UPDATE, November 8, 2010: Steven Hayes Sentenced to Death for the Deadly Conn. Home Invasion
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UPDATE, October 5, 2010: Triple Murder Case Yields Convictions on 16 of 17 Counts
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Dr. William A. Petit Jr. 50, and his wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, with their daughters Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11. (Photo/Midtown Photography, via Associated Press)
Dr. William Petit Jr. is a remarkable man.
Frankly, I don't know how he managed to make it through the memorial service for his murdered wife and two daughters.
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. -- Dr. William Petit Jr. still bore bruises and gashes as he urged hundreds of mourners Saturday to "spread the work" of his wife and two young daughters, who were slain after burglars surprised them in their home.
Petit, the lone survivor of the violent attack, told more than 2,000 friends and strangers who crowded the memorial service about his wife of 22 years, who was a nurse; his college-bound daughter; and his youngest, who was just 11.
"I guess if there's anything to be gained from the senseless deaths of my beautiful family, it's for us all to go forward with the inclination to live with a faith that embodies action. Help a neighbor, fight for a cause, love your family," Petit said.
"I'm really expecting all of you to go out and do some of these things with your family, in your own little way, to spread the work of these three wonderful women. Thank you," he told the crowd.
Authorities say two men with long criminal histories broke into Petit's Cheshire home early Monday and held the family hostage for several hours. One forced Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, to make a withdrawal at a bank later that morning, triggering suspicion among bank employees, police said. Police rushed to the house, found it on fire and encountered the suspects fleeing. The two were arrested after crashing the Petits' car into police cruisers.
Petit was severely beaten and bound in the basement but managed to escape the fire. The bodies of his relatives were found in the smoldering home. Hawke-Petit was strangled, while Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, died of smoke inhalation.
This recap of what happened to the Petit family really doesn't relay the horror of their ordeal.
This account from the Republican-American provides more of the details.
After staking out the Petit house, the men — Joshua Komisarjevsky, 26, and Steven Hayes, 44, — drove to a Wal-Mart, where they bought an air rifle and rope.
They came back and waited about a mile-and-a-half away until about 3 a.m. Monday, when they slipped into the house through an unlocked door.
Komisarjevsky and Hayes attacked Hawke-Petit's husband, Dr. William Petit Jr., then threw him down the basement stairs and beat him viciously. Sources said the men bound Petit and left him in the basement, where he remained for the next six hours.
The men then restrained Hawke-Petit and her daughters — Michaela and 17-year-old Hayley — and raped them repeatedly, the sources said.
About 9 a.m., one of the suspects drove Hawke-Petit to the Bank of America on Route 10 in Cheshire and forced her to withdraw $15,000 in cash while he waited outside. Hawke-Petite managed to convey to a bank teller that there was a problem at her home. The teller called police.
At some point during that excursion, the man with Hawke-Petit stopped and bought a container of gasoline.
After they returned to the home, the attackers strangled Hawke-Petit, doused the home with gasoline and set it ablaze.
Dr. Petit, who remained hospitalized Tuesday at Saint Mary's Hospital in Waterbury, was able to free himself and crawl into the yard. Police arrived about the same time and arrested Komisarjevsky and Hayes after the two men tried to barrel through a police roadblock.
Inside the Petit home, authorities found the bodies of Hawke-Petit and her two daughters.
Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky
The two men responsible for these brutal, brutal crimes are evil.
They aren't fit to live among civilized human beings.
They destroyed this family.
They weren't satisfied with stealing money from them. They chose to torture the girls and their mom before they killed them.
Really there aren't words to describe how awful the mother and daughters' final hours must have been.
I don't know how Dr. Petit will be able to put his life back together after losing his precious wife and children through such utterly senseless and extreme violence.
My heart goes out to him and all those suffering the loss of Jennifer, Hayley, and Michaela.
Here's the kicker:
The suspects, 26-year-old Joshua Komisarjevsky of Cheshire and 44-year-old Steven Hayes of Winsted, are charged with capital felony, arson, sexual assault and other crimes, and could face the death penalty if convicted. Both had been released from prison on parole this year.
Think of how many lives would be different today if these two monsters hadn't been released from prison.
WNBC reports:
Two parolees, 26-year-old Joshua Komisarjevsky of Cheshire and 44-year-old Steven Hayes of Winsted, remained jailed on $15 million bond each Thursday.
Prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty against the two, who were each charged Thursday with six counts of capital felony. They already faced charges of assault, sexual assault, kidnapping, burglary, robbery, arson, larceny and risk of injury to children.
On an abstract level, I oppose the death penalty.
To embrace it would be inconsistent with my pro-life beliefs.
But in this case, looking at the concrete facts, it seems almost immoral to not favor the death penalty for Komisarjevsky and Hayes.
It's easy to say that I'm against capital punishment, but in instances like this I have to admit that it's also hypocritical.
One can't go through life on a theoretical level alone. I can't.
If my family had been brutalized and murdered, I'd want the killers to never see another sunrise, eat another meal, drift off into sleep, smile, laugh, read a letter or a book, speak to another person, or take another breath.
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May Jennifer, Hayley, and Michaela rest in peace.
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Statement issued by Petit Family
Memorial Funds:
The Jennifer Hawke-Petit scholarship at Cheshire Academy. (www.cheshireacademy.org)
The Hayley Elizabeth Petit scholarship at Miss Porter's School. (www.missporters.org)
The Michaela Rose Petit scholarship at Chase Collegiate School. (www.chasecollegiate.org)
13 comments:
Abortion = murder. Babies aren't given a choice.
Death penalty = justice. These animals had a choice NOT to commit such evil acts.
I have NO problem.
Kate - Good point!!
Well-said, Kate.
Deuteronomy 32:35 It is mine to avenge; I will repay.
In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them."
36 The LORD will judge his people ...
I believe that justice isn't always done in this life, but eventually there will be justice.
There are no words to describe how I felt when I read about what happened to the Petit family. Mother and daughter were seen by these two career criminals at a shop and stop parking lot. Imagine, a trip to the supermarket set their fate that night.
This crime was senseless and the only thing I can think of that was on their minds was pure evil. Robbery the motive, I don't think so. Men like these two cannotlive outside the prison because they can't take care of themselves and they want to be prison so they can be fed, clothed, whatever. They had to know they would get caught, did they care, no. For the State of Connecticut to feed these two pigs is a crime. And if they do get the death penality, they should be tied up to a chair and set on fire, the same way they killed the two young daughters. And, please no appeals for 20 years. If they are sentenced to death, kill them now, or even better, put them in a room with Dr. Petit and his family and let them do the job.
Kate- you can't have it both ways- in my eyes, abortion doesn't = murder, but what those two animals did to that family certainly does! The death penality = murder, as well because it is a planned killing! We should all put our efforts into stopping the legal system from letting repeat offenders out of jail. Killing these two sub humans will never bring back that beautiful family, and nor will it bring closure for Mr. Petit. TRUE JUSTICE would be handing these two killers over to the Petit family and friends for as many hours as they held that family hostage. Kandice
It's so awful to lose someone you love.
For Dr. Petit, the pain of losing his wife and daughters in such a horrific way must be unbearable.
Komisarjevsky and Hayes are evil personified.
While I am a lawyer, I am going to pray tonight that those two disgusting, vile, lower than excrement pieces of trash are handled in the prison system. I hope they go the way of Jeffery Domar. I sincerely hope the prison guys take care of them the old fashion way. Parole? Every member on that parole board should be fired. People in Conn. should write to their legislators and Parol Board and insist on accountablity. Maybe Conn should not be so liberal.
As much as I oppose the death penalty, there is a very large part of me that believes that it would not only be right but good and downright desirable to inflict it upon those who waylaid, assaulted, and killed the Petits.
If the two suspects in this case are legally found guilty of the acts of which they're accused, my choice would be that they be tortured and put to death exactly as they did their victims, but preferably over a much longer period of time, in a stadium and on national television, as an example and a warning to others who might even think of doing such things. And I would gladly not only supply but personally wield the baseball bat, the rope, the BB gun, the swagger stick (to ram up the perpetrators' rears), the gasoline, and the matches. Frankly, I'd also want to rub their faces with my spittle, urine, and feces before I started. I would also make a point of verbally and psychologically degrading them every way I could while doing it, and force them to look at me every second of the way. And I'd want it to extend not merely six hours or so--how about six days, weeks, months, or years of daily torture before the appointed day of their deaths? They'd deserve that and worse.
If the suspects are convicted, they should think themselves quite lucky that we live in a civilized society.
Of course, the above won't (and shouldn't) happen. Even if they are executed, as many, even those of us who rationally oppose capital punishment, at least at *some* level indeed do now wish and hope, their pain, fear, and deaths will be far quicker and more humane than that inflicted upon the three Petit family women.
I would find executions resulting from this case nothing to cheer, but I, for one, won't shed any tears. *Those who commit such crimes arguably forfeit their own humanity, therefore forfeiting any constitutional or other human rights.*
The Petit tragedy is one very good example why this outspoken liberal on most issues not only strongly opposes any "gun control" laws that would take away law-abiding people's rights to defend themselves and others, but believes very strongly that "people" like those who commit such crimes deserve, not "understanding," but a nice .357 or .44 slug in the face from their would-be victims. Maybe then at least some criminals would think twice.
We, as a society, must teach them the true meaning of pain and fear that they now inflict on decent people like the Petits--and all of the rest of us.
This was indeed a terrible crime. As for the punishment for those responsible - I wouldn't specifically be upset if these men are sentenced to die though in general I do oppose the death penalty. But the thing is, sooner or later we all die. I tend to think life in prison is actually more of a punishment.
Their crimes were so horrific and what they did to the Petit family was so monstrous that I tend to think life in prison is too good for them.
Although theoretically I'm anti-death penalty, if they tortured and murdered my loved ones like that, I know I'd want Hayes and Komisarjevsky dead. I'm not proud to say that, but that's the way it is.
Thank God Mrs. Petit told the bank teller what happened. To think of her going into the bank after being raped with her daughters for 6 hours just is so sickening. If only the police had responded sooner. Thank God at least the police did catch those horrible criminals, or the husband himself might have been blamed. I was so sad to learn of that terrible terrible crime. I agree with the writer here who hates the idea of the State of Connecticut giving food to those hideous creeps. They should have no meat. Their legs should be removed and then they should be transported to China to work from their wheelchairs in a Chinese prison, and to have one each of their kidneys, their retinas and their lungs removed to benefit needy Chinese patients. China can make good efficient use of those two horrible monsters. They should never hear the English language again. The criminals' parents should be publicly identified and have to make regular monthly payments into the Petit memorial scholarship funds for the rest of their lives.
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