Last 2 Defendants in Tay Slaying Found Guilty : Courts: O.C. teens Kirn Kim and Abraham Acosta are convicted of first-degree murder. Life terms are possible.

Two Orange County teen-agers were found guilty Friday of first-degree murder in a 1992 New Year’s Eve slaying that gained nationwide attention as a troubling portrait of youth violence.

Kirn Kim, 18, and Abraham Acosta, 17, were the last of five youths convicted in the killing of Stuart A. Tay, a 17-year-old high school honor student from Orange who aspired to be a doctor like his father.

Kim had acted as lookout while the others lured Tay to the back yard of Acosta’s Buena Park home. Acosta leveled the first of many blows to Tay’s body with a baseball bat. They bludgeoned him and buried him there in a shallow grave.

The five teens, most of them college-bound students at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, wanted Tay dead because they believed he was about to double-cross them in a planned heist of computer equipment.

Jurors said Friday that the case left them emotionally drained, and they expressed concern for the families of Tay and the five assailants who were caught up in the tragedy.

“It was a very difficult case for all of us,” jury forewoman Wilma Johnson said. “Our sympathies and hearts go out to all the members of all the families on both sides.”

“There were a lot of lives hurt,” said juror Jennifer Baker, who wept as the verdicts were read.

Kim closed his eyes tight and blinked several times as the jury announced the guilty verdict that could send him to prison for 25 years to life.

Acosta sat quietly at the defense table until Orange County Superior Court Judge Kathleen E. O’Leary began discussing sentencing. That’s when Acosta broke down, sobbing loudly as defense attorney Denise Gragg put a comforting arm around his shoulder. The judge ordered the courtroom cleared of spectators, but Acosta’s cries could still be heard in the hallway.

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In addition to convicting both youths of first-degree murder, jurors also found that Acosta had ambushed his victim--a so-called special-circumstance finding that means he faces the prospect of life in prison with no parole. But they rejected a second special-circumstance charge that the killing had been for financial gain when Acosta pocketed $100 from Tay’s wallet.

Jurors also acquitted Kim of the special-circumstance allegation that he had ambushed his victim.

The prosecution said both Kim and Acosta joined in plotting the killing, joining a dress rehearsal with their friends, helping dig the grave in advance and agreeing to dump the victim’s car in Compton to make the killing look like a carjacking.

Tay, a student at Foothill High School in Santa Ana, was beaten in Acosta’s garage with bats and a sledgehammer. When he did not die immediately, the youths forced him to drink rubbing alcohol and taped his nose and mouth shut before he was buried in a shallow grave that had been dug 24 hours earlier.

Linda Tay, the victim’s mother, said outside of court Friday that she is not fully satisfied by the verdicts. She said she could not understand why jurors did not conclude Kim was guilty of lying-in-wait for the victim or why Acosta was not convicted of killing for financial gain.

“We all know he did dig the grave the day before,” Linda Tay said of Kim. “Certainly, it was well planned ahead of time.”

The sophisticated murder scheme and the sheer senselessness of the killing grabbed headlines from the start. But the case also shocked Orange County because the assailants and the victim were such unlikely suspects.

Most of them did well in school. The teen-agers spent their time cruising fast-food restaurants, doing homework and playing computer games. They decided to hatch the murder plot because they feared that Tay was going to double-cross them in a computer rip-off.

The ringleader was Robert Chan, 19, of Fullerton, a one-time candidate for valedictorian, who was convicted in a separate trial in May.

Tay was a high-achieving honor student. But Tay also had another side to him, one that was intrigued with crime and gangs and liked to brag about involvement in spy networks and underworld activities. The talk was designed to impress those around him--there was no evidence Tay was involved in criminal conduct.

Tay took on an alias and claimed he was much older when he sought out Chan. The two hatched a plan to rob an Anaheim computer-parts dealer and recruited the four remaining teens to carry out the scheme, the prosecutor said.

When Chan discovered Tay was lying about his age and name, Chan decided to kill Tay.

The key prosecution witness was Charles Choe, 18, of Fullerton, who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for his role in the attack. In return for his testimony against his former co-defendants, Choe was prosecuted as a juvenile. The other teens were prosecuted as adults.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Lewis R. Rosenblum told jurors that the five teens were all fully involved with planning and carrying out the murder scheme. But defense attorneys for Kim and Acosta had argued to jurors that Chan duped their clients into participating in the murder.

Deputy Public Defender Gragg presented evidence that Acosta is a mentally disabled youth who was easily led to believe that he was to strike Tay as part of a teen-age prank to scare the victim--not kill him. The blow did little more than anger Tay, who was then knocked unconscious when Chan took over the beating.

Defense attorney Allan H. Stokke told jurors that his client also was unaware that a murder was underway.

Acosta’s mother avoided reporters after Friday’s hearing. Sook Kim, Kirn Kim’s mother, told reporters that she and her son pray daily for Stuart Tay and his family but said Robert Chan is to blame.

“He is a victim of Robert Chan,” she said of her son. “The only thing different is he is alive. We will be praying for Stuart Tay and family for the rest of our lives.”

Linda Tay said she wants the young men who killed her son to be sentenced to the maximum sentence under law.

The mother said that even though she sat through nearly every moment of the trials in the case, she wonders if she will ever understand how her son could have been murdered.

“But how do you understand kids that want to take another life?”

The Tay Conspiracy

Five Sunny Hills High School teen-agers plotted the murder of honor student Stuart Tay, even having a dress rehearsal hours before his murder on New Year’s Eve, 1992. Afterward, the youths agreed to ditch Tay’s car in Compton, hoping to mislead police into believing Tay was the victim of a random carjacking.

All five youths have been convicted of murder. Here’s where they are now.

Robert Chan

Age: now 19; at 18, he was the only adult at the time of the killing.

Residence: Fullerton

His role: A one-time candidate for valedictorian, Chan masterminded the attack, including buying rubber gloves to eliminate telltale fingerprints. Testimony showed that he administered the bulk of the beating.

Status: Convicted of first-degree murder, including the special circumstance of lying in wait. Faces a possible term of life in prison without parole when he is sentenced Aug. 5.

Abraham Acosta

Age: 17; 16 at time of murder

Residence: Buena Park

His role: Helped dig Tay’s grave in the back yard of his family’s home and was the first to strike the victim with a baseball bat. Acosta later helped bury Tay and pocketed $100 from Tay’s wallet.

Status: Convicted Friday of first-degree murder and lying in wait. Faces possible sentence of life in prison without parole. Must first undergo a 90-day evaluation at the California Youth Authority.

Kirn Young Kim

Age: 17; 16 at time of murder

Residence: Fullerton

His role: A computer whiz, Kim tailed Tay as he was lured to Acosta’s home, then sat outside acting as a lookout. Afterward, Kim disguised himself and dropped Tay’s sports car in Compton--with the keys still in the ignition and the doors open. He received $20 from Tay’s wallet.

Status: Convicted Friday of first-degree murder, he faces a possible sentence of 25 years to life in prison. Must first undergo evaluation at the California Youth Authority.

Charles Choe

Age: 18; 17 at time of murder

Residence: Fullerton

His role: Choe watched the attack and helped bury the body. Testimony indicated he did not take part in the beating but did nothing to stop it.

Status: Only suspect to be prosecuted as a juvenile. Pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against the other four. Expected to be released from the California Youth Authority when he turns 25.

Bong Kang

Age: 19; 17 at time of murder

Residence: Fullerton

His role: Kang pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and lying in wait for striking Tay and assisted in planning and carrying out the murder and burial.

Status: He faces possible sentence of life in prison without parole. Must undergo California Youth Authority evaluation and is expected to be sentenced this fall.

Source: Times reports