As mentioned previously, CrimeBlog is all over this case, and some interesting if very, very speculative new stuff today. Take all of it with several shakers of salt:

Tips from readers and an online investigation have revealed that Kevin Haines had one male friend who had some troubling traits, and that friend may be among the teens now being interviewed and investigated by Manheim Twp. police.

Kevin Haines’s fellow 16-year-old sophomore at MTHS appears to be into violent video games and movies, and he has created online profiles reflecting these interests. In a message posted on one forum devoted to discussing a favorite game where the player functioned as a paid assassin, this young man discussed with other players the best features of past incarnations of that game. He noted in his message how good an upcoming version of the game would be if it allowed the player to ‘carry knives’ back to his lair.

The same teen likes to chat about his favorite movies. In one online profile he listed a number of violent, bloody movies then added in a note below his list that he had a runner-up. The “runner-up” was a slasher movie about a handsome, wealthy commodities broker who moonlighted as a particularly imaginative and vicious serial killer.

Liking violent video games and movies is not inherently suspicious, or bad. Both forms of entertainment receive far too much press whenever someone — frequently a young, disaffected male — is accused of a violent crime, then found to have been a fan of either. People seem to miss this important point — violent, asocial personalities will be drawn to forms of entertainment that give them the kind of thrill they seek. There are an infinite number of gradations to be found along the spectrum of thrill-seeking personalities, and most game players and moviegoers fall within the sane and perfectly normal band. Unfortunately for them, they occasionally end up sharing their favorite pursuits with the rare psycho who has a need for thrills that eventually cannot be satisfied by game play or movie-watching.

And it should be emphasized — Kevin Haines’s friend may not be the focus of police suspicion. At the moment, Manheim Twp. authorities say they have no single suspect. It is for this reason that I have not named him and have tried to keep the information given so far fairly obscure. Some of his pursuits might naturally put him first in line to be questioned, but none of those pursuits make him a killer.

Kevin’s friend has had a long-term friendship with an older male who is the co-owner of a business in Hummelstown, PA. The adult in this case is apparently single, in his late 30s, and he does work related to medical research. He has allegedly been something of a father figure to Kevin Haines’s friend, and to that friend’s older brother. Kevin Haines was also friends with the adult male.

The nature of the ties between these people — the teens and the thirty-something man — is not clear, save that none of them appear to be related by blood. All of them were close enough to be seen by more than one person hanging out at various locations in and around Manheim Township.

The most curious element in this back story may just be the presence of an unattached man 20 years older than the high school students in question. Is he a big brother figure, a mentor, or is he seeking something else from these boys? Could that “something else” have contributed to the circumstances that led to a triple homicide?

In a previous entry on this weblog, a reader mentioned that both Tom and Kevin Haines were subjected to particularly violent attacks, compared to the wounds suffered by Lisa Haines. There was at least one report — from Lancaster County coroner G. Gary Kirchner in an interview he gave to Greta van Susteren — that Kevin Haines was stabbed in the torso and his throat was slit. Based on these details, the question arose as to whether or not “gay rage” played a part in the crime.

The person who killed Tom, Lisa, and Kevin Haines may not have been expressing “gay rage” so much as just plain old rage. A pure rage born out of a personality so devoid of compassion that it viewed the assault on the Haines family as a kind of sport.