N.H. suspect's demeanor darkened in high school, classmates say

But around sophomore year, some students said, they began to notice a difference in Spader. He went from wearing jeans and T-shirts to black hooded sweatshirts and black pants. Instead of waving in the hallway and saying hello to other students, he kept to himself, wearing headphones.

"Towards sophomore year in high school, he changed," said Christine Connors, a 17-year-old senior. "He kept himself away from people."

Stephanie Kohler said she was very close to Spader in grade school. They met when they were in third grade, both went to Brookline Church of Christ, and stayed friends for the next several years.

"He was the only one of my guy friends who really cared to listen to me," Kohler said. "I would never see him this way really hurting someone."

Kohler described how Spader was a little chubby in grade school, and would get up at 5 o'clock in the morning to go running to shed pounds. She recalled that he was often depressed, and in the eighth grade he would cut himself and struggled with the fact that he was adopted.

"He always had a grudge against his parents," Kohler said, who described them as "very good people. He was always yelling at them."

Sophomore year, as he began to skip school, Kohler and Spader drifted apart.

"He kind of started creeping me out," Kohler said. He was dressing differently, hanging out with kids outside of school, and would just walk right out of class when he was feeling frustrated.