The Cheshire Family Murders

The Cheshire Family Murders

In 2007, the Petit family—Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two teenage daughters—were assaulted and murdered in their Connecticut home. The father Dr. William Petit was injured but managed to escape with his life before the perpetrators burned the house to the ground.Two paroled burglars Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes targeted the family when Jennifer and her 17-year-old daughter Hayley were at a grocery store.

They followed them home and subjected them to brutal torture before killing them. Hayley and her 11-year-old sister Michaela died through smoke inhalation as they were tied to their beds and Jennifer died through strangulation. Details of the crime are shockingly unbearable as it was revealed police were aware that the family were held as hostages but had spent too long securing the street rather than entering the home to help the family.

On July 23, 2007, Linda Hayes (born Steven Hayes) and Joshua Komisarjevsky invaded the residence of the Petit family in Cheshire, Connecticut. Though initially planning only to rob the house, Hayes and Komisarjevsky murdered Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, 17-year-old Hayley Petit and 11-year-old Michaela Petit. Their father, Dr. William Petit, escaped with severe injuries

Upon entering the Petits' home, Komisarjevsky beat William with a baseball bat, and the pair restrained him in the basement. Hawke-Petit and her daughters were also restrained. Hayes later kidnapped Hawke-Petit and forced her to withdraw money at a bank. After returning to the home, Hayes raped Hawke-Petit and strangled her to death. Komisarjevsky raped 11-year-old Michaela. The invaders then decided to burn down the house to destroy evidence. With Hayley and Michaela tied to their beds, the invaders doused them and the house with gasoline and set it on fire, leaving them to die of smoke inhalation.

The case garnered significant attention in Connecticut, with the Hartford Courant citing it as "possibly the most widely publicized crime in the state's history".

 The murders received national and international attention, and had a significant impact on Connecticut's death penalty, ultimately delaying its abolition.

Both Hayes and Komisarjevsky were convicted of the murders and sentenced to death. Their sentences were vacated in August 2015, when the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was unconstitutional and retroactively commuted all death sentences to life imprisonment.

On the evening of Sunday, July 22, 2007, 48-year-old Hawke-Petit and her daughter, Michaela, went to a local Stop & Shop grocery store in Cheshire, Connecticut. They picked up food for a family dinner Michaela planned to prepare. During their trip to the grocery store, Komisarjevsky noticed and took interest in them, proceeding to follow them home. Prosecutors argued at the trial that Komisarjevsky was motivated by money and his interest in Michaela, whom he later sexually assaulted.

Shortly afterwards, Hayes sent a text message to Komisarjevsky that read, "I'm chomping at the bit to get started. Need a margarita soon." Hayes then texted, "We still on?" Komisarjevsky replied, "Yes." Hayes's next text asked, "Soon?", to which Komisarjevsky replied: "I'm putting the kid to bed hold your horses". Hayes replied: "Dude, the horses want to get loose. LOL

Hawke-Petit was a nurse and co-director of the health center at Cheshire Academy, a private boarding school in Cheshire. She met her husband at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh in 1985, when she was a new oncology nurse and he was a third-year medical student at the University of Pittsburgh. She and Dr. Petit married in 1985.

The Petits' elder daughter, Hayley, had just graduated from Miss Porter's School, where she played varsity cross country, basketball, and crew and was a high honor roll student. While at Miss Porter's, she was elected to the senior leadership position of Athletic Association Head. She also won a school award for "exceptional community service".  Hayley was scheduled to attend Dartmouth College where she wanted to study medicine. Hayley had been an active fundraiser for multiple sclerosis research, following her mother's diagnosis with that disease. She captained a Walk MS Team called Hayley's Hope.

The Petits' younger daughter, Michaela, attended the Chase Collegiate School before her death. After Hayley left for college, Michaela planned on taking over Hayley's Hope and renaming it "Michaela's Miracle". Michaela often cooked for her family and had done so the evening before the murders.

William, the sole survivor of the home invasion, was an endocrinologist in Plainville. He was also the medical director of the Joslin Diabetes Center at Connecticut's Central Hospital. He survived when he escaped via a direct external exit from the basement despite his injuries. William has not returned to his medical practice since the murders, stating his desire to be active in the foundations set up to honor the memory of his family. He contemplated running for Congress as a Republican, but later decided against it. In the following election cycle, he successfully campaigned for the Connecticut General Assembly and now serves as a state representative.

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