July 22, 2007, was a typical Sunday for the Petit family. They all went to church in the morning and then split up in the afternoon. Jennifer Hawke Petit, 48 and her daughters, 11-year-old Michaela and 17-year-old Hayley, went to the beach. Jennifer’s husband, 50-year-old Dr William (Bill) Petit, spent his afternoon at the golf course.
Michaela wanted to make pasta and Marinara sauce for the family that evening. So she and her mother went to the Stop & Chop grocery store in Cheshire, Connecticut, to get the ingredients.
Neither of them sensed the danger lurking as they shopped in the grocery aisles. 26-year-old Joshua Komisarjevsky spotted and fixated on Michaela.
Komisarjevsky was on parole at the time a drug related offense. Despite his priors, he seemed to have an addiction to home invasions and a documented sexual predilection for children. This combination made the Petits the perfect target.
At home, the unsuspecting Petit family ate dinner without incident. Jennifer and the girls then watched ‘Army Wives’ in the family room, while Bill busied himself with the paper on the couch in their sun room.
Jennifer and the girls then locked the doors and went to bed at 11 pm. Michaela, though, decided to spend more time with her mom and went to her bedroom. They both read a book before finally falling asleep in bed. Bill passed out on the couch with the paper on his chest.
A Night of Terror
At 3 am that night, Bill later described waking up to furious blows to the head. The hits were so severe that he was bleeding and woozy from the impacts. A cloth bag covered his head. His arms and legs were also tied, and he was on the ground.
His attackers were two men, and they were demanding to know where the safe was. Bill answered groggily that the family did not keep a safe. The men would later be identified as Joshua Komisarjevsky, who had stalked Bill’s wife’s home and Steven Hayes, 44. They kept saying that if Bill gives them what they want, they will not hurt him or his family.
Through the bag, Bill could see their silhouettes. He heard one of them step away, but as he did, he instructed that if Bill moved, he was to put two bullets in him. Bill perceived that the man went into Jeniffer’s room, and he repeated the same questions about the safe.
The men then took Michaela out of her parents’ room, to her bedroom, and tied her to the bed. He also tied Jennifer up. Bill heard someone go through the house. They were clearly looking for something, but it sounded like they did not have much success.
The men then came back to Bill. They cut the restraints they had put on his legs, walked him to the kitchen, and down into the basement. They sat him on a chair which was tied to a pole in the middle of the room, and once again zip-tied Bill’s hands and feet.
They also put a blanket over his head, which was above the cloth bag. Bill was also worried about the blood loss from his head injury. He was on a prescription blood thinner called Coumadin, so the bleeding was more than usual.
At some point in the basement, he heard his wife negotiating with the intruders. From the tone, it appeared that one of them was frustrated because there was no money in the house.
After they had gone through everyone’s wallets, they only managed to find $100 in Hayley’s wallet. Bill’s wallet did not have cash in it.
They found a jar of change, emptied it into a bag, but none of it met their expectations. So they began demanding that Jennifer take them to the family’s bank and withdraw money.
This was prompted by a bank statement that they saw indicating the Petits had a bank balance of roughly $30,000. Bill perceived it was roughly 6 am, so they would have to wait until the banks opened at 9 am that day.
The intruders decided that one would escort Jennifer to the bank, while the other would remain and supervise the family.
While they were waiting for the bank to open, Hayes saw empty bottles of washer fluid in the garage. He took Jennifer’s vehicle to the gas station, bought $10 worth of gasoline, and filled them up before returning.
At around 9 am, Bill heard Jennifer and one of the men leaving. They drove over to the family’s local Bank of America branch, and Jennifer went inside to withdraw the cash as Hayes waited for her in the van outside.
This was caught on surveillance camera. Jennifer tried to keep her composure in line and finally reached the teller. She tried to withdraw $15,000, but the teller, Kristin Makhzangi, informed Jennifer that she needed to provide her Identity Card. She was also required to have her husband present to approve this withdrawal for that account.
As calmly as she could, Jennifer explained the situation regarding the home invasion and the man waiting for her in the vehicle. Kristin went and got the bank manager, Mary Lyons, who also reiterated the need for Jennifer to provide her ID.
Jennifer retold the story, explaining that the men who had taken them hostage had her ID. She also emphasised that if she did not give them this money, they would likely kill her family. Mary opted to approve her request.
As Jennifer was leaving the bank, Mary immediately called 911 and told them what had just happened.
Ten police officers responded and went to the neighbourhood where the Petits lived. They set up a perimeter using unmarked cars.
The police believed that as long as the home invaders got what they wanted, they would not kill their hostages. They did not make their presence known out of fear of further harm to the family members.
Bill, who had been trying to get free the whole time, heard what sounded like thumping upstairs. He yelled to ask what was going on, and one of the men replied that it would all be over soon.
A Burst of Adrenaline, Chaos, and a Tragic Ending
Bill got his hands free but not his feet. He suddenly had a burst of adrenaline and managed to get to the kitchen with his feet still bound. He got into the sunroom and out of the house. Bill then did a rolling manoeuvre through his yard and onto his neighbour’s driveway.
He had been friends with his neighbour, David Simcik, for 20 years, so he was naturally the first option he turned to in his state. Bill banged on the garage door for David to open it. Though his injuries were so extensive that when David opened the garage door, he wasn’t able to immediately recognise Bill.
He screamed, “Call the police! Call the police!” At this point, the police, who had been watching, moved to David’s house. As they did not know what was happening, one of them ran up to Bill, pointed a weapon at him, and demanded an explanation.
Bill said the girls were still in the house and they were being held hostage. At the same time, on the other side of the house, police witnessed a man running with a bag into Jennifer’s van. They also saw a second man running out of the house and getting into the van.
The men drove the van down the street and crashed into an unmarked police car that had been set up as a perimeter block. Police officers surrounded the vehicle and restrained the men inside at gunpoint.
The house then erupted into flames in front of the officers. With the help of the fire department, they managed to get the fire under control. Upon entering the house, the police found the three bodies of Jennifer, Hayley, and Michaela.
They rushed them to the medical examiners for an autopsy, as Bill was taken to the hospital for treatment. Bill’s injuries were so severe that he ended up losing seven pints of blood.
The doctors determined that he had been hit several times in the front and the back of the head as hard as his attacker possibly could.
Jennifer’s body was found tied to the couch. There were ligature marks on her arms and legs. She also had fractures to her larynx, but there were no signs of smoke inhalation. This indicated she was strangled to death.
There were clear signs that she had been sexually assaulted before her death. Her body was also burned beyond recognition.
Michaela and Hayley died from smoke inhalation. But Hayley, in a desperate attempt to rescue her mother and sister, freed herself from her restraints. She only made it to the stairway, though, before she lost consciousness from the smoke.
Michaela was still tied to her bed. There was evidence, though, that she had been brutally raped. Both of the girls’ bodies were significantly burned.
It appeared as though the men raped Michaela and Jennifer before dousing the house in gasoline and setting it on fire.
Interrogations Ensue
Within hours following the arrest, the two men were questioned separately. Almost immediately, Hayes confessed to the home invasion, along with the events that led to the killings. Investigators also noted that he smelled strongly of gasoline
Komisarjevsky eventually described what happened inside the house after being held for 29 hours. He did not sleep during this time and waived his Miranda rights. He began showing how the victims were tied up and where they were located.
Komisarjevsky then provided a 90-minute recorded confession, which was played at their trial. He described in it how he followed Jennifer and Michaela. He also confessed to beating William Petit and how Hayes escorted Jennifer to the bank. He also acknowledged that gasoline was poured, but that it was Hayes who did it to eliminate DNA evidence.
The two men frequently threw the blame on each other for the instigation and violence. Komisarjevsky blamed Hayes for the rape and murder of Jennifer. Hayes also blamed Komisarjevsky for planning and escalating the crime.
A Brief background on Joshua Komisarjevsky and Stephen Hayes
Joshua Andrew Komisarjevsky was born on August 10, 1980, to a 16-year-old girl impregnated by a mechanic. Due to the unstable dynamic at home, he was adopted by Benedict and Jude Komisarjevsky.
Joshua experienced sexual abuse and torture as a child. In the mid-90s, his sister accused him of sexual assault, for which he was tried and convicted, though no juvenile or prison sentence is recorded for his actions.
By the age of 20, he had been arrested multiple times for home invasions. He was prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to nine years in prison. The courts paroled him in six years.
Steven Hayes was born in 1963. His early years were just as abusive as Komisarjevsky’s. His parents separated when he was nine, and his father moved to New Jersey while his mother, Diana Hayes, raised them in Connecticut.
Hayes turned to a life of crime, getting arrested and convicted for burglary at 16. He would spend the next 25 years, being in and out of prison for various offenses. This included larceny, burglary, drug possession, and other weapons offences.
Hayes was paroled in 2006 after serving a sentence and sent to a halfway house. There, he met Joshua Komisarjevsky, and they began a criminal partnership.
Unlike Komisarjevsky, who was a sex offender and addicted to the thrill of home invasions, Hayes was a drug addict. Komisarjevsky would describe him as nervous and less tactful.
The Trial of Steven Hayes
Hayes’ trial began on September 13, 2010. Seven women and five men served on the jury for this case. It was mostly open and shut because of the confessions, but the defence pushed the claim that Komisarjevsky was the master mind.
He was found guilty on October 5th, and the jury recommended he be sentenced to death. Hayes, seeming apologetic, made the statement, “Death for me will be a welcome relief, and I hope it will bring some peace and comfort to those whom I have hurt so much.”
Judge Jon Blue gave six death sentences. One for each of the capital charges. He also added a sentence of 106 years for the other crimes Hayes may have committed during the home invasion. When Connecticut abolished the death penalty in 2015, though his sentence was changed to life in prison.
The Trial of Joshua Komisarjevsky
The trial of Komisarjevsky started the next year on September 19, 2011. He attempted to plead in exchange for a life sentence, but the prosecution sought to take it to trial.
The jury found him guilty on October 13 and also recommended the death penalty. Komisarjevsky issued a statement concerning the hurt he caused. “My life will be a continuation of the hurt I caused. The clock is now ticking, and I owe a debt I cannot repay.”
Judge Jon Blue also sentenced him to death, considering the six capital felony counts, and an execution date was set for July 20, 2012. In 2015, when the death penalty was abolished in Connecticut, Komisarjevsky’s sentence also became six consecutive life sentences in prison.
Aftermath for the Petit Family and the Perpetrators
In 2007, William Petit established the Michaela Rose Petit ’14 Scholarship Fund at Chase Collegiate School. He also established Hayley’s Hope and the Michaela Miracle MS Memorial Fund. Bill also went on the Oprah Winfrey Show in December 2010. He talked about the home invasion and the murder of his family.
Bill met Christian Paulf in the summer of 2011. She was working with the Petit Family Foundation, and the two started dating. They married in August 2012, and the couple had a son the following year.
Bill would later go into politics and run for a seat in the State House of Representatives. He won the seat for District 22, beating the 11-term incumbent, Elizabeth Betty Boukus. He would successfully serve there until 2023. Bill considered running for Congress afterwards, but decided not to because of family commitments.
In 2015, Bill reacted strongly against the repeal of the death penalty in Connecticut, saying, “We believe in the death penalty because we believe it is really the only true, just punishment for certain heinous and depraved murders.”
Later on in 2018, Hayes decided to change his gender and his name. He also began to take hormone therapy. Hayes has been on podcasts since then discussing the dynamics of being a transgender person while incarcerated. He currently identifies as Linda Mai Lee in inmate records while continuing treatment changes in prison. In 2023, she was transferred to the Oregon State Penitentiary for men.
Komisarjevsky filed several appeals to challenge the decision, citing jury bias. The Connecticut Supreme Court dismissed the appeals in 2021. He is still alive and serving his consecutive life sentences.
