Police Link Slain Honor Student to Theft Scheme : Crime: 5 Orange County youths held in killing plotted with victim to steal computer equipment, officers say.

Honors student Stuart Anthony Tay, 17, whose body was discovered in a shallow grave three days after his family reported him missing, had been involved in a scheme to steal computer equipment and was slain by his co-conspirators, police said Tuesday.

Known to teachers and schoolmates as a computer whiz and an Ivy League hopeful, Tay was bludgeoned to death on New Year’s Eve at the Buena Park home of one of five teen-agers with whom he planned the thefts, police said.

The five murder suspects, including a high school academic decathlon team member, killed Tay, of Orange, after they discovered the youth had given them an alias--identifying himself as “Martin”--and became suspicious of him, homicide investigators said.

Police said four of the five youths who were arrested confessed to their roles in the killing.

The murder of the well-regarded student at Foothill High School in Tustin and the arrest of five students from Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton stunned the local education community.

“The whole school is devastated,” said Janis Jones, principal of Foothill High, where Tay excelled not only as a student but also as an after-school activity leader. “As this story continues to unfold, there is a sense of disbelief. The Stuart Tay we remember is a fine, intelligent young man.”

Police present a different portrait of Tay.

On New Year’s Eve when he told his mother he was going to “run an errand,” Tay was actually headed for the Buena Park home to take possession of a handgun he sought to buy. There, his associates were waiting, already planning to kill him for lying to them about his name, police said.

At least three of the youths led Tay to a detached garage and told him the handgun he wanted to purchase was hidden in a box in a corner. “When (Tay) bent over to look at (the) box he was bludgeoned to death,” Browne said.

Lt. Timm Browne of the Orange Police Department said the suspects had questioned Tay’s commitment to the heist and, after realizing they had been deceived, feared he would “burn them in some fashion.”

Two of the five suspects dug a shallow grave in the back yard of the Buena Park house, where one of them lived with his mother, police said.

Police said they did not know what Tay planned to do with the weapon or why he wanted it. Detectives only had sketchy details of the planned theft of computer parts from “an (unnamed) individual.”

Investigators believe the robbery was to have taken place in Anaheim, but “whether it was (at) a home or business they don’t know,” Browne said.

Police got a break in the case when, working with a private detective hired by Tay’s parents, they learned the identity of one of the suspects--a 16-year-old from Fullerton, who then led police to the freshly dug grave, said detectives and Lee Roberts, the Santa Ana private investigator.

One of those arrested was identified as Robert Chiennan Chan, 18, of Fullerton. The names of the other four were not released because they are juveniles. They were described as the 16-year-old from Fullerton, another 16-year-old from Buena Park and two 17-year-olds from Fullerton.

Police declined to say which of the teen-agers they believe bludgeoned Tay or if any of the suspects was an orchestrator of the murder plot.

The Tay family’s lawyer, Edward Djang, said the victim’s family was in seclusion Tuesday with a few relatives.

“It’s just terrible,” said Djang, who said that he has known the family for more than seven years and that Tay had never been in trouble with the law.

“The family really doesn’t understand what has happened,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense. We’re all sort of numb, just blown away by what has happened.”

Tay and Chan were regarded as bright students, and both had applied to attend Princeton University after graduation. Chan had won a spot on the Sunny Hills High School academic decathlon team, which placed fourth overall in its region in December, according to the Orange County Department of Education. In individual competitions, Chan placed fifth in the fine arts category.

“It’s a shock to me,” said a neighbor who knows the Chan family. “He has never been in trouble before and his family is very nice.” The family is so gracious, the neighbor said, that they presented the mail carrier with cognac as a Christmas gift.

At Foothill High School on Tuesday, students observed a moment of silence for Tay. A “crisis team” of counselors, teachers and a psychologist was formed to address students’ emotional needs.

“There is a solemn quietness around the campus,” said Genevieve Koerner, Tay’s counselor for the last four years. “Stuart was a very complex, very intelligent young man.”

Tay ranked 32nd in his class of 283, was founder of an Asian culTure Club, and was a member of the Key Club, the Junior Statesmen of America and the Boy Scouts.

Teachers said Tay had a talent for working with computers and was always willing to help other computer users at the school. He often brought in a lap-top terminal to take notes in class.

School officials said Tay applied for early admission to Princeton, but the university held his application for consideration in the springtime. He told his teachers that he wanted to be a doctor, like his father.

Police said Tay met the five suspects several weeks ago as a result of a mutual interest in computers.

Times staff writers Catherine Gewertz, Mimi Ko, Tom McQueeney, Jodi Wilgoren and Rene Lynch also contributed to this story.