Many people considered Dereck Holt a relatively upbeat and well-adjusted guy.

The 22-year-old was an avid cyclist, enjoyed the outdoors and shared a deep love with his family, his sister said Thursday.

He was always willing to help those in need and "wanted good for everyone," Hannah Holt, 25, said during a telephone interview from her home in Arizona.

When she saw her brother early last week, he was "happy and excited" as he prepared to move from Arizona, where they lived with their mother, back to the Lancaster area to spend time with his father.

"He talked a lot about how much he loved his dad and his girlfriend. He was just normal Dereck — if anything, more positive than usual," Hannah Holt said.

Three days after that lunch with his sister, Dereck Holt allegedly tortured three elderly Mennonite sisters in their Clay Township home.

The women, aged 84 to 90, were bound, beaten and shocked with a stun gun-like device during the assault, which lasted about two hours, according to police. A relative discovered the still-bound women several hours later.

Officials said one suffered a broken shoulder and another had a heart attack.

It was unknown Thursday if they remained hospitalized.

During the assault, Holt allegedly indicated that he was a former member of the Mennonite community and had anger towards its members since leaving the faith, police said.

He allegedly damaged the victims' Bibles and punched one of the women in the face when she began singing hymns.

Hannah Holt said Thursday that her family had never practiced the Mennonite faith.

"I have no idea why he would say that," she said. "He's never made a claim like that before."

Hannah Holt also said her family is not "religious," but said she and her brother were raised to respect the different ways people believe in God.

Their neighbors growing up were Mennonite, Hannah Holt said. "We were and still are very close to them. We'd have pool parties and pick strawberries.

"That's why this is so hard for me," she said. "This isn't something anyone could have expected. Nothing about this makes sense."

Dereck was arrested Saturday and faces numerous charges related to the incident. He remains in Lancaster County Prison in lieu of $1 million bail.

Authorities have said he confessed to the crimes.

Hannah Holt said she and her mother have not been able to speak to Dereck since his arrest.

"From what people who've spoken to him have told us, he's inconsolable," she said. "I could never imagine him doing this but if he did — Dereck has a sense of justice ... he would want to atone."

•

Hannah and Dereck Holt grew up in Lancaster County — both attended Hempfield High School — before moving to Arizona to live with their mother and maternal grandmother.

After a recent visit to the Lancaster area, Dereck decided he wanted to move back to the East Coast to spend time with his father, whose parents died during the past year.

Hannah Holt said Dereck's father — who is not her biological father but to whom she said she's very close — hadn't been feeling well lately. She also said Dereck had had a difficult time with the passing of his grandmother, with whom he used to live.

"I think they just wanted to be close to each other," she said of Dereck and his father. "It was no surprise at all that he wanted to stay with this part of the family."

•

Hannah Holt described her brother as "relatively well-adjusted" and said he was popular and athletic in high school. He studied philosophy when he attended Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, N.C.

"I really can't remember him having any true difficulty," she said.

Hannah said the only thing Dereck somewhat struggled with was anxiety in crowds.

He recently went to a doctor, who put him on "social-anxiety medication," she said, adding that Dereck felt the drugs were helping him.

"When I saw him, he expressed a contentedness with the medication," Hannah said. "He felt he could easily be fine out in the world without feeling overwhelmed."

Hannah Holt admits that, in recent days, she's wondered if the medication played a role in her brother's alleged behavior.

"I want to be clear — I'm not blaming the medication for anything. Clearly it was helping him and he had had no issues with it," she said.

"But it's the only thing I can come up with. Something must have altered his way of thinking. The person everyone is making him out to be is not the person he is."

And the person he is, Hannah Holt said, is the boy who loved and cared for his grandmother and was devastated when she passed.

Which makes it even more difficult to understand, she said, is how he could allegedly have "tied up three women of similar age and tortured them over something he doesn't even believe."

•

Even if Dereck one day confesses to her that he committed these crimes, she said she'll never abandon him.

"My wish for him, if I know that he's confessed, is that he gets the help he needs. I'll be there for him all the way."
jtodd@lnpnews.com