Authorities in Bucks County say the 20-year-old Bristol Township man accused of stabbing his teenage cousin more than 80 times in late March was trying to cover up an alleged attempted rape of the girl at the family's home in Croydon.
Prosecutors charged Colin Haag III last month in the killing of 14-year-old Autumn Bartle, who was stabbed and shot to death on March 30. The teen was found unconscious and bleeding on the living room floor when her mother returned home from work on March 30.
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Prosecutors said Haag lived in the basement of the home and was nowhere to be found when the girl was discovered by her mother.
In the hours after the incident, Haag was found wandering the streets of Bensalem and attempted to shoot himself when confronted by police. He was hospitalized and later held on gun charges as investigators pieced together the case.
He was later charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, burglary, kidnapping, unlawful restraint of a minor and related offenses.
Inside Haag's backpack, police allegedly found a spiral notebook with blood matching Bartle's DNA. On the last page, a blood-marked notation read, "this is the last of slim that's all you get it's the end 4 me," according to prosecutors.
At a hearing on Wednesday, prosecutors added a first-degree felony charge of attempted rape, according to court records.
A GoFundMe campaign for Bartle raised nearly $20,000 to assist with funeral expenses.
Haag waived his preliminary hearing on all counts and remains held without bail at Bucks County Correctional Facility.