Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes were convicted of killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters in the Cheshire home invasion murders on 23 July 2007
One Connecticut family became the target of a horrifying ordeal inside their own home when a brutal killing duo launched a seven-hour rampage of rape, sexual assault and ultimately murder.
Joshua Komisarjevsky and his accomplice, Steven Hayes, were found guilty of murdering Jennifer Hawke-Petit, a nurse, along with her daughters during the terrifying attack on July 23, 2007.
The pair had spotted Jennifer and her daughter at a supermarket and tailed them back to their residence in New Haven, where the family’s harrowing nightmare would begin.
Komisarjevsky memorised their address, returned home to put his own daughter to bed, then came back to the Petit family home in the dead of night while they were sleeping. His original intention was burglary — but this straightforward crime escalated into an act of unspeakable depravity.
The duo subjected the family to hours of torment. They began by beating father William Petit with a baseball bat so severely that he was rendered unconscious as the nightmare unfolded around him, reports the Express US.
His two daughters, 17-year-old Hayley and 11-year-old Michaela, were bound, and Jennifer was compelled to withdraw $15,000 from a bank account after the depraved pair escorted her to a local branch.
Hayes raped and strangled Jennifer, while Komisarjevsky sexually assaulted her 11-year-old daughter, Michaela. Michaela and her 17-year-old sister, Hayley, were tied to their beds and succumbed to smoke inhalation after the house was doused in petrol and set ablaze.
Both Hayley and Jennifer were sexually assaulted, according to Vocal Media. The entire nightmare lasted seven hours.
Jennifer even managed to discreetly alert their bank, who then notified authorities the family was being held hostage, but by that point Komisarjevsky and Hayes had escalated their crimes into a full-blown nightmare. One detective described the crime scene as something that “never leaves your mind.”
The intruders doused the house in accelerant before setting it ablaze. Miraculously, William Petit, the father, managed to survive.
The doctor had been beaten, bound and dragged to the basement, where he drifted in and out of consciousness for several hours.
He managed to break free and crawl to a neighbour’s house to raise the alarm, but was unable to save his two daughters or his wife.
Petit campaigned to retain the death penalty in Connecticut, successfully lobbying state senators to delay repeal legislation while Komisarjevsky was still facing a capital punishment trial.
“July 23, 2007, was our personal holocaust,” Petit said following Komisarjevsky’s death sentence, referring to the day his family was murdered. “A holocaust caused by two who are completely evil and actually do not comprehend what they have done.”
Hayley endured horrific final moments after managing to free herself from her restraints, before collapsing from smoke inhalation. Michaela never made it out of her room.
The killers tried to flee in the Petit family’s car, but were arrested by police almost immediately. Komisarjevsky has since said he considers volunteering to be executed on his darkest days.
In the past 50 years, Connecticut has carried out only one execution — a serial killer who was put to death in 2005 after voluntarily waiving his right to appeal.
“I don’t think I’ll be executed against my will,” Komisarjevsky said in his first interview since his conviction the previous year. “I think if I volunteer, the state will execute me.
“I guess my reaction is not the reaction society expected,” Komisarjevsky said.
Cynthia Hawke-Renn, the sister and aunt of the victims, told NBC she had not anticipated any apology from the killer, according to ABC.
“He doesn’t have nightmares, but I have nightmares and I can’t stop thinking about it,” she said. “I wish I could. And I think it’s really sad that he doesn’t have a conscience and have remorse and apologize to my brother-in-law or my parents.”
Komisarjevsky now passes his days in solitary confinement by drawing, watching television, reading, and responding to both hate mail and letters from supporters.
“Some days you’re just overwhelmed by the isolation and the difficulties in communicating with loved ones, dealing with your own crisis of conscience,” Komisarjevsky said.
Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy signed legislation abolishing the state’s death penalty for future crimes, though the new law does not apply to those already on death row.
“In order for some to swallow this bitter pill, it was inevitable that we would be left out,” Komisarjevsky said.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login