2nd Man Convicted in Home Invasion, Murders

Joshua Komisarjevsky will now face the death penalty
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 13, 2011 6:57 PM CDT
2nd Man Convicted in Home Invasion, Murders
A 2007 file photo of Joshua Komisarjevsky.   (AP Photo/Connecticut State Police, File)

A second man has been convicted in the murders of a mother and her two daughters during a home invasion in Connecticut. Joshua Komisarjevsky, the alleged mastermind, was found guilty of all 17 counts today and now faces a death penalty hearing, reports the Hartford Courant. His accomplice, Steven Hayes, already has been sentenced to death. The pair killed Jennifer Hawke-Petit and daughters Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11—the girls were tied to their beds and set on fire. They also beat William Petit, though he survived the attack on his family.

"I thought the appropriate thing was to let the law take its course, although it's been exceedingly slow," said Petit, when asked about how managed to control his anger through the trials. "But I couldn't make it better if I acted like a crazed father." A line from the Courant coverage: "Komisarjevsky admitted tying Hayley and Michaela to their beds, sexually molesting Michaela and beating Petit in the head with a baseball bat, but he said he never intended for anyone to die." (More Joshua Komisarjevsky stories.)

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