Grumpy_Mike:
I did get some RGB LEDs from ebay and I found that about three of the batch of 50 burnt out with only a few mA going through them. I also found that the red was rather dim on all but one of the LEDs. I think that some LEDs you get on ebay are actually from the reject bin.
Sure...but two 27K resistors? Nothing you could possibly do to a LED with 5V and a 27K resistor should kill it.
I'm going with your "not doing what you think you are doing" theory.
For starters: How does he know the LEDs are dead?