Crime & Safety
Joshua Komisarjevsky Guilty of All 17 Counts in Petit Triple Slaying
It took the jury about eight hours to find him guilty. He now faces the death penalty.
Joshua Komisarjevsky of Cheshire was found guilty of all 17 counts against him this afternoon after jurors spent about eight hours deliberating over two days.
He faces the death penalty for the slayings in Cheshire of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Michaela and Hayley in 2007.
His co-defendant in the case, Steven Hayes, received the death penalty last year for one of the country's worst home invasion crimes in history.
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The Hartford Courant says that as the verdicts were read, Komisarjevsky stood with his hands behind his back and his eyes down. His head seemed to drop lower with each guilty verdict.
Komisarjevsky was found guilty of assaulting Dr. William Petit Jr. He was also found guilty of four counts of kidnapping; causing the three deaths during the course of the kidnappings; sexually assaulting Michaela and causing her death during the course of the sexual assault; burglary, and arson.
The Courant said that Petit, the only family member to survive the home invasion, fought back tears.
Hawke-Petit's mother, MaryBelle Hawke, was composed as she reacted to the unanimous verdicts, saying, "There was some peace in knowing that there is punishment when people do something wrong."
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