Hempfield Area High School administrators told a Westmoreland County judge on Thursday they were puzzled about the friendship between Robert Laskowski and Ian Bishop, the two teens accused of killing Bishop's 18-year-old brother, Adam.

School officials yesterday described Laskowski as an overt homosexual who had a relationship with a black 12th-grader while Ian Bishop appeared to show racist behavior and animosity toward gays and minorities.

"I saw Ian and Rob walking in the hall together and thought it was an odd couple," said Martin Grbach, 9th-grade principal at Hempfield Area High School. "That's an odd pairing."

Laskowski, 15, of Hempfield's Wendover section, was in court yesterday seeking to have his case transferred from adult to juvenile court. Prosecutors have charged Laskowski with first-degree murder for his role in the April 19 claw-hammer bludgeoning of Adam Bishop in his home.

If Laskowski is tried in adult court and convicted of first-degree murder, he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Should his case be transferred to juvenile court, the most Laskowski could be kept in custody is about six years, until his 21st birthday.

Laskowski's defense presented evidence yesterday that the teen may have been duped into being friends with Ian Bishop and had no prior knowledge of the plot to kill the teen's family.

"Rob did not seem to me to be the kind of person Ian would seek out to form a friendship with. Rob was involved in an overt relationship with an African-American student, two facts that Ian would not approve of," testified Kathy Charlton, building principal at Hempfield Area High School.

Laskowski's efforts to have his case transferred to juvenile court also centered on testimony from psychologist Paul M. Bernstein, who told Judge Debra A. Pezze that the teen should not be incarcerated at all. Bernstein, a professor at Duquesne University, said that based on his interview with Laskowski he believes the teen is not culpable in Adam Bishop's death.

"I don't think he did anything. I'm perplexed by this case," Bernstein said.

Bernstein testified that during a five-hour meeting on July 27, Laskowski told him that he went to the Bishop home the day of the murder to buy marijuana from Ian and to get ready for a drug party.

According to Bernstein, Laskowski had no idea that Ian was going to kill his brother or that there was a plot afoot to murder his parents, even though Ian told Laskowski about a potential murder plot a week earlier.

"He never took seriously Ian's threats," Bernstein said.

Bernstein also said Laskowski was "dumbstruck" when he witnessed Ian Bishop's attack of his brother and only agreed to help to twice move Adam Bishop's body because he was in shock.

Laskowski did not participate in Adam Bishop's beating, Bernstein testified.

Authorities contend Ian Bishop struck his brother at least 15 times in the head with a claw hammer before the boys dragged his body upstairs to the shower in the family's home in the township's Bovard neighborhood.

Bernstein speculated that Laskowski was lured to the Bishop home either to become another victim or to take the blame for Adam's death.

Pezze questioned Laskowski's version of events that day as told to Bernstein. She pointed to conflicting testimony offered at Laskowski's preliminary hearing from a state trooper who said the teen admitted to knowing for at least three days about a plot to kill Adam Bishop and his parents.

Trooper Kirk Nolan testified in June that Laskowski not only was aware of the plot but actively oversaw the timing of the murder and willingly participated in Adam Bishop's slaying.

Bernstein said yesterday he was not aware of Laskowski's confession.

Bernstein also said psychological tests determined Laskowski was not psychotic but a "teenager with an attitude." He testified Laskowski was a "follower" who was easily manipulated, was a drug and alcohol abuser, has normal intelligence and is emotionally stable.

In the aftermath of Adam Bishop's murder, Laskowski has shown symptoms of having post-traumatic stress disorder, Bernstein said.

Eight witnesses in all testified during yesterday's hearing, including two officials of the First Presbyterian Church in Greensburg who told the judge that Laskowski was active in the choir and was well-behaved.

After two days of testimony last month, Pezze ordered Ian Bishop to be tried as an adult. She determined that Bishop was not amenable to treatment in a juvenile facility and that he might still be a danger to the community should he ever be released from custody.

Rich Cholodofsky can be reached at rcholodofsky@tribweb.com or (724) 837-0240.