Investigators Believe Wounded 14-Year-Old Tried To Escape Killer Through Window

Colin Haag left his 14-year-old step-cousin on the floor of her parent’s living room bleeding out, prosecutors alleged Friday.

Haag, 20, was arraigned Friday afternoon for the homicide of 14-year-old Autumn Bartle, his step-cousin. The charges come five days after the 14-year-old teen died at St. Christopher’s Hospital in Philadelphia. She was shot in the head and stabbed multiple times last Friday evening inside her parent’s house at 431 Sycamore Avenue in Bristol Township’s Croydon section.

Haag, who was locked up earlier this week for stealing two guns from Bartle’s father last Friday, was arraigned before District Judge Robert Wagner Jr. on charges of homicide, aggravated assault, burglary, kidnapping to facilitate a felony, kidnapping to inflict terror, unlawful restraint, receiving stolen property, firearms to be carried without a license, and possession of an instrument of crime.

Due to the homicide charge, Wagner denied bail and had constables take Haag back to the Bucks County Correctional Facility in Doylestown Township until his next court date.

Bartle’s mother found her daughter shot and stabbed when she arrived home last Friday around 6:30 p.m. Emergency responders rushed to the scene and took the critically injured 14 year old to St. Christopher’s Hospital. She survived until Monday morning when she was declared dead.

Haag disappeared before Bartle’s badly injured body was found, and he was later was spotted by a Bensalem patrol officer along State Road, about 2 miles from Bristol Township. He ran as officers approached and shot himself with one of Bartle father’s handguns. The bullet entered near his throat and stopped by his ear, leaving non-life-threatening damage.

Charges against Haag were filed after ballistics tests confirmed that the bullet lodged in Bartle’s head was from her father’s handgun, which was found on Haag when he was arrested last Friday night. The Montgomery County Firearms and Ballistics Unit analysed the bullet taken from Bartle’s body and determined it came from the .380 handgun that was taken by Haag from the teen’s father’s room, authorities said.

The assault, according to investigators, happened early last Friday evening at a time when no one but Haag and Bartle were in the home.

Police said they found “copious” amounts of blood inside the bathroom at 431 Sycamore Avenue and lesser amounts on bedding and walls throughout the dwelling. They noted that the bathroom appeared to show signs of a struggle.

In court papers, investigators wrote that bloody handprints outside the window of a bathroom at 431 Sycamore Avenue made it “apparent that Autumn Bartle, with bloodied hands, had attempted to climb out of the window and escape, but was unsuccessful.”

However, two bloody handprints inside the bathroom made authorities allege that “someone had grabbed the window sash and closed and locked it.”

“It appeared that Autumn Bartle had been confined to the bathroom area when she was brutally stabbed numerous times,” investigators wrote.

While only having one gunshot wound, Bartle had at least 80 stabs wounds on her body, authorities said.

“Eighty stab wounds. Is that correct?” the district judge asked prosecutors Friday when reviewing court papers.

During arraignment, Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Schorn confirmed the number and said that emergency responders initially stopped counting stab wounds at 30 last Friday when they began treating the teen.

An autopsy Tuesday by Dr. Ian Hood of the coroner’s office discovered that the bullet lodged in her brain and dozens of stab wounds led to her death. The manner of death was ruled a homicide.

After Bensalem officers determined Haag had shot himself and took the 20-year-old into custody last Friday night, they found Bartle father’s .380 pistol in his pant pocket and recovered the other missing handgun in his backpack, police said.

They also recovered a black backpack with a spiral-bound notebook with handwriting in it. The last page had the following message: “this is the last of Slim that’s all you get it’s the end 4 me.” A bloody palm print was also on the page and later confirmed through DNA testing to belong to Bartle.

Haag reportedly told officers he shot himself because he did not want to go to jail.

Haag lived in the basement of the home where Bartle and her parents resided with an older relative. He had posted videos on YouTube of him rapping in the past.

A review of court dockets by LevittownNow.com did not turn up any previous criminal charges filed against Haag in Pennsylvania since he turned 18. Authorities would not release whether he had previous police contacts that did not lead to charges.

On Tuesday, Haag was released from Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia following treatment for his self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was taken into custody and charged for taking Bartle’s father’s two guns. Following his arrest, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office acknowledged he was a suspect in the teen’s death.

The motive in the fatal attack was unclear as of Friday afternoon.

“We hope to have that answer. We will continue to work to have that answer,” District Attorney Matt Weintraub said on the topic of motive.

“Sometimes, as we stand here in this case, we look into the face of a killer and we don’t get answer. We see only darkness,” he added.

Before the district judge, Haag mumbled questions about his chance to speak and was told that will come at later court dates.

Haag said in court that “there’s more to it” but did not elaborate.

Bartle’s mother and father were in attendance during the arraignment and the district attorney’s press conference but did not speak.

When leaving court, Haag offered no comment to reporters and thanked them as constables Chuck Benhayon and Mike Hammar and detectives led him into a waiting vehicle for transport to the prison.

Weintraub noted that Bartle’s organs were donated following her death to help others.

While the district attorney noted the homicide was nobody’s fault but Haag’s, he said gun locks on the father’s firearms may have made a difference in the outcome. He said almost every police department in Bucks County offers free gun locks.

“We will get justice for Autumn,” Weintraub told reporters. “That is our promise.”

Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.

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