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.
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