BEASON -- Christopher Harris describes himself as a proud parent who recently started college after 12 years away from the classroom in hopes of becoming an architect.

On Thursday, police arrested Harris, 30, in connection with the brutal slayings of five members of his ex-wife's family and the attack on the lone survivor, a 3-year-old girl.

Harris' posts on his personal pages on the social networking sites MySpace and Facebook, along with court records, document his ongoing relationship with his ex-wife, Nicole Gee, 27, a daughter of Rick Gee, the father in the slain family.

Police have not described any possible motive in the killings, and Harris' family say he is innocent. Harris' posts, which ended three days before the bodies were found in Beason Sept. 21, appear to be the usual mix of brief updates common to social networking sites, none particularly dark or threatening.

Harris' history

Some posts describe his relationship with Nicole, who divorced him in 2007 when a court found that "grounds of mental cruelty" had been proven. Yet they have two children, including a newborn, and he listed her Beason home as his residence in a 2008 court case. Family say they have reconciled.

"Made up with Nicole!! We are having a son!!" Harris wrote on his MySpace page March 31, 2009.

Harris' recent criminal history in Logan County includes time on probation and under court supervision in some misdemeanor and non-violent felony cases, records show.

He pleaded guilty to a 1999 charge of theft, a Class 3 felony, and his probation in that case stretched into 2005. In a 1997 misdemeanor marijuana possession case, he listed Rick and Ruth Gee's home on Broadway Avenue in Beason as his residence.

Back to school

On his social-networking pages, Harris says he is a carpenter by trade but decided to enroll at Lincoln College 12 years after graduating Lincoln Community High School in 1997. He wrote in April that he had just received a scholarship.

"I will have a bachelors in construction management and a masters in architecture!! lol only 5 years to go," he wrote in April on his MySpace page.

He attended Lincoln part-time last spring. After having trouble finding work as a contractor, he worked a register at Dixie Travel Plaza in McLean until late June, when he quit, his former boss said.

Harris is currently enrolled full-time at Lincoln College and has attended his classes recently, said college president John Hutchison. Harris would earn an associate degree at the college as part of general study if he completes his education there.

Nicole Gee graduated from the college with an associate degree in the spring.

Harris describes his other interests as motorcycles, fast cars, hunting and riding all-terrain vehicles.

Since the slayings

Since the deaths, Harris has reportedly been seen around Beason and with other surviving family. The Springfield Journal-Register published a photo on its Web site Friday that appears to show him at the Gee family funeral Monday in Mount Pulaski.

His last posts on either the MySpace or Facebook pages are from Sept. 18, days before the brutal slayings were discovered.

"Chris is happy to be free of negativity," he wrote on his MySpace page.

"Free at last," he wrote on his Facebook profile.

Ryan Denham, M.K. Guetersloh and Phyllis Coulter contributed to this report.