Bail Denied in Killing at Missile Plant

The disgruntled worker who is accused of shooting his former supervisor and a labor representative at a San Diego General Dynamics plant will remain in custody without bail as he prepares for his preliminary hearing.

Robert Earl Mack, the 42-year-old Southeast San Diego man who was fired Jan. 15 from his job on the Advanced Cruise Missile assembly line, is charged with murder and attempted murder.

Prosecutors allege that Mack smuggled a gun into a grievance hearing Jan. 24 and shot two men during a break in negotiations.

General Dynamics officials maintain that Mack was fired for repeated absences.

Michael Konz, 25, a General Dynamics labor negotiator, died from a gunshot wound in the back of his head. Supervisor James English, 52, was also shot in the back of the head but he survived and is said to be making a remarkable recovery.

In denying Mack bail during a hearing Friday, San Diego Municipal Court Judge David J. Danielson declared Mack to be “a danger to society.”

“There are very few crimes to justify keeping a man with this (employment) record in custody . . . but this is one of those crimes,” Danielson said.

Defense attorney J. Michael Roake asked Danielson to set “a reasonable bail” because of Mack’s Top Secret clearance and his “distinguished” career at the defense contracting firm.

Calling it a “sort of a blue-collar (Betty) Broderick case,” Roake said his client devoted everything to the company that terminated him.

“You’ve all heard of the battered woman syndrome. In many ways there’s getting to be a situation something like that and it’s the betrayed worker syndrome,” Roake said after Mack’s bail review hearing. “(But) who knows if that’s an active defense.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Sickels urged the judge to deny bail. He said General Dynamics fired Mack “for just cause.”

Noting that English had survived his wounds and was recovering, Sickels said Mack had a “vendetta” against his former manager.

“There’s no reason to think Mr. Mack’s feelings for Mr. English are any different today than they were one week ago when he shot him in the back of the head,” Sickels said.

Danielson set March 13 as date for Mack’s preliminary hearing.