NEW YORK -- Jurors talked about their decision to condemn a Connecticut man to death for a home invasion triple murder on the “Today” show Tuesday.When the death sentence was read aloud in the New Haven courtroom Monday, convicted killer Stephen Hayes smiled.
"I think if anyone deserved the death penalty in this life, probably he does,” said one of the jurors.
Hayes, who has tried to take his own life behind bars, wanted the death penalty, according to his defense attorney. But the jurors who sentenced him said they disagree.
"I think he's focused entirely on what he can do to best forward what position he can have left in life and I don't think the death penalty is what he has in mind at all," said Herbert Gram, a juror.
Prosecutors say Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky broke into the Petit family's Cheshire, Conn. home in the summer of 2007. They allegedly brutally tortured and killed Jennifer Petit and her two daughters, 17-year-old Haley and 11-year-old Michaela. They left the father William for dead, but he escaped.
Jurors say those details were extremely hard to hear, but support from their fellow jurors kept them objective.
"The hardest part was keeping my emotions at bay and making a decision within the law," said another juror.
"There was not a single non-civil word spoken during the entire deliberation for both periods. How 12 people just came together and worked out the problems of taking another person's life," said a male juror.
The jurors met with the father and husband, Dr. William Petit, after the trial in a basement room in the courthouse.
They said he was overwhelmed with thanks for their verdict.
One juror described Petit as the strongest man he's ever met.
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