The Petit Family Murders

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In the early morning of July 23, 2007, the town of Cheshire, Connecticut would horrifically be changed forever. After following 48 year old Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her 11 year old daughter, Michaela Petit the night before, Joshua Komisarjevski and his crime partner, Steven Hayes broke into the Petit Family house. Komisarjevski struck the patriarch of the family, Dr. William Petit, over the head with a baseball bat. Both Komisarjevski and Hayes then tied Dr. Petit up in the basement before going upstairs. They then tied up Jennifer and the Petit's daughters, 18 year old Hayley and 11 year old Michaela in their rooms before ransacking the home. Hayes then forced Jennifer to drive to the bank as it opened for the day and take out $15,000. Jennifer told the bank teller what was happening and the teller contacted local police. Upon returning to the home, Hayes and Komisarjevski sexually assaulted Jennifer. Dr. Petit could hear the assault. In a quick moment of adrenaline, Dr. Petit escaped through the basement and ran for help. Komisarjevski had already raped Michaela by the time Hayes and Jennifer returned. After realizing William Petit had escaped, Jennifer was strangled and the two began dumping gasoline all over the house. They went upstairs and doused the girls with gasoline before leaving. The house was then set ablaze. Both men were arrested a block away after crashing the Petit family car. Jennifer, Hayley, and Michaela Petit were all killed. According to autopsy reports, both Hayley and Michaela were alive when the house was set on fire. Both men were eventually sentenced to death by lethal injection. In August 2015, Connecticut voted to abolish capital punishment. As a result, sentences were commuted to life imprisonment.