Son Arrested in Alleged Conspiracy to Kill, Rob Parents

The son of an Anaheim couple who were gunned down in their home was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of murder in what police called a conspiracy to rob and kill his parents, authorities said.

David Terry, 18, was arrested at noon Tuesday after several hours of intense questioning by Anaheim police investigating the Monday night shooting death of Owen L. Terry, 56, and the wounding of Pauline Terry, 51.

Terry died of a gunshot wound to the head. His wife, who suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, was listed in stable condition Tuesday at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana. Police said an intruder shot the Terrys about 8 p.m. in their home in the 300 block of North Sweetwater Street, a few blocks southwest of Kaiser Foundation Hospital.

A second suspect, identified as Richard L. Rodriguez, 20, of Anaheim, was arrested on suspicion of murder several hours after the shooting. Rodriguez and David Terry were being held in Anaheim City Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail each.

Police released few details of the arrests or their investigation.

“You can say that David (Terry) was involved in setting it up, even if he wasn’t there,” Anaheim Police Lt. Marc Hedgpeth said. “They were conspiring to do it . . . but I can’t say much more than that.”

Hedgpeth did add, however, that Rodriguez is believed to have walked into the Terry home, shot the father and then turned his gun on Pauline Terry, an instructional aide at Riverdale Elementary School since 1976.

Owen Terry was hit in the head. The bullet passed through his brain stem, killing him instantly, according to the Orange County coroner’s office.

Investigators would not speculate on a motive, other than to say that “certain items,” including some jewelry, were taken from the Terry home and later recovered.

Hedgpeth said that little was known of the relationship between the two suspects, but he added that there had been a history of trouble between David Terry and his parents. A neighbor said he was an adopted child.

Though seriously wounded, Pauline Terry managed to dial 911 and alert police, telling a dispatcher at 8:08 p.m. that an “intruder” had shot both her and her husband. There was no mention of her son being the intruder, police said.

Within the hour, a manhunt was under way with the aid of a police helicopter and search dogs. According to Hedgpeth, a police dog found Rodriguez hiding in shrubbery in the front yard of a home near the intersection of Gayann and Roni streets, about half a mile east of the Terry home.

“We received a number of phone calls from citizens about a man running through the area,” he said. “They cordoned off the area and found him.”

Several unidentified items allegedly taken from the home were found near Kaiser Hospital, leading police to speculate that Rodriguez may have dropped them while fleeing. Hedgpeth would not identify the items but confirmed reports on a police radio that some jewelry was recovered.

Police would not say if a weapon had been recovered.

The incident left the middle-class neighborhood of single-family homes just north of the Riverside Freeway stunned Monday night.

About 11 p.m., crowds of police and neighbors were gathered in front of the neatly landscaped Terry house at the corner of Sweetwater Street and Riverdale Avenue.

At one point, David Terry drove by in his red, half-ton Toyota pickup truck but didn’t stop.

He was pulled over by officers near an entrance to the Riverside Freeway, and his truck was impounded--though police said at the time that he was not considered a suspect. In the bed of the truck were two large stereo speakers, blaring rock music.

“We questioned him there and released him,” Hedgpeth said. “Then he came in voluntarily (Tuesday) morning, and after more questioning he was arrested and booked on suspicion of murder.”

According to police and neighbors, David Terry fought often with his parents but otherwise was described as quiet and well-mannered. Neighbors said he dropped out of Canyon High School last year, after his junior year, and then left town for about a year. He returned home about 2 months ago.

Rui Ferreira, a 15-year-old friend at Canyon High, described him as a “good friend . . . and a little bit of a rebel.”

Had ‘Anarchy’ Sign

Ariel Rodriguez, 13, a neighbor, said that David used to have a sign reading “anarchy” on the door of his car and was apparently fond of heavy metal music.

At Riverdale Elementary, where Pauline Terry worked with first- and second-graders, colleagues expressed shock at the news.

“She was a real pleasant, wonderful woman,” principal Jim Luft said. “Both she and Owen would do anything for anybody. We can’t imagine this happening to such a nice person.”

Luft said Pauline Terry’s students were being told that she had been injured and were being asked to “say a prayer and keep both her and Owen in their thoughts.” The first- and second-graders were planning to make a get-well card for their teacher and deliver it to the hospital, he said.

“It’s real hard for them to understand,” Luft added. “Most of the kids know about it because she lives in the area. But they don’t really comprehend what happened.”

Elvia Lopez, the Terrys’ next-door neighbor, said they had moved into the neighborhood when the homes were new in 1971. At that time, she said, David Terry was about 2.

‘I Know He’s Adopted’

“I know he’s adopted, but I really don’t know David very well,” she said. “He’s not the kind who makes a lot of racket. He disappeared for about a year and nobody knew where he went, but then he came back.”

Lopez said her husband and children were at home at the time of the shooting, “but they didn’t hear anything.”

Another neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said the Terrys were good neighbors “who were always real considerate. My husband fixed their garage door once and she brought some candy over and thanked us.

“I had heard they always had trouble with David, but he didn’t create any problems in the neighborhood,” she said. “I thought it was just a teen-age thing.”

Times staff writers Nancy Wride and George Bundy Smith contributed to this report.