Magidson's supporters described the former Fremont Christian and Newark Memorial High School student as a lover of stray animals and a friend to gays, lesbians and transgender people.

But prosecutor Connie Campbell declared that Magidson was the ``primary aggressor'' in the beating, strangulation and slaying of Araujo, who had a sexual relationship with Magidson.

Despite the prosecutor's warnings that Magidson would be a danger to the community, a Superior Court judge on Friday ordered him to be released to the custody of a Berkeley-based alcohol and drug treatment center.

The terms of Magidson's release to the New Bridge Foundation demand strict supervision, said his attorney, Michael Thorman. Magidson won't be allowed to talk to anyone but his attorney for the first three weeks of a six-month alcohol rehabilitation program, Thorman said.

Thorman said he didn't know whether Magidson would eventually be allowed visits home as a reward for successfully completing parts of the treatment.

Thorman said that parties at the home of Jose Merel, where the killing took place, had involved ``prodigious'' amounts of alcohol.

Using a combination of cash, bail bonds and property, Magidson's family posted his bail, which Judge Dennis J. McLaughlin raised in January to $1.6 million.

Statements offered by both the prosecution and the defense offer a glimpse of the ever-unfolding case of the four men who stand accused in the Oct. 4 slaying and the life of the person they knew as Lida -- who turned out to be a biological male.

The defense portrays the discovery of Araujo's gender as a surprise that prompted a violent reaction. The prosecution claims the defendants already had their suspicions.

Campbell said Magidson and the other defendants -- Jose Merel, Jaron Nabors and Jason Cazares -- had discussed Araujo's gender for several days before the slaying. It was not an ``unanticipated confrontation,'' Campbell wrote to the court.

Thorman said the prior discussions about Araujo's gender meant little.

``There's a big difference between having a question in one's mind and knowing and planning on the other hand,'' he said. ``The evidence you're going to hear is that there was extreme shock, amazement and bewilderment when they actually learned of the true sexual identity.''

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