Bully Eric Hainstock

Yesterday, witnesses testified that Eric Hainstock was more than a victim of bullying. He was also a bully.

Baraboo -- Eric Hainstock picked on other kids as much as they picked on him, his fellow students testified Monday in the teen's murder trial.

The testimony could be important for prosecutors trying to prove Hainstock gunned down Weston Principal John Klang on purpose the morning of homecoming last fall. Hainstock's attorneys contend the shooting was an accident and Hainstock brought guns to school to persuade Klang and other teachers to stop other kids from teasing him relentlessly.

Samuel Brandt, a 17-year-old football player at Weston, testified he'd see Hainstock get in pushing and shoving matches with other kids in the halls, but "he would push people more than he would get pushed."

Hainstock often tormented younger students and then tried to pick on older kids, who picked on him right back, Brandt said.

Kimberly Durst, 18, a junior at Weston last fall, testified she was "acquaintances" with Hainstock. She said she saw people picking on Hainstock and Hainstock teasing them right back.

"They dished out and he dished out right back," Durst said. "Kind of the same."

This is the first that I've heard Hainstock was an abuser.

It's hard to view him as a helpless victim when he's said to have engaged in the very behavior that supposedly led him to crack and kill John Klang.

...Hainstock, 16, could face life in prison if he's convicted. His trial hinges on whether prosecutors can convince jurors he intended to kill Klang the moment he pulled the trigger. First-degree murder requires intent.

They contend Hainstock had been angry with Klang for two weeks before the shooting. The principal kicked him out of school for three days for throwing a stapler at his special education teacher, and a day before the shooting ordered Hainstock serve in-school suspension for bringing chewing tobacco to school.

Hainstock's defense attorneys counter that Hainstock suffered abuse at home and was teased mercilessly by his classmates, who called him a "fag" and accused him of body odor. They contend the boy's frustrations boiled over Sept. 29 and he went to school with guns to make people listen, not kill anyone.

Josh Manock, a junior at Weston last year, testified he came face to face with Hainstock as Hainstock moved down the hallway, waving his revolver sideways. He said the boy pointed the gun at him and Manock ran down the hallway, passing Klang, who told him to slow down.

"I kind of pointed backward and said 'gun!' " Manock said.

He heard Klang ask Hainstock if the gun was real, to which Hainstock replied, "What the (expletive) do you think?"

He then heard Klang say "Eric, you don't want to do this," and moments later, shots.

Manock told prosecutors he never heard anyone call Hainstock a "fag."

But defense attorney Jon Helland got Manock to contradict himself, pointing out in Manock's statements to police he heard other students call Hainstock names and pick on him for his body odor and Hainstock would take it.

Whatever.

Being bullied isn't an excuse to commit murder.