Connecticut jury to begin deliberating in trial of man charged in home invasion killings
By APMonday, October 4, 2010
Jury deliberations to begin in Conn. killings
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A Connecticut judge has begun instructing the jury that will decide the fate of a man charged in the home-invasion killings of a woman and her two daughters in 2007.
Steven Hayes is on trial for 17 charges including capital felony, murder and sexual assault. Deliberations are expected to begin later Monday.
The 12 jurors heard eight days of testimony. Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, 11-year-old Michaela and 17-year-old Hayley, were killed at their Cheshire home. Hawke-Petit’s husband, Dr. William Petit, was beaten but survived.
Hayes and a second suspect, Joshua Komisarjevsky (koh-mih-sar-JEFF’-ski), who awaits trial, face the possibility of the death penalty if convicted.
