For more than a month, authorities say, Alec Devon Kreider kept the horrible secret from his friends, from his classmates and from the police.

In the end, he couldn't keep it from his dad.

Kreider was arrested late Saturday afternoon and charged with criminal homicide in the May 12 stabbing deaths of Tom, Lisa and Kevin Haines in the family's Blossom Hill home. Kreider was one of several Manheim Township High School students questioned in the case — but police say the big break came Tuesday, when he admitted to his father that he was the killer.

According to the police affidavit, Kreider told his father, Timothy Scot Kreider, that he entered the Haines home intending to smother Kevin Haines, 16. Friends say Kevin and Alec were close buddies.

But instead of smothering his friend, Alec told his father that he "intentionally used a knife to kill" Kevin and his parents, Tom and Lisa. Maggie Haines, 20, escaped after hearing a yell for help, running to a neighbor's house to call police.

Two days after his son's admission, Timothy Kreider called the police.

Officials Saturday were releasing very little information, with Manheim Township Police Chief Neil Harkins saying during a late-afternoon press conference that "We possess a significant amount of information we will not be able to share at this point."

"We're not holding or hiding anything," he added.

Lancaster County District Attorney Donald Totaro did say that after committing the crime, Alec Kreider returned to his mother's home at 1264 Cobblestone Lane, less than half a mile from the Haines home.

Kreider's parents are divorced, and Totaro said he did not know whether Kreider lived with his mother, in the Cobblestone Court development, or at his father's home on Dolly Drive in Bloomingdale.

Police refused to speculate on a motive, and would not say whether they had recovered the murder weapon.

Kreider was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge David P. Miller just prior to the 5:40 p.m. press conference and charged with three counts of criminal homicide and one count of burglary. He was being held in Lancaster County Prison without bail.

"This was an intentional, premeditated, deliberate crime," said Totaro. "It was not a random case."

Though Kreider is being charged as an adult, Totaro said authorities could not seek the death penalty because the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty cannot be imposed on a juvenile.

'Great friends'
Kreider is being represented by Jack Kenneff, a former Lancaster County assistant district attorney. Kenneff said a preliminary hearing is scheduled in the case for 1:30 p.m. June 20, but that he will seek a continuance.

He declined to speculate on Kreider's frame of mind.

But one Manheim Township student who knew both Kreider and Kevin Haines said he was "stunned" to hear the news.

"They were great friends. Kevin talked about Alec all the time," said Ben Opp, a sophomore who was in Alec Kreider's German class.

Opp described Kreider as "a smart kid, kind of like Kevin, but less approachable. Once you got to know him, he was really funny.

"But he could be kind of dark sometimes."

Kreider reportedly attended the May 19 memorial service held to remember the Haines family.

The case had riveted the community, prompting frightened residents to buy guns and security systems after Manheim Township police warned them to lock up tight.

The killings also generated national attention; an update was featured on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" Thursday, and dozens of local residents, frustrated with the lack of new information in the local media, turned to online sources like CrimeBlog.us to share theories and tidbits of information.

Steve Huff of CrimeBlog, who has written extensively about the case, theorized in a May 17 post that "The person who murdered the Haines family is either young or at the least, very immature. I'm opting for young, maybe still in his teens. He acted alone, and he planned the crime for some time. ... He is probably a bright young man (the 'he' being a given, to me), and I wouldn't be surprised if he went to school with Kevin Haines. In fact, he could be someone whom Kevin didn't consider a threat. As has been indicated by Manheim Township police, this killer is someone who has been hiding in plain sight, in some ways. He just doesn't seem like the type who might commit a triple homicide — whatever that type is."

Family response
At the press conference, Lancaster attorney Robert Beyer, representing the Kreider family, asked the media to respect the family's privacy and not contact them to ask about the crime.

But he said the family had passed along two statements, one noting that the Haines family "remains in the forefront of [their] thoughts and prayers," and that the Kreiders were gratified by the consideration and compassion shown by members of law enforcement.

Officials said Alec Kreider continued to attend Manheim Township High School after the slayings. "We were in German class" shortly after the crime, said Ben Opp, "and he wasn't crying, but he was noticeably sad.

"This is a huge shock," said Opp. "I don't believe he did it."

In a statement, the Manheim Township School District noted that staff members are also "shocked and saddened by the charges." Because it is an ongoing matter, the district said it will not comment on the charges or the student.

"This is a difficult time for our district," read the statement. "Please, continue to support one another and keep our community in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you very much."

Manheim Township Chief Harkins praised the "collaborative efforts" of several different police agencies in investigating the crime, including the FBI, Pennsylvania State Police and the district attorney's office.

Said Totaro, "We have been committed since this occurred to working tirelessly to find out who did this."

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Gil Smart is associate editor of the Sunday News. E-mail him at gsmart@lnpnews.com, or phone 291-8817.