Joshua Komisarjevsky is a defendant in a July 23, 2007 home invasion which is widely considered the most heinous crime in Connecticut history
He was born in 1980 and adopted by the son of famous playwright Theodore Komisarjevsky who resided in Cheshire, Connecticut, a prosperous suburb 15 miles north of New Haven. Despite his privileged background, Komisarjevsky became a youthful career criminal, and was sentenced for committing a wave of burglaries in central Connecticut in 2001 and 2002. The sentencing judge called him a "predator" and sentenced him to nine years in prison.
Despite this record Komisarjevsky was deemed a "nonviolent offender" and pursuant to Connecticut's progressive parole policies, he was released from prison in 2006 to a halfway house, where he met his crime partner Steven Hayes, another recently released career criminal. On July 23, 2007 the pair is charged with murdering the wife Jennifer Hawke-Petit and two daughters Hayley Petit and Michaela Petit of Dr. William Petit, Jr. a prominent Connecticut endocrinologist in a home invasion and robbery.
They held them hostage for hours, set fire to the house and then rammed three police cars with the family’s sport utility vehicle before they were subdued, the authorities said.
They were arraigned on July 25, 2007 in the Connecticut State Superior Court in Meriden and charged with assault, sexual assault, kidnapping, burglary, robbery and arson. Bail was set at $15 million each, and the state police have said that additional charges are likely. The two men did not enter pleas, and answered only “yes” when asked if they understood their rights. Both were represented by public defenders. They have subsequently been charged with capital felony murder and both men are facing the death penalty for these crimes.
|
