Murder Suspect Switches Plea to Insanity : Homicide: Gregory Rains previously pleaded not guilty in his wife’s death. Trial is scheduled for Nov. 2.

Former San Dimas resident Gregory Rains, accused of murdering his wife, a former Glendora librarian, changed his plea last week to not guilty by reason of insanity.

Rains, 45, who previously pleaded not guilty, entered the new plea Tuesday in Shasta Superior Court in Redding. The trial has been set for Nov. 2.

The new plea means that jurors will decide the case in two phases: first, whether Rains is guilty of murder; then, if convicted, whether he was sane at the time.

An ordained minister married for 20 years to his college sweetheart, Rains is suspected of killing his wife on Sept. 8, 1992.

Marilyn Rains’ body was found in the street a few blocks from the couple’s home in Redding. Well-known in the San Gabriel Valley, they moved to the Northern California city in 1991 when Marilyn Rains took a job there. She had previously worked as assistant director of the Glendora Public Library and headed two library associations.

At 1:50 a.m. on the night of her death, Marilyn Rains was found lying on the pavement beside her 1984 maroon Buick Regal. The car’s motor was still running and its headlights were on. She had been shot numerous times and her head was crushed.

Nine days later, police arrested Gregory Rains after it was determined that blood, hair and bits of flesh found on the undercarriage of his Chevy Blazer matched samples taken from the body of his wife. Rains had told police he was in Vacaville, 2 1/2 hours away, at the time of the killing.

Police suspect Rains killed his wife to collect insurance money to pay off gambling debts. But in court last week, the new plea was entered after Rains’ defense attorney said a psychiatric report revealed Rains was insane at the time of the slaying.