Youth Charged With Schoolmate's Slaying : Secret Torment Led to Tragedy, Police Believe

It led to a first-degree murder charge against the 18-year-old Calabasas High School graduate, accused of gunning down a schoolmate who discovered his secret.

Investigators theorize that events on Rosenkrantz's graduation night, June 21, drove him to kill 17-year-old Steven Redman.

On that night, Redman and his best friend, Rosenkrantz's brother, Joey, also 17, discovered Robert Rosenkrantz in a homosexual embrace with a man whose identity has not been disclosed, according to the police, the slain boy's mother and friends. The youths later told Robert's parents and classmates, friends said.

Called Gentle, Nonviolent

Robert Rosenkrantz is described by friends, teachers and acquaintances as a gentle, nonviolent, hard-working youth. But a week after his humiliating exposure, police have charged, he shot Redman nine times with an Uzi semiautomatic rifle bought a few days earlier with his mother's credit card.

After the slaying, Robert Rosenkrantz fled to Stockton, where he hid for nearly a month. He surrendered on July 23 at the urging of his two lawyers and a psychiatrist, police said.

Charged with first-degree murder, he has pleaded not guilty and is being held in the Los Angeles County Jail without bail awaiting a Sept. 4 hearing. Because the charges carry allegations of special circumstances of premeditation and lying in wait, Rosenkrantz could receive the death penalty or life imprisonment without possibility of parole if he is convicted.

All the gay marches, rallies and political action committees of recent years have not done much to change the social realities at Calabasas High School. Homosexuality is not the kind of thing one reveals for fear of being "totally ostracized, teased and isolated," said Bruce Wilkoff, a Calabasas High School psychology teacher.

"In high school, homosexuality is really a difficult thing for kids to handle," Wilkoff explained. "When I bring it up in class, the reaction is incredible," ranging from epithets to statements such as "they should all be killed."

"Especially for adolescent males, it's very hard to take, very threatening," Wilkoff said.

Peer Pressure

"Most people don't come out of the closet until they are in their 20s," said Albert Ogle, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center in Hollywood. He said peer pressure and fear that parents will stop loving them make teen-age years the hardest time of life for most homosexuals.

The fear is not always unfounded, Ogle said. "We'll call parents of teen-age gay runaways who will say, 'We wish our son was dead.' "

Adele Starr, founder and president of a group called Federation of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, said youths whose homosexuality is suddenly exposed often find the experience so traumatic that they turn to drugs or alcohol, run away from home or commit suicide. Most of her group's membership consists of parents who joined after suicide attempts by a young gay offspring.

Came as a Surprise

Perhaps that is why most students and teachers at Calabasas High School never heard a word about Rosenkrantz's sexual orientation until after Redman's slaying.

The eldest of three sons, Robert Rosenkrantz lived with his family in a spacious home on a large, hilly, tree-lined tract known to neighbors as the "Rosenkrantz Ranch," because of the hens, goat and lamb that range over the property.

Rabbi Bernard Cohen of Temple Solael in Canoga Park, who presided over Rosenkrantz's bar mitzvah and now visits him in jail, remembers him as a "fine person," an assessment generally shared by his teachers and an employer at Scaliche's Italian Restaurant on Ventura Boulevard, where he worked as a pizza delivery man.

When he wasn't working at the restaurant, Rosenkrantz was typing term papers for fellow students on his word processor. He poured much of his earnings into the souped-up cherry-red Mustang he loved to race on Mulholland Drive, friends said.

Rosenkrantz quit the job at the restaurant about six months ago after he hit a child on a bicycle while on a pizza delivery, John Rogan, the restaurant manager, said. The child was not hurt, but Rosenkrantz was "was so upset, he walked off that night," according to Rogan.

Began to Withdraw

Classmates say Rosenkrantz began to withdraw several months ago. He became "quiet" and a little "strange," according to classmate David Gold and several other friends. He underwent a radical physical transformation, losing many pounds. He told those who asked that he had "simply stopped eating" after growing tired of being overweight.

Friends say Rosenkrantz wanted to be a lawyer like his father, and planned to attend junior college in the fall.