Alec Kreider

Case record: Alec Kreider

Background

Alec Devon Kreider (born February 4, 1991) was a Lancaster County, Pennsylvania teenager. Kreider was in a German class with Kevin Haines and was reported by a fellow student to be “close buddies”. Kreider attended the family’s memorial service on May 19, 2007. Kreider pleaded guilty as a juvenile and was described as 16 at the time of arrest and at sentencing he was described as 17.

The offence

On the morning of May 12, 2007, Kreider allegedly entered the Haines’ residence without force. All three victims died from stab wounds. The victims were Thomas Alan Haines (age 50), Lisa Ann Haines (age 47), and their son Kevin (age 16). Maggie Haines, the daughter and sister of Kevin, escaped physical harm. The intended target was described as Kevin Haines (16). Police described Kreider’s entry as an intended act to kill. Kreider went to the home intending to smother Kevin, but instead stabbed him in the neck and chest, according to a police affidavit. Thomas Haines was stabbed in the chest and his wife in the abdomen.

Kevin Haines put up a significant struggle for his life, but he finally succumbed to 11 stab wounds and 15 other cuts. Kreider’s actions were described as involving a throat injury: “His throat had been ripped out.” A journal excerpt was read at sentencing in which Kreider expressed “want/need to kill people” and admitted having “murderous thoughts.”

“He is a deviant, cowardly triple murderer,” Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman told Judge David Ashworth shortly before he sentenced Kreider to three consecutive life terms without parole — one for each count of first-degree murder to which he pleaded guilty. “He’s going to spend not only the rest of his childhood behind bars, he’s going to spend the rest of his life behind bars,” said David Blanck of the county public defender’s office. “He knows that.” “He was certainly someone who had been looked at and interviewed by police,” Totaro said. “This was not a random act,” said Lancaster County District Attorney Donald Totaro, who added that authorities believe Kreider acted alone. “He broke in with the intent to kill.”

Investigation

The morning timeline began with law enforcement starting around 2:40 a.m. on May 12, 2007. The victims were declared dead shortly after 5 a.m. by deputy county coroners. Autopsies were performed two days later.

Maggie Haines was awakened by a noise in the middle of the night, “smelled blood,” and was told by her mother to go for assistance. Maggie ran from the home and across the street to a neighbor who called 911 for help.

Communication between the neighbor, the call taker at 911, and the dispatcher caused “extreme unnecessary delay” in police response to the “unknown disturbance”. The official timeline noted that it took the first responding officer nearly 12 minutes to arrive from a distance of 4 miles, in the middle of the night with no traffic barriers. Police said this delay had no bearing on the survival of the victims.

The parents were found in their bedroom and Kevin was found at the opposite end of the upstairs hallway on the floor outside his bedroom. Police reports said bloody shoeprints entered the parents’ bedroom and then went to the common upstairs bathroom where a supposed shoeprint was found on the linoleum in front of the sink. Police presumed the murderer attempted to clean up at the sink as blood was also found therein. Bloody shoeprints appeared on lower carpeted steps as the perpetrator exited. Blood transfer was found on the rear sliding glass door exited to the rear of the house.

Bloodhounds tracked “a strong scent of fear” along a path that led down the hill to PA Route 501 and north to a ice cream/fast food restaurant where the scent vanished. Authorities presumed the perpetrator had a vehicle waiting and used it to escape. Despite the tracking by bloodhounds, authorities dismissed the 1.5 mile trail they followed in a direction opposite the alleged path taken by Kreider now presented by law enforcement. Upon Kreider’s arrest all information associated with the bloodhounds was dismissed because it did not match law enforcement’s new theory. Police said, “the dogs made a mistake.”

Police spent two days investigating after a confession by Kreider’s father, before making an arrest. Sales of home security systems in the area spiked in the weeks following the slayings, according to Allen Leed, the lead investigator for the Manheim Township police.

Arrest

During a month of intense national and regional media coverage and speculation, including tracking by bloodhounds and an intensive search by PSP cadets, Kreider was arrested on June 16, 2007. Kreider’s father, Timothy Scot Kreider, informed authorities that his son had confessed to the killings two days earlier. Police said Kreider was a friend of victim Kevin Haines, a fellow sophomore at Manheim Township High School. Kreider was held without bail following an arraignment. Police previously said they found the family’s back door open and nothing taken from the house. Defense lawyer John A. Kenneff said he asked to postpone a preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

Trial

Kreider pleaded guilty to three counts of first degree murder. He was sentenced based on the three counts of first-degree murder to which he pleaded guilty.

At sentencing, Maggie Haines appeared in a video recording played in the courtroom. Three members of the victims’ family testified about the pain of their loss and how the murders disrupted their lives. Kreider gave terse answers to the judge’s questions during the two-hour proceeding and did not make eye contact with members of his family or the victims’ family. Kreider was wearing dark clothing and wielding a hunting knife with a four-inch blade when he entered the victims’ suburban Lancaster home through an unlocked door around 2 a.m. on May 12, 2007, according to Stedman. Kreider lived with his mother about a 10-minute walk away from the Haines’ home, according to Stedman.

When the inmate who heard Kreider’s cellblock confession asked Kreider whether Kevin Haines was scared during the attack, “he laughed and said ’very,’” Stedman said.

Stedman read excerpts from a journal Kreider wrote after the slayings, in which he expressed a “want/need to kill people” and admitted having “murderous thoughts.”

Sentencing

Kreider was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without parole on June 17, 2008. The sentence was one for each count of first-degree murder. Kreider’s lawyer urged Judge David Ashworth to make the sentences concurrent and described Kreider as “a child”. The district attorney said Kreider displayed no remorse and offered no explanation for the murders.

Kreider’s age prevented him from being sentenced to death due to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Roper v. Simmons (2005). Judge David Ashworth was the judge who sentenced Kreider. Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman and defense counsel David Blanck were mentioned in connection with sentencing.

Appeals

A controversy remained as to the validity of Kreider’s convictions. Judge David Ashworth denied Kreider’s post-sentence challenge to his consecutive sentences. The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed Ashworth’s denial. Kreider filed a petition under Pennsylvania’s Post-Conviction Collateral Relief Act on December 8, 2009.

Outcome

Kreider was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. A financial reward offered by the Haines family remained unclaimed. Kreider was described as having confessed to his father about a month after the murders and also confessing to a fellow inmate at Lancaster County Prison, where he had been held since his arrest. Police said Kreider “has never confessed to police,” and that the case was buttressed by an assortment of physical evidence, including the murder weapon, shoes that left matching footprints in the home, and DNA. Police forensics unit visited the home. Neighbor Alan Isacson said he was relieved by the break in the case and that police had advised residents to lock their doors.

“Any time a murder is solved, it’s good news,” the 37-year-old Isacson said.

Other details

Thomas Alan Haines was an industrial-supplies salesman and worked at Motion Industries in Lancaster. Lisa Ann Haines taught at Lancaster Brethren Preschool. Kevin Haines was a sophomore and was a member of the German club and Quiz Bowl team. Maggie Haines was a 2005 graduate of Manheim Township and returned home just days earlier after finishing her sophomore year at Bucknell University. Maggie had studied at Bucknell University. Kreider attended Manheim Township High School. Kreider was holding an arraignment prior to sentencing. Kreider’s father was Timothy Scot Kreider.