Rehabilitation Is Sought for 3 Tay Murderers : Courts: The Probation Department recommends sending the convicted teen-age killers to the California Youth Authority.

A Probation Department report recommends rehabilitation, not prison, for three teen-agers convicted of brutally murdering honors student Stuart A. Tay in 1992, defense attorneys said Wednesday.

In a report prepared for Friday’s sentencing hearing, the Orange County Probation Department supports sending the convicted teen-age murderers to the California Youth Authority, where they must be released upon turning 25, according to two defense attorneys in the case.

Abraham Acosta, 17, of Buena Park and Mun Bong Kang, 18, of Fullerton face possible sentences of life in prison without parole. Kirn Kim, 18, also of Fullerton, faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

They and two other teen-agers were convicted of ambushing Tay on New Year’s Eve because they believed he was going to double-cross them in a planned robbery of a computer-parts dealer. The robbery never took place.

The case was especially shocking because the teen-age assailants were mostly exceptional youths from loving homes. It was revealed at trial that the killers carefully plotted the ambush attack, even going so far as to rehearse their respective roles shortly before the murder.

Tay, 17, of Orange, was beaten with baseball bats and a sledgehammer before he was forced to drink rubbing alcohol. His nose and mouth were taped shut and he was placed in a shallow grave in Acosta’s back yard, where his corpse was later discovered.

Acosta and Kim were convicted at trial of first-degree murder. Kang pleaded guilty to first-degree murder.

The Probation Department prepares sentencing recommendations in all murder cases, but Orange County Superior Court Judge Kathleen E. O’Leary is not bound by them.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Lewis R. Rosenblum declined Wednesday to discuss the report but said he plans to argue for prison terms.

Acosta’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Denise Gragg, said her client “shouldn’t be sent to prison.” She argued at trial that Acosta is brain-damaged and was easily led by others to participate in the killing.

Attorney Ronald G. Brower, who is representing Kang, said he hopes O’Leary will agree with the Probation Department’s recommendation for his client.

Kim’s defense attorney could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.

The other two assailants already have been sentenced. Robert Chan, 20, a onetime candidate for class valedictorian at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for orchestrating the murder.

Charles Choe, 19, of Fullerton admitted his role in the slaying and agreed to be the prosecution’s chief witness against the other teen-agers. In exchange, the Orange County district attorney’s office prosecuted him as a juvenile, which means Choe will be released from the California Youth Authority when he turns 25.

Except for Chan, all the youths were juveniles at the time of the killing. And all except Choe were tried as adults.