Man Sought in Calabasas Street Killing Surrenders

An 18-year-old man, sought for almost a month in the gunning down of a 17-year-old acquaintance on a busy Calabasas street, surrendered to homicide detectives early Tuesday at a San Fernando Valley hospital.

Robert Rosenkrantz of Calabasas, accused of the June 28 murder of Steven Redman, also of Calabasas, was arrested by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department detectives at Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

Sgt. William P. McComas said Rosenkrantz had spent most of the time since the murder in Stockton, where he lived with a family whose son he met through a computer message service. The family was unaware that Rosenkrantz was wanted for murder, McComas said.

The surrender occurred after two Rosenkrantz family lawyers convinced him to return home and see a Van Nuys psychiatrist, according to one of the lawyers, Richard Plotin. The psychiatrist checked Rosenkrantz into the Northridge hospital’s psychiatric ward Monday night, Plotin said.

No Resistance

The attorneys then called detectives, who arrested Rosenkrantz without resistance at 2 a.m., McComas said.

Because doctors feared he might commit suicide, Rosenkrantz was taken to the Men’s Central Jail Hospital Ward, where he was being held without bail on suspicion of murder, Detective Patrick Morgan said.

The murder charge alleges “special circumstances” of premeditation and lying in wait, which could bring Rosenkrantz the death penalty, McComas said.

Rosenkrantz is scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. today in Malibu Municipal Court.

‘Very, Very Happy’

“I feel fantastic about it. I’m very, very happy,” said the victim’s mother, Barbara Redman, who became so distraught after the killing of her son that she had to be hospitalized. “Justice needs to be done. I’d like to see him get the maximum penalty.”

Investigators said Rosenkrantz blocked Steven Redman’s car on Las Virgenes Road in Calabasas, argued with him briefly, then opened fire with a 9-millimeter, semiautomatic Uzi rifle. A witness wrote down the license number of Rosenkrantz’s car and reported it to police.

A sheriff’s special weapons unit surrounded the Rosenkrantz family home shortly afterward and lobbed tear gas inside, but the house was empty.

Rosenkrantz’s attorneys turned over to detectives Tuesday the car and a rifle believed to the one used in the slaying, McComas said.

June 21 Fight

Investigators believe the incident grew out of a June 21 fight at the Rosenkrantz family’s summer house in Hermosa Beach. Detectives were unwilling to discuss the reason for the fight. But the victim’s mother said she told them the clash was over allegations that Rosenkrantz was a homosexual.

Barbara Redman said her son went to the Hermosa Beach home with Joseph Rosenkrantz, a close friend and the suspect’s 17-year-old brother. She said her son told her that the fight started after the two younger boys saw Robert Rosenkrantz engaged in a homosexual act with an unidentified man.

Five days later, detectives say, Robert Rosenkrantz went to Turner Sporting Goods Store in Northridge and bought the $550 Uzi, using his mother’s credit card.

After the shooting, he fled to the Sacramento area, where he used the credit card to purchase meals and lodgings, McComas said. Those charge receipts and telephone records allowed detectives to follow his trail to Stockton, where the suspect was taken in by the Forrest Collins family on July 1.

Shocked by Allegations

Collins, whose 16-year-old son Rodney befriended Robert Rosenkrantz and took him home to live, said he and his wife were shocked to learn of the charges against Rosenkrantz.

“When he was here, he was just a fine boy,” said Forrest Collins, who owns a small stable in Stockton. “He helped with the chores around here, inside and out,” His wife, Nanette, said: “We think a lot of that kid. He sure was nice to have around.”

But their son said he was not surprised at the arrest. “I always knew something was wrong, but I never really knew what it was,” Rodney Collins said.

He said he met Robert Rosenkrantz late last month after he saw a witty message about a television program sent by the Calabasas youth to a computer message board, a service through which subscribers communicate via computers.

Computer Correspondence

Detectives said they do not know how Robert Rosenkrantz had access to a computer.

After they sent several messages back and forth, Robert Rosenkrantz called and suggested they have dinner in Sacramento, the younger Collins said. They became friends over dinner and, when Rosenkrantz said he was moving to Stockton, Rodney Collins invited him to move in with his family.

Rosenkrantz grew nervous when police drove by, Rodney Collins said, but he attributed that to the fact that the rear windows of his new friend’s car were illegally tinted.

Rodney Collins said that Rosenkrantz left for several days on two occasions, saying he was going to Los Angeles.

Car Spotted in Calabasas

On one trip, his car was noticed near his Calabasas home. A special weapons team again surrounded the Rosenkrantz house, but the suspect eluded them a second time after taking his stereo from his home. He later gave the stereo to Rodney Collins’ 13-year-old sister, Windy, Morgan said.

Detectives said Rosenkrantz evidently left Stockton late last week after he saw a police car near the Collins home. Police said that gasoline charge receipts show he went to Oregon.

Rosenkrantz also made several calls to Los Angeles after the slaying, charging them to his telephone credit card, detectives said.

Barbara Redman said Rosenkrantz called her about the time of her son’s funeral.

“He asked me if I saw what he did to my son,” she said. “I tried to tell him to come home to give himself up. But he said he was not through.”

Detective said he also called a Woodland Hills pizza parlor, where he formerly worked, to ask for a job reference and a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy he knew from Calabasas High School, where the officer taught a course, to talk about the crime.