Prosecutors rest case in Conn. home invasion trial after guard says suspect admitted murder

Prosecutors rest case in Conn. home invasion trial

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Prosecutors have rested their case in the trial of a man charged with murdering a mother and her two daughters during a 2007 home invasion in Connecticut.

Earlier Tuesday, a prison officer testified that he heard Steven Hayes tell another inmate he killed the woman who died in the attacks. Prosecutors have said Jennifer Hawke-Petit was strangled and her daughters, 17-year-old Hayley and 11-year-old Michaela, died of smoke inhalation.

Prison guard Jeremiah Krob (KRAHB) said Hayes recounted that his co-defendant, Joshua Komisarjevsky (koh-mih-sar-JEFF’-skee), told him he had to kill Hawke-Petit. The officer testified Hayes said he didn’t know if he could, but did kill her when he saw police cruisers outside the house in Cheshire.

Komisarjevsky is being tried separately.