Petit Family Murders in CT-2007 SOLVED-Death Sentence for both men.

[San]

AND THE JURY HAS SPOKEN

From the above article:

During closing arguments, New Haven Public Defender Thomas J. Ullmann urged jurors to spare Hayes' life and give him life in prison where he could think for the rest of his life about the murders - thoughts, Ullmann said, that already plague a suicidal Hayes with guilt and nightmares.

"If you want to end Steven Hayes' torment, you should kill him. If you want to end his misery, you should execute him. If you want to end his despair, you should sentence him to death," Ullmann said to the jury.

And the jury showing compassion and mercy agreed to put his suffering to an end.

Exactly.

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/11/08/1801518/jury-sentences-man-to-death-for.html
Monday, Nov. 08, 2010
Jury sentences man to death for Conn. home-invasion slayings
By ALAINE GRIFFIN AND JOSH KOVNER - The Hartford Courant
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- A Superior Court jury Monday sentenced Steven Hayes to death for the murders of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley and Michaela, at their Cheshire, Conn., home in July 2007.

Outside the courthouse after the verdict, Hawke-Petit's father, the Rev. Richard Hawke, said, "There are some people who do not deserve to live in God's world."

Dr. William Petit Jr., who survived the brutal attack on his family, said, "This is a verdict for justice." But, he said, as the verdict was read, "I was really thinking of the tremendous loss ... I was sad for the loss we have all suffered ...

Probably many of you have kids," Petit said, pausing to choke back tears. His voice breaking, he said, "Michaela was an 11-year-old little girl. She was tortured and killed in her own bedroom, surrounded by her stuffed animals."

Petit also talked about his daughter Hayley's bright future and her strength and the many children that his wife, Jennifer, helped.

Petit thanked the jury for doing its job, and said, "I appreciate the fact that there was seven women on the jury. This was a case of sexual predation ... I liked to see women stand up for other women."

Hawke-Petit was raped during the attack, and Michaela was sexually assaulted, according to testimony.

"Crimes like this have to be pursued and prosecuted vigorously," he said. "The easy way out is to plead things out." He described how New Haven state's attorney Michael Dearington came to his house and said, "If any case deserves the death penalty, it's this one. If I don't go for it, there's no reason to have it on the books."

Petit said he agreed. "In a civilized society, people need to be responsible for their actions," he said.

He criticized those who accused the media and family members of creating an atmosphere of blood lust. "That is the kettle calling the pot black," he said.

Asked if he thought there would be closure now, Petit said, "There's never closure. There's a hole ... with jagged edges ... that may smooth out with time, but the hole in your heart and the hole in your soul" remains.

"This isn't about revenge," Petit said. "Vengeance belongs to the Lord. This is about justice."

Inside the courtroom, Hayes looked straight ahead - as he has throughout the entire trial - as the jury of seven women and five men, after deliberating for 17 hours, sentenced Hayes to death on all six possible death-penalty counts. He will be formally sentenced Dec. 2.

Once the sentencing date was set, Judge Jon C. Blue looked over at Hayes.

"The defendant may be taken down," Blue said.

New Haven public defender Thomas J. Ullmann shook Hayes' hand and patted his arm before a judicial marshal led him out of the room.

"He's thrilled," Ullmann said of Hayes. "He's very happy with the verdict," Ullmann said to reporters outside the courthouse.

Ullmann declined to say why he thought Hayes was thrilled and he refused to discuss what he talked about with Hayes. But he said he saw Hayes smile as the verdict was read.

"That's what he wanted," he said, adding that Hayes wanted to commit "suicide by state" with an execution.

"He's tried to kill himself before," Ullmann said. "The jury gave him what he wants."

As the verdicts were read in the solemn courtroom, Petit became emotional, his eyes filling with tears as the victim's advocate grabbed his hand. At one point, upon hearing the names of his wife and daughters, Petit closed his eyes.

Nearby, Petit's mother, his sister and several other relatives also cried, some dropping their heads as the court clerk read through the verdicts. There was no elation on that side of the gallery.

Several jurors also cried and comforted one another with touches on hands or arms. Some looked over at the Petit family as the verdicts were read.

The jury sentenced Hayes to death on six counts: killing Hawke-Petit and Michaela and Hayley in the course of a single action; killing a child under the age of 16; killing Hawke-Petit in the course of a kidnapping; killing Hayley in the course of a kidnapping; killing Michaela in the course of a kidnapping; and killing Hawke-Petit in the course of a sexual assault.

Dearington said shortly after the verdict he was relived the case was over. "The judge was incredible, the jury was incredible. The case was fairly tried by both sides." But, in a nod to the upcoming trial of the second defendant in the case, Joshua Komisarjevsky, he said: "It's not over yet."

Hayes, 47, of Winsted, Conn., was convicted Oct. 5 of breaking into the Petit home, beating Petit, tying up and torturing the family as Hayes and another man ransacked the home for cash and valuables and tortured the family for seven hours. Testimony during Hayes' trial showed that at one point in the break-in, Hayes forced Hawke-Petit to go to the bank to withdraw money. During that time, according to testimony, Komisarjevsky sexually assaulted Michaela Petit, 11.

When Hawke-Petit and Hayes returned from the bank, Hayes raped and strangled Hawke-Petit. The house was doused with gasoline and set on fire as the intruders fled, testimony showed. Hayley, 17, and Michaela died of smoke inhalation.

[San]

Joshua Komisarjevsky I hope you changed your underwear tonight.  The torture you are going through tonight knowing that your partner in crime got death must be driving you crazy.

You will not be able to see your child grow up as it should be.  That child doesn't need to grow up knowing she has a monster father like you.  A father who would be leaching off her for the rest of her life.  She will break free and clear once you get your death sentence.  And yes Joshua she will forget about you because you were a nothing.

[Sister]

Joshua Komisarjevsky I hope you changed your underwear tonight.  The torture you are going through tonight knowing that your partner in crime got death must be driving you crazy.

You will not be able to see your child grow up as it should be.  That child doesn't need to grow up knowing she has a monster father like you.  A father who would be leaching off her for the rest of her life.  She will break free and clear once you get your death sentence.  And yes Joshua she will forget about you because you were a nothing.

San, so well said!
I know there has been some criticism of the jury taking so long . . . but I think it shows how seriously they considered the death penalty.  I applaud the judge and the jury and the State and the attorneys for doing a job well done . . . and as it should be, justice has prevailed.

[San]

It's worth listening to what these two jurors had to say.  They had a tough time during this trial.  They had to view the pictures and all the other evidence.  They did a great job.

Jurors: Serving in deadly home invasion case was life-changing

By the CNN Wire Staff
November 9, 2010 6:57 p.m. EST

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/11/09/connecticut.home.invasion.jurors/index.html?hpt=T2

<a href="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&amp;videoId=crime/2010/11/09/hayes.jurors.death.penalty.hln" target="_blank">http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&amp;videoId=crime/2010/11/09/hayes.jurors.death.penalty.hln</a>

(CNN) -- Jurors who convicted a man of three murders in a 2007 Connecticut home invasion and recommended he be put to death for his crimes said Tuesday that serving on the case changed their lives -- and took an emotional and sometimes physical toll.

"This has strengthened my faith," Paula Calzetta told In Session on the truTV network. "We all came together. It was amazing, how it worked out, and we came to the right decision. I know that this is, for me, God's plan, and I think I'm honored to be a part of that."

Jurors recommended Monday that Steven Hayes, 47, should die for his role in the 2007 invasion of a home in Cheshire, Connecticut, that left Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, dead along with her daughters, 17-year-old Hayley Petit and 11-year-old Michaela Petit. They earlier convicted Hayes on a list of charges, including murder, capital murder and kidnapping.

Prosecutors alleged Hayes and co-defendant Joshua Komisarjevsky invaded the home of Dr. William Petit on July 23, 2007, beat and tied up Petit, raped and strangled Hawke-Petit, molested one of their daughters and set the house on fire before attempting to flee. The two daughters, who had been tied to their beds, died of smoke inhalation.

Hayes also forced Hawke-Petit to go to a bank and withdraw $15,000 from an account after finding evidence the account held between $20,000 and $30,000, authorities said. Komisarjevsky is to be tried separately later.

Cindy Hawke-Renn, Hawke-Petit's sister, said Tuesday she does not believe closure can ever exist in a case like this.

"I think justice has been served, but I don't know that there truly is anything just, when something like this happens," she said.

The brutality of the case sent shock waves through Connecticut and beyond. Calzetta and juror Maico Cardona said they were haunted by pictures they viewed -- especially pictures of the Petit daughters.

"I have a 10-year-old daughter at home," Cardona said. "... Michaela was the one factor, for me, that I could not get over." He said he was plagued by a recurring nightmare in which an 11-year-old girl was "screaming for my help, and I'm not able to help her."

"That is burned in my memory, those pictures of those girls," Calzetta said.

She said during the trial, "I thought I was doing really well. And we gave our guilty verdict, and I went home and just collapsed. I was sick for a week and a half." She said she focused on taking care of herself during the penalty phase. "It takes a toll on your body you don't even realize," she said.

Both jurors said it was hard not being able to talk about the case with their families or even each other during the trial. And they said they were struck by the fact that Hayes remained stoic and showed no remorse.

"He's an empty shell ... hollow eyes and an empty shell," Calzetta said. But she said she was able to view Hayes more as a human being after his defense attorneys moved him closer to the jury. "That really affected me," she said. "I had never seen him that close."

Both said the jury took the case and their responsibility very seriously. But both maintained that Hayes should never again walk free.

Cardona said it was important to him that Hayes receive the death penalty because "I knew that he would be in a cell by himself, secluded ... that's what he hated." If jurors had recommended Hayes be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, "he would have been in general population," Cardona said. "That's what he liked. That's what he was used to."

A third juror, Diane Keim, said: "If he had life in prison, that would be going home for him."

Hayes has been in and out of the criminal justice system since he was 17 years old for a laundry-list of offenses.

Cardona said he had difficulty viewing Hayes as a person and not just a perpetrator, but maintained that everyone deserves a fair trial -- and that Hayes got one.

Those outside the jury room wondered why jurors took their time to decide on the death penalty, Calzetta and Cardona said -- their verdict came on the fourth day of deliberation. But "we wanted to make sure everybody was comfortable with the decision," Cardona said.

"This is a huge deal," Calzetta said. "Everybody needed their own time."

"I have a very spiritual background, and I thought that this would be the only opportunity for this man to ever make peace with his Supreme Being, if he even has one," or to accept responsibility, Calzetta said. She felt the death penalty was necessary for Hayes to accept responsibility or experience remorse.

Keim said the jurors had some trouble sorting out the paperwork and procedures, but likewise stressed the significance of their decision.

"All 12 of us tried to keep our emotions in check because we knew that we had to make a decision here on a man's life. And it was very very difficult for us," she said.

Both Calzetta and Cardona said they did not buy the defense's claim that Hayes was merely a follower and KomisarjevskyCalzetta said. "He's a man, and he made his choices. Unfortunately, they were the wrong ones. ... He needs to be accountable." the ringleader of the crime, saying that Hayes had plenty of opportunities to make different choices, to stop or to leave, and did not. "Calling him a follower is just too easy,"

Cardona said he did not believe testimony that Komisarjevsky triggered Hayes' rage by telling him, when he returned from the bank with Hawke-Petit, that the girls were dead. A police officer who interviewed Hayes just after his arrest testified that Hayes told him he saw Michaela upon his return and saw that she had changed clothes, Cardona pointed out.

Asked about whether they were overcome by emotion at times, Calzetta said, "Oh, several times. I don't think any of us expected it when it did overcome us."

Looking at the bank video of Hawke-Petit was particularly hard, she said, as jurors knew the woman was being brave and doing what she felt she had to do to save her family. "She had no idea what she was walking into," Calzetta said. "No one could have known. And all three of those girls were, I think, very brave in their final moments. They didn't deserve this."

"It was a very emotional case and a very emotional two months," Cardona said.

But he praised the other jurors for following the letter of the law and conducting civilized deliberations. "There was never a shouting match," he said. "There was never insults."

Both Calzetta and Cardona said they felt privileged to have served alongside the others. "We worked extremely hard," Cardona said.

Jurors also praised the Petit family, saying they spoke to William Petit and others after the trial. "It was so wonderful to hug these people," Calzetta said, "and they treated us like family, and we feel almost like family because we've seen such intimate things of their life and lived some things with them, and they are the most wonderful people that I think I've come across in a long time."

Cardona said he was struck by the Petit family telling jurors they were sorry the panel had to go through such an experience. "This family is so dignified, gracious, classy," he said. William Petit "held his head high throughout this entire case," he said. "... He was an inspiration to all of us."

The Petit family had said they were praying for the jurors. "It's amazing to me that in the midst of their horror and grief they are so generous to think about praying for us, there in the midst of this horror. It's heartwarming," Calzetta said. "... I can't even put it to words."

Calzetta said she plans to attend Komisarjevsky's trial because she wants to support the Petit family.

Jurors acknowledged that it is likely their lives will never be the same. Cardona said he thought he would be all right because he's seen movies and television, but he found it's different when something actually took place.

"You want to feel safe in your home," he said, but "... there's more people like this out there."

[San]

Writings reveal mind of next man to be tried in Connecticut killings

By Ashley Fantz, CNN
November 12, 2010 1:02 p.m. EST

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/11/12/connecticut.murders/index.html?hpt=C2

This story is based on interviews by "Anderson Cooper 360" reporter Randi Kaye. Her special report, "Pure Evil: The Killings in Connecticut," will air at 10 p.m. ET Saturday, November 13, and 10:30 p.m. ET Sunday, November 14.

(CNN) -- The accused murderer's life wasn't supposed to turn out like this.

He had everything most people want -- money, opportunity, education, a respected family name. He claimed his IQ fell in the genius range.

But Joshua Komisarjevsky also had something sinister inside him. He called it "a terrible feeling." Whatever it was exactly, an innocent family would suffer unspeakably for it. A husband, a wife and their daughters, 17 and 11. The Petits of Connecticut -- that family.

Though their names might not be well known, after months of media coverage, their nightmare is. On July 23, 2007, men wearing ski masks attacked the family as they slept in their suburban Cheshire home. The father, a physician, was beaten with a bat and tied to a pole in his basement. His wife was raped and strangled. The girls were tortured for nearly seven hours, one sexually assaulted, then killed when the attackers set the house on fire.

The doctor survived and later mustered the strength and courage to testify against one of the attackers in court.

The horror that happened at 300 Sorghum Mill Drive was so savage, jurors wept repeatedly during the September trial of Steven Hayes. They later said the experience changed their lives. Hayes, a 47-year-old career criminal, who one juror described as an "empty shell," was convicted of murder, rape and kidnapping.

Last week, he was sentenced to die.

During the trial, Hayes' lawyers tried to shift attention to his accused accomplice, Komisarjevsky, who is expected to be tried on similar charges, including arson, in January.

Hayes was a follower, they insisted. Komisarjevsky was the smarter guy, the manipulator, the orchestrator of a home invasion so brutal that it reinvigorated the death penalty in one of only two New England states that still have it. (New Hampshire is the other).

Komisarjevsky's journals and letters show a man of keen intelligence who "takes responsibility for masterminding [the Petit attack]," said Brian McDonald, an author who Komisarjevsky wrote to frequently from jail. "He takes credit for orchestrating what went on in that house."

Much of the writing, however, is rambling self-analysis about how the accused killer's own alleged childhood rape stoked his "menacing mind."

Komisarjevsky has pleaded not guilty. There is a gag order issued in the case. No one, including lawyers, is allowed to comment.

Jailers have confiscated some of Komisarjevsky's writings, said Beth Karas, a former prosecutor who covered the Petit case for "In Session" on TruTV. It's possible they could be presented as evidence in his trial. Beyond the heinous details of the crime, the writings provoke more questions, more reason to ask: What evil are people capable of?

"In my 24 years in the criminal justice system, this is one of the few cases that gave me a nightmare," Karas said.

Karas said she wonders why she is exceptionally bothered. Crime is always terrible; murders happen every day. Around the same time that jurors heard testimony in the Petit case, a Memphis, Tennessee, man was convicted of murdering a whole family, including two children. That case drew a fraction of the media attention the Connecticut trial did.

Does what happened to the Petit family remind us of the randomness of violence, the unfairness of it?

Is it that we see ourselves, the good we try to be, in the doctor and his wife, a woman suffering from multiple sclerosis who raised money to fight the disease? Do we see our kids in their teenager on her way to Dartmouth, in their 11-year-old who couldn't take her eyes off the Food Network?

Is our sense of safety betrayed by the setting of the crime? Cheshire is a leafy New England village of 28,000 people, known more for its bucolic country roads than for its crime rate.

Violence can happen anywhere. Criminals live everywhere.

Consider the accused murderer. He grew up in Cheshire.

A menacing mind

About two miles away from the Petit home, Joshua Komisarjevsky was raised on a 65-acre estate called "The Barn." It belonged to his adoptive grandfather, writer Joseph Chamberlain, and Chamberlain's wife, a Russian ballerina.

As a boy, Komisarjevsky delighted in exploring the grounds of the Barn, tracking the animals, perfecting the art of moving in silence.

His was a family of power and prestige, but it wasn't his biologically. Ben and Jude Komisarjevsky, who also lived at "The Barn," had adopted him a few days after he was born to a 16-year-old, said McDonald, who has written a book based on Komisarjevsky's letters to him, journals and interviews with those who know him.

The details of Komisarjevsky's early life are laid out in those writings, and in McDonald's book.

Ben and Jude, who was a grade-school librarian, were "fervent Christians," McDonald said. The couple enrolled their son in the Christian Service Brigade, a kind of Boy Scouts, according to McDonald. The boy went to Christian camps and church soccer games.

"Yet early on in his life, 12, 13 ... there was this evil side of him that had to be nurtured, or explored," said McDonald.

Komisarjevsky began breaking into houses. He told McDonald that he broke into hundreds by the time he was 16. Sometimes, he did it "just to hear people breathing," McDonald said. Occasionally, to mess with people's minds, he'd rearrange photographs and leave without detection.

"I knew there was something different about me," Komisarjevsky wrote of his adolescence.

He usually wore latex gloves during his break-ins; at least once he donned night-vision gear, McDonald said. He bragged that burglarizing taught him how to build a house "from laying the foundation to hanging the last door."

At one point, Komisarjevsky joined the Army, went AWOL, started doing drugs -- speed-balling heroin and coke -- and got a thumb-wagging from a judge. "There was this wild, fiendish side to him," McDonald said.

In letters to McDonald, Komisarjevsky blamed one central experience in his youth for causing his "restless inner torment," an alleged rape by a male foster child who his family took in.

"This child, raped of his innocence, guilty of silence, dripping in sin, learned at an early age the art of repression," wrote Komisarjevsky, referring to himself. "This terrible feeling grew. In time it became a conscious, raw tingling that jangled my nerve and made me want to jump out of my skin. 'Rebuke the devil -- and pray,' I was told.

"Growing up, kids are propped up with lies and promises made with good intentions. Life is good, humanity is kind, God is loving. But I know. I knew full well that life was a battle. Humanity is cruel. And that God is all-knowing, all-powerful and did nothing to protect this child."

Komisarjevsky told McDonald about his daughter. He described giving her a bath and reading her a bedtime story even as he planned to head out to terrorize another man's family.

A leader, a follower

Hayes and his partner eyed Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughter Michaela loading up their SUV at the Cheshire Stop & Shop, according to trial testimony, and followed them home to case the house.

Hayes seemed to be Komisarjevsky's opposite. "They were a classic Mutt and Jeff jailhouse team," McDonald said. Hayes was short, stout, bald, dimwitted. According to his lawyers, he was a follower. Komisarjevsky was taller, lean and handsome. He was the leader, said McDonald.

Raised in a tiny house in New Hampshire with parents he said were abusive, Hayes' criminal ambitions began in his teens and were mainly about one thing -- feeding his drug habit, said McDonald.

The pair hit it off while rooming for four months at a halfway house in Hartford, Connecticut, in 2007. Both were on parole for burglary and robbery.

A few days before the Petit attack, Komisarjevsky removed his ankle bracelet, Karas said.

After he put his daughter to bed on July 23, 2007, he got on his computer and had cybersex with his 16-year-old girlfriend.

The teen would later testify that he told her, "I'd rob a bank for you."

Sleep, then a nightmare

Dr. William Petit had enjoyed a nice dinner with his family and was dozing on his porch when the blows of a Louisville Slugger woke him. One, two, three, four. When the bashing stopped, he was tied to a post in his basement, according to trial testimony.

The men, wearing masks, grabbed Jennifer Hawke-Petit as she slept in the master bedroom next to 11-year-old Micheala. Hayley, a crew team athlete, was next.

For nearly seven hours, they were tortured and told they would live, but given reason to believe they would die. Komisarjevsky is accused of tying Micheala to her bed, stripping and photographing her, telling the child that the pictures would be used to blackmail her father, and then raping her. He has denied the rape, but DNA samples found on and inside the little girl match his, according to Karas.

Hayes' jury was reportedly spared having to see the photos, but a technology expert, shown the images on Komisarjevsky's cell phone, described them in detail on the stand.

When the hell of that night gave way to day, Hawke-Petit tried desperately to win over her captors. She even offered to cook them breakfast. She followed the attackers' orders and went to a bank to withdraw $15,000. A surveillance camera caught her speaking in a hush to a teller: "They're holding my family hostage," she said.

"Jennifer-Hawke Petit wanted to believe that these men who had been holding her and her children and husband hostage for about six hours at that point ... that they were not going to hurt them," said Karas. "That they were going to keep their word that they just wanted money."

Hoping it might save her family, she got in the car with Hayes. He took off his mask during the drive.

"Once the witnesses could identify them, the witnesses had to be destroyed," Karas said.

If the attackers wanted money, by then they had other plans, too. They had gasoline.

Hayes testified that he raped and strangled Hawke Petit, according to court records.

Then, the house went up in flames.

Petit reportedly testified: "I felt a major jolt of adrenaline. I thought 'It's now or never,' " after hearing one of the attackers say, "Don't worry, it's going to be over in a couple of minutes."

"I thought they were going to shoot all of us," the doctor said.

He wrangled free and crawled bloody into the morning sunlight. He screamed for help. A neighbor rushed to him. "Is there anyone in the house?" he asked frantically.

"The girls," Petit moaned.

"I'm good and bad"

Brian McDonald wanted to write a book about the most talked about crime in Connecticut. He wrote to everyone involved, including Petit and Hayes, all the lawyers. No one responded.

Then he got a letter, a single paragraph, in the mail. It was from Komisarjevsky.

"He was suspicious of my motives," said McDonald. "But he invited me to write back, which I did."

The correspondence between them lasted five months, the author said. Sometimes McDonald would receive three letters a week. They revealed a warped mind.

Komisarjevsky called Hayley "a fighter" because she constantly struggled to free herself and help her family, McDonald said.

The 11-year-old Michaela had "calm strength and poised emotion," Komisarjevsky wrote. He said Hawke-Petit's courage was "to be respected ... she met that end bravely."

Petit, he wrote, was "a coward."

"I was scared," McDonald said of the first time he met Komisarjevsky in prison.

When they picked up their two-way phones on each side of the Plexiglas partition, Komisarjevsky told the writer, "You can't be too careful in this place."

Komisarjevsky was "soft spoken ... polite ... like a nice Christian boy ... but I think he plays that," said McDonald. "He used that as a tool. He knows how he appears to people. He knows he comes across as this nice, Christian boy with soft mannerisms.

"He was going out of his way to be nice. It was very disarming."

Whatever he wants the world to think of him, Komisarjevsky is a manipulator, McDonald said, through and through.

"I'm not good or bad, Mr. McDonald," Komisarjevsky wrote. "There is no black or white answer. ... I'm both good and bad and everything in between."

[San]

Judge hears challenge to Conn. home invasion killer's death sentence

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Last Updated: 2:25 PM, November 24, 2010
Posted: 2:24 PM, November 24, 2010

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/judge_hears_challenge_to_conn_death_EgLZe002eXStjjtPHxge1K#ixzz16FBRnAuk

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Attorneys for a man condemned to die for a deadly home invasion tried to convince a judge Wednesday that the jury was unduly swayed by emotion, but the judge said the jurors' reactions were natural given the crime's "unimaginable horror."

Judge Jon Blue heard arguments, but did not immediately rule, on a defense motion challenging the death verdict two weeks ago for Steven Hayes, who was convicted of killing a woman and her two daughters in the 2007 home invasion in Cheshire.

Hayes was convicted of sexually assaulting and strangling the mother, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, after forcing her to withdraw money from a bank. Investigators say Hayes and co-defendant Joshua Komisarjevsky tied the girls to their beds and poured gasoline on or around them before setting the house on fire, leaving them to die of smoke inhalation.

The girls' father and Hawke-Petit's husband, Dr. William Petit, was beaten with a baseball bat and tied up, but managed to escape to a neighbor's house to get assistance.

Tom Ullmann, Hayes' attorney, cited comments by a juror of having persistent nightmares during the trial, during which they heard gruesome testimony and saw photos of the victims, charred beds, rope, ripped clothing and ransacked rooms.

"It would be the rare human being to not have nightmares," Blue said. "The fact of the matter is your client left in his wake a scene of unimaginable horror. The defense is not entitled to a jury of robots."

Blue promised a ruling on the motion, which seeks a new trial or a life sentence, before Hayes' scheduled sentencing on Dec. 2. Blue did reject a defense motion challenging Hayes' assault conviction.

Some jurors met with Petit and his relatives after the verdict and some also appeared on television wearing pins for a family foundation in memory of the victims, Ullmann said.

The attorney called the meeting "somewhat unseemly," but Blue said he was not concerned. The judge repeatedly pressed Ullmann to cite court rulings to bolster his arguments, saying courts do not delve into the mental processes and reasoning of jurors.

"I think it's a unique situation," Ullmann said.

"Frankly, I just disagree," Blue responded.

Hayes appeared in court with a slight beard and shook Ullmann's hand.

Komisarjevsky faces trial next year.

[San]

Judge: Conn. home invasion death sentence is fair

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Last Updated: 12:40 PM, November 26, 2010
Posted: 12:38 PM, November 26, 2010

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/judge_conn_home_invasion_death_sentence_2XsbVxTC9NKUlLOTL9ApII#ixzz16Ryk2YPY

HARTFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut judge has decided that a jury was fair in deciding that Steven Hayes should be executed for a home invasion that left a woman and her two daughters dead.

Lawyers for Hayes had argued that the jury was swayed by emotion after hearing and seeing gruesome testimony. Jurors condemned Hayes to death on Nov. 8.

New Haven Superior Court Judge Jon Blue on Friday denied defense lawyers' motion seeking a new trial, new penalty phase hearing or a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The judge says the jury wasn't "driven by passion and prejudice." Public defender Thomas Ullmann says he believes the same issues will come up on appeal.

Another defendant, Joshua Komisarjevsky, is set to go on trial next year for the killings in the town of Cheshire.

[Sister]

San, this case has restored some of my tattered feelings about our justice system.  I am so glad the judge has acknowledged the well-thought through decisions of the jurors.
I appreciate the updates.
When reading from the above, it reaffirmed to me what the anthonys are not:
Jurors also praised the Petit family, saying they spoke to William Petit and others after the trial. "It was so wonderful to hug these people," Calzetta said, "and they treated us like family, and we feel almost like family because we've seen such intimate things of their life and lived some things with them, and they are the most wonderful people that I think I've come across in a long time."
Cardona said he was struck by the Petit family telling jurors they were sorry the panel had to go through such an experience. "This family is so dignified, gracious, classy," he said. William Petit "held his head high throughout this entire case," he said. "... He was an inspiration to all of us."

[San]

San, this case has restored some of my tattered feelings about our justice system.  I am so glad the judge has acknowledged the well-thought through decisions of the jurors.
I appreciate the updates.
When reading from the above, it reaffirmed to me what the anthonys are not:
Jurors also praised the Petit family, saying they spoke to William Petit and others after the trial. "It was so wonderful to hug these people," Calzetta said, "and they treated us like family, and we feel almost like family because we've seen such intimate things of their life and lived some things with them, and they are the most wonderful people that I think I've come across in a long time."
Cardona said he was struck by the Petit family telling jurors they were sorry the panel had to go through such an experience. "This family is so dignified, gracious, classy," he said. William Petit "held his head high throughout this entire case," he said. "... He was an inspiration to all of us."

Sister it has restored some feelings I had towards the justice system.  I was getting very nervous for a while that the jury would be sympathetic towards this monster.  This guy doesn't deserve to live.

The Petit family is a class act and they deserved justice for their family members.  No one should ever go through a crime like this and I also believe law enforcement failed this family.

We all need to pray for William Petit because this next trial is going to be worse.  Continued strength to him and his family.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/12/02/conn-home-invasion-killer-faces-death-sentence/
Conn. Home Invasion‎ Killer Faces Death Sentence
December 2, 2010

Convicted killer Steven Hayes will be formally sentenced today to Connecticut's death row for his part in the horrific 2007 Cheshire home invasion case that left a mother, and her two daughters dead.

Judge Jon C. Blue is expected to uphold the jury's Nov. 8 death sentence verdict after denying defense motions last week for a new trial, a new penalty phase hearing, and a request to sentence Hayes to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Judge Blue concluded the jury was fair in its decision that Hayes should be executed for his crimes. Hayes' defense team had argued that the jury was swayed by emotion after hearing and seeing the gruesome testimony and evidence that involved the rape and strangulation of the mother Jennifer Hawke-Petit and the torture of the two daughters who were left tied to their beds as their home was set on fire.

After the jury announced its verdict of death for Hayes last month, the lone survivor of the home invasion, Dr. William Petit gave a rare press conference outside the courthouse in New Haven.

Petit told reporters throughout the trial he wanted to hold his comments until after the penalty phase was over. "This is not about revenge, this is about justice, Dr. Petit said. "We need to have some rules in a civilized society. Fortunately, justice delayed wasn't justice denied.

Emotions are expected to run high inside the New Haven Superior Courthouse at the sentencing.

This is the day that the Hawke and Petit family members will be allowed to give "victim impact statements." Traditionally, these statements, which are allowed as part of the judicial legal process, give the victim or victims of a crime the chance to speak directly to the convicted in the courtroom. This, however, is not a conversation with the person sitting at the defense table. This is an opportunity for crime victims to address the court and explain how the crime has impacted them and their family, and often times, the words are spoken to the convicted.

Prosecutors confirm several family members are expected to give these statements, and Steven Hayes will also have the opportunity to speak under Connecticut state law before the judge formally imposes the death penalty, though his defense attorney has not said if he will, and that it will be a "day of decision."

Once sentencing is complete, Hayes will return to his cell at the Northern Correctional Institution in Somers, which is where death row is located. Prosecutors are expected to meet with Judge Blue next week to start discussing court dates for the next trial in this case for defendant Joshua Komisarjevsky.

[Curly]

Watching William Petit on Oprah.
It's so heartbreaking.

[trimmonthelake]

This should be very interesting.

[trimmonthelake]

http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/2010/12/oprahs-connecticut-visit-to-dr.html
Oprah's Connecticut Visit to Dr. Petit
By
Roger Catlin
 on December 9, 2010 4:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)


Oprah Winfrey came to Connecticut for Thursday's show, for what she called "the exclusive first interview" with Dr. William Petit about the assault and murder of his wife and two daughters in 2007.

What was exclusive about to her it may have been that she was the first big celebrity interviewer who dropped in to get his comments. But the mourning doctor's voice has certainly not gone unheard in the incessant coverage locally of the crime, trial and sentencing.

Sitting in his parents' house (rather than, say, Harpo studios in Chicago before an audience) Dr. Petit answered her questions in a muted voice as she bore down on him like a psychiatrist -- a psychiatrist bent on knowing what exactly he was feeling at every point.

Her first question: "Tell us of the moment you were conscious of the fact that you had lost your entire family."
When he doesn't immediately answer, she sets the scene like a police investigator: "You're in the hospital, your family walks in... can you tell us what that was like?"

"I think I was still dazed and confused," he began.

 

Later, she said, a little callously, "Describe for us what this meant for you to lose your entire family?"

What is this insistence of TV interviewers to know how somebody felt at every moment? Is this the key piece of information, the holy grail, every TV interviewer must have? Can't we simply imagine what a man who has lost his family has felt? Are interviewers, in constantly asking these questions, merely poking at raw nerves in hopes of seeing some emotional response?

As quietly as she speaks and even handed Winfrey's tone, there is still a notion of exploitation in the whole exercise. Especially as exuberant commercials keep interrupting every five minutes and the host keeps teasing the next segment -- usually with one of her blunt questions.

There has been no shortage of Dr. Petit's statements made public over the years, in his remembrance at their funerals and in his impact at the sentencing. But since he didn't speak these personal things to Oprah, maybe they haven't counted.
So she persisted in what would seem outrageous questioning. In between the tense piano music, she had a query right out of Camus: "Why did you make the decision not to kill yourself?"

He didn't want to risk not seeing his family in the afterlife, he said.

Petit himself laughed when she asked: "Where are you with God now?"

But he tried to answer: "God and I had a little bit of a standoff. I've believed in God for a long time, but I was pretty angry with Him for a long time - or Her," he added, perhaps in acknowledment of her role among a female audience.

Winfrey said later in the interview she was hesitant to even bring up the word forgiveness. But it was enough of a way to bring up the topic.

"I don't think you can forgive ultimate evil," he said. "You can forgive someone who stole your car. You can forgive someone who slaps you in the face. You can forgive someone who insulted you. You can forgive someone who caused an accident. I think forgiving the essence of evil is not appropriate."

"I love that answer," she says.

Oprah tried to end on an up note, by mentioning his foundation for education programs in science and for people affected by violence.

"Does this make you feel alive again?" she asked.

"It makes me feel that there are a lot of good people in the world who reach out," he answered.

[Sister]

http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/2010/12/oprahs-connecticut-visit-to-dr.html
Oprah's Connecticut Visit to Dr. Petit
By
Roger Catlin
 on December 9, 2010 4:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)


Oprah Winfrey came to Connecticut for Thursday's show, for what she called "the exclusive first interview" with Dr. William Petit about the assault and murder of his wife and two daughters in 2007.

What was exclusive about to her it may have been that she was the first big celebrity interviewer who dropped in to get his comments. But the mourning doctor's voice has certainly not gone unheard in the incessant coverage locally of the crime, trial and sentencing.

Sitting in his parents' house (rather than, say, Harpo studios in Chicago before an audience) Dr. Petit answered her questions in a muted voice as she bore down on him like a psychiatrist -- a psychiatrist bent on knowing what exactly he was feeling at every point.

Her first question: "Tell us of the moment you were conscious of the fact that you had lost your entire family."
When he doesn't immediately answer, she sets the scene like a police investigator: "You're in the hospital, your family walks in... can you tell us what that was like?"

"I think I was still dazed and confused," he began.

 

Later, she said, a little callously, "Describe for us what this meant for you to lose your entire family?"

What is this insistence of TV interviewers to know how somebody felt at every moment? Is this the key piece of information, the holy grail, every TV interviewer must have? Can't we simply imagine what a man who has lost his family has felt? Are interviewers, in constantly asking these questions, merely poking at raw nerves in hopes of seeing some emotional response?

As quietly as she speaks and even handed Winfrey's tone, there is still a notion of exploitation in the whole exercise. Especially as exuberant commercials keep interrupting every five minutes and the host keeps teasing the next segment -- usually with one of her blunt questions.

There has been no shortage of Dr. Petit's statements made public over the years, in his remembrance at their funerals and in his impact at the sentencing. But since he didn't speak these personal things to Oprah, maybe they haven't counted.
So she persisted in what would seem outrageous questioning. In between the tense piano music, she had a query right out of Camus: "Why did you make the decision not to kill yourself?"

He didn't want to risk not seeing his family in the afterlife, he said.

Petit himself laughed when she asked: "Where are you with God now?"

But he tried to answer: "God and I had a little bit of a standoff. I've believed in God for a long time, but I was pretty angry with Him for a long time - or Her," he added, perhaps in acknowledment of her role among a female audience.

Winfrey said later in the interview she was hesitant to even bring up the word forgiveness. But it was enough of a way to bring up the topic.

"I don't think you can forgive ultimate evil," he said. "You can forgive someone who stole your car. You can forgive someone who slaps you in the face. You can forgive someone who insulted you. You can forgive someone who caused an accident. I think forgiving the essence of evil is not appropriate."

"I love that answer," she says.

Oprah tried to end on an up note, by mentioning his foundation for education programs in science and for people affected by violence.

"Does this make you feel alive again?" she asked.

"It makes me feel that there are a lot of good people in the world who reach out," he answered.

Dr. Petit obviously was not swayed by a celebrity in his answers.  My goodness, the grace of the Lord is on this man.  Reminds me so much of Morgan Harrington's parents. 
Dr. Petit may not want to be, but what a good example he is setting under the worse of circumstances.

[Sister]

San, this case has restored some of my tattered feelings about our justice system.  I am so glad the judge has acknowledged the well-thought through decisions of the jurors.
I appreciate the updates.
When reading from the above, it reaffirmed to me what the anthonys are not:
Jurors also praised the Petit family, saying they spoke to William Petit and others after the trial. "It was so wonderful to hug these people," Calzetta said, "and they treated us like family, and we feel almost like family because we've seen such intimate things of their life and lived some things with them, and they are the most wonderful people that I think I've come across in a long time."
Cardona said he was struck by the Petit family telling jurors they were sorry the panel had to go through such an experience. "This family is so dignified, gracious, classy," he said. William Petit "held his head high throughout this entire case," he said. "... He was an inspiration to all of us."

Sister it has restored some feelings I had towards the justice system.  I was getting very nervous for a while that the jury would be sympathetic towards this monster.  This guy doesn't deserve to live.

The Petit family is a class act and they deserved justice for their family members.  No one should ever go through a crime like this and I also believe law enforcement failed this family.

We all need to pray for William Petit because this next trial is going to be worse.  Continued strength to him and his family.

http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=JHMP

[San]

Galling trial move
Conn. 'killer' rips massacre dad

By LAURA ITALIANO
Last Updated: 6:43 AM, February 5, 2011
Posted: 1:10 AM, February 5, 2011


Lawyers for Connecticut home-invasion monster Joshua Komisarjevsky unleashed a barrage of blows at surviving victim Dr. William Petit, branding him a grandstanding griper, according to court documents.

The papers slammed "Dr. Petit's never-ending and purposefully publicized complaints about our system of justice," a reference to the doctor's public criticisms of the lengthy trial process.

In the 200 pages of pretrial motions filed yesterday, Komisarjevsky's team also demanded that Petit and all other witnesses in the case be sequestered, presumably in a hotel, throughout the capital-murder trial that begins next month and is likely to span most of this year.

<Snipped>

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/galling_trial_move_ig4GCuKtn7PcBXo0E3IluM#ixzz1D5o4R1w0


laura.italiano@nypost.com

[cookie]

Dr. Petit is a hero to his family, a very gracious and stoic man..
These attorneys trying show Dr. Petit in a bad light are going to be making a huge mistake imo...

[trimmonthelake]

http://www.myrecordjournal.com/talkaboutit/article_3c1a4b1c-30d0-11e0-8141-001cc4c002e0.html
Komisarjevsky attorneys motion for venue change
By: Lisa Backus, Record-Journal staff | Posted: Friday, February 4, 2011 9:24 pm
NEW HAVEN - Attorneys for the second defendant charged with the murders of three members of the Petit family in a 2007 Cheshire home invasion filed 11 motions Friday, including three seeking to disqualify the trial judge, change the venue, and bar the use of Twitter in the courtroom.

Attorneys for Joshua Komisarjevsky, 30, filed paperwork Friday seeking to disqualify New Haven Superior Court Judge Jon. C. Blue on the grounds he demonstrated "partialty, lack of objectivity and unsuitable temperament" during the trial of co-defendant Steven Hayes, who was sentenced to death in early December.

Komisarjevsky is accused of torturing and killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, during the home invasion in July 2007. Dr. William Petit was the sole survivor of the attack, managing to free himself before his home went up in flames with his family inside.
<snipped>
More here
http://www.myrecordjournal.com/talkaboutit/article_3c1a4b1c-30d0-11e0-8141-001cc4c002e0.html


There is no corner of hell hot enough for this piece of chit.Period. 

[cookie]

I agree Trimm..
who could defend this creature? not enough money in the world would make me defend him...