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Kreider, a former Manheim Township High School student, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder 13 months after he entered the home of Tom and Lisa Haines in the Blossom Hill neighborhood on May 12, 2007.
Once inside, he used a hunting knife with a 4-inch blade to kill the couple and their 16-year-old son, Kevin.
Family members of the victims and defendant, more than a dozen members of the media and several police officers packed Courtroom 12 in Lancaster County Courthouse.
The sentence satisfied the requests of the surviving relatives of the Haines family, two of whom spoke before Judge David L. Ashworth and asked him to hand Kreider three consecutive life sentences.
A third relative — Maggie Haines, the sole survivor of the brutal attack — spoke through a videotaped statement. Maggie Haines — Kevin's sister a 21-year-old college student who currently is studying abroad — made her first public statements about the killings, which were shown Tuesday on a large monitor in Ashworth's courtroom.
During the two-hour hearing, Kreider told Ashworth he killed the family but would not reveal his motive, despite repeated demands from the judge.
After Ashworth's first request, Kreider said, "I have nothing to say. There is not anything further."
Later, the judge asked a final time for a reason for the killings."Is there anything you'd like to say?" the judge asked.
"There is not," Kreider replied.
Kreider, of slim build and medium height, firmly answered Ashworth's other questions, usually with a "yes" or "no." The judge questioned Kreider about his rights and his understanding of the charges and the law.
Dressed in a white long-sleeved button-down shirt tucked into black slacks, Kreider said he understood the rights he was giving up by pleading guilty.
David Blanck, Kreider's attorney, told Ashworth his client was pleading guilty to "attempt to bring some closure" to the victims' family.
Blanck said Kreider was "a child" who was not fully developed cognitively when he committed the murders.
District Attorney Craig Stedman disputed that during an aggressive block of testimony that revealed further details about the horrific crime scene Kreider left behind at 85 Peach Lane.
"There are people that kill, and then there are people that do this," Stedman said.
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The following account of the triple slaying was taken from testimony in the courtroom and information obtained from investigators after the hearing.
Blood trails and other physical evidence indicated Kreider first attacked Tom Haines. Mr. Haines was stabbed in the chest and legs with the knife. His aorta was pierced, causing him to "expire rapidly," Stedman said.
Kreider then attacked Lisa Haines. She was stabbed in the abdomen, and her face was slashed. She was still alive when the killer went to Kevin's bedroom.
Once inside, Kreider ambushed Kevin, stabbing him five times in the back while he slept. Kevin, who was Kreider's best friend, awoke and scrambled onto the floor.
"Kevin fought very hard for his life," Stedman said. "His death would have been agonizing."
The teenager crawled on his hands and knees to a window in an attempt to escape Kreider's onslaught — all the while trying to protect himself with his hands and arms, as evidenced by multiple "defensive wounds" on those areas.
The struggle led into the hallway, where Kevin died. Fatal wounds to his chest and neck were sustained there.
Kevin also sustained a deep gash to his cheek. In all, Kevin's body had 15 cuts and 11 stab wounds, according to an autopsy.
Maggie awoke to hear the struggle inside Kevin's room. She had initially considered barricading herself inside her room, but later decided to run to her parents' room.
There, she encountered her mother, who sat motionless on the edge of her bed. Mrs. Haines directed her daughter to flee the house.
"She said something to the effect of 'Get out and go get help,' " Stedman said.
During the time Maggie fled to a neighbor's house and summoned police, Kreider returned to the master bedroom "to finish off Lisa," Stedman said.
Kreider then cleaned up in a bathroom and fled the house. He ran back to his mother's house, dropping his hat along the way.
Police arrived at the Haines home to find all three victims dead. Tom was lying in bed on his back with his arms up, while his wife was in a "semi-fetal position" on the floor. Kevin was in the hallway between his room and Maggie's room.
Bloody trails, including footprints, were all over the home.
The next day, police released a message to the public to be vigilant and lock up their homes because "a killer is on the loose."
An armed police officer stayed with Maggie Haines 24 hours a day until Kreider's arrest.
During her videotaped statement, the college student spoke about her feelings of anger, guilt and "sheer terror" that followed the slayings.
"No one can truly understand what I'm going through," she says on the recording. "There's no easy way to tell someone your family was murdered."
Maggie said she felt guilty for not helping her brother after hearing screams and a struggle inside his room.
"I should have protected him. That's what big sisters do," she said.
She reprimands Kreider on the tape.
"Alec Kreider is a despicable individual. That's saying it lightly," she said. "I have suffered so much because of him."
Kreider was arrested June 16, 2007, after he told his father June 12 that he had killed the Haineses.
Kreider's guilty plea came soon after the death of his initial attorney, Jack Kenneff. Stedman said the prosecution had a very strong case that would have given Kreider little or no chance to win at trial.
Among the prosecution's strongest evidence were confessions Kreider made to his parents and an inmate at Lancaster County Prison.
Stedman told the judge about a disturbing conversation with the inmate.
Kreider told the inmate that killing his best friend, Kevin, was "interesting," Stedman said. He told the inmate he would kill again if given the chance.
He also told the inmate that Maggie "slipped out," and that he would have raped and killed her, too, "but it was four of them and one of me."
At the closing of Tuesday's hearing, Ashworth told Kreider he will file a notation with his sentencing order that discourages any present or future governor from granting Kreider clemency.
"Mr. Kreider, you will spend the rest of your life in prison," Ashworth said. "You will never be given the opportunity to threaten anyone else in the community."
E-mail: bhambright@lnpnews.com
