Lancaster teen held in slaying of three

LANCASTER - A high school student broke into a Lancaster home last month to kill a classmate and went on to slay the teenager and his parents, police charged yesterday.

Alec Devon Kreider, 16, of Lancaster, was arrested after his father told police that his son had confessed to the killings, Manheim Township Police Chief Neil J. Harkins said at a news conference.

Kreider and the teenage victim were friends and fellow Manheim Township High School sophomores, officials said. Authorities said Kevin Haines, 16, had been the target, but they declined comment on a motive.

"This was not a random act," said Lancaster County District Attorney Donald Totaro, who added that authorities believed Kreider had acted alone. "He broke in with the intent to kill."

Haines and his parents - Thomas Alan Haines, 50, and Lisa Ann Haines, 47 - were found stabbed to death May 12 at their house in Manheim Township. Their college-age daughter ran to get help and survived.

Margaret "Maggie" Haines told police that she was awakened by a noise at about 2 a.m. and went into her parents' bedroom, where, she said, she found her father lying on the bed and her mother sitting nearby. Her mother quietly told her to get help.

When police arrived a short time later, they found the parents dead in their bedroom and the son in a hallway.

Kreider went to the home intending to smother Kevin Haines, but instead stabbed him in the neck and chest, according to a police affidavit. Thomas Haines was stabbed in the chest and Lisa Haines in the abdomen.

Kreider was charged as an adult with three counts of murder. He was held without bail after an arraignment yesterday.

Defense lawyer John A. Kenneff said he had asked to postpone a preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday, but otherwise declined comment.

Kreider allegedly confessed Tuesday to his father, Timothy Kreider, who went to police Thursday evening. Police spent the next two days investigating before making an arrest.

Police had previously interviewed the suspect, who continued to go to school until it let out for the summer.