Friends of Jeremy Steinke, who is on trial for a triple slaying, testified Monday they were asked several times to help kill his girlfriend's parents.

Jordan Attfield, who lived with Steinke for a few months in Medicine Hat, Alta., after running away from a foster home, said he overheard Steinke and his girlfriend, then 12, talk about getting rid of her parents, who objected to their relationship.

Attfield, now 19, told the Calgary jury that Steinke asked him twice if he would help them. He ignored the request once, and on the second time, replied that he had no need to kill anyone, which angered Steinke.

Under cross-examination, Attfield said Steinke had threatened to kill or beat up people before when he got angry, but he never took it seriously.

Steinke, 25, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of the girl's parents and her eight-year-old brother.

The girl was convicted of the same charges last year and is serving a 10-year sentence as a young offender.

Grant Bolt, who said he had been Steinke's best friend since childhood, testified on Monday that Steinke became more distant and quiet once he began dating the girl.

According to Bolt, his friend began to ask questions like, "Is love worth killing for?" and eventually asking if Bolt would help kill the girl's parents. Bolt replied that he wouldn't cross that line.

Steinke told him his girlfriend was going to leave him if he didn't kill the couple.

On the same day that the family's bodies were found, Steinke took off his sunglasses to show Bolt an injury to his eye. According to Bolt, Steinke said his girlfriend's father attacked him but that he then managed to stab the man.

Friend changed after meeting Steinke, says witness

A teenage girl broke down at the trial earlier Monday, recalling how her best friend changed after meeting the much-older Steinke.

The girl talked about how her friend stopped hanging out with her, preferring to spend her time with Steinke and his acquaintances.

The witness, now 15, told the court her friend was grounded after her parents caught her kissing Steinke outside a punk rock concert.

She wiped away tears as she testified about how her friend said she wished her parents were dead, and that someone would kill them.

A few weeks later —in April 2006 — the girl's parents and brother were found stabbed to death in their Medicine Hat home. They cannot be named to protect the identity of the underage daughter.

With files from Scott Dippel, Bryan Labby