YOUNG, WELL-TO-DO, INTELLIGENT – AND CHARGED WITH A BRUTAL MURDER

On New Year’s Eve, five Orange County high school students-most of them brilliant boys from wealthy Asian-American families-allegedly murdered another student. The victim was also wealthy, brilliant and Asian-American.

Based on statements from four of the boys, police say the murder was premeditated and brutal. With baseball bats and a sledgehammer, the suspects say, they destroyed their victim. If ...