NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The suspects in a deadly home invasion in Cheshire poured gasoline on and around a mother and two daughters, then set their house on fire and fled, according to search warrants released by a judge Tuesday. The 11 heavily edited warrants, that span more than 60 pages, provide the first official version of the events of July 23. Jennifer Hawke-Petit, and her daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, were killed. Hawke-Petit's husband, Dr. William Petit, was badly beaten but escaped.
The search warrants, obtained by Eyewitness News at the New Haven County Courthouse, indicate detectives found nylon tape marks on Jennifer Hawke-Petit's neck and rope around her ankles. Her daughters' wrists and ankles were also bound, according to the documents, and one daughter had her upper body tied to her bed posts.
All three women had signs of accelerants on or near them, and one of the women were completely doused. The documents indicate investigators found three partially melted plastic gallon containers inside the house.
"One of the deceased was burned beyond recognition, with indications that an accelerant was liberally poured on her," investigators wrote in a search warrant. "The remaining two victims appeared to have some indication of accelerant being poured onto or in close proximity to them, but not to the same degree as the other victim."
Hawke-Petit was strangled and the two girls died of smoke inhalation, according to the medical examiner.
Paroled burglars Joshua Komisarjevsky, 27, of Cheshire, and Steven Hayes, 44, of Winsted, both face capital felony and multiple murder, kidnapping, sexual assault and arson charges in connection with the killings.They are scheduled to appear Nov. 6 in Superior Court for probable cause hearings.
The documents also contain detectives' requests for the DNA of Komisarjevsky and Hayes, in addition to lab testing of their clothes for blood, semen or other evidence.
An attorney for The Hartford Courant argued last month for the release of the documents. Prosecutors did not object to unsealing the warrants, but defense attorneys said coverage of their contents would make it difficult to find impartial jurors for their client's trials.
Last week, Superior Court Judge Richard Damiani agreed to release edited versions of the warrants. Defense attorneys did not appeal.
"I don't think there is anything new that hasn't been previously disclosed," said Thomas Ullmann, the public defender representing Hayes. He declined further comment.
Police say Komisarjevsky and Hayes entered the home about 3 a.m. July 23, planning to burglarize it. When they found the family home, they beat Dr. Petit, then tied up his wife and daughters.
Authorities were tipped off that the family was in danger by employees at a local bank when one of the suspects forced Hawke-Petit to make a withdrawal around 9:30 a.m. Bank employees became suspicious and called police, who drove to the Petit home.
The suspects were caught in the family's car after ramming several cruisers as they fled the burning home, which they allegedly torched to cover their tracks. Dr. Petit escaped to a neighbor's house.
Police searched a minivan registered to Komisarjevsky's mother, a Chevrolet Venture, and found a package for a BB gun, duct tape, a Lowe's Home Improvement store receipt, flexible ties and different types of gloves, according to the warrants.
In a GMC Sierra pickup truck, police said they found Dr. Petit's wallet, his wife's wallet, two pearl necklaces and a red, blood-like stain. Detectives also described finding a purple knapsack belonging to Hayes that has the initials "HAP."
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Suspect Was 'Depressed'
Suspect Was 'Depressed'CHESHIRE - In the days before being charged with committing a brutal triple murder in Cheshire, Joshua Komisarjevsky was depressed over the loss of his teenage girlfriend and struggling financially because of mounting costs related to his 5-year-old child, a close friend said Friday.
But he also was planning to renovate his parents' home and had just returned from a trip to The Home Depot when the friend visited him about a week ago at his home, less than 2 miles from where the killings occurred.
"We went for a walk in a park near his parents' house, with his kid,'' said the friend, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "He definitely was depressed about his girlfriend moving down South.''
The friend, a woman from Bristol, speculated that Komisarjevsky's depression might have led him back to using illegal drugs.
"But there's nothing about him that could ever make me think he'd do something as awful as this,'' she said.
The woman also shared with The Courant a letter Komisarjevsky wrote to her in late 2005, while he was in prison on burglary charges. In the letter, he lamented about not being able to hold his child.
Komisarjevsky, 26, and Steven Hayes, 44 of Winsted, are being held on $15 million bail each, and each is charged with six counts of capital felony. The men are accused of breaking into the Sorghum Mill Drive home of Dr. William Petit on Monday, beating him with a baseball bat, raping his wife and at least one child and then lighting the house on fire.
Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, and daughters Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, were killed. The mother was strangled and the two girls died of smoke inhalation, tied to their beds. Charges filed by New Haven State's Attorney Michael Dearington indicate that Komisarjevsky raped the younger child.
Police sources said that they were unsure whether the men were intoxicated or on drugs the night of the killings. Authorities are awaiting toxicology test results from the state laboratory.
The Bristol woman met Komisarjevsky through Jennifer Norton, the mother of his child, Jayda, and corresponded with him while he was in prison.
The last letter she received was written on Nov. 28, 2005. In it, he responded to several questions she asked him about what it was like to be a parent while in prison. In the four-page letter, Komisarjevsky wrote lucidly about prison conditions and the difficulty of having a young child while in prison.
"Some lowly inmates in here in conjunction with their child's caregiver have used their children to smuggle drugs into prison which has in-turn made it very difficult for those of us who legitimately wish to hold and spend time with our children,'' Komisarjevsky wrote.
Komisarjevsky's daughter was born a month after he was sentenced to nine years in prison for a string of burglaries in Cheshire and the Bristol area.
"My daughter knows who I am and knows the sound of my voice. She calls me daddy and tells me she loves me but I haven't seen her for awhile. Unfortunately my incarceration has disallowed me to be actively involved in the first years of her life when attachment and the forming of emotional bonds are most prevalent,'' he wrote.
He also complained about how difficult it is providing for a child while in prison.
"I wish nothing but the very best for my daughter and it is painful not to be able to provide for her,'' Komisarjevsky wrote.
Komisarjevsky was transferred to a Hartford halfway house about six months after writing the letter. He met Hayes at the facility.
The Hayes family issued their first statement Friday, which read, in part:
"Each of us affected by this devastation will feel the impact forever. Words do not relieve the suffering of everyone affected by this tragedy. At 3 a.m. Monday, July 23, 2007, the lives of many families changed forever. Three families are suffering and the pain is too much to bear for anyone affected by this unforgivable act. Everyone's heart aches today and that pain will never go away.''
In a statement released this week, Chris Komisarjevsky, the uncle of Joshua Komisarjevsky, said, "The crime and the murder of members of the Petit family in Cheshire are horrible ... more than anyone can imagine. It was a monstrous, deranged act, beyond comprehension.
But he also was planning to renovate his parents' home and had just returned from a trip to The Home Depot when the friend visited him about a week ago at his home, less than 2 miles from where the killings occurred.
"We went for a walk in a park near his parents' house, with his kid,'' said the friend, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "He definitely was depressed about his girlfriend moving down South.''
The friend, a woman from Bristol, speculated that Komisarjevsky's depression might have led him back to using illegal drugs.
"But there's nothing about him that could ever make me think he'd do something as awful as this,'' she said.
The woman also shared with The Courant a letter Komisarjevsky wrote to her in late 2005, while he was in prison on burglary charges. In the letter, he lamented about not being able to hold his child.
Komisarjevsky, 26, and Steven Hayes, 44 of Winsted, are being held on $15 million bail each, and each is charged with six counts of capital felony. The men are accused of breaking into the Sorghum Mill Drive home of Dr. William Petit on Monday, beating him with a baseball bat, raping his wife and at least one child and then lighting the house on fire.
Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, and daughters Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, were killed. The mother was strangled and the two girls died of smoke inhalation, tied to their beds. Charges filed by New Haven State's Attorney Michael Dearington indicate that Komisarjevsky raped the younger child.
Police sources said that they were unsure whether the men were intoxicated or on drugs the night of the killings. Authorities are awaiting toxicology test results from the state laboratory.
The Bristol woman met Komisarjevsky through Jennifer Norton, the mother of his child, Jayda, and corresponded with him while he was in prison.
The last letter she received was written on Nov. 28, 2005. In it, he responded to several questions she asked him about what it was like to be a parent while in prison. In the four-page letter, Komisarjevsky wrote lucidly about prison conditions and the difficulty of having a young child while in prison.
"Some lowly inmates in here in conjunction with their child's caregiver have used their children to smuggle drugs into prison which has in-turn made it very difficult for those of us who legitimately wish to hold and spend time with our children,'' Komisarjevsky wrote.
Komisarjevsky's daughter was born a month after he was sentenced to nine years in prison for a string of burglaries in Cheshire and the Bristol area.
"My daughter knows who I am and knows the sound of my voice. She calls me daddy and tells me she loves me but I haven't seen her for awhile. Unfortunately my incarceration has disallowed me to be actively involved in the first years of her life when attachment and the forming of emotional bonds are most prevalent,'' he wrote.
He also complained about how difficult it is providing for a child while in prison.
"I wish nothing but the very best for my daughter and it is painful not to be able to provide for her,'' Komisarjevsky wrote.
Komisarjevsky was transferred to a Hartford halfway house about six months after writing the letter. He met Hayes at the facility.
The Hayes family issued their first statement Friday, which read, in part:
"Each of us affected by this devastation will feel the impact forever. Words do not relieve the suffering of everyone affected by this tragedy. At 3 a.m. Monday, July 23, 2007, the lives of many families changed forever. Three families are suffering and the pain is too much to bear for anyone affected by this unforgivable act. Everyone's heart aches today and that pain will never go away.''
In a statement released this week, Chris Komisarjevsky, the uncle of Joshua Komisarjevsky, said, "The crime and the murder of members of the Petit family in Cheshire are horrible ... more than anyone can imagine. It was a monstrous, deranged act, beyond comprehension.
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