Robert Chien Nan Chan

The 17 years of Stuart A. Tay's life could not have been more strikingly different than his last day alive. The bespectacled honors student with a renaissance range of talent lay crumpled in a muddy back yard grave in Buena Park on a chilly New Year's Eve, his reputation soon to be tarnished by whispers of a robbery plan gone sour and a love triangle involving his accused killer.

A judge on Friday ordered three teen-agers to undergo diagnostic testing at the California Youth Authority before they are sentenced for their roles in the 1992 New Year's Eve murder of honor student Stuart A. Tay. Orange County Superior Court Judge Kathleen E. O'Leary will use the reports to determine whether the teen-agers should be sentenced as adults--and possibly face life in prison--or as teen-agers, in which case they could be released when they turn 25.

Arraignment for Robert Chien-Nan Chan, the alleged ringleader in the murder of high school honor student Stuart A. Tay, was postponed Friday because his new attorney has not yet reviewed all the paperwork pertaining to the case. Chan's attorney, Marshall Schulman, said his client would plead not guilty at his arraignment Jan. 29. Four other juvenile suspects have pleaded not guilty to murder charges, and they face a hearing Feb. 5 to determine whether they will be tried as adults.

The teen-age mastermind of one of Orange County's most unsettling murders was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the slaying of a 17-year-old honors student. Robert Chan, 19, a onetime high school valedictorian candidate, sat impassively as the judge handed down the sentence for the 1992 New Year's Eve killing of Stuart A. Tay of Orange.

An Orange County Superior Court judge ruled Friday that there is insufficient evidence to prove that the alleged ringleader in the slaying of honor student Stuart A. Tay was motivated by financial gain. Despite that ruling by Judge Kathleen E. O'Leary, Robert Chien-nan Chan, 18, faces the possibility of life in prison without parole if convicted of the remaining charges.

The attorney representing a youth implicated in the savage murder of a high school honors student lashed out Friday at police and other defense attorneys who have publicly suggested that his client was the mastermind of the crime. "I don't think there is any evidence (in the case) that deserves this type of finger-pointing," said C. Thomas McDonald, who is representing 18-year-old Robert Chien-Nan Chan. "I think it's totally irresponsible to make such charges."

A jury took less than three hours Tuesday to find a teen-ager guilty of first-degree murder for orchestrating the 1992 New Year's Eve ambush slaying of high school honors student Stuart A. Tay. Robert Chan, 19, of Fullerton, a onetime candidate for valedictorian, now faces life in prison without parole for his role in Tay's death. The 17-year-old Orange resident was beaten with baseball bats, forced to swallow rubbing alcohol and then left to die in a shallow grave in a Buena Park back yard.

More than 800 people crowded into the Sunny Hills High School gymnasium Wednesday night seeking answers to questions that have haunted them since the arrest of five students there for the brutal slaying of Stuart A. Tay. The emotional crowd, still reeling from the New Year's Eve killing of the Foothill High School honor student, included students and parents who worried aloud about safety, the presence of gangs and the availability of drugs and weapons on campus.

Like others his age, Robert Chien-Nan Chan faced the usual highs and lows of life as a teen-ager. But unlike most, he rose above the crowd and was often considered among the best. He traded his eighth-grade violin for cleats to join the football squad during his first two years at Fullerton's Sunny Hills High School. Though a mediocre player, teammates say his hard work and determination earned him the respect of the stars on the team.

Like others his age, Robert Chien-Nan Chan faced the usual highs and lows of life as a teen-ager. But unlike most, he rose above the crowd and was often considered among the best. He traded his eighth-grade violin for cleats to join the football squad his first two years at Fullerton's Sunny Hills High School. Teammates say he was a mediocre player, but his hard work and determination earned him the respect of the stars on the team.

The teen-age mastermind of one of Orange County's most shocking murders was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the slaying of a 17-year-old honors student. Robert Chan, 19, a onetime high school valedictorian candidate, sat impassively as the judge pronounced the sentencing for the 1992 New Year's Eve killing of Stuart A. Tay of Orange.

The award-winning novel Robert Chan blames for his brutal slaying of a fellow honor student is widely read but often misunderstood by bright young people, Orange County educators said Monday. Albert Camus' "The Stranger," a 123-page book with simple language and straightforward narrative covering complex, dense philosophical concepts, commonly serves as an introduction to existentialism for high school and college students.

Robert Chan was one of the brightest students to ever walk the halls at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton but he was also typical teen: He agonized over acne and clothes and had to work up the nerve to ask out a pretty cheerleader. "I don't date, you know, I don't know any girls," Chan told a Superior Court jury, shrugging shyly and looking boyish in a pale yellow sweater with a white collar peeking over the top.

A jury took less than three hours Tuesday to find a teen-ager guilty of first-degree murder for orchestrating the 1992 New Year's Eve ambush murder of an Orange County honors student. Robert Chan, 19, a onetime candidate for class valedictorian, faces life in prison without parole for his role in the killing of Stuart A. Tay of Orange. The 17-year-old was beaten, forced to drink rubbing alcohol and buried in a shallow grave in a Buena Park back yard.

A jury took less than three hours Tuesday to find a teen-ager guilty of first-degree murder for orchestrating the 1992 New Year's Eve ambush slaying of high school honors student Stuart A. Tay. Robert Chan, 19, of Fullerton, a onetime candidate for valedictorian, now faces life in prison without parole for his role in Tay's death. The 17-year-old Orange resident was beaten with baseball bats, forced to swallow rubbing alcohol and then left to die in a shallow grave in a Buena Park back yard.

Jurors were asked Monday to choose between first-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter convictions for a teen-ager accused of masterminding the 1992 New Year's Eve slaying of honor student Stuart A. Tay. Deputy Dist. Atty. Lewis R. Rosenblum told the Orange County Superior Court jury that it could disregard the prosecution's entire case and still have enough evidence from Robert Chan's own testimony to prove he is guilty of murdering Tay, 17, of Orange.

Robert Chan was one of the brightest students to ever walk the halls at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton but he was also typical teen: He agonized over acne and clothes and had to work up the nerve to ask out a pretty cheerleader. "I don't date, you know, I don't know any girls," Chan told a Superior Court jury, shrugging shyly and looking boyish in a pale yellow sweater with a white collar peeking over the top.

Robert Chan refused to bathe, slept with the lights on and became convinced strangers were out to hurt him in the weeks before he allegedly plotted the 1992 New Year's Eve slaying of honors student Stuart A. Tay, the defendant's mother testified Tuesday. Shu Chan said she and her husband were so worried about their 18-year-old son that they forced him to see a psychotherapist in November, 1992.

Robert Chan, the teen-ager accused of masterminding the 1992 New Year's Eve slaying of a high school honor student, testified for the first time Wednesday that he helped four other youths bludgeon and bury the victim but claimed he was only following orders. Chan, 19, told an Orange County Superior Court jury that he joined in the slaying because he believed the victim, Stuart A. Tay, had rigged his Fullerton home with explosives and was going to kill him.

A teen-ager accused of masterminding the 1992 New Year's Eve slaying of a high school honors student testified Wednesday that he helped four other youths bludgeon and bury the victim, but said he was only following orders. Robert Chan, 19, told an Orange County Superior Court jury that he joined in the slaying because he believed that his home might have been rigged with explosives by the victim, Stuart A. Tay.