SAN DIEGO : Murder Defendant Expected to Testify
The prosecution rested its case Tuesday in the murder trial of Robert Earl Mack, and the fired General Dynamics employee is expected to testify on his own behalf today.
The final witnesses called by Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Sickels to testify were employees of the General Dynamics Convair Division. They described chaos Jan. 24 when shooting broke out after a grievance hearing for Mack.
Joanne Kowalik, chief of employment at the aerospace firm’s Lindberg Field facility, said she heard a “large bang” and later followed Mack as he apparently searched for Michael Konz, a 25-year-old labor negotiator who was killed by a gunshot wound to the back of the head.
Kowalik testified that she came face to face with Mack and saw “a determined look on his face.” During their brief encounter, Kowalik noticed that Mack was carrying a revolver. “He appeared angry” and had “cold eyes,” she said.
A doctor testified that James English has largely recovered from a bullet wound to the back of the head but still needs a great deal of therapy.
Dr. Jerome Charles Stenehgen Jr. said that Mack’s 52-year-old supervisor suffers from a condition similar to severe tunnel vision and has difficulty processing visual information.
Sickels did not call English to the witness stand. Stenehgen said testifying would place undue stress on the injured supervisor.
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