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Law and Crime
Will Hayes Be Sentenced To Death For the Petit Killings?
A jury votes: the death penalty or life in prison
Posted November 7, 2010
Only one man has been executed in the state of Connecticut since 1960. Steven J. Hayes may be the second.
On October 5, 2010, 47-year-old Hayes was convicted of the murder of a woman and her daughters. The crime occurred more than three years before, on the morning of July 23, 2007. It happened in the victims' home on a quiet suburban street in Cheshire.
Police discovered the bodies in separate rooms. It was a gruesome scene. They had been tied up and evidence showed that the mother and one of the daughters had been sexually assaulted. Ms. Hawke-Petit, had been strangled. The daughters, 17-year old Hayley and 11-year-old Michaela, died of smoke inhalation after the house was set on fire. It was reported that Hayes poured gasoline on or around their beds. The father, Dr. William A. Petit Jr., had been severely beaten but was able to escape and call the neighbors for help.
Why was this family attacked? It seems that the Petit family was targeted almost at random. Joshua Komisarjevsky, a 26-year-old parolee, observed Ms. Hawke-Petit and her younger daughter shopping at a neighborhood supermarket. He followed them home and contacted his friend Hayes.
Perhaps the two were planning to rob the family. First they went to purchase rope and an air rifle. Then they waited until nightfall. The prosecution presented testimony of their text messages from that night:
Hayes (7:45 pm) - "I'm chomping at the bit to get started...Need a margarita soon."
Hayes (between 8:45 p.m. and 9:20 p.m.) - "We still on?"
Komisarjevsky - "Yes," Komisarjevsky replied.
Hayes - "Soon?"
Komisarjevsky - "I'm putting kid to bed...Hold your horses."
Hayes - "Dude the horses want to get loose...Lol." http://abcnews.go.com/US/TheLaw/death-petit-family-murderer-penalty-pha…
Hayes and Komisarjevsky broke into the Petit home. First they attacked the father. Once he was beaten to unconsciousness, they took the mother and daughters hostage. Hayes went with Ms. Hawke-Petit to her bank and ordered her to withdraw $15,000. She approached the teller's window to take out the money and passed the teller a note alerting her to the kidnapping. The teller told the bank manager who called the police. Hayes brought the mother back to the home where she and her daughters were killed before the police could save them.
Officers arrived in time to see Hayes and Komisarjevsky fleeing the burning home. Both were quickly caught. They had criminal records and both were out on parole.
Dr. Petit attended the trial. His testimony at Hayes' trial was pivotal in the case. When asked whether he would also attend the upcoming Komisarjevsky trial, he said, "If your family was destroyed by evil, you would be there for your family. It's the only thing you can do for your family". http://abcnews.go.com/US/TheLaw/death-petit-family-murderer-penalty-pha…
There was never much doubt that Hayes would be convicted. After less than one day of deliberations, the jury came back with a verdict. They convicted him of 16 of the 17 counts. Now, the only question is whether he will be sentenced to death.
Death penalty cases include two separate proceedings. The trial determines whether the defendant is innocent or guilty of the crime. If convicted, there is a death penalty phase. This is basically a second trial to determine whether the defendant will be sentenced to death or life in prison. The same jurors hear the evidence at the penalty phase. The prosecution presents what is termed aggravating evidence and the defense presents mitigating evidence.
State's Attorney Michael Dearington addressed the jury: ""He [Hayes] said, 'Things got out of control'..It wasn't things. It was them. They were out of control...What was a vibrant house of people at 9 o'clock became a house of terror and horror...There's no way to recreate the fear, the terror, the horror that those girls experienced in their last few minutes." http://abcnews.go.com/US/TheLaw/house-terror-horror-jury-petit-murder-t…
Patrick Culligan, one of Hayes' attorneys, told the jurors: "You will learn that he has a long criminal history of being a burglar and a thief and a person who has for a long period of time in his life [had] a serious drug abuse addiction...You will also learn he could be a good worker ... he could be a likable person... many of his life choices revolved around his desire and need to satisfy and fuel his drug addiction." http://abcnews.go.com/US/petit-murder-trial-steven-hayes-diary-joshua-k… http://www.bristolpress.com/articles/2010/10/18/news/doc4cbd06237900f62…
The defense called former investigator D'Arcy Lovetere who testified that, "He [Hayes] wasn't the best criminal in the world for sure...His addiction overtook him, but he just wasn't all that good as a criminal, I guess. He was a klutz...He was definitely a follower." http://abcnews.go.com/US/petit-murder-trial-steven-hayes-diary-joshua-k…
The defense attempted to convince the jurors that Komisarjevsky was the ringleader. One defense attorneys said, "Steven Hayes is no angel...But he's not the one who controlled the escalation of violence. That's Joshua Komisarjevsky." One of Hayes previous employers, Christiane Gehami, testified that when Hayes introduced her to Komisarjevsky, she, "just stopped dead in my tracks. I thought I was looking at the devil...My skin crawled...[he] had "dead eyes. Completely dead eyes." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39720752/
Will the defense offer enough mitigating evidence to convince the jurors to spare Hayes' life? The death penalty phase ended a few days ago and the case went to the jury last Friday. I expect they will come to a decision within the next few days. Then comes Komisarjevsky's trial.
