This particular home invasion took place in Cheshire, Connecticut on 23 July 2007 in the family home of the Petit family. There was only one survivor of this seven hour long invasion – the father, William Petit. The mother, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, and the two daughters, Hayley and Michaela, did not survive.
The perpetrators, Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky, only planned a robbery, intending to leave the family unharmed. However, things took a very brutal turn. When they first arrived to the house, they found William asleep on a couch downstairs (as he didn’t want to disturb his wife, who suffered from MS, while she was asleep). Komisarjevsky hit William on the head with a baseball bat he found in the yard and then tied him up at gunpoint in the basement and covered his face. Jennifer and the daughters were bound and locked in their rooms. Hayes and Komisarjevsky found a bankbook which showed an available balance.
Hayes then took Jennifer to the bank, convincing her to withdraw $15,000 from her line of credit when the bank opened. Bank surveillance cameras captured the transaction which shows Jennifer informing the teller of her situation. The bank manager called 911. He later stated Jennifer indicated the assailants were “being nice”, and she believed they only wanted money. The Cheshire police responded by first assessing the situation and setting up a vehicle perimeter, without revealing their presence to the perpetrators. They remained outside the house for over half an hour. During this time, Komisarjevsky raped the 11-year-old Michaela and photographed the assault on his mobile phone. When he came back to the house, Hayes raped Jennifer. William then managed to escape from the basement. Hayes then strangled Jennifer and set the house on fire. Hayes and Komisarjevsky fled the scene using the Petit family car. Hayley and Michaela were killed by smoke inhalation.
William asked a neighbour for help. The neighbour he didn’t even recognise him due to severity of his injuries. He stayed in hospital for a while after the invasion.
Hayes and Komisarjevsky were soon spotted by police surveillance and arrested.
During the interrogation, each perpetrator claimed the other one was the mastermind and behind the brutal home invasion. They even tried to blame William as an accomplice.
During the trial, both Hayes and Komisarjevsky tried to convince the jury they regret what they have done to the Petit family. They failed. Both Hayes and Komisarjevsky were sentenced to death by lethal injection. Hayes was supposed to be executed on 27 May 2011 and Komisarjevsky on 20 July 2012. Judge Jon Blue noted the dates were only a formality. The two men were not executed on the fore mentioned dates and as the capital punishment was abolished in Connecticut in August 2015, they are now both serving a life sentence.
What was left of the house was later demolished and is now a memorial garden for the family.
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Sources:
BEHIND THE VEIL 
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