Widow, Children Describe the Shattering of Family’s Dreams : Crime: A jury hears the testimony while considering the death penalty for Fred D. Rose’s killer.

Several jurors wept Monday as the widow and three children of a man who was kidnaped, robbed and executed told how the crime destroyed the family’s dreams, and how their grief and the pain of his loss continue.

“All of my dreams, all of our children’s dreams have been shattered,” said Sharon Rose in Van Nuys Superior Court. “There are really no words to describe it.

“He was going to be there for all of us as we grew old together,” Rose told jurors who must decide whether her husband’s killer will be condemned to death.

The powerful testimony came during the penalty phase of the murder trial for the prison parolee convicted of killing Fred D. Rose. Hoping to persuade a Van Nuys Superior Court jury to recommend the death penalty, prosecutors called the family members to testify against Scott Forrest Collins.

Collins, 21, was convicted last month of executing Rose, 42, in North Hollywood on Jan. 23, 1992, only one month after Collins was paroled from prison. Authorities theorize that Collins abducted Rose at gunpoint near his office in Lancaster and forced the man to drive to the San Fernando Valley.

Prosecutors believe that after using the victim’s ATM card, Collins killed Rose to insure there would be no witnesses to his crime.

The Rose family has moved away, and continues to receive bereavement counseling, but this does little good, Rose said, because she misses the simple, daily exchanges with her husband.

“It’s getting worse and worse as time goes on,” she testified.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Lea Purwin D’Agostino began questioning Rose by showing her enlarged family photos, one of which was taken at the San Diego Zoo during a family vacation. Another was taken Christmas Eve, “31 days before Fred was murdered,” Rose said.

The Roses’ three children also testified, describing the things they miss doing with their father.

“He loved our family, and he loved to do stuff with us,” 14-year-old Heather Rose said, quivering with emotion. “Everybody loved him. He was the most special man you’d ever meet.”

After the family members concluded, defense attorney Bruce Hill began his fight to spare Collins from execution.

A psychiatrist testified that Collins suffered from low self-esteem and an attention deficit disorder. Susan Fukushima also said Collins had an unusually close relationship with his mother, a point that lies at the center of the defense case.

Collins’ mother is scheduled to testify today, and attorneys expect to present closing arguments Thursday.