Three years after the murder of Hayley Petit, who was to matriculate with the Class of 2011, proceedings against Steven Hayes, one of her alleged killers, began Monday in New Haven, Conn.
Hayes is one of two men charged with killing Petit, her mother and sister in a 2007 home invasion. Hayes's alleged co-conspirator, Joshua Komisarjevsky, has pled not guilty and is awaiting trial.
During proceedings on Monday, Hayes' attorney admitted that his client killed Petit's mother after sexually assaulting her, part of homicide that started as a robbery, according to the Associated Press.
William Petit, Jr. '78, Hayley Petit's father and the sole survivor of the home invasion, testified on Tuesday that the two defendants beat him, held him at gunpoint and tied him to a post in his basement, the AP reported. He said he untied his hands when the assailants left and, not able to walk, rolled across his lawn to a neighbor's house, seeking help.
The fate of the two men has become a lightning rod for a statewide political debate over the death penalty, an issue that has dominated much of Connecticut's upcoming gubernatorial election. William Petit has actively lobbied to maintain the death penalty and praised Republican Governor M. Jodi Rell's June 2009 veto of a bill seeking to ban it.
"Thankfully, [Governor] Rell has a sense of what is required to maintain the fabric of our society," Petit told The Hartford Courant last year. "Finally, the victims have a reasonable voice and some consideration over the deluded thinkers who feel that rights should only be accorded to convicted felons. I want to thank Gov. Rell for her moral courage and clarity to stand up for what is right and just with her veto of the bill to abolish the death penalty."
The case has been marked by several false starts since the charges were filed, including attempted plea bargains by the defendants, as well as Hayes's attempted suicide this January.
An attorney for Komisarjevsky moved for a change of venue in September 2009, alleging that Petit had called for Komisarjevsky's execution and had made repeated incendiary comments about the suspect, including calling him an "animal," The Dartmouth previously reported.
Although all other witnesses will be sequestered and excluded from the court before and after their testimony, a judge decided Wednesday that Petit will be allowed to stay for the duration of the trial, according to The Middletown Press.
Under the agreement with New Haven Chief Public Defender Thomas Ullman, one of Hayes' attorneys, Petit will be considered a victim of the crime as well as a witness to it.
Hayes and Komisarjevsky both have said they would plead guilty to their charges if spared the death penalty, but prosecutors have refused to do so, The Dartmouth previously reported.
"The case against Hayes appears strong," Christopher Morano, a Connecticut-based defense attorney, said to CNN. "I expect the prosecution will present their evidence methodically, they'll work to protect their case from any appellate errors and ignore the media and the behind-the-scenes political battle over the death penalty."
Hayes and Komisarjevsky allegedly invaded the Petits' Cheshire, Conn., home around 3 a.m. on July 23, 2007, The Dartmouth previously reported. At 9:00 a.m., the accused forced Hayley's mother, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, to drive to her bank and withdraw a large sum of money. She then alerted a bank employee that her family was being held captive.
When police arrived at the house, they found the residence on fire. The suspects attempted to flee the scene, but crashed their getaway vehicle into two police cars, which had been positioned as a roadblock, The Dartmouth previously reported.
William Petit had been badly beaten, but managed to escape his home with severe head wounds and walk to a neighbor's house, where he sought help.
Autopsies of Hawke-Petit and her daughters showed that Hawke-Petit had been strangled by her killers. The suspects allegedly tied her daughters to their beds and set the house ablaze, causing the girls to die of smoke inhalation, according to the Associated Press.
Hayley Petit had been admitted to the College as an early decision applicant and a women's crew recruit, The Dartmouth previously reported.
She was active in high school activities and started Hayley's Hope, a fundraising organization that raised money for multiple sclerosis research. Hawke-Petit was diagnosed with MS in 1999, and both Hayley and her sister Michaela were active in finding a cure.
