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."
(CBS/AP) NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The man convicted of killing a woman and her two daughters in a 2007 home invasion has been sentenced to death.
