Investigators asked the public Wednesday to cast a suspicious eye and look around for someone who fits the profile of the killer who stabbed to death three members of a Manheim Township family.

Police said the assailant, who was still at large Wednesday night, may have sustained injuries during the Saturday morning killings at 85 Peach Lane.

Police are asking the public to report anyone who was unaccounted for from 1 to 3 a.m. on the day of the killings.

"We are appealing to all of the public. We want to open it up as much as possible," Manheim Township police Lt. Wayne Wagner, a lead investigator, said Wednesday.

"There may have been some injuries to the (killer)," he said.

Investigators continued Wednesday to search the home of the victims, Thomas and Lisa Haines, and their 16-year-old son, Kevin. All were stabbed to death about 2:20 a.m.

Wagner said investigators have already received numerous tips from the public, and some have developed into promising leads.

"We are getting tons of tips — some sound good," he said. "We are going to keep following them.

"We have also gone back and looked at recent crimes (in the area) to see if there is anything suspicious that would connect them" to the killings.

While local and national investigators track the killer, a Lancaster college professor reflected on the slayings Wednesday night.

Joel Eigen, a sociology professor at Franklin & Marshall College who teaches criminology classes, said the home invasion should teach society a valuable lesson.

"The greatest lesson is that it's an illusion to think you don't live near crime," he said. "These kinds of things are not geographical."

Eigen said the community's concerns stem from people's common fear of an invader of their "personal bubble of security."

"I'm a property owner, and it's certainly my fear," he said. "Everybody wants to own a house because they want to feel safe when they close their front door. I'm sure the neighbors are very nervous."

Eigen compared the slayings to those described in the book "In Cold Blood."

"On the surface, it strikes me so much like 'In Cold Blood' by Truman Capote," he said. "The family is murdered by intruders, and no one knows what happened. There is no motive. It's all not clear."

Eigen said weapons used in killings — in this case, a knife — can often be telling for investigators.

"Knives are very curious," he said. "Most burglars would be armed with a gun in fear of someone surprising them.

"It's unusual for a burglar to carry a knife. Perhaps (the killer) was surprised and ran to the kitchen for a knife."

He said the timing of the killings suggests a possible botched burglary. "Two-thirty (a.m.) is a logical time to burgle."

That said, there is the possibility the Haineses were specifically targeted, Eigen said.

Investigators have been researching the lifestyles of the Haines family members for a possible motive to their slayings — a process referred to as "victimology."

"That's the logical thing for them (to do) while looking for a motive," Eigen said of the process. "To see if any of these three had (an enemy) with some kind of long-simmering resentment.

"They are trying to understand the social network of these three people."

Although the community has had a hard time grasping the fact that a killer is on the loose, Eigen said unsolved homicide cases are becoming more common.

"There are unsolved (homicides) in this world. It is something people have to live with," he said.

The clearance rate of U.S. homicide cases was much higher years ago, he said. According to surveys used by the FBI, there was an 86-percent clearance rate of homicide cases in 1967. Recent research shows that percentage has dropped into the 60-percent range, Eigen said.

"Homicide has become much more of a stranger-to-stranger offense. Before, it usually involved someone (the killer) was intimate with," he said. "Now, it's very difficult to clear a homicide."

E-mail: bhambright@lnpnews.com