Posted on 07/25/2007 9:29:36 AM PDT by Deo volente
A judge getting ready to send Joshua Komisarjevsky to prison in 2002 called him a "cold, calculating predator."
Equipped with night-vision goggles and armed with a knife, he would slash his way through screens into houses around his hometown of Cheshire, stealing mostly electronic equipment and petty cash to pay for a drug habit.
Steven Hayes had a record more noteworthy for its length than the severity of the crimes - decades of larcenies, burglaries and check forgeries. Hayes committed most of his crimes in the northwest corner, near his home in Winsted - far from Sorghum Mill Drive in Cheshire, where the horrific events that landed him back in court played out early Monday.
Although it is still unclear why they chose the home of Dr. William Petit Jr., one thing is certain, police say: The "calculating predator" and the career criminal descended to a level of violence that is almost unfathomable.
When the ordeal was over, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48, and her daughters, Hayley Petit, 18, and Michaela Petit, 11, were dead. The girls, sources said, were tied to their beds and raped, then left to burn after gasoline was poured around their beds and ignited.
Late Tuesday, the state medical examiner's office said Hawke-Petit was strangled and her daughters died of smoke inhalation. Their deaths were ruled homicides.
William Petit was beaten almost beyond recognition with a baseball bat, tied up in the basement and left for dead, only to make his way out of the house and to a neighbor before his home exploded into flames.
(Excerpt) Read more at courant.com ...
It’s almost impossible to think clearly in a situation like that, especially knowing that your children and husband are being held hostage. God only knows what this poor woman endured up to that point too.
From a detached, clinical standpoint, “divide and conquer”. These “(**&^%%$$#” were not the brightest, and alone and divided, even weaker and more stupid.
You signed up today just to post this crap??
GET LOST!
Black Widow venom is said to cause excruciating pain, but I'm sure others can think of other things like AIDS virus, leprosy, etc.
If someone werer breaking into my home, the only decision I would have to make is which gun to use, and which one to give to my wife (she’s a better shot than I am). Between the 9mm and the .44 mag, I think we’d do o.k. If not, the 12 guage is the backup piece.
Fat Chance,Legislature is Veto proof democrat controlled .
Note to Cuomo: You might want to check with your brother on that, pard. NYS still has a duty-to-retreat law on the books, IIRC, and a conditional right to self-defense is a joke.
Even that should be decided ahead of time.
I have a big ole white cream puff of a dog. But when she starts barking, she sends people running!!
So glad too, as I’m 2 towns away from where this happened. Connecticut isn’t friendly to gun-owners, even when used for self-defense.
I’ve had some odd experiences with people that live in CT. Some of them had a very weird view on NYC, literally claiming its the ‘center of the world’.
Not in my experience. And I am aware CT doesn’t respect the 2nd Amendment.
Well, this same state legislature will now start to feel a heat from the citizens.
Komisarjevsky was sentenced in January 2003 to nine years in prison for second-degree burglary.
and
At a sentencing hearing for Komisarjevsky in 2002, authorities involved in the case said he would wear military night vision goggles and break into homes to steal electronic items while his victims slept.
It looks like it was not in dispute that he burglarized houses while the victims were at home. I don't understand why he was charged with second-degree burglary. Were the charges pled down, or did this fit the definition of second degree burglary? If the latter, what the heck do you have to do in CT to be charged with 1st degree burglary?
These may seem like small points, but part of me wonders if he might still have been in prison if he'd been charged with first-degree burglary, and that this tragedy might have been averted.
I believe it would be.
Defense Lawyers will not have as much business if their clients remain in prison or are executed. They might need to get a job somewhere else. I guess they could sell used cars.
I wish I hadn’t clicked on this...
We’re Connecticut residents living only a few towns away from Cheshire. That scumbag Komisarjevsky committed some of his earlier burglaries in our town.
We’re getting an alarm system installed as soon as possible. With all these home invasions in the news lately, this horrible incident was just the last straw. As it is I’m a light sleeper and often become afraid when I hear noises at night; at least the alarm will provide more peace of mind. Hubby won’t have to go downstairs with a baseball bat at 2 AM just to ease my fears when the wind rustles leaves outside our window.
We’re not “gun” people and don’t have the money to take the safety classes and get a handgun permit and buy a gun. I don’t know what else we can do to protect our home and our lives.
They had better. And the citizens of the state need to start applying the heat to themselves by realizing that repeatedly promoting liberals through elections to positions of power doesn’t result in just happy-good-puppydog-butterfly-things-we-all-love but can have actual dire results in the “real world”.
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