DALLY CALLED BUBBLY WHEN WIFE WAS GONE.

Byline: Don Holland Daily News Staff Writer

Shortly after his wife disappeared from a Ventura shopping center, accused killer Michael Dally appeared elated and asked a co-worker whether he objected to working with a murder suspect, a witness testified Thursday.

After taking several days off work following the May 1996 disappearance of his wife, Michael Dally appeared ``all bubbly and happy,'' said Jason County, a former Vons stock clerk who worked closely with Dally.

At one point - even before Sherri Dally's remains were found - Michael Dally asked his co-worker, ``You don't mind working with somebody who supposedly killed his wife?'' recalled County.

But during a private conversation, Dally said he missed his wife and wanted her to return home, County said.

The testimony came in the third week of Dally's trial on murder, kidnapping and conspiracy charges. Prosecutors accuse him of masterminding his wife's slaying, which was carried out by his longtime lover, Diana Haun.

Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if Dally is convicted.

County described Dally as a ``take-charge kind of guy'' who liked his women to be obedient. And Haun, who is now serving a life sentence in prison for kidnapping and killing Sherri Dally, was like a puppy who would follow Dally's every command, he said.

``She was like Mike's alter ego,'' said County, who once joked that the couple's relationship was akin to the film ``Fatal Attraction,'' in which a woman becomes obsessed with her lover.

On another occasion, Dally told County that while he loved his wife, he no longer wanted to be with her. At times, Dally would rattle off the phrase, ``It's cheaper to keep her.''

County also testified that although Haun telephoned Dally like clockwork, the pair rarely met while Dally worked the early morning shift. But in the week before Sherri Dally was abducted, Michael Dally and Haun met three or four times in the wee hours of the morning, County said.