Friends Describe Suspect as a Troubled Drug User

A portrait of a disturbed, drug-abusing teen who had previously talked of killing his father emerged Tuesday in the hours after police say the youth shot his father, a rookie police officer and finally himself.

Friends described 17-year-old Christopher Golly as a quiet boy and an undisciplined student who had developed a daily habit of snorting crystal Methedrine, a highly addictive form of amphetamine.

“He was into speed pretty bad,” said James Carieri, 18, a friend in a tightly knit group of teen-agers who met at Granada Hills High School, where Chris was a student until May. “It made him really pumped, really amped. I also think it messed up his head, because sometimes he was on the crazy side.”

During the past several months, Carieri said that Chris told several close friends that he had been on the verge of killing his father and only stopped himself because he was too frightened.

“He thought about it a lot,” Carieri said. “He had a lot of pretty serious fistfights with his dad, and would later call (me) up and say, ‘I almost did it. I almost did it.’ . . . He didn’t do it because he didn’t have the nerve, I guess. But it was just a matter of when.”

Until December, Chris had been enrolled at a continuation school, West Granada High School, after he had transferred there from Granada Hills High School in May. At the regular high school, he had been unable to keep up with assignments because he frequently skipped classes, friends and school officials said. In January he left the continuation school to begin a home-study program.

“He didn’t like school,” said Scott Weingarten, 17, who had known Chris about three years. “If he went to school, he’d do good, but he didn’t go much. But nobody really likes school.”

In his truancy and many other ways, Chris was a typical teen-ager. He liked playing video games and pool and he and his friends favored “speed metal,” a driving, guitar-based music that is a marriage between punk and heavy metal. He and many of his male friends wore haircuts closely cropped on the sides and long on top.

Chris, however, had frequently clashed with his father, Steven Golly, an electrical equipment supplier, who had a reputation for being a strict disciplinarian. The two lived in a Northridge house on Amestoy Avenue with another woman and her son. Chris’ mother, Pamela Golly, died several years ago while she and his father were going through a divorce.

Ernest Reepmaker, Pamela Golly’s father, said his daughter suffered from a drug problem and died of an overdose in October, 1990.

One neighbor, Alexander Frankel--who lived around the corner from the Gollys for more than 15 years--said Steven Golly was an unfriendly, humorless neighbor who used to treat the family dog roughly during walks, grabbing the animal by the collar and yanking him.

“I always thought he would be a difficult father,” said Frankel’s wife, Shirley. “My youngest son is 27 and when he was a little kid Steve caught him throwing rocks into his pool and chastised him severely. He was very cross with children, really a stern individual.”

Despite the friction between them, Steven Golly had bought his son two cars, friends said. First, a souped-up gray 1968 Camaro that was later stolen and, more recently, a Chevy S-10 pickup truck.

Neighboring twins Jeff and Jason Feger, 13, said they had known Chris as long as they can remember, and for years he was a pal.

As youngsters, they traded baseball cards, watched videos together and played baseball in the street in front of their homes. They said Chris was a bright kid in elementary school and junior high.

But Chris had always enjoyed showing off his father’s guns, about 10 of which were kept in a gun case in the living room, “along with plenty of ammo,” said Jeff Feger.

“He said his Dad was a Vietnam vet,” Feger said. “They seemed like a nice, average family.”

In the past two years, some neighbors said Chris began acting the part of a tough kid--ditching school, neglecting his studies and using drugs. The two boys said they had had little to do with him since then.

Neighbor Feri Niaki said Chris had scared her two weeks ago while he was shooting at a bird’s nest in her back yard with a pistol. She yelled at him to stop but then fled inside her house, frightened that he might point the gun at her.

As he waited to be interviewed at the Devonshire police station Tuesday morning, Matt Conner said he was Chris’ best friend and had been at the family’s house Monday night when Chris and his father were arguing. Conner said Chris was angry, talking about getting back at his father, perhaps even killing him.

“I tried to talk him out of it,” Conner said. “He said he wasn’t going to do it; to shoot his father. They were having problems. They were arguing. Family matters. He just said he had had enough. He snapped, basically.”

Later Tuesday, at a McDonald’s restaurant in Chatsworth, a dozen or so of Chris’ friends described him as being caring and protective.

“He wouldn’t let no one do anything to his friends,” said Larry Carlin, a Granada Hills High senior. “He would give you a ride if you needed it, whatever.”

“And he was cute,” another friend chimed in.

When Carlin heard on the radio that a 17-year-old had been at the center of the rampage, he said: “I was laughing about it at first, like, ‘This . . . gets crazy.’ Then I heard the name, and I go, ‘No way.’ ”

But two friends of Golly’s who stopped by the house Tuesday after the shooting described Chris as a daily drug user, a guy who liked to party--first with beer and pot--then, starting at the end of summer, with methamphetamine.

“He sold speed to his little buddies,” in relatively small amounts, said Jamie Kushner, 18. “He wasn’t big time. But he was definitely hooked. He’s been doing it maybe six months.”

Kushner said Golly loved to snort the powdered drug, a stimulant that can keep users awake for days but can cause serious health problems.

Christopher and his friends had a particular penchant for a type of speed known as “Pink Champagne,” because of its color, which sells for about $20 per quarter of a gram--enough, friends said, to get high at least five times.

Kushner said he met Golly because the two were part of a group of local teens who shared interests in drugs, alcohol and music. He recalled that Golly loved bands such as Pantera, Ministry and Metallica, whose loud, aggressive rock ‘n’ roll make them a favorite of mostly teen-age boys.

“We partied,” Kushner said. “That was our relationship. We had real good times, teen-age stuff. We drank our beer, smoked our weed.”

Kushner and Carieri, both students at West Valley Occupational Center, said Chris had been arrested last year for possession of marijuana, but, because he was a minor, his punishment was a suspended license.

Neither teen had met Chris’ father and were only at the house when Chris’ parents were gone, including an occasional house party thrown by Chris.

But up until the shooting, Golly’s troubles with his Dad seemed pretty typical, said Carieri.

“He just went off, went crazy,” Carieri said.

Both youths said they didn’t talk with Chris about future plans beyond an upcoming party or concert.

“All I know is that he was supposed to go to Pink Floyd on April 17,” Carieri said.

Times staff writer Josh Meyer contributed to this story.