NAPA (KRON) — The Napa County Sheriff’s office has released an update on the preliminary investigation of yesterday’s murder-suicide that ended with a SWAT team and a stand-off. The homicide took place just south of Youngtville yesterday afternoon, in an apparent business deal gone wrong.
Police believe 47-year-old Robert Dahl, of Dahl Vineyards and his 48-year-old business partner, Emad Rasmy Tawfilis were involved in some sort of apposing civil litigation. They scheduled a meeting for yesterday, for a possible settlement conference sans attorneys, when something went horribly, horribly wrong.
According to witnesses, the confrontation began inside the Dahl winery building. At some point during the meeting, Tawfilis felt so threatened that he fled on foot, southbound through the vineyard when Dahl began to follow him in his SUV. As he was running for his life through the vineyard, Tawfilis called 911 dispatch reporting that he had been shot by Robert Dahl and that he was coming after him to kill him. During this pursuit, Dahl fired several shots with a .22 caliber semiautomatic handgun from his car, at Tawfilis.
A wounded Tawfilis made his way to the intersection of Hoffman Lane and Solano Avenue, when he collapsed. Dahl exited his car, approached Tawfilis and executed him with a shot to the head just as police arrived. Dahl quickly got back into his car, and fled the scene northbound on State Route 29, according to police.
“While one of the arriving deputies attempted to render aid to Tawfilis, the other deputies, who were soon joined by officers from the Napa Police Department and helicopter from the California Highway Patrol continued the vehicle pursuit,” said Police Captain Doug Pike.
The pursuit ended when Dahl crashed his car through the gate of a heavily wooded private property on Wall Road. Police temporarily lost sight of Dahl, and were unsure if he fled on foot. Police then called SWAT teams and sent K9 units to flank the SUV. When they approached the vehicle, they discovered Dahl, dead in the passenger seat from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Robert Dahl, a native Minnesotan came to Napa in 2013 to start his own vineyard.
According to the Dahl Vineyards website, “His winery focused on developing many successful third party brands producing and selling millions of cases of wines on their behalf.”