Librarian’s Friends Struggle to Understand Her Brutal Death

Friends and colleagues of Marilyn Rains, a former Glendora librarian, still have difficulty understanding her death, even though a jury in Northern California last week convicted Rains’ husband of murdering her to collect more than $100,000 in life insurance.

The Shasta County Superior Court jury found Gregory Rains, 45, a former San Dimas resident, guilty of first-degree murder with a special circumstance under which the ordained minister faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The prosecutor did not seek the death penalty.

“Although this is a heinous crime, Rains did not have any criminal record,” said Shasta County Deputy Dist. Atty. Donna Daly.

Deputy Public Defender Frank O’Connor, who represented Rains, declined comment.

Sentencing is set for Jan. 5.

“I am still frustrated. The verdict did not answer why he did it, and we will probably never know,” said Connie Tiffany, a friend and co-worker of Marilyn Rains in Glendora. “I can’t believe that he did it just for the money.

“We were glued to the trial. We read every word. We were hoping for some explanations.”

Gregory Rains was the western regional representative for HCJB (Heralding Christ Jesus’s Blessings) World Radio since 1989. Because his work involved frequent travel to Northern California, the family decided to relocate in 1991. The couple and their teen-age daughter, Rhonda, moved to Redding, where Marilyn took a job at Simpson College as co-director of the library.

Marilyn Rains, 42, was killed early the morning of Sept. 8, 1992, a few blocks from the family’s Redding home. Police found her body on the pavement next to her car. She had been shot numerous times and her skull was crushed.

Blood, hair and bits of flesh found clinging to the undercarriage of Gregory Rains’ truck matched samples taken from his wife’s body. And a serial number lifted from pieces of a .22 caliber rifle found at the murder scene linked the weapon to Rains, who was arrested nine days after the slaying.

“It’s a sad tragedy for both (of the couple’s) families. I grieve for all of them,” said Luff Johnson, minister of the Lorraine Avenue Baptist Church in Glendora, where the Rainses had attended services for more than a decade.

“It’s a relief that it’s over,” said Marjorie Diener, a retired reference librarian who was a friend of the victim for more than two decades.

“I try not to be hateful, but when I look at him, I say: ‘Greg, how could you do that?’ I hope I can forgive him. I can’t forgive him yet. I still have a lot of anger towards him.

“Sometime I still see her on the street. ‘Oh! There’s Marilyn.’ But it’s not Marilyn.”