Brian McDonald

Judge Jon Blue stayed back on Thomas Ullman's curveball and hit it right out of New Haven yesterday. Ullman, as you might remember, tried to float an off-speed bender past the prosecution by arguing that the death penalty in Connecticut violates his client's rights. his client, of course, is accused triple-murderer, steven hayes.

part of ullman's argument centered around the words of Connecticut governor, Jodi Rell. In the wake of the Cheshire murders, Rell vetoed legislation that would have abolished the death penalty in Ct. Rell cited Dr. Petit, the lone survivor of the Cheshire home-invasion, in a press release and other documents explaining the reason behind her veto.

but only a handful of the thousands of prospective jurors interviewed for hayes' trial knew the wording of Rell's veto, Blue said.

the other part of ullman's argument was that the legislature that passed the bill abolishing the death penalty was representative of the will of the people of Connecticut. Not true, though. sixty percent of Ct. supports the needle, and that number has been constant for a lot of years.

so ullman falls behind one-ziltch in the opening inning and steven hayes' life is still at stake when his trial starts on sept. 13th

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according to members of her church who were interviewed by The New York Times, Jennifer Hawke-Petit had a fervent belief that the death penalty was wrong and probably signed A Declaration of Life agreement. Along with her two daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, Hawke-Petit was murdered during the Cheshire home-invasion.

today her husband, Dr. William Petit, the lone survivor of that home-invasion, asked the people of Connecticut to support pro-death penalty candidates in the upcoming elections.

Petit's remarks came after a pretrial hearing where a judge heard arguments by the defense that Gov. Jodi Rell violated their client's rights when she vetoed legislation that would have abolished the death penalty in Connecticut. Rell cites Dr. Petit in the press release explaining her veto.

the trial of steven hayes, one of the two men accused of murdering Petit's family, begins sept. 13th. hayes is being tried for capital crimes and could face the death penalty.

CHAPTER ONE

3 A.M. Loose gravel on the street crunched beneath the heavyset Hayes' feet. He could make noise in a blizzard, Joshua thought, but now Joshua wore a small smile as he shook his head and, palms facing down, motioned to his partner to walk softly. Joshua was either getting use to Steven Hayes or, more likely, charged by the thrill of the crime he was about to commit. Leading the way, Joshua, looking younger than his 26 years (even considering four-and-a-half of them spent in jail) his frame slim with muscles like rope knots, moved silently up the driveway into the backyard and passed the sunroom. It was then he first saw Dr. Petit asleep on the couch in the enclosed porch. Joshua stood there motionless at the edge of complete darkness in the yard. A soft light was coming from inside the room. Hayes stood behind Joshua, anxiously shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "What are we waiting for?" Hayes said as softly as he could, but his words were nearly frantic. Joshua didn't so much as twitch. It was as if he was listening to something that only he could hear. Finally, after what must have seemed like forever to his partner, Joshua pulled a knit ski hat, with slits cut out for eyeholes, over his head. Then he turned to Hayes, "I'll let you in," he whispered.

by midnight, everyone was asleep, except maybe Dr. Petit, who had brought some paperwork down to the sunroom. his youngest, Michaela, took his place in the master bedroom next to her mom. Hayley had read herself to sleep with the newest Harry Potter, the poster on the wall of the WNBA star, Swin Cash, keeping watch.

soon the lids of Dr. Petit's eyes too began to fall. the sounds outside the sunroom: the gentle rustle of the leaves on the trees in the backyard, the click of the crickets, folded into the rhythm of his breath.

if Dr. Petit heard the van slowly roll by the house at 3 a.m., it was part of the soundtrack of his dreams.

driving the van was the young man with the auburn hair and the raven tattoos. besides him sat a man almost twenty years his senior, bald and heavyset. they both wore dark, hooded sweatshirts.

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today's new york times story might be a bit confusing to some. in the hope of clearing up my role in it, below is the reprint of my June 9th post about the book steven hayes was reading in jail. for further clarification, please go to "june" archives below left for more posts on this topic.

steven hayes's reading list.
June 9, 2010
contrary to many news stories about In the Middle of the Night, joshua komisarjevsky rarely looked to shift the blame to hayes for what happened that morning in Cheshire. out of all the information joshua gave to me in his letters and during my interviews with him, only once or twice did i get the feeling that he was giving up hayes. one of those times was when he told me about the book hayes was reading in the months leading up to the Cheshire murders.

that book was a topic of discussion in New Haven Superior Court yesterday and could be introduced as evidence by the prosecution during the Sept. trial. it is explosive material and supports what i've always believed--as motives go, monetary gain was second to the primary reason hayes and joshua broke into the Petit home early that July morning: the Cheshire home-invasion was rape; planned, executed and murderous.

...was a beautiful, late july sunday in new england. Dr. Petit left the house early to meet his dad for a round of golf at the country club. his wife, Jennifer, and daughter Michaela, 11, were heading to the club later in the day to lounge around the pool. daughter, Hayley, 18, was coming home from the Cape, where she'd spent the weekend with some friends.

the family planned to gather for sunday dinner back at he house on sorghum mill drive. Michaela, a devotee of Rachael Ray, had selected the menu: pasta and a salad made with local tomatoes.

as happens often to chefs in the kitchen, Michaela realized at the last minute that she was missing a key ingredient: balsamic vinegar for the salad. not to worry, mom said, we'll take a ride to Stop & Shop. nothing was out of the ordinary. as the mother of an 11- and 18-year-old, the job as chauffeur was automatic, done with a love so deep it needed no outward displays. but this would be the last time Jennifer would drive Michaela anywhere.

mom pulled into the supermarket parking lot and next to a red van with a young man with auburn hair seated behind the wheel. he wore jeans and work boots. he smoked camel cigarettes. although Michaela and mom didn't notice him, and surely wouldn't have been able to see these even if they did, he also had two ravens tattooed across his back in homage to his favorite poem by edgar allan poe: "and his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming..."

like poe's bird, the young man watched intently as mother and daughter walked together into the store.
(to be continued)

question:

did Jennifer Hawke-Petit know that her captors had plastic gallon jugs filled with gasoline?

it goes without question that Mrs. Petit feared for the lives of her daughters when steven hayes drove her to the bank that monday morning in july three years ago. why else would she withdraw the 15 thousand dollars and get back in the car with hayes instead of staying in the safety of the bank.

the threat could very well have been the gasoline. should hayes sense that Mrs. Petit was raising the alarm, or not coming out of the bank with the money, he would phone komisarjevsky who would spread the gasoline and set the house on fire, leaving Hayley, 18, and Michaela, 11, and Dr. Petit, tied and bound behind him as he fled.

if Mrs. Petit knew about the gasoline, and it seems likely that she did, then she must have realized that there was a real possibility that hayes and komsiarjevsky were not planning on leaving any witnesses. but she must have also believed that her only chance of saving her family was going back to the house. no matter what horrible scenarios played in her mind, it is highly unlikely that she gave even a moment's thought of surviving without her children.

if the gas was the threat, then it was one that hayes and komisarjevsky would ultimately follow through on. Mrs. Petit, however, wouldn't be alive to see the horror of it. she had already been raped and strangled when the house was set on fire. Hayley and Michaela would die in the inferno. Dr. Petit managed to escape.

steven hayes's trial begins sept. 13th, komisarjevsky's next year

in a pretrial hearing last week, a cheshire detective testified that, just after apprehending steven hayes, the home-invasion murder suspect told him that "things got out of control." so let's see if the home-invaders ever lost control:

1. joshua komisarjevsky cased-out the Petit house in the early evening after following Mrs. Petit and her daughter, Michaela, home from Stop & Shop

2. jk and/or steven hayes bought a pellet gun (that looked like a real gun) and zip ties

3. around 3 a.m., jk broke into Petit home through bulkhead doors, beat Dr. Petit (asleep on a couch in a florida room) with a baseball bat, then tied him up. let hayes into the house

4. in just a few minutes jk and hayes were able to subdue and tie-up Mrs. Petit and the two Petit girls, Hayley, 18, and Michaela, 11

5. held dominion over the house and their captives for six hours, coming and going as they pleased (at one point both jk and hayes were out of the house for at least twenty minutes while jk moved his van to a condominium complex parking lot a couple of miles away and hayes followed in the Petit's van)

6. coordinated a run to the all-night gas station (where hayes filled plastic gallon containers)

7. Made Mrs. Petit call her husband's office to say he was sick and wouldn't be in; jk called in to his own job saying his daughter was sick

8. coordinated a run to the bank (where Mrs. Petit withdrew 15 grand and raised the alarm)

9. sexually assaulted Michaela, raped and strangled Mrs. Petit, then spread the gasoline

10. lit the fire and ran out of house, leaving Hayley and Michaela to die tied to their beds

steven hayes' triple murder trial starts sept. 13th, jk's in the beginning of next year

in the pre-dawn hours of july 23rd, 2007, steven hayes drove through the back roads of cheshire. next to him in the van sat empty plastic gallon containers that he and joshua komisarjevsky found filled with windshield washer fluid in the Petit garage.

hayes found the all-night gas station with little trouble. but on the way back, in the misty darkness, he lost his way. at least twice, maybe three times, he had to phone joshua, a cheshire native, for directions.

in the petit house, joshua kept watch over the three Petit women, mother Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Hayley, 18, and Michaela, 11. The father of the home, Dr. William Petit, was bound and nearly unconscious.

finally, after what must have seemed forever to his partner, hayes pulled the pacifica into the Petit driveway, then carried the gasoline into the house.

that gasoline would be used to start the fire that killed Hayley and Michaela, who were left to die tied to their beds, and consume the body of Jennifer Hawke-, who had already been raped and strangled. Dr. Petit escaped the inferno.

if a jury ends up sentencing steven hayes and joshua komisarjevsky to death, it will be that gasoline that fueled their decision.

hayes' trial starts sept. 13th, komisarjevsky's in the beginning of next year.