CHESHIRE, Conn., July 26, 2007
Home Invasion Suspects' Parole Questioned
Conn. Official Says Suspects Did Not Have Violent Records Before Murdering Mother, 2 Daughters
-
-
Photo
Suspects Joshua Komisarjevky, left, and Steven Hayes, July 24, 2007. (CBS/AP)
-
Photo
The SUV that authorities say was used by the two suspects in an attempt to get away, with a damaged police cruiser in the background, July 23, 2007. (AP)
-
Photo
Firemen investigate a burned area of the home of Dr. William Petit in Cheshire, Conn., on July 23, 2007. (AP)
-
Photo
Dr. William Petit (AP/Hospital of Central Connecticut)
-
-
Photo Essay
Home Invasion Horror
Connecticut family terrorized by intruders, wife, two daughters killed, husband wounded.
-
Interactive
Crime Beat
Statistics and specifics on crime in America.
The suspects entered the Petits' Cheshire home at about 3 a.m. Monday, planning to burglarize it, state police said. When they found the family at home, they beat Dr. Petit, then tied up his wife and daughters, police said.
Employees at a bank called police after one of the suspects forced Hawke-Petit to make a withdrawal around 9:30 a.m., officials said. The men were caught in the family's car after ramming several police cruisers as they fled the burning home, authorities said.
Hawke-Petit and her daughters were found dead inside. Dr. Petit escaped the blaze and told police what happened.
The suspects did not enter pleas Tuesday, and their public defenders declined comment. Their next court appearance was scheduled for Aug. 7.
Hayes and Komisarjevsky each have more than 20 prior burglaries on their records. At the time of the killings, both were free on parole after serving prison time for burglary convictions in 2003, Bail Commissioner Garcia Harris said. They spent time last year in the same halfway house in Hartford before being paroled in the spring.
"We certainly don't get guys with a history of violence in prison," said Robert Pidgeon, chief executive officer of Community Solutions Inc., which runs the halfway house. "There's nobody that would have predicted this."
Prison officials said they reported each week to their parole officers and were employed full-time, a requirement of their release.
While both men have long criminal records, Farr said there was nothing to show that they were capable of such violent crimes.
"They were obviously individuals that had long and extensive records, but they weren't violent records," Farr said.
Komisarjevsky comes from a prominent Connecticut family. His grandfather was Theodore Komisarjevsky, a renowned Russian theater director and designer and his grandmother was Ernestine Stodelle, a former dancer, dance critic, author and studio director.
Komisarjevsky lived less than two miles from the Petits' home, but authorities have not said what they believe led Komisarjevsky and Hayes there.
Petit, president of the Hartford County Medical Association, is a specialist in diabetes and endocrinology and is the medical director of the Joslin Diabetes Center Affiliate at The Hospital of Central Connecticut in New Britain. Hawke-Petit, 48, was a nurse and co-director of the health center at Cheshire Academy, a private boarding school.
The attack stunned Cheshire, an upper-middle class community of 29,000 just east of Waterbury and about 15 miles north of New Haven.
"I can't believe this happened," resident Urma Defrancis told CBS affiliate WFSB-TV. "I don't know how anyone could live like this. I can't believe this happened in Cheshire."
The station reports flowers adorn the Petit home that authorities have since boarded up, as investigators pick through the charred remains.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Video and Galleries from U.S.
-
Video
Kidney Transplant Chain
-
Video
Taxing The Rich
-
Video
Cash For Clunkers
- 1
- 2
- next
See all 61 CommentsWe could:
1. Hang 'em
2. Shoot 'em
3. Crucify 'em
4. Burn 'em
5. Tie 'em up to horses and quarter 'em
6. Cut their heads off
7. All of the above!!!
Posted by guyfrompa45
If you bring the beer, I'll bring the popcorn!!!
Here is the crux of the problem. These two are subhuman scum and were known to be many years ago and yet they were released back into society.
There is no shortage of good people in this country. Therefore there is no practical reason to bother with people who break the law. Why should there ever be a second chance for these types?
Send criminals into permanent exile, never to return to the presence of real human beings at the very first offense. This is a huge country and we have more than enough free space to create such a place of exile.
They tought it was hip and cool like the Predator Drone airplane! USA USA USA!
Gonzales and Chertoff were going to get all these dangerous people behind bars. Must be they though it was the kind you get drunk at. Heckovajob guys! Operation Falcon is a great success!
Maybe Iraq will look better if the US is worse?
Posted by Rillifane at 09:30 AM : Jul 26, 2007
Hey, ever seen Escape from New York? Snake Plissken rules man!!
THEY need to do what you tell them.
Stop them immediately and if they don't do what you say, kill or seriously injure them.
PERIOD.
Adults should be able to stop intruders and violent criminals before they harm someone.
In all 50 states it is perfectly legal to defend yourself and shoot violent criminals and intruders in your home, especially if you think they will harm you or if they are threatening your life with violence.
CRIMINALS PREFER UNARMED VICTIMS.
They always have and always will.
Responsible armed and prepared citizens who can safely and properly use their firearms are MUCH harder to rob, rape, and kill.
With gun ownership comes responsibility(they aren't toys) and the more training and practice you have the safer you will be.
Self Defense - A HUMAN RIGHT
http://www.a-human-right.com
Second Amendment Sisters
http://www.2asisters.org
Women To Arms
http://www.womentoarms.net
The Concealed Carry Database
http://www.packing.org
Consider removing this prosecutor from office.
This is a case where public opinion should be so loud and forceful that the death penalty would be certain with the conviction of these two career criminals.
Any person convicted of 3, that's THREE, felony crimes should never be released on parole because the prison system's effectiveness and success rate at rehabilitation is all but non-existant, and members of parole boards should be tried as accessories to crimes committed by felons that they have released on society.
About that official who said the suspects did not have records of being violent before murdering the mother and 2 daughters: -FLASH- CRIMINALS IN THE PRISON SYSTEM LEARN AND BECOME ACCLIMATED TO VIOLENCE WHILE IN PRISON. NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON COMES OUT OF PRISON AS A BETTER PERSON.
The prison system itself is "CRIME COLLEGE" and these two men graduated with a master's degree in murder.
The best legal tool for providing public safety and lowering the crime rate was public hanging on the first Saturday morning after a trial. Many times the old and proven ways are still the best.
Self defense is the most basic of human rights!
www.a-human-right.com
We could:
1. Hang 'em
2. Shoot 'em
3. Crucify 'em
4. Burn 'em
5. Tie 'em up to horses and quarter 'em
6. Cut their heads off
7. All of the above!!!
Posted by rushman71 at 09:18 AM : Jul 26, 2007
Add to the list drown, stone them, drop them off a cliff, drag them behind a moving car. Oh just use your imangination.
Otherwise I chose 7.
Self defense is the most basic of human rights!
www.a-human-right.com
Posted by GunOwnerDan at 10:05 AM : Jul 26, 2007
Hey Dan,
I am with you buddy! I have a real surprise for someone who breaks into my house at 3am. I ain't going down without a fight. I am making sure the fight is even on my end.
We need someplace to put them where they are so busy trying to survive that they don't have time to prey on others - and if they do, it will be one of their own (how appropriate)!
Australia used to be a penal colony - I guess it's taken. Second choice, the Moon. Let them colonize and build their own shelters,
some of the anti-Bush geeks amuse me,others frighten me terribly.
That said, I do agree with the poster who stated there should be no parole, no probation.Indeed,your job in prison is to obey the rules,shut up, and do your time.
And,was it an early 20th century phenomenon that the term "prison" was replaced with "penitentary" or "corrections center".A majority of people who are in medium and, certainly, maximum security have lost their "get out of jail card with society, are not in the least "penitant" or willing to be "corrected".
Posted by barbaraf4 at 10:18 AM : Jul 26, 2007
barbaraf4,
We have plenty of space here in the US that could be used to house these creeps. Put them out in Death Valley. If they do somehow get loose they will be dead before they reach a town or any other decent human that they can harm. I totally agree with you about the time off for good behavior they are in prison for God sakes this is their punishment. Our lax penal system makes it easy for these types to be cultivated. We need to get a grip in this country. This parol thing needs to be revisisted.
The prison system itself is "CRIME COLLEGE" and these two men graduated with a master's degree in murder.
The best legal tool for providing public safety and lowering the crime rate was public hanging on the first Saturday morning after a trial. Many times the old and proven ways are still the best.
Posted by jdl941 at 09:52 AM : Jul 26, 2007
---------------------
Judging from your comment, anyone who has spent time in prison (including any who may have been innocent) is forever killer-by-indoctrination because of what they learned there. And judging from your comment, and many other comments here, they should simply be terminated because they are unrecoverable.
From that view point all military personnel, especially combat veterans are killers by indoctrination also and we should just flush them down the drain because they are beyond rehab.
That is about as un-American as passing judgment based solely on news article data (no trial).
However I do agree that "public hanging on the first Saturday morning AFTER A TRIAL" was a far more effective deterrent to capital offences than the 10 year appeal process killers now enjoy.
www.leap.cc
That is about as un-American as passing judgment based solely on news article data (no trial)."
Posted by jn122736
~~~
You are close to the truth. If you run psychological testing on a group of people to identify the born killers, and you take this group and put then into Special Forces or Seals or whatever spot you need them, then what, exactly do you do with them after the war? Do you really believe we don't have ways of dealing with this if they somehow "revert" after returning to their civilian life? Now, maybe they would have been killers even without the military, but the military has taught them more efficient ways to kill.
www.leap.cc
Posted by GunOwnerDan
I believe it. I also believe if we didn't have so many illegal aliens in our prison system, that the problem wouldn't exist.
Posted by retmilspouse
That was a good one!!! Why don't they put ALL of American prisoners there!!! Kind of like where the Soviets used to send their prisoners--up to Siberia!!! Just a little bit nippy up there, though!!!
==
Actually, that is correct, and if someone is truly innocent,there are mechanisms to get them freed.Depending on the crime,and whether the indvidual has been in and out of jail,there may be "reedemables" amongst the population,but are you willing to bet your life and the lives of your family on that?
As to the tortured link to military "killers-in-training",this borders on the slanderous.There's no indication either of the people in this case were in the military-given their character,they would wash out on day one.The members of the military who revert to a life of crime when they are discharged have only themselves to blame.They had every opportunity to prepare for a civilian career,and blew it because of their own immaturity or personal weakness. To paint a broad brush is an insult to the millions of Americans protecting us in the military,not to mention their families.
The news reports say that the suspects had long criminal records of home burglary, and not violent crimes. That's not 'liberal', that just the facts in this case! Since when is reporting the facts 'liberal'. I don't think is going to be used as reason to spare them the death penalty, but a way to explain why they were out on parole. I do agree that the parole system needs to be changed, so that someone with that long of a criminal history is not allowed on the streets. (but you can't sentence someone to life in prison for burglary. so eventually they would have been released).
I don't know how things work in Connecticut, but I can understand why the DA in this case has to make a decision on the Death Penalty, and rather or not to seek it.
I have been on jury duty where I live, and if a case is a 'death penalty' case, you have to find a jury that will agree in advance to 'at least consider the death penalty'. The law also requires 'death penalty' jurors to be sequestered for the duration of the trial. There are lots of people who will not consider the death penalty, and get eliminated from the jury. They also have a hard time finding people who can be away from work or other obligations for weeks at a time, while sequestered. I was one of 150 people packed into a courtroom for 12 hours , while they tried to find 12 people from that group! I was not selected for some reason, but when the trial was over a few weeks later, I read that the suspect was found guilty, but the jury gave him life in prison, and not the death penalty. (you have to have a unanimous vote for the death penalty, if just one juror objects, then he gets life instead).
Whatever happens to these 2 animals, life in prison or death, I don't care, as long as they are NEVER released into society again!
Ask this doctor how he feels about longer sentencing and maybe even the elimination of parole completely. How much would he chip in to build more prisons if it means sparing someone else the massive grief he's going through. How much is too much to save the lives of decent, innocent people just living their lives.
Just put them in jail for life. People get paroled everday. Not all are like these two.
**** happens.
1. Being partially or "half" hanged but not to the point of unconsciousness. Then they cut you down.
2. Having all your limbs pulled from their sockets so that they were useless dangling things just hanging there.
3. Having your bowels slit open and lower intestines pulled out and burned in front of your eyes.
4. Finally you're beheaded.
All this done in front of thousands of people. I think this would be a fitting punishment for these creeps. Too bad we can't do it now.
If some violent nut cases break into your home at 3am, don't do what they tell you.
THEY need to do what you tell them.
Stop them immediately and if they don't do what you say, kill or seriously injure them.
PERIOD.
Adults should be able to stop intruders and violent criminals before they harm someone.
In all 50 states it is perfectly legal to defend yourself and shoot violent criminals and intruders in your home, especially if you think they will harm you or if they are threatening your life or someone else's with violence.
CRIMINALS PREFER UNARMED VICTIMS.
They always have and always will.
Responsible armed and prepared citizens who can safely and properly use their firearms are MUCH harder to rob, rape, and kill.
With gun ownership comes responsibility(they aren't toys) and the more training and practice you have the safer you will be.
Self Defense-
a-human-right.com
What do you mean, "Let's stop pointing the finger." And to say defecation happens is a bit cavalier don't you think? The daily parole you mention, is a problem. It should be reserved for a very few special situations. You are right, everyone's not as bad as these two, but there are very few innocents in jail and stiffer sentencing can't do anything but help save lives and make the price for crime more than a minor nuisance.
Over run with illegal immigrants and our homes are no longer ours, they belong to the SCUM!
Keep your guns American and blow the b a s t a r d s away if they step over your doorway.
Sorry,.... you're as sick as the 2 thugs are. Just execute them and be done with it.
And yes they are sick perverts that deserve to die for what they did. Send'em on their way to hell.
To reach a conclusion that my comment in any way was slanderous to the military requires taking parts of the comment totally out of context.
As to your twisted, disingenuous, wording: %u201CAs to the tortured link to military "killers-in-training",this borders on the slanderous%u201D.
My actual wording was (referring to jdl941%u2019s comment): FROM THAT VIEW POINT all military personnel, especially combat veterans are killers by indoctrination%u201D
~~~
It is true, however, that ground troops are trained to kill or be killed in head-to-head combat. Without this type of training, front line soldiers would, by instinct, hesitate and die unnecessarily.
My comment simply pointed out the fact that military ground-troops are exposed to killing/killers just as the convicted and imprisoned are exposed.
The military%u2019s proven integrity clearly shows the ridiculousness of jdl941%u2019s comment.
As for your claim that, quote %u201Cand if someone is truly innocent,there are mechanisms to get them freed.Depending on the crime%u201D.
If that was true they would never have been convicted in the first place, unless you are referring to new technologies like DNA evidence (years after imprisonment).
The greatest threat to my family and me is the disregard for our proven and mostly fair justice system.
Don't waste another dime on this scum of society, not one more meal, no more fresh water, NOTHING!
Kill 'Em Now.
Paroling people without knowing anything about them, official legitimization of illegal aliens in New Haven, Joe Lieberman - the Independent who is dependent upon ideology rather than logic...
I don't know what they are burning in the state of New York, but I'm glad I'm not downwind from it.
Let me educate you;
First, they are going to get a lengthy trial regardless of the outcome, so that is enough waste of taxpayers money right there.
Second, If they get the death penalty, they get the protection of death row, meals and restful sleep, getting appeal after appeal for YEARS. Not to mention the co-miserating company of other slimy prison mates of the same calibur.
Too much of a burden on the family to have to see this happen.
Not to mention, more taxpayers money.
Thirdly, and most importantly, if they get life in prison, they get put in the general population of the federal prison where, within the first week they will get raped repeatedly and beat on occasion, while the guards turn their back (because of their awful crimes) and if they make it thru that without killing themselves, they will endure much of the same for weeks to come until they either kill themselves out of shame or be killed and make it look like suicide.
No more taxpayer money being wasted!
I know this for a fact because I worked in the prison system.
So PLEASE, Please, pray for life in prison. Their end will come sooner and with much more pain and suffering!!
Posted by drinuk
That makes me sick that your government doesn't trust its citizens with guns or even pocket knives, but you are forced to trust them with their big machine guns.
When only police can have guns, it's called a police state.
Good luck over there!
Posted by drinuk at 11:58 AM : Jul 26, 2007
Cor blimey! From the UK and all, and such wisdom from the likes of you.
Let's see mate, where'd the criminals go to get their air rifle? Wal-Mart?
Could they have done the same thing in the UK? No? I rest my case.
Its a critical mistake for anyone to think they can predict how criminals or anyone will conduct themselves. Our government seems to typecast people into categories and then predict what the "type" of person will do. That's why things are out of control in the first place.
- 1
- 2
- next
See all 61 Comments