Chan Tells Jury of Tay Killing : Trial: He says that he was following orders of another charged in the crime and that the victim planned to blow up his house. ‘I had to kill him because of the bombs.’

Robert Chan, the teen-ager accused of masterminding the 1992 New Year’s Eve slaying of a high school honor student, testified for the first time Wednesday that he helped four other youths bludgeon and bury the victim but claimed he was only following orders.

Chan, 19, told an Orange County Superior Court jury that he joined in the slaying because he believed the victim, Stuart A. Tay, had rigged his Fullerton home with explosives and was going to kill him.

“I had to kill him because of the bombs,” said Chan, looking boyish in a pale yellow pullover sweater and gray slacks. “I had to participate in killing him because that was the only way to stop him, prevent him from blowing me up.”

According to the prosecution, Chan was the ringleader who plotted the murder because he believed Tay was about to double-cross him in a planned robbery of a computer salesman.

But according to the defense, Chan is a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic who killed Tay because he believed that he must kill or be killed.

Tay, 17, of Orange, first contacted Chan in October, 1992. He used an alias and portrayed himself as a 19-year-old crime figure who had more than 100 loyal followers and the ability to pirate computer programs and counterfeit $100 bills, driver licenses and credit cards, Chan told jurors. Tay also bragged about access to high-powered explosives and other weaponry, he said.

Chan said he was “alarmed, amazed” to learn that Tay had spies at his high school who reported back with personal information about Chan, including his address, details about his clothing, even information about a cheerleader Chan had liked a year earlier.

The prosecutor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Lewis R. Rosenblum, has chalked up the bizarre testimony about guns, counterfeiting and spy networks to Tay’s youthful attempts to impress, but he said he doubts the events ever even took place. But the defense says Tay’s bragging fed Chan’s paranoia.

Tay claimed he was handpicking Chan as an associate he could trust, Chan said.

“He seemed pretty powerful by now. Obviously, he had the ability to find out information about me. He had people spying on me,” Chan explained to jurors, adding that that was why he felt he could not refuse to participate in the planned robbery. “I didn’t want to upset him by saying no.”

Chan testified that he tried to avoid contact with Tay but that the victim threatened him with a “nasty” surprise. Chan later became convinced that Tay had rigged his home with powerful explosives and could kill him at the touch of a button, he said.

Chan appeared slightly nervous at the start of his testimony and was repeatedly admonished to speak slowly. During his seven hours on the stand, Chan showed no signs of remorse about the murder and seemed to wear an odd grin as he spoke.

When asked by defense attorney Marshall M. Schulman, Chan said he was not smiling.

“When I talk, that happens. I don’t know why,” he said.

Three others charged in the case, Abraham Acosta, 17, of Buena Park, and Mun Bong Kang, 19, and Kirn Young Kim, 18, both of Fullerton, will go on trial after Chan’s case concludes. The defendants attended Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton.

Tay, a student at Foothill High School in Santa Ana, was beaten before rubbing alcohol was forced down his throat, and his mouth and nose were taped shut. He was then buried in Acosta’s back yard.

The key prosecution witness was a fifth assailant, Charles Choe, 18, of Fullerton, who testified that Chan plotted the murder and personally administered the alcohol and taped Tay’s mouth.

But on Wednesday, Chan told jurors that it was Kang’s idea to kill Tay.

The planned robbery scheme began to unravel when Chan learned that Tay was lying about his identify. Fearing a double-cross, Chan told the others about his suspicions, he said.

“We’ll have to kill him, we can’t trust him,” Chan quoted Kang as saying. Chan told jurors that Acosta planned the attack and said Acosta and Kang landed the first blows.

Chan said he only struck Tay twice and taped his mouth shut at Acosta’s order but insisted that he did not pour the alcohol down the victim’s throat.

Under questioning by his attorney, Chan told jurors that around the time of the slaying, he heard voices, could not sleep without the lights on and was convinced that people were trying to hurt him.

But Chan also told jurors that he knew what he was doing was wrong.

“I knew that we shouldn’t be killing people, no matter what the reason is,” he said.

A onetime contender for class valedictorian, Chan faces life in prison without parole if convicted of all charges. He resumes the witness stand today.