Man Held in Slaying of Former Roommate : Crime: He and 3 others are accused of kidnaping, beating and stabbing victim.

A Lake Forest mechanic who kicked out his roommate after an argument last weekend will be charged today with later abducting the man, murdering him and then dumping his battered body in Cajon Pass in San Bernardino County.

Jean P. Neuer, 27, and three other men--all from Orange County--are accused of the kidnaping, beating and fatal stabbing of Jody Vincent Robinson, a 20-year-old pool hall attendant who shared an apartment with Neuer before moving out last weekend after the two argued over unpaid rent, according to members of Robinson’s family.

Two other men are being charged as accomplices.

Robinson’s bound body was discovered Monday afternoon by a motorist in Devore. The victim had been stabbed, severely beaten and stripped of his military-style black boots.

The victim’s parents said Thursday that they were told by authorities that the removal of the boots marks the work of racist skinheads, but authorities said they are not treating the slaying as racially motivated. Robinson is black. Neuer and three other suspects are white, one suspect is Asian American and one is black.

“Some of the people involved may, in fact, be skinheads,” said Sgt. Warren Nobles of the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department. “They’re not telling us that. There’s nothing to suggest that this was a deliberate skinhead attack on someone who’s black. . . . What we have is a roommate fight where the roommate solicits some friends to help him get rid of a guy.”

Robinson’s mother, Rae Ann Robinson of Rancho Santa Margarita, said, “It’s hard to think they would do something like this over rent money.”

The others facing murder charges are Michael Bukowski, 20, of San Juan Capistrano, Christopher Roy, 20, of San Clemente and Andrew Irving, 21, described by police as a transient who lives in Orange County.

Timothy Nguyen, 25, of Lake Forest and Ladell Hill, 22, of Glendora are being charged as accessories to the slaying.

All six are being held without bail in San Bernardino County.

Relatives and acquaintances said Thursday that Robinson and Neuer had quarreled over household finances since they began rooming together about a month ago.

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Neuer, a mechanic at an equipment-rental store in Mission Viejo, complained to co-workers that Robinson didn’t pay rent and telephone bills and wouldn’t move out. Neuer told them once that Robinson had threatened him and his girlfriend with a pool stick.

Neuer “was looking for a way to get rid of the guy and just couldn’t get rid of him,” said Bob Street, who hired Neuer two months ago to fix equipment at Mission Viejo Rentals. He described Neuer as a capable mechanic but “flaky” and often late for work.

Street said Neuer’s complaints subsided when Robinson found work recently. Rae Ann Robinson said that about two weeks ago her son landed jobs at Fezziwig’s Family Fun Center in Mission Viejo and at a Jiffy Lube in Lake Forest.

But an argument broke out on Saturday over rent, and Neuer announced he had a new roommate, Rae Ann Robinson said. Robinson was kicked out that day and he stayed with a co-worker, she said. He visited his parents on Sunday.

“He thought everything was resolved. He left. He left all that behind,” said Rae Ann Robinson.

Police said that when Robinson finished work at the pool hall about 3 a.m. Monday, he was greeted by Irving, Bukowski and Roy--all acquaintances of his--and accepted their offer of a ride. They took Robinson to Neuer’s apartment building, where Neuer and the others bound and gagged him and put him in the trunk of a car, authorities said. Robinson was driven to a dirt road just off Interstate 15, killed and left there, investigators said.

“They beat him and stabbed him and took his boots and left him laying there,” said Rae Ann Robinson, her voice cracking.

She said Robinson graduated from Trabuco Hills High School in 1991 and later studied architecture for one semester at Saddleback College. Robinson’s 3-year-old daughter, who lives in Atlanta with her mother, has been staying with his parents for two months.

“He was a real good kid, real outgoing and well-liked by everybody I know,” said David Leahy, a friend who lives near Robinson’s parents in Rancho Santa Margarita. “He was such a friendly kid. He’d associate with people I didn’t think he should associate with.”