Jury Convicts Oil Technician of Boss’ Slaying

An oil refinery technician was convicted Thursday of killing a co-worker and wounding another during a shooting rampage two years ago just before a work seminar in Brea.

Jurors deliberated about eight hours before finding Rudy V. Terrenal, 59, of Chino guilty of first-degree murder and assault with a firearm. Terrenal faces up to 42 years to life in state prison when he is sentenced Nov. 3 by Orange County Superior Court Commissioner Richard M. Aronson.

Terrenal was charged in connection with an Oct. 30, 1993, attack that killed David Dawkins, a supervisor at the Mobil Oil Corp., in Torrance. A second co-worker, Steven Bowling, was shot in the chest but survived.

“I am gratified by the verdicts,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Elizabeth Henderson said. “[Dawkins’ relatives] are also glad, I’m sure, that the case is over.”

Defense attorney Joseph Shemaria had argued that Terrenal was paranoid and fired during a psychotic blackout when he was unaware of his actions.

“He thought everybody was after him,” Shemaria said after the verdict. “He has very low self-esteem. He unfortunately began to let his whole life revolve around his work.” Shemaria said Terrenal believed he was about to be fired.

“Obviously, [Terrenal] has a mental disorder, but in this particular case it does not make him less responsible for his conduct,” Henderson said.

The incident took place as refinery workers gathered in Brea for a seminar on hazardous waste.

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Witnesses described an execution-style slaying in which Terrenal stood over Dawkins in the parking lot and kept firing even as the victim pleaded for his life.

A co-worker who testified said Dawkins begged: “Why are you still shooting me? I’m already dead.”

Witnesses said Terrenal calmly waited until police arrived. Police found a second loaded handgun in Terrenal’s van, which was stenciled with the message: “I turned the other cheek, then they hit it too.”

Terrenal was described by co-workers and supervisors as a capable technician, but a loner who seldom joined in the ribbing among technicians at the refinery. He testified he was snubbed by the group and teased about his Filipino heritage. Terrenal said on the witness stand that he remembered nothing about the shooting.

Shemaria argued that Terrenal’s lack of memory was a sign that he had suffered a “psychotic break.”

But Henderson said Terrenal described to investigators some details of the shooting. She suggested he changed his story to fit the blackout scenario.

Dawkins’ wife has filed a wrongful-death suit against Terrenal and Mobil.