Petit Family -- William, Jennifer, Hayley & Michaela - Father Beaten, Wife & Daughters Murdered 7/23/07

I totally agree with you J4a. Why does the defense atty's always say their clients just made a mistake, and will not do it again. So, I guess we should say 'o.k. go your merry way.'

Home invasion defense: Move trial to Fairfield County

Posted on 02/24/2011
By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN
Associated Press

NEW HAVEN -- Attorneys for a Connecticut man charged with killing a mother and her two daughters in a home invasion want the trial moved from New Haven, citing a survey that found more people there believe he should be executed.

Attorneys for Joshua Komisarjevsky asked a judge on Wednesday to move the trial to Fairfield County. The judge said he wouldn't immediately rule.

The defense paid for the telephone survey to bolster its argument.

About two-thirds of respondents in the New Haven area believe Komisarjevsky should be executed, compared with about half in a judicial district in Fairfield County, which includes Stamford and Norwalk. The survey also found a higher percentage in New Haven believes Komisarjevsky is guilty.

Read more: http://www.thestamfordtimes.com/story/499977

Conn. Home Invasion Update: No change of venue for second defendant in Petit family murders


February 28, 2011 4:15 PM

Posted by Barry Leibowitz

(CBS/AP) NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The trial of Joshua Komisarjevsky, the second defendant charged with killing a mother and her two daughters during a notorious Connecticut home invasion, should not be moved, a judge ruled Monday

Read more:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20037410-504083.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody

Judge Won't Allow Plea Deal for 2nd Cheshire Suspect

By ALAINE GRIFFIN
The Hartford Courant
5:30 p.m. EDT, March 23, 2011

NEW HAVEN — A Superior Court judge Wednesday denied a motion to allow Joshua Komisarjevsky to plead guilty to the 2007 Cheshire home-invasion slayings in exchange for escaping the death penalty.

Defense lawyers had asked the court to allow the plea deal: a guilty plea in return for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release. But Judge Roland D. Fasano on Wednesday issued a ruling that, "even assuming the court had the power to do so," it was "not inclined" to grant the defense request. The motion was denied.

Read more: http://www.courant.com/community/new-haven/hc-komisarjevsky-witnesses-0323-20110323,0,5979745.story

Komisarjevsky Trial Makes Plenty of News During Emotion-Filled Week

Selection of 12th juror, battle over witness lists and a state senator's wish for the defendant's public execution.

By Fred Musante
May 14, 2011

The state senator whose offhand remark caused an emotional turmoil at the second Cheshire home invasion trial said she has no regrets about what she said.

But defense lawyers for Joshua Komisarjevsky say they will file a motion Monday requesting a three-month trial delay because the off-color comment by Sen. Edith Prague could influence jurors against the defendant.

This was perhaps the most newsworthy week for the Komisarjevsky trial since it began, and it started off positively with the selection of the 12th juror.

The defense and prosecution have wrangled over jury selection for eight weeks, questioning hundreds of prospective jurors. Most were rejected because they despised the defendant, opposed capital punishment, knew someone who might be called as a witness, or were financially unable to serve on the jury for a three-month trial.

Read more: http://stratford.patch.com/articles/komisarjevsky-trial-makes-plenty-of-news-during-emotion-filled-week-8

And we thought Judge Perry had it hard!!!!

I've just learned about this horrible case from Discovery... I cant believe it took almost 4 years to punish one of these sick bastards, and the other is still not convicted to death or at least life sentence...

Hi Ashganka - these two murdering rapists seem to have more rights than the victims. It's disgusting to say the least.

Yes Piper, as we say there is only law no justice...

I have a question, does anyone know how come, that Police arrived at the place so late that the attackers managed to rape two women, strangled one of them and set fire to the house ?

As far as i understood from the tv programm they were alarmed as soon as Jennifer Petit left the bank, isn't it ? Was the police station so far away or what ?

Yes, there's been some questions over that. And I don't believe the police station was that far away. According to testimony -

Hayes was convicted of breaking into the Petit home with another man, Joshua Komisarjevsky, in the middle of the night, beating Petit and tying up the family as they ransacked the home for cash and valuables. Testimony showed that at one point, Hayes forced Hawke-Petit to go to the bank to withdraw money. During that time, according to testimony, Komisarjevsky sexually assaulted 11-year-old Michaela.

When Hawke-Petit and Hayes returned from the bank, Hayes raped and strangled Hawke-Petit, 48, and the house was doused with gasoline and set on fire as the intruders fled, testimony showed. Hayley, 17, and her younger sister died from smoke inhalation.

http://www.courant.com/community/cheshire/cheshire-home-invasion/hc-petit-cheshire-home-invasion-verdict,0,2650867.story

~Snipped~
As a police officer approached the home of the Petit family in Cheshire, Conn., on the morning of July 23, 2007, two men ran from the scene as flames poured out of the house. They were quickly apprehended.

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/petit_family/index.html

The girls were already tied to their beds and the youngest one raped while Hayes was gone. When Hayes and Mrs. Petit returned, he raped and strangled her then they set the house on fire and fled. The police arrived as they were fleeing the scene.

A half hour passed before the police arrived....

Petit Conn. Murder Trial: Focus Turns to Police Response

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Sept. 15, 2010



A Cheshire, Conn., police captain today defended the department's response at the scene of a home invasion that ended with the torture, rape and killing of Jennifer Hawke-Petit, and her two daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela,11, in 2007.

Capt. Robert Vignola acknowledged that a half-hour passed between the time police first learned of the break-in, and the time they saw the two accused murderers, Steven Hayes, 47, and Joshua Komisarjevsky, 30, run out of the house, get into the Petit's car, and try to escape. It was only then that police noticed the house was on fire.

Vignola said there was no sign of activity inside when police arrived, and that they set up a perimeter around the Petit house, in accordance with standard procedure. He said that if he had known what was going on inside, "I would have been the first one through that door,"

Read more:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/police-defend-response-petit-family-connecticut-murders/story?id=11654076

Wallingford woman wants off Komisarjevsky jury after hearing horrible case details

Published: Friday, May 27, 2011
By Randall Beach, Register Staff

NEW HAVEN — Two additional alternate jurors were selected Thursday for Joshua Komisarjevsky’s triple homicide trial, but one of them returned to the courtroom later in the day, sobbing over what her daughter’s babysitter had told her about the case.

The woman’s emotional outburst was described by a courthouse source.

After the woman reportedly wept in front of Superior Court Judge Jon C. Blue and said she wasn’t sure she could be a fair and impartial juror, Blue said he was inclined to excuse her from service. But he agreed with a request by Komisarjevsky’s attorneys to have her come back next Thursday for more discussion.

Read more: http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2011/05/27/news/doc4ddee6bb85992147877672.txt

Judge Elated by Selection of Komisarjevsky Jury

June 18, 2011
By Fred Musante

Twenty-one regular and alternate jurors were selected out of more than 1,300 panelists, but are all the jurors as impartial as they say?

Jury selection for the second Cheshire home invasion trial finally concluded Tuesday after the judge, defense lawyers and prosecutors interviewed more than 1,300 jury panelists.

News reports said Judge Jon C. Blue was elated at the selection of the 21st juror, declaring it "an excellent jury" for the extremely high-profile death penalty case.

But defense lawyers for the defendant, Joshua Komisarjevsky, clearly disagreed.

Numerous times they have argued that their client cannot get a fair trial in the New Haven Judicial District, where they say people in the jury pool overwhelmingly have been exposed to sensational news coverage about the case and the great majority of them have already made up their minds that Komisarjevsky is guilty.

Read more: http://easthaven.patch.com/articles/judge-elated-by-selection-of-komisarjevsky-jury-2

Trial to Start in Home Invasion That Shook Conn.

By: JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN | Associated Press
Published: September 17, 2011

NEW HAVEN, Conn. --

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) A Connecticut man is heading to trial for a harrowing home invasion in an affluent suburb that left a mother and her two daughters dead and so unsettled this liberal-leaning state that the crime played a key role in halting momentum to abolish the death penalty.

Joshua Komisarjevsky, whose trial starts Monday in New Haven Superior Court, faces a possible death sentence if he's convicted. His co-defendant, Steven Hayes, was sentenced to death last year.

Read more: http://www2.wsav.com/news/2011/sep/17/trial-to-start-in-home-invasion-that-shook-conn-ar-2424191/

2nd man goes on trial for killing woman, 2 daughters during 2007 Connecticut home invasion

JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN Associated Press
Last Updated: September 19, 2011 - 2:01 pm

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The trial of a Connecticut man charged with killing a woman and her two daughters during a gruesome home invasion opened Monday with a defense attorney telling the jury that the evidence will "shake your confidence in humanity" but blaming his co-defendant for the slayings.

Joshua Komisarjevsky, 31, faces a possible death sentence if convicted. His co-defendant, Steven Hayes, was sentenced to death last year.

Komisarjevsky did not intend to kill the three, said his attorney, Walter Bansley.

Read more: http://www.greenfieldreporter.com/view/story/2daab2c3c6df42cf946f1bfb873f335c/US--Home-Invasion/

Live tweets from the courtroom.

http://twitter.com/nhrlive

Dr. William Petit Tells Court He Could Hear His Wife Raped and Strangled

By ANNE-MARIE DORNAN and GIANNA TOBONI
NEW HAVEN, Conn. Sept. 20, 2011



Dr. William Petit, the lone survivor of the gruesome Connecticut home invasion that left his wife and two daughters dead, took the stand today and described hearing the loud thumps upstairs -- the sounds of his wife being raped and strangled -- as he lay battered and bound on the basement floor of his suburban home.

Wearing a dark grey suit and purple tie, Petit answered questions from prosecutor Michael Dearington as pictures of his wife and daughters flashed onto a screen in the courtroom.

Petit said he heard one of the intruders upstairs say, "Don't worry, it will all be over soon" shortly before Petit made his escape from the basement to a neighbor's driveway.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/dr-william-petit-confronts-familys-alleged-killer-murder/story?id=14562196

September 21, 2011 6:51 PM

Jurors in Conn. home invasion murders hear confession of second defendant

By Crimesider Staff

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - Jurors on Wednesday heard a recording of the confession of Joshua Komisarjevsky, a second man accused killing a woman and her two daughters in a gruesome Connecticut home invasion. In the taped confession, Komisarjevsky tries to blame his co-defendant, Steven Hayes, for escalating the crime.


Komisarjevsky sounds subdued on the tape, speaks matter-of-factly and calls the crime "home invasion gone terribly wrong." He describes attacking Dr. William Petit with a baseball bat, saying Petit let out "this unearthly scream" and looked confused.


He also portrays himself as reluctant to assault Petit and quickly begins blaming his co-defendant, Hayes.

Read more:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20109802-504083.html?tag=mncol;lst;1

Conn. defendant: I never thought of untying girls

By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN
12:31 p.m. Thursday, September 22, 2011

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — In a confession played for jurors Thursday, a Connecticut man on trial for a brutal home invasion can't explain why he didn't untie two girls before they died in a fire.

In the recording, Joshua Komisarjevsky says he closed the bedroom doors where the girls were and couldn't believe his co-defendant was considering burning the girls alive. But he says "it just didn't cross my mind" to untie them before the house was doused with gas and set on fire.

Read more: http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/conn-defendant-i-never-1186534.html

It didn't cross his mind to untie them.

I'm sure it also wasn't his idea to steal from them, hold them hostage, beat and rape them, etc.

Poor excuse, he can't plead "stupid".

Komisarjevsky blames Hayes as first week of Cheshire triple slaying trial ends

Published: Sunday, September 25, 2011
By Randall Beach
New Haven Register

NEW HAVEN — Joshua Komisarjevsky said he was helpless to stop Steven Hayes from strangling Jennifer Hawke-Petit, pouring gasoline throughout the Petit home and tossing a lighted match that quickly had the house consumed in “a sea of flames.”

In the second part of his taped statement to Cheshire police, played in court Thursday for the jury, Komisarjevsky said several times, “I (expletive)-up” by failing to control Hayes.

The last thing Komisarjevsky said in his 93-minute statement was: “Obviously, I should have done better.”

Read more: http://www.westhartfordnews.com/articles/2011/09/25/news/doc4e7ebb07848c7612792809.txt

Jury hears autopsy details: Doctor describes Hayley Petit’s injuries, death (video)

Published: Tuesday, September 27, 2011
By Randall Beach, Register Staff

NEW HAVEN — Hayley Petit died of smoke inhalation, and it took “two minutes to several minutes” for her to die, according to medical testimony Monday during the Joshua Komisarjevsky triple homicide trial.

Read more: http://nhregister.com/articles/2011/09/27/news/doc4e80a1454bee0105054289.txt

Komisarjevsky jurors see photos of Petit girls' burned bedrooms, other evidence

Published: Tuesday, September 27, 2011
By Randall Beach, Register Staff

Photos of the charred beds of Michaela and Hayley Petit were shown to jurors today in the triple homicide trial of Joshua Komisarjevsky.

The 18 jurors also saw projected photos of the bedposts from the two rooms, with pieces of rope or nylon that prosecutors say were used to restrain the young girls before the fire was set.

Read more: http://nhregister.com/articles/2011/09/27/news/doc4e81f5627d2d7980119457.txt

Komisarjevsky Trial: Petit's Sister Reacts To 'Stunt' Description

Defense Thwarted In Mistrial Motion

By ALAINE GRIFFIN
The Hartford Courant
5:14 p.m. EDT, September 29, 2011

NEW HAVEN—

Johanna Petit Chapman had the grim task of identifying the bodies of her nieces Hayley and Michaela after the 2007 deadly Cheshire home invasion.

So when she learned Thursday that Joshua Komisarjevsky's defense lawyer had described her family's decision to leave court during testimony on how Michaela was sexually assaulted and died as a "stunt," Petit Chapman bristled.

"I identified Hayley and Michaela's bodies. I didn't feel I could sit through the grisly details of Michaela's autopsy," she said. "I've seen the monster's handiwork firsthand. I don't need to see the grisly details of the autopsy. Clearly, it wasn't a stunt."

Defense attorney Jeremiah Donovan unsuccessfully moved for a mistrial Thursday, arguing that the walk-out Wednesday by Dr. William Petit Jr. and a dozen members of his family and friends would prejudice the jury.

"They left en masse," Donovan said. "It seems to be that is so prejudicial to my client."

Read more: http://www.courant.com/community/cheshire/cheshire-home-invasion/hc-komisarjevsky-day8-0930-20110929,0,3945135.story

Prosecution expected to rest case in Connecticut home-invasion deaths

October 3, 2011 | 8:28 am

After two weeks of often chilling testimony, graphic crime-scene photographs and a failed mistrial motion by the defense, prosecutors were expected to rest their case Monday in the proceedings against a career criminal charged in a home invasion that left a mother and her two daughters dead.

Joshua Komisarjevsky, 31, is one of two men charged in the sensational 2007 crime in the quiet Connecticut suburb of Cheshire, and his trial has proved as dramatic and unsettling as that of his co-defendant, Steve Hayes.

Read more: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/10/prosecution-expected-to-rest-in-home-invasion-murder-case.html

CT invasion suspect had gas on clothes

Victims' supporter commented to Conn. jurors

Published : Monday, 03 Oct 2011, 1:34 PM EDT
JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN,Associated Press

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut man charged with a gruesome home invasion had gas on his boots, pants and sweatshirt, a state lab official testified Monday, potentially undermining defense efforts to blame a co-defendant for dousing the house in gas and setting it on fire.

Joshua Komisarjevsky had gas on his clothes, testified Jack Hubball, a chemist at the state forensic lab. Komisarjevsky has blamed Steven Hayes, who was convicted last year and is on death row, for pouring the gas.

Read more: http://www.wavy.com/dpps/news/us_news/northeast/man-charged-with-home-invasion-had-gas-on-clothes-nt11-jgr_3956622

Defense rests in Joshua Komisarjevsky home invasion trial

JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN, Associated Press
Published 01:35 p.m., Thursday, October 6, 2011

NEW HAVEN (AP) -- Attorneys for a man charged with killing a woman and her two daughters in a brutal home invasion rested their defense with a psychologist saying the man's history of sexual and drug abuse and concussions increased the likelihood of criminal activity.

Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Defense-rests-in-Joshua-Komisarjevsky-home-2205828.php

Komisarjevsky bombshell: Steven Hayes says in letters that he killed 17 women

Published: Tuesday, October 11, 2011
By Randall Beach, Register Staff

NEW HAVEN — Steven Hayes said in newly-discovered letters that he killed 17 women in the Northeast, a disclosure prompting Joshua Komisarjevsky’s attorneys to ask for a one-day continuance today in closing arguments for his triple homicide trial.

Defense attorneys said they need time to investigate the claims.

Contacted today in Winsted, where Hayes last lived before his arrest, Police Chief Robert Scannell, said ““We have no unsolved homicides in Winsted. As far the (alleged) drugged date rape cases, those have not been a problem here. We’ve not had a case in the last 5-6 years.”

Judge Jon C. Blue said the arguments need to go forward but he will listen later today to the defense argument.

Read more: http://nhregister.com/articles/2011/10/11/news/doc4e9459f64a011368040215.txt

Follow closing arguments live on Twitter.

http://twitter.com/#!/nhrlive

Conn. Jury to Begin Deliberations in Home Invasion Trial

Published October 12, 2011
Associated Press

A jury is expected to begin deliberations Wednesday in the trial of a man charged with killing a woman and her two daughters during a brutal home invasion in an affluent Connecticut town.

Joshua Komisarjevsky, a paroled burglar, could join his co-defendant on Connecticut's death row if convicted of the 2007 attack in which family members were tied up and left to die in a house fire.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/10/12/conn-jury-to-begin-deliberations-in-home-invasion-trial/

Jury begins deliberations in Komisarjevsky triple-homicide trial

Published: Thursday, October 13, 2011
By Randall Beach, Register Staff

NEW HAVEN — Jurors began deliberations Wednesday in the 17-count Joshua Komisarjevsky triple-homicide case, but four hours of discussion yielded no verdict.

The 12 members of the panel will resume their task Thursday morning.

The group got started after about an hour of legal arguments, not in jurors’ presence, during which defense attorneys asked for a mistrial and permission to reopen their case.

Superior Court Judge Jon C. Blue denied the mistrial motion and the request to put on new evidence, which would have been highly unusual given both sides had rested their cases.

Read more: http://nhregister.com/articles/2011/10/13/news/doc4e962ca9bc959050782319.txt

Komisarjevsky guilty of all 17 counts in Petit murders; faces death penalty

Published: Thursday, October 13, 2011

NEW HAVEN — Joshua Komisarjevsky was found guilty today of all 17 counts, including murder, capitol felony, kidnapping, arson and sexual assault and in the Cheshire triple homicide, a little more than a year after co-defendant Steven Hayes also was found guilty.

The case will now go to the penalty phase on Oct. 24 at Superior Court in New Haven.

Read more: http://nhregister.com/articles/2011/10/13/news/doc4e9743f1208c5595154921.txt

Good.

Here we go again...Life is too lenient but is death any better?...

I'd say give them both a dull knife, nail their nut sacks to a wall, douse the wall with gasoline and start it on fire. If they manage to escape, shoot their sorry asses. Low life vermin.

RIP Petit girls

Dr. Petit Feels 'Sense of Relief' (videos)

Published: Friday, October 14, 2011

By Randall Beach
Litchfield County Times
New Milford, CT

NEW HAVEN — After waiting for more than four years, Dr. William Petit Jr. felt “a sense of relief” Thursday after hearing Joshua Komisarjevsky pronounced guilty 17 times for the murderous attack on Petit’s family.

“But we’re only partly through,” Petit reminded reporters as he stood outside the courthouse. “We still have the penalty phase to go through.”

Because the 12 jurors found Komisarjevsky guilty on six capital felony charges, they must return to the courtroom Oct. 24 to hear new evidence concerning whether he should spend the rest of his life in prison or be executed.

Read more and view videos:

http://www.countytimes.com/articles/2011/10/14/news/doc4e9836dccd4dc939453385.txt



Dr. William Petit Jr. and friends and family on the courthouse steps following the end of the first phase of the trial of Joshua Komisarjevsky Thursday in New Haven. Melanie Stengel/Register

It has been over four years and finally judgment day is fast approaching for Joshua Komisarjevsky. The Penalty Phase of this trial will start on October 24, 2011.

As this case unfolded, I was horrified of the horrific, henious acts committed.

Dr. Petit is fortunate to be alive. He managed to get free from the basement just prior to the home erupting into fire.

It must have been difficult for Dr. Petit to sit through two trials and relive this henious nightmare which resulted in the brutal, horrific deaths of his entire family.

Even today, it is heartbreaking to read and view the media reports about Jennifer Hawke-Petit going to the bank and withdrawing money thinking she and her family would be freed.

It is heartbreaking to know that Jennifer Hawke-Petit, and her daughters, Michaela, 11, and Hayley, 17 were subjected to such horrific/henious terror and especially little Michaela being sexually assaulted.

The jury has found Joshua Komisarjevsky guilty on 17 counts and I hope they sentence him accordingly . . . death.

Dr. Petit, I have great admiration and respect for you. I am so sorry for the loss of your beautiful family!

~ ~ ~ Justice for the Petit Family ~ ~ ~

Petit: Komisarjevsky Conviction 'A Relief'

Focus On Michaela 'Difficult'
Defense Attorneys Vow Vigorous Fight To Spare Killer's Life

October 14, 2011
By ALAINE GRIFFIN and JOSH KOVNER

NEW HAVEN — Much of the gruesome testimony that jurors considered to convict Joshua Komisarjevsky Thursday of the deadly 2007 Cheshire home invasion was used in the trial last year of his accomplice,Steven Hayes.

Yet one name seemed to surface more in the second trial:Michaela Petit.

The Superior Court jurors found Komisarjevsky guilty of 17 crimes, but what seemed to stir Dr. William Petit Jr. the most was hearing them convict his family's killer of the rape and murder of his younger daughter.

Pictures: Remembering Cheshire Home Invasion Victims

Shortly afterward, Petit spoke outside the courthouse about a father's anger.

"I just knew the appropriate thing was to let the law take its course, as exceedingly slow and excruciatingly painful as it was, and there was nothing I could do to make that any better by looking like an enraged or crazed father," Petit said.

Read more: http://articles.courant.com/2011-10-14/news/hc-komisarjevsky-verdict-mainbar-10xx-20111012_1_hayley-and-michaela-jennifer-hawke-petit-walter-c-bansley-iii

Komisarjevsky's Prior Crimes At Issue

Judge Delays Start Of Penalty Phase

October 20, 2011|By ALAINE GRIFFIN, agriffin@courant.com, The Hartford Courant


NEW HAVEN — Years before the July 2007 home invasion at the Petit family's house in Cheshire, Joshua Komisarjevsky amassed a long list of crimes, mostly burglaries, that he ended up admitting to when questioned by police.

State officials have said that Komisarjevsky, 31, started burglarizing homes when he was 14 but that most of the crimes occurred during an eight-month spree between July 2001 and February 2002 after he bought night-vision goggles. Prosecutors said he stole more than $20,000 worth of property from his victims.

Read more:
http://articles.courant.com/2011-10-20/news/hc-komisarjevsky-1021-20111020_1_penalty-phase-joshua-komisarjevsky-judge-jon-c-blue

Komisarjevsky might address jurors during penalty phase of Cheshire triple murder trial

Published: Friday, October 21, 2011

By RANDALL BEACH
New Haven Register Staff

NEW HAVEN — Joshua Komisarjevsky’s attorneys might have him make some form of unsworn statement to jurors in an effort to save his life during the upcoming penalty phase of the trial.

Komisarjevsky might address the jury, as did Jonathan Mills at the end of his triple homicide trial in 2004. Those jurors, who convicted Mills of murdering Katherine Kleinkauf and her two children, sentenced him to life in prison without parole, rather than the death penalty.

Read more:
http://www.registercitizen.com/articles/2011/10/21/news/doc4ea182a5616fa994408205.txt

Conn. Man Says He Was Suicidal Over Home Invasion

By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN Associated Press
NEW HAVEN, Conn. November 22, 2011 (AP)

A Connecticut man convicted of killing a mother and her two daughters in a 2007 home invasion said the crime got out of control and that he felt so remorseful he was suicidal, a psychiatrist testified Tuesday during the sentencing phase.

Dr. Richard Dudley Jr. testified that Joshua Komisarjevsky (koh-mih-sar-JEV'-skee) told him the situation became increasingly out of control but he didn't know what to do.

"He explained that the victims certainly didn't have to die," Dudley said. "He talked about how bad he felt about that. And he talked about how at the end of it all how suicidal he was."

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/conn-man-suicidal-home-invasion-15006926#.TswQD1ZQCdk



JMO

Girl, 9, Testifies in Bid to Save Her Dad, Home Invasion Killer Joshua Komisarjevsky, From Death Row

By ANNE-MARIE DORNING
Nov. 23, 2011



The 9-year-old daughter of convicted killer Joshua Komisarjevsky testified via videotape today in a bid to save the violent Connecticut home invader from the death penalty.

Jurors in the death penalty phase of Komisarjevsky's trial watched the 20-minute videotape and listened as the girl laughed, and talked about a best friend and how much she loved animals.

She also discussed her father, who she referred to as Josh, not "dad," saying he was a man she used to play with at her grandparents' home. She said he had gone to jail for "something he had done at work."

The girl lived with her grandparents at the time of the 2007 murders. She is not being identified to protect her privacy.

The videotaped testimony was shown over the objection of Komisarjevsky, himself, who addressed the court for the first time during his trial, though his voice was heard previously during a taped confession.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/girl-testifies-save-dad-home-invasion-killer-joshua/story?id=15017721

I believe he should get the death penalty just like Hayes he is just as guilty. They did not give the Petit's any mercy why should they have any, these poor people died an awful cruel death.

Komisarjevsky's only aim now is to avoid death

Posted: Monday, November 28, 2011 12:22 pm
Mary Ellen Godin

NEW HAVEN - Every day for the past month, Joshua Komisarjevsky has sat quietly in Courtroom 6A in New Haven Superior Court as details of his grim life are recanted before a jury that will decide if the 31-year-old convicted killer lives or dies.

Hours of testimony, documents, and photographs are shared in court detailing Komisarjevsky's childhood, teen years and adult life during the penalty phase of his capital felony murder, arson, rape and kidnapping trial.

"The most the defense can hope for is that he doesn't get the death penalty," Quinnipiac law professor William Dunlap said prior to the start of the penalty phase. "This is their last chance."

Read more: http://www.myrecordjournal.com/cheshire/article_e1212aaa-19e5-11e1-84d9-001cc4c002e0.html

Komisarjevsky Trial: Closing Arguments Friday

Jury Faces Complex Process Of Life-Or-Death Decision

By ALAINE GRIFFIN
The Hartford Courant
7:07 p.m. EST, December 1, 2011

NEW HAVEN—
Jurors deciding whether Joshua Komisarjevsky will be sent to death row or to prison for life for the July 2007 killings of a Cheshire woman and her two daughters will hear closing arguments Friday morning at Superior Court.

For weeks, the jury of seven women and five men listened and watched as defense attorneys portrayed the 31-year-old triple murderer as a troubled man struggling with a severe mood disorder since childhood.

That disorder, defense attorneys attempted to show, became worse after Komisarjevsky suffered a series of concussions, took drugs and grew up in a strict religious household with parents unwilling to seek psychiatric care for him following sexual abuse and periods of depression.

Read more: http://www.courant.com/community/cheshire/cheshire-home-invasion/hc-komisarjevsky-1202-20111201,0,5368759.story

This is sad, but he knew right from wrong and I quess he thought he'd get away with it...He thought not about the consequences for his actions...Needless to say more care about the consequences than he does...An eye for an eye is not really a deterrent yet, why should society have to pay for his upkeep when he didn't care about anyone but himself...Sorry if I'm callous...I have no right to judge others, but his guilt is obvious...

Joshua Komisarjevsky Sentenced to Death in Connecticut Home Invasion

By ANNE-MARIE DORNING
Dec. 9, 2011

A Connecticut jury condemned Joshua Komisarjevsky to death today during their fifth day of deliberations.

Komisarjevsky, 31, was found guilty on Oct. 13 of sexually assaulting and killing 11-year-old Michaela Petit and murdering 17-year-old Hayley Petit and Jennifer Hawke-Petit. In all, Komisarjevsky was convicted of six capital offenses.

His accomplice, Steven Hayes, was sentenced to death last year. He is currently on Connecticut's death row.

Dr. William Petit, the lone survivor of the 2007 attack, was sitting in the courtroom's front row where he has been throughout the grisly trial. He displayed no emotion other than to put his arm around his sister as the killer of his wife and two daughters repeatedly heard the sentence of death for each of their murders.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/joshua-komisarjevsky-sentenced-death-connecticut-home-invasion/story?id=15097270