Cheshire murders
| Cheshire murders | |
|---|---|
The Petit family at Hayley's high school graduation | |
The location of Cheshire within New Haven County, Connecticut | |
| Location | Cheshire, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Date | July 23, 2007 |
| Target | Petit family |
Attack type | Triple-murder, strangulation, immolation, bludgeoning, child murder, home invasion, kidnapping, child abduction, rape, child rape, arson |
| Weapons | |
| Deaths | 3 |
| Injured | 1 |
| Perpetrators |
|
| Motive | Unknown |
| Verdict | Hayes: Not guilty of first-degree arson Guilty on remaining charges Komisarjevsky: Guilty on all counts |
| Charges |
|
| Sentence | Death; commuted to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole |
On July 23, 2007, two home intruders entered the home of the Petit family in Cheshire, Connecticut, United States. The perpetrators, Linda Hayes (known as Steven Hayes at the time) and Joshua Andrew Komisarjevsky, initially planned only to burgle the house, but went on to murder Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, 17-year-old Hayley Petit and 11-year-old Michaela Petit. Their father, Dr. William Petit, managed to escape despite sustaining severe injuries.
Upon entering the Petits' home, Komisarjevsky beat William with a baseball bat, and he and Hayes restrained him in the basement, along with Jennifer and her daughters. Hayes later kidnapped Jennifer and forced her to withdraw money at a bank. After returning to the home, Hayes raped her and strangled her to death. Komisarjevsky raped 11-year-old Michaela. The invaders then decided to burn down the house to destroy evidence. The invaders tied Hayley and Michaela to their beds, 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.
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.