have read, it seems like this client is the type of person who goes out and hires multiple freelancers to do the same exact project, discarding the freelancers as he goes and refusing to pay because of high prices etc, always looking for that imaginary person who will move mountains for pennies, and never paying anyone he hires along the way for the work done.
I've seen this a lot, and people like this are cheap scammers. They prey on people who don't require at least half-payment up front. And cheap people like this don't advertise other people's services.
OP, my advice would be to get as much as you can - even if only partial what you agreed upon, and never work with this guy again. Since you were able to delete the site from his server, he can no longer be said to be stealing from you, and since you have no written terms you don't have any way to force him to accept the work and pay for it.
Take this whole situation, regardless of outcome, as a learning experience with the key lessons being: 1) always have written and agreed upon terms/contract, 2) always get at least a partial payment up front if you will be investing a lot of time in a project, and 3) always keep pre-production/demo files on your own box, not the clients, until paid.
