Donnelly Trial moving forward Painful evidence for family and Jury

It was a very emotional day in Bridgeport Superior Court at The Donnelly murder trial, or " The State of Connecticut vs. Chris Dimeo", as it is technically known.

Today the State presented graphic videotaped evidence taken at the Donnelly Jewelery store crime scene by Police just an hour after the crimes occurred. Kim Donnelly was just barely hanging om to life at the scene when paramedics arrived and as such, her body had been removed via ambulance by the time the Fairfield police Forensic team took the crime scene footage.

There was an eerie feeling as the camera silently first took in the outside of the Donnelly's well known downtown fairfield store and entered via the front door, giving one the feeling that they were walking into the awful scene them self. Tim Donnelly's body could be seen almost immediately from a distance with  a blood spattered leg in tan trousers, but blood pools and splatters were everywhere and an outline of where Kim Donnelly body lay dying after being shot multiple times by Dimeo drew all eyes upon it and audible gasps and quiet crying could be heard from the Donnelly Family benches.

Dimeo was allegedly fueled by a heavy heroin addiction and was already wanted in the murder of a New York Jeweler at the time that he committed the Donnelly Murders. Tim and Kim Donnelly were beloved members of the Fairfield Community and had owned the jewelry store for years, their quaint store becoming a downtown fixture and well respect specialists in genuine Celtic jewelry.

As is usually the case, viewing the forensic evidence in a murder case, or any severely violent crime, brings that "case"  into  sharpened and necessary focus for the public, and in doing so, makes vivid and clear the reality of those violent ends that meet the poor victims of crimes like these.
It's essential. As unpleasant as it is.

I've come to understand that  in seeing the crime scene forensics, if not the actual bodies of the victims, at least the crime's scenes and evidence findings -  these are what makes it real. Never do I encourage the posting or sharing of crime scene photos or other evidence for the purposes of gratuitous interest or voyeuristic motivation.

That said, I believe that seeing the end result of these crimes hearing the 911 tapes, these are the things that ultimately finally get people to deal with and consider exactly what the victims of these  crime experienced. This is what happened with the stories finallly told about 911 as well as the 8-1-1 calls that were made public via the mousaaai trial-with permisssion of the Cosgrove and other families. To many people it was an awful tragedy that happned far away up in the skyscraper offices of a New york city Iconic Building.

The video's of people falling to thier deaths, the 911 tape of a man heard pleading with the operator for minutes saying he has to get out he has little kids and a wife, the operator trying to give him solace and then...rumbling and the unsuspecting man literally crying out "Oh God" dying on the phone as the south tower collapsed, he was huddled in an office on the 103rd floor.

These things change everything. They get in our face, usually when given the option we dont look-its too painful. But as in the 911 tapes sometimes getting in our face is just what we need. These images and voices caught on tape  jolt us into our humanity and out of our safe little shells. This, this  is what that crime is what it embodies; the victims terror, their pain their suffering. And only then, may we really be fairly ready to move on and consider the effects of the crimes and related trauma that is visited upon the family and loved ones of the victims, not once but thanks to an inefficient and often victim unfriendly judicial system- over and over again. Dragged out court process. Limitless Automatic Appeals on Death Sentence cases.. Parole releases

And in cases like the Donnelly murders and the Petit family murders, where each occurred in small towns, small communities, that trauma - and terror and loss of innocence, spreads like wildfire to the entire community, most of whom will go through all of the same stages of grief that the family does, only  at different paces and varying degrees.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg insofar as  how far reaching the effects of violent crime  truly becomes.  This murder case was allegedly about money-for- drugs. There was a presumed desperation about obtaining money in order to be able to feed the heroin habits of both Dimeo and his girlfriend both heavy users.

I recall looking at a photo of Jennifer Pierce, Dimeo's then girlfriend in a recent Post article ; she was dressed up for court so she was undoubtedly trying to look her best. She had a simple modest dress a wide pleasant cherubic face with blondish hair. She was outside of the courthouse apparently on her way in. The Photo really struck me.

Unlike the photos of Pierce where she was somewhat bedraggled looking, likely kicking heroin,  donning handcuffs an orange prison jumpsuit, snapped soon after the murders,  she looked haggard and detached, In this recent photo  one could see she a tremendous difference-older wiser, humility. likely clean off  drugs, she looked every bit  the pleasant young woman next to you in the grocery line. Certainly not an evil  accomplice to three brutal robbery/ murders.

 aadmittedly she did not actually kill anyone herself and she advised  Dimeo to stay away from or watch out for the manager of the jewelry store that she'd originally cased out for him that day; shed explained that he was big and appeared the type to put up a fight.

Dimeo was undeterred, he robbed the store after pretending to shop for a engagement ring for 20 minutes or so, and as soon as the women went into the back room, they heard glass breaking shouting and gun shots. They saved their lives by running out of the back door. The manager, the jewelry store owners son in law was not as lucky. He died having been shot multiple times. The owner of that store testified in the Donnelly case as well. His ex Ms. Pierce is expected to testify and possibly have a big impact on the sentencing portion of the trial, this where the judge instructs the jury to decide between life and the death penalty. In order to avoid a death sentence Dimeos lawyers have to present a mitigating factor to be considered by the Jury regarding the crimes; the obvious culprit will be his heroin addition which from what I have read was heavily documented as he was an IV drug user and this is something that you cannot fake.

Nicole Pierce was also addicted to heroin at the time of these murders and this was obviously a driving force for her to be in concert with Dimeo. He was someone who could and would provide a steady supply of this expensive drug that she was severely addicted to -opiates are not a drug that someone can simply stop taking-withdrawal symptoms are horrific.

 Dimeo was little more than a basic thug with a bad habit, so he needed Pierce's help re the logistics of these robberies. From all appearances it seems that Dimeo was the less intelligent of the pair and prone to unnecessary violence, especially when high on heroin, which at that point in his life was around the clock .


She was originally going to go with Dimeo but at the last moment she begged off later citing that she was afraid he would kill someone, and she decided to take a train back to New York city to the motel where they had been hiding out since the  robbery turned homicide in New York. several months earlier. The New York Police already suspected Dimeo in the robbery murder as well as a string of other robberies that fortunately did not end in murder.

Dimeo was captured in New York and since the NY murder occurred first, he was tried there before being extradited to Connecticut to face the Donnelly murder charges. Knowing that there was a death penalty in Connecticut - as opposed to New York-he fought the Connecticut extradition for as long as he could. He knew New York authorities had the cooperation of his girlfriend as well as video tape evidence connecting him to the NY murder robbery.

Pierce received a somewhat shortened sentence in exchange for her testimony although she
still received considerable time for acting as a scout and look out. As I mentioned in an earlier post, she has since been diagnosed with stage three cancer but has agreed to testify for the Dimeo trial despite being in the middle of vigourous chemo treatments.


A few interesting links...


Superior Court


http://fairfield.patch.com/articles/local-jeweler-new-york-witnesses-to-take-stand-in-dimeo-trial

'Plea or trial' still possible in Annie Le slaying-

It's amazing how slowly the Connecticut Judicial system grinds it's wheels in murder cases, even those with high media visibility.

This murder was committed in 2009 and we've barely heard a peep about it since. This lapse in media coverage is largely due to the gag order on the case, probably placed because of the Yale connection and the details of the case garnering such an unusual amount of press and public interest. But while that explains the gag order, why the inordinate length of time between this brutal murder and a trial or adjudication of some kind?

I remember reading about the murder when it happened, it began as a "disappearance" of Yale graduate student Annie Le, who was supposed to be getting married within 48 hours of her disappearance. As the heartbreaking hours passed, each one lead authorities to consider the worst about Ms. Le's disappearance; The longer someone is missing, the more likely it becomes that that he or she has crossed paths with a predator and foul play of some kind. And tragically, this often means a homicide, the violent end of a life.

Annie Le's decomposing body was eventually found stuffed into a wall crawlspace in the Yale medical building, several days after she went missing. This was the same building where she worked everyday, as part of her graduate work studies program.  Raymond Clarke the third, a coworker/ lab technician was a suspect early in the investigation, due to erratic and suspicious behavior on the day that Ms.. Le went missing, as well during cursory Police questioning that was carried out with all Yale employees who had key card access to the building where Le worked.

Police spoke with all laboratory personnel as part of the initial stages of their criminal investigation and Clarke, hostile and jumpy, became a person of interest swiftly, and police began surveillance of  him in case he tried to flee the state. Fortunately, he didn't have time to run as DNA evidence sealed the deal once again, producing a match between bits of DNA under LE'S nails as well as other damning forensic evidence.

At the time, when the Gag order was imposed, what much of the general public knew was that there had been some kind of work or personal disagreement between Clarke and Annie Le, and that this argument might have led to a confrontation, which ultimately ended in Clarke perhaps becoming violent with Ms Le, perhaps hitting her, Then the police speculate, probably  realizing how much trouble this would bring him criminally, in a panic he " finished the job" this as many murderers who start out "only" intending to rape their victims, also claim. The really depraved part of all of this was the harried stuffing of Anne Le's body into a crawlspace, even breaking her bones post mortem, in order to "make"  her body fit.

There are plenty of strange things on the periphery of this crime and one of them is the suspect's history of stalking former girlfriends, as well as his interest in Asia women-who happen to be known for their subservient behavior when compared to their American counterparts. This points to dominance and control issues with women on multiple levels. Clarke was even a member of the "Asian club" at Bradford High School, although not Asian nor having any apparent connection to the Asian culture.

In Death Penalty Cases, Who Pays the Ultimate Price?

The linked article above is one that I found in the blogosphere while I was researching the Donnelly Jewelery store murder trial. The article centers more upon the death penalty than the Donnelly case per se, but it delves into some of the core issues regarding the murders, the trial, and whether or not Chris Dimeo, the 28 year old who stands accused of the murders, should get the death penalty for gunning down two innocent people, long time married owners of a small Jewelery store, that was a long standing fixture in the town of Fairfield Connecticut.

As a Fairfield resident, these murders ,which happened in 2005, really hit home. Almost everyone I know seemed to know-and love the Donnelly's. They have and had a reputation as lovely, caring and considerate people, as well as helpful and personable business owners. To this very day, I wear around my neck a white gold Celtic charm on a simple but sturdy chain, a gift from a friend who happened to purchase the necklace at the Donnelly's Jewelry store just months before their brutal murders.It turns out after a bit of research that the Celtic symbol means everlasting life; my friend who simply loved the design, was unaware of the particulars of its exact translation;

 In retrospect this special gift became to me a statement about the Connelly's, as it is clear they who were so special in life, shall always live on, in the many ways that they touched other peoples lives.

And so we find ourselves circle back to the original issue at hand; Tim and Kim Donnelly were good people going about their daily lives as responsible business owners, spouses and parents: they had the terrible misfortune of being in the determined and allegedly desperate path of heroin addict and thief, Christopher Dimeo. Twenty three at the time of the murders, Dimeo was the son of another heroin addict - his mother who actually drove the getaway car for another jewelry store hold-up that turned fatal (the manager was shot and killed) in New York city, crimes for which Dimeo ultimately plead guilty to and received a life sentence.

Dimeo who was caught and arrested in NY and tried there for the Jewelry store robbery/murder which had occurred months before the Donnelly crimes. He and his lawyers fought extradition to Connecticut to face the Donnelly charges, for they knew that Connecticut, unlike New York, has a death penalty for capital punishments of a certain aggravated type and given the double murders that occurred during a robbery and the pre- meditative evidence and testimony, he was likely to face a death penalty sentence if tried in Connecticut for his crimes here.

Finally. almost six years later, he is now answering for the murders of Chris and Mark Donnelly.

The trial is underway and is reportedly at the stage where the Jury is soon to be deliberating their verdict, after which the Judge has stated that he will impose a shirt hiatus for the jury, and then, they will begin the sentencing phase of the trial, where it will be decided whether Dimeo gets life in prison or the death penalty.


And this is where things become very touchy, both amongst the general public, and our states legislators.A recent Quinnipiac poll showed that 69 percent of Connecticut residents support the death penalty for certain capital murder cases. Our Conn l;egilsators saw fit to write a bill to abolish the DP last year, initially citing cost saving measures as the main reason, and then quickly segueing into the atypical moral issues against it. Then thrown in for good measure was that it wasn't a good deterrent anyway" false but also irrelevant. Its job is not to be a deterrent. Shall we get rid of prisons because they are clearly not a deterrent for many a criminal mindset? The bottom line is that at that time a majority of legislators in the house and less so in the senate were greatly at odds with what the people of this state want for ourselves insofar as the most important issue concerning violent crime and public safety and yes that word again - Justice.

Several high profile murders in the state that have brought this historically volatile issue to the forefront of our collective conscience. All of the People in the linked article queried would seem to feel strongly about this issue one way of the other - there is very little apathy or noncommittal " I'm just not sure..." . The latter we probably would have seen much more of had our state not lived through the trauma of a handful of particularly brutal awful murders and sexual assault/murders.

I have been an independent and a democrat most of my adult life and as such most people assume that I will be anti-death penalty, but this assumption based on an age old entrenched view of what a liberal is supposed to be like. I am also a believer that the party system in politics has had nothing but a divisive effect on this country's government to the point where it has literally handcuffed the smattering of dedicated politicians, who truly want to impart positive change in this world.

My point is to put the politics aside with such important and challenging issues as the Death Penalty.
 I have seen both Democrats and Republicans wrestle with the humanitarian issues involved with the concept of putting someone to death for committing particularly brutal and cruel murders. But I have noticed that within our state legislation there is a decidely democratic cadre that seems to oft be saying' lets get rid of this "barbaric -and expensive capital punishment"     And Yet...I cannot help but consider that if any of these horrific "Petit family": type of rape  murders were to happen to these same legislators and or thier families, how quickly their personal resolve and committment to abolish the Death Penalty-would buckle?

And this is the most valid question that should be posed to one-self when truly considering what they believe what they think -and what they feel is right for the people of this State insofar as reserving the right to pursue the ultimate penalty for the very worst of our states murders.

Demeo Trial for Donnolly Murders underway

Dimeo Trial underway

How Arizona happened

This is a very good article about the horrible and senseless murder's in Arizona last week; the good news is that the Senator's medical status is improving greatly with every passing day.

All of the victims, and their loved one's, will continue to be in our thoughts and our prayers.

Connolly Murder trial to begin

Funeral of Christine Greene

Rell unsure if she'll OK funding for criminal justice system - GreenwichTime

Although this article is slightly dated, the issues remain, in fact they're even more pressing now that Malloy has actually been inaugurated. I strongly suggest that any Connecticut residents that care about crime and public safety issues, follow up on this core issues of this article.

The article surrounds the criminal/judicial reforms passed by the legislator back in 2008, following the angry public climate surrounding the exposure of our states ineffectual criminal justice system, which had come to light via a handful of murders that all were committed by early released paroled men that should have never been awarded such a privileged. It just so happened that there were three sets of murders that occurred within three month period, as judging from the manner in which our parole system was operating, it was only a matter of time.

 The Petit family assaults and murders and two other sets of murders and murder/ rape combinations, all happened within 5 months of one another. starting in July 07. The Governor put a full moratorium on all parole until the Ct Parole Board and the various judicial arms of the Government could investigate how such obviously poor candidates for parole were paroled and moreover why there were so many issues within our court system that only now were being investigated

After the 2008 legislative session which was to say the least a bit volatile and fingers seemed pointed everywhere, except how to make thing s better, the legislators managed to come up with some reforms and although many were compromises, the one thing that everyone agreed on -  in principle was a new tech- based inter-communication system between various criminal judicial departments. One of the most important elements of this computer based system would have prohibited the Petit family murders from ever happening had it been in existence, even without the expense or complexities of the communication between departments necessarily being computer based. According to Connecticut's lead prosecutor Kevin Kane,  the mistakes and omissions that caused Joshua komisarjevsky, sentenced to 9 years prison and six years of special parole by an adamant Connecticut judge, to be paroled with nary a bit of his criminal history paperwork, had long been a source of conflict between parole board members and the prosecutors offices who had handled the given parolee at sentencing. 

These missing files should have been, and indeed were absolutely and unequivocally a necessity for any parole agent in making responsible  life and death decisions regarding whether or not to parole inmates who were typically already being granted early release parole in the first place - making this purposeful corner cutting even more reprehensible and inexcusable.
This process of early release parole was purportedly designed by no other than the co-chair of the Ct. Judiciary committee, Mike Lawlor, presumably in order to deal with prison overcrowding and to put an end to the somewhat controversial process of shipping inmates to out of state prisons when needed. in Vermont or New Hampshire. 

The controversy" was coming from the inmates and their families because they claimed that moving their relatives to out of state prisons put an unfair drain on their expenses needed in order to visit that inmate.  I am not one hundred percent positive of  how the state determined the parameters for which type of offenders were shipped out of state, but it is my belief that there was a method to the madness so to speak and some type of organized considerations were given to which inmates were shipped albeit temporarily. Again this was cited as a temporary solution rather than the state having to absorb the cost of building new prisons in order to solve overcrowding.

A terrible irony when looking at this entire awful picture is that the Petit family murders were murders just waiting to happen as is evidenced by the fact that not one parole member was admonished formerly let alone fired. And what this shows us is that the Governor herself was made aware that this situation with Joshua komisarjevsky being paroled without sentencing reports-which is the least of it in reality. No one even reads the sentencing reports when they do have them in their possession I have been told by some state personnel very close to the" issues"
I bring up the sentencing report because this is what the media and pres have latched onto and we keep hearing it ad nauseum since the crimes occurred . ie; apparently the parole board that paroled komisarjevsky were not in possession of his latest sentencing transcript where the judge who sentenced him to nine years plus 6 parole called him a cold calculating predator who was a danger to the residents of Connecticut"
Now while this is absolutely true-I read the transcripts and there was even more red flagging done by both the prosecutor who unlike many other Connecticut prosecutors actually seemed to have a modicum of education about criminal forensic psychology and the escalating nature of criminals like komisarjevsky, not to mention just plain common sense; the man had been arrested for two strings" of house break-ins, whereupon in almost every case, he'd stalked the homeowners first -at length, and would only break into the homes at night when the homeowners were home!

This, the very opposite of any typical burglar who goes to great lengths to avoid the homeowners, because their motivation is to procure money or goods-and get out without trouble.
 Komisarjevskys told friends and police that he could only get off ie enjoy the break in if someone were home. This guy's criminal history had so many red flags or precursors for sexual predator/serial killer behavior, and he was only 22 at this point. The prosecutor noted as did the judge that although he came from a "nice" family and had sired a child-his habits of stalking the homeowners and staying in the house while the person was home often sleeping---was predatory and beyond robbery.

His girlfriend manipulatively toted to court as if a prop, ie "see he has a child he is a dad, he cant be all bad and plus...we need him to help in the raising and supporting of this baby'
This little soliloquy Ive fabricated for effect but the child was indeed brought to court, and it wouldn't be the first time that a sociopath used their "parent" status dragging their children to the courtroom within a Birdseye view of the judge or jury etc.  Ive seen it personally be used time and again.  I actually read an article a few years back where a Connecticut prosecutor said that Domestic violence cases should be prosecuted differently, more leniently because the "defendant" could be the main breadwinner" and putting him in prison for any length of time would ultimately hurt the family unit economically" 

I could not believe what I was reading. This was in 2009 and the prosecutor with the misogynist mindset was actually part of a "specialized Domestic violence unit in Bridgeport Connecticut,  one of the first to receive a state or federal grant for a specialized domestic violence "court within a court."   His name  is Kevin Dunn, and it gets worse; within this article, which was entitled the "compassionate prosecutor", something that should signal anyone right off the bat that something is truly akimbo when a" Domestic Violence prosecutor" is being dubbed the so called Compassionate prosecutor" as a title piece.--I mean what does that tell us?

Ironically that's what caught my eye, and when I read on I was as horrified as I was angry and when the article went on describing Mr Dunn's recent promotion was to split his time between "[compassionate prosecuting" and helping train Connecticut's Police force members on how to handle domestic violence calls, including how to write up warrants and determine charges via  seminars and such, well suffice to say some DV and victims rights groups were swiftly made privy.

But I digress.

What I started to say was that Kevin Kane, lead prosecutor for the state and seemingly a very committed and moral seeming man, was very forthcoming regarding the Paperwork/communications issues as they related to Komisrajevsky's and Hayes Parole, had indeed been going on for some time and indeed were in the midst of attempts at addressing possible solutions at the exact time that the brutal Petit home invasion and murders occurred.

There was more involved than what met the eye, which was admittedly bad enough. There were inmates and defendant's records being shipped and warehoused in meriden, when they should have been made to be available to Parole as well as any state police department that might need to access that information on  a given person with a criminal history, particularly if the crimes involved violence or the potential for violence, such as komisarjevsky, and to a lesser degree, even Hayes, who had had multiple charges dropped within plea deals throughout the years that he spent in and out of prison.

There were 2 separate gun charges dropped for example (again another problem with using plea bargains as our main method of what has become "processing crimes" in Connecticut. Once a criminal charge has been dropped completely within a bundle of charges emanating from one episode of criminal act, it disappears in our current way of doing things in this state.  There was also an assault charge dropped and that's again something that is a red flag and should not be dropped in the first place deal or not and secondly if it was it needs to still stay on record that the man committed this crime as it shows a predisposition for future criminal activity. 

Its less essential when dealing with small drug possession charges and the like, and I for one would be happy to handle those types of crimes in a separate court system as they do in California, rehab and treatment is what someone who gets caught buying drugs needs, not to be made into a hardened criminal via our system where money often decides whether you're going to prison or copping a bargain of a plea that will leave you with little or in many cases-no criminal record.


And  here it is, Jan 2011 and Connecticut still does not have the promised computerized intra departmental system that the legislation voted into a bill in 2008. The monies were approved and allocated by the budgetary allocators -  state "bean counters, and it offends my sensibilities when I hear them telling other legislators how few lives will ultimately be affected by installing this or that new criminal justice system or   policy. The bean counters did their best to convince all the house that we cant afford it naysayers, but in the end, so much loss of life had occurred needlessly,
that some kind of drastic change needed to be effected and clearly it would cost money.

 And despite what everyone is saying now it was not restricts to the Petit family murders, within 6 month period, there were two other SETS of severe violent crimes all committed  by recently paroled offenders, one man raped a 68 year old woman who was suffering with cancer! killed her and threw her lifeless body in some bushes. He shot her Friend in the head leaving her for dead but she miraculously survived after Playing dead, and Id'd the man in mugshots.

The women were having having church coffee, in a rural neighborhood when this recent [parolee happened to run out of gas in a stolen car in front of their home. Terrible fate became rape terror and murder on a sun morning coffee date he watched one women enter the home with any unlocked door and he followed her in shooting one of the women for no reason at all, stealing quick small items Dragging  the second victim in her own car, raping her shooting her and  and dumping her like a sack of garbage in some public bushes!

That inmate had been arrested of raping a minor eight year old niece of his, He'd received a few years in a plea deal, got out was on probation or parole and just went right on back to taking from others what did not belong to him and maiming and murdering along with it this time.

Nonetheless,that system and several other key improvements within our Justice system some of which were considerably more simple and less expensive then the technology based communications system, also have not been initiated no seem to be in the works. One of these is the addition of several new prosecutors within our states larger city superior court Court houses where shortages of staff as well as under training is being cited as many reasons for the high plea bargain ratio for adjudicating criminal cases in our state The issue came to light IN late 2007 when several homicides were committed needlessly by men who should not been given parole, or early release parole as all were chronic offenders that clearly posed a threat to the general public. The mistakes were blamed on information sharing issues between Police departments, prosecutors offices, parole boards etc
The most infamous of those three crimes was the murders of the Petit family a48 yr old mother.and her 2 girls. This case is still being played out in court with the second accomplice not yet having his
rial date set nor the jury selection process started.

If our new Governor tries to back out of pushing through this centralized criminal computer system, a basic tenet to any valid new system whereby information can be easily passed along and shared between departments as it should have been for years, well than this is Governor Malloys first and last chance in my book to prove himself worthy of Governorship. Public safety and crime is the most important issue facing our state government, Malloy touted his own record re crime decrease in Stamford during his mayoral term. As a democratic of unflinching variety he is avidly anti death penalty which means when it is put before him as a new legislation he will certainly not veto it. And this is a when not an if situation. The bill was already written and passed  by both the house and senate tho more marginally in the latter  last year and if not for Gov Rells rare veto, the abolishment would be in effect.

The prevailing Democrats led by the likes of  Mike Lawlor and co. The judiciary co who designed and instigated the abashment law, claimed that they initially did so in order to save the sate money, "since we didn't use the death penalty anyway" they cited-this is true in effect as the last man pout to death had to due the state in order to receive his just and awarded capital punishment by lethal injection; a rather kind alternative to what he doled out to his many many female victims some of who were but children-little girls age 12 9. Michael Ross finally won his appeal a fight all the ay to Ct supreme Court was his state paid public defenders were ironiclly fighting his wished for, and well deserved execution, that he had earned some twenty years earlier by murdering at least 20 women and kids. That was the first man we had executed in 20 years at that point in time, despite having 20 or so men on death row.

Clearly Connecticut is not the "blood lustful" lot  that lawyers/ anti death penalty proponents refer to us as.


The Bottom line is this is the year we need to form a pro0active, courageous political action group, and begin putting pressure on the new administration/ Governor, who has touted himself as being tough on crime and responsible for Stamford's lowered crime rates; While this is great,
I cant say that I am heartened by his standard liberal stance regarding the death penalty, within this linked article one notes his proclivity for stating that the death penalty in no way reduces crime -and this is a over-used and over simplified view, that does not take into account the many peripheral issues that would result in abolishment such as the veritable end of  of plea bargaining for all murders that occur in the state.




Once life w/out parole becomes the very worst sentence a murderer can get every lawyer in this state will push for trials, because their client now has at least a chance at receiving life with parole by rolling the dice in a jury trial. There will be nothing to lose by going to trial, and our system will become deluged with these trials, and considering we've got a 98 percent plea bargain percentages rate for how we resolve our murder cases, and our voire - dire system as  time consuming expensive, as well our prosecutors under qualified to try cases as their trial skills are stale at best, this will lead to an expensive mess that is a very real peripheral consideration of abolishing the death penalty in this state.


Yet most democrats would like to stand on some meaningless moral high ground and ironically also cite financial savings as a good reason to abolish, this due to the unwieldy appeals process currently in place in our state for death penalty cases. These appeals of course cost a lot of money, and indeed the original reason cited by the judiciary committee who enacted the abolishment was  a good way to save money,now that we are in an economical  budgetary crunch, so to speak. Ne-ver mind what was promised and indeed voted upon by our lawmakers and what the law was that was in place at that time!

Time to get involved Connecticut tax payers voters and general citizenry; we do have control over a Good deal of what goes on with out states legislation. We can follow suit as did California and restructure our judicial system separating the non violent drug rimes into a separate court altogether whereby they are offered treatment and hallways house living with extended probation and structured living situations involving 12 step programs employment etc. Many of these people who inhabit our prisons do not belong there. And there lives are being completely devastated as a result because as we all know once one has been incarcerated it is very difficult to get emolument especially a job that will feed a family or house someone in this state. There are genuine methods of changing how we handle our crime and criminals that need not involve huge infusions of money and in the end it will save us money-we just have to be ballsy as a people and as a state as lawmakers and as governor.


Making certain that prison beds that are needed departed for violent offenders and those who wold predate upon children, are enough, and that a person who is a sick, an addict, who has somehow managed to not yet com mitt violence in any way and yet is rotting away in a prison cell in a state where those cells are in such high demand, that we have been plea dealing our most vicious rapist kidnappers, child molesters, woman beaters. etc. because we claim there is no room for these men, and  no money to pay the prosecutors to try their cases because they cost too much.

 Well the reality there is quite a bit of distance from that simplistic overview, there are other considerations such as prosecutors who only want to try cases that they will definately Win, and since pleading will give them a guaranteed "conviction" even tho that conviction" consists of a slew of violent crime charges being dropped down to lesser more innocuous ones while other charges within  the same crime event are totally dropped. Of course this happens a lot less with some public defender -over a higher priced  lawyer- at least a "regular"a lawyer that the prosecutor knows, often lunches with, exchanging favors, cigars, jokes and the old boy network continues alive and well and every day, victims of violence are thier sacrificial lambs.

Get involved.

Please.

Arizona Shooting Claims Life Of 9 -Year-Old Girl Born On 9/11

This beautiful little girl, Chrstine Greene, born on 9/11 of all days, promise-filled little  life was snuffed out by the very same brand of errant hate and violence that dominated this country on the day of her birth.. My thoughts and prayers are with all of the victims and their families of this unbelieavably cowardly act of hate. As one can see when looking at the photograph to the left, hate and evil never win. Goodness kindess, faith and compassion -  these things always prevail when tragedies like this, caused by humn hands, happen.

May the Senator heal from her wounds, may her loved ones find strength within the abundance of  hope and our prayers encircling her, comforting her. May the victims we lost be in a place of comfort and love. And may we find some lesson to carry us through this painful seemingly senseless tragedy.

Years Later, Head Injuries can cause severe disease and Death

Head injury is a common seleleque of partner violence, as well as sexual attacks by predators. Blows to the face, head and neck, as well as choking the victim, (which also damages the brain via "anoxia"- or starvation of oxegen, are the most common injuries involved in violence against women and domestic batterring..

Often, in sexual assaults by strangers, the assailant will immediately seek to incapacitate the victim, and knocking them unconscious, or at least hitting them hard enough in the head to cause disorientation, is a typical method used by predators and batterers. The police and FBI call this a " blitz style attack" and sadly, it is very common in homicides involving sexual assault.

Victims of partner violence, especially multiple episodes of violence, such as those that occur in long term abusive relationships, are so commonly struck in the face and head that they are at particular risk of sustaining permanent injury to their vulnerable brains. And this damage is subversive, as it is not often visible. Seasoned abusers will strike the back of a woman's head- into walls, headboards, floors, trying to inflict pain and damage, and yet not necessarily leave visible bruising.. As such, abused women will often suffer several T.B.I's (traumatic brain injuries) over the course of an abusive relationship, and this means that there is a strong liklihood that these women will eventuallydevelop one or more of a constellation of serious neurological conditions,, some of which can lead to death.

Only within the last ten years or so, has it come to light that repeat "concussions" now termed TBI's, can cause serious medical conditions, often many years after the insult, as the victim ages; Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, including "dementia pugilistica" have long been directly connected to multiple blows to the head, and especially severe or repeated blows to the head , such as boxer's endure. But recently, medical scientists are discovering that other equally serious motor diseases, such as Lou Gehrig's disease ( Multiple Lateral Sclerosis) and Parkinson's disease are being connected to these same type of injuries.

These discoveries have largely been the result of post mortem autopsies of football players, boxers and other athletes, as the brains of victims of head injuries cannot be studied directly until autopsy. thus severally limiting the research possible on traumatic brain injury. MRI'S and Catscans, the two industry standards for brain imaging often do not show the microscopic damage that occurs with TBI;s, and yet that damage can cause serious medical impairment. By this logic, any person that has had either one severe brain injury or a series of of what was once called mild or moderate concussion, or TBI, is at risk of developing serious neurological diseases.

This new information should have major implications in the area of criminal law, particularly in regards to the prosecution of domestic and or intimate violence; For example, at present, in the classic domestic/partner violence prosecution in the state of Connecticut, a defendant that has struck a women head repeatedly causing the need for E.R treatment and protracted medical attention, in all probability will not receive any prison time.

Statistically speaking, this offender will most likely be the recipient of a plea bargain, and what began as an assault in the second degree charge, a felony that requires serious injury to the victim in order for the arresting Police officers to charge the assailent with such. Depending on the town or city, hospital and medical records are often used by police to substantiate this charge. In other words police do not use this charge lightly  as it is a felony and requires proof of  serious injury in order to make the charges "stick once the assailent goes through the court /judicial process.

Unfortunately despite many a conscientious police officers work in backing up thier charges in partner violence/intimate violence cases, what were serious injuries and violent crime charges, will too often  become  lowered to another charge such as "assault in the third degree" which is a misdemeanor charge ( that equates to slapping someone in the face)whose standard sentence is a court ordered domestic violence class for 3 months once a week and possibly probation for a short duration.

Willim Petit Jr.: Person of the Year

While there is certainly no more deserving a man for this title, I personally feel that it might just be a bit of a misnomer. A very humble person who clearly carries himself as a bit of an every-man, William Petit was undoubtedly surprised to find himself thus honored by The New Haven Register this week.

From all appearances of the man however, he might be more apt to graciously accept the title of Most inspiring person of the year, as inspiring others would seem to be at the core of his life mission.

As far as I can see, William Petit. has achieved
something akin to miraculous within the three plus years following the murders of his wife and two daughters. He managed to take one unadulterated act of pure evil and turn it into thousands of waves of hope, and acts of ever-lasting good. And as with most good endeavours, it was a concert effort, with the hard work and support of many people and their efforts both within and outside of, The Petit Family Foundation, a non profit charity created in the wake of the murders. All donations and proceeds from events, such as the annual 5K Road Race IN Plainville, help others. Women who are affected by violent crime, others living with chronic illnesses such as Multiple sclerosis, and several other endeavours, all changing lives for the better.

Most astounding to most of us is that Dr. Petit managed to create and organize this extremely successful Foundation during a time when his own body and psyche were very much still in the process of healing; healing from injuries and post trauma inflicted within the same crimes that took the lives of his wife and daughters; Jennifer, Hayley and Michaela Petit. Those injuries included severe head and brain trauma  and  blood loss that nearly cost him his life: He was hospitalized for five days before being discharged, only to attend the funerals and memorialize his family.


Since those dark days in the summer and fall of 2007, Bill Petit  has been through many, many challenges that would daunt even the most stalwart person of faith. And yet, he  managed to not simply survive a feat within itself, but bit by bit he mustered the strength to make the traverse from victim to survivor, and then purveyor of good, affecting a widespread charitable movement of sorts that began with a handful of words that he made to the crowd that gathered at his family's memorial.

"If there is anything to be gained by the senseless murders of my beautIful family, let it be for all of us to  go forward and embrace a faith that embodies action; help a neighbor, fight for a cause, love your family. Continue the kindness and idelaism that defined these three women's lives"

And the recounting of  eleven year old daughter Michaela's favorite quote on her facebook page:
"You must be the change that you wish to see in this world"  "Be the change" has become the watchword of The foundation and all of the allied community efforts,  to raise money always for those struggling, suffering and in need.


Clearly an exceptionally caring and thoughtful girl, when she chose those words of Mahatma Gandhi, Michaela unwittingly pre-destined the core mission of the future Petit Family Foundation, as well as becoming the spark to an en-masse good works movement that began in the wake of the crimes that stole her young life; Crimes that took place in the suburbs of Hartford but whose ripple effects were felt continents away.

And William Petit Jr.brought all of this to us. He was, and still is, the messenger.Not only a victim of severe brutality and violence, he lost his wife, his daughters and his home within this terrible set of crimes. He could have easily chosen to curl up in the fetal position and give up on life. Few would blame him, many would expect it. But he didn't. Instead, he carried his family forward into this world, by doing what they might do if they were still with us. And he asked us all to try to emulate the kind and giving qualities that these three  people graced this world with.

With Hayes, Here We Go Again

I found this article in my archives today of all places.

Having recalled that this Post generated a lot of controversial commenting,  I thought it  more deserving then residing in dusty old draftswille, in fact I don't know how it wound up there.

From today's vantage point, many months later, as we now enter the penalty phase of Steven Hayes trial, which commences tomorrow morning, the piece has an even bigger punch than it did when first written:

As much as this columnist expressed what seemed a genuine respect for veteran public defender Thomas Ullmann, by doing so within this frame of reference, she almost seemed to be willing him not to pull a redux of the Michael Ross debacle with Hayes ie When Ross, like Hayes, wished to take accountability for his crimes and Ross's over- zealous public defenders, simply and quite literally-would not allow it.

At the same time, the writer seemed resigned to the fact that, her admiration for Ullmann not withstanding, the Hayes case was already heading in the same direction at that very moment.

She was right of course.

Attorney Ullmann and Culligan and their team of tax paid minions, fought tooth and nail to disallow Hayes from doing what was his absolute right to do:plead guilty to the crimes that he was accused of AND INDEED committed.

Every legal parlor trick in the book was brought out: first his competency was questioned, then when he was found to be competent, Ullmann and Culligan threatened that if need be, they would break the attorney/ client privilege and share information with the court that Hayes had made to them, within that pact, that would supposedly influence the court regarding the finding of his own ability to represent himself and declare himself guilty.

He gave in his lawyers in the end and reversed his plea back to Not Guilty and Ullmann got to walk away thinking himself a hero for refusing to" let Steven Hayes' commit state assisted suicide." This after he stated that a life in prison on death row is worse than the death penalty itself.


Which is it Mr Ullmann? Or are you suggesting he deserves worse than the Capital punishment that was in fact LAW when he and Komisarjevsky with full aforethought and Mal intent, set about breaking into the Petit household with their primary motive sexual assault


  ie  their phone texts prior to the crimes had Hayes chomping at the bit to start the evening's rape and carnage"Hold your horses dude:"   HAYES REPLIED Dude my horses are ready to bust out !!!"


This was a clear sexual reference and illustrates beyond a doubt that the two men had discussed raping Michaela and likely Hayley, according to Kmisarjevsky's interviews with writer Mike MacDonald who he surreptitiously met with in prison for "interviews" based on Komisarjevsky;s version of the crimes, he in effect sold Hayes on the home invasion cajoling him and titillating his evil side telling him how attractive the girls and Mrs Petit a young blond shapely mother of both teens. He'd spotted then stalked the family at an area supermarket and followed them home with his pedophilia lust trained upon Michaela only eleven years old.



Tragically all we are left with is a 20 20 hindsight and  a murdered mother and her two young daughters. We cannot continue to forget that Dr Petit was severely assaulted in this so called home invasion which is clearly a set of sex crimes whereupon the family member who poses the most threat is removed first Mr Petit was the only man of the house asleep on the sunporch when the men stalked the house intent upon their mission. Rape pillage and Burn the evidence.

Judge Blue denies Defense request for "reconsideration" motion to Re-try Hayes case

pdf of denial of motion

Judiciary Committee Co-Chairmen Both Tapped By Malloy

This ought to be interesting. At least Mike Lawlor will be off the Judiciary committee and out of the House of Representatives. For this, I am grateful.

Lets see if Mr. Lawlor has any skill with the practical implementation of the myriad of legislation, some of which he has the audacity to "lay claim to" after the political dust settles.. Translation: he has a habit of taking credit for popular new laws and reforms at voting time, when in fact, he, with his considerable influence over the weaker members in the House,(of which there are an abundance) usually crushed the very legislation that he later proclaims is his brain child within his election time advertising. This audacity seems to stem from a certainty that the majority of the CT residents a) don't know what is best for them, and b) don't pay attention to what is going on in the house and senate anyway. Ironically, this the has overtones of the BUSH-ESQUE "fodder units" referrals, and the mindset that accompanies such verbiage.

A classic example;  The hotly debated " three strikes law" that was demanded by the Connecticut public  in the wake of the Petit family murders. Lawlor, an attorney and former prosecutor, did all he could to fight the notion of a standardized sentencing law that would have greatly limited prosecutorial discretion. Instead, when the public temper increased, due to the release of even more details concerning the considerable criminal backgrounds of the two paroled men that killed three members of the Petit family members, emerged, Lawlor mocked the very concept of a three strikes law and stalemated the house on the vote. As a result the state wound up with some mishmash "persistent offender law" that is rarely if ever actually used.

And then to add insult to injury, many months later, Lawlor mendaciously claimed to be the "author of a new three strikes legislation" in his election pamphlet. He did not say "persistent offender law", he actually used the words Three Strike Law, hedging his bets that the average voter wouldn't know the difference anyway. This sneaky lowly maneuver typifies the man the legislator and the human being.

So we the people of Connecticut are left with a persistent offender law that has rarely, if ever since, been actually used in the courts. The only exception is  perhaps as a bargaining tool to encourage a defendant to take a plea for a lesser charge as an incentive to avoid a jury trial and wind up convicted and thus eligible for the already dusty "new" persistent offender sentencing law. Then techinally  the prosecutor or Judge  is alllowed to dole out a stricter sentence based upon a repeat offender status. However, this is only with certain crimes and not crimes that the defendant committed or was arrested. The record then only reflects "convictions" in the past a string of plea bargained down charges that reside on the OFFICIAL criminal record as a result of all of this nonsense.

I would say that Lawlor is the consummate politician, but he is actually more dangerous and morally flawed than that phrase implies. I am actually growing some respect for soon to be Governor Malloy, if in fact he made this move with Lawlor intelligently, with any of the aforementioned as considerations. We'll have to wait and see.

Madison spa founder holds fundraiser for Petit foundation

This is something I like to read about; especially near the holidays, people doing good things to help others in need.

The Crime Report » Archive » CT Gov.-Elect Vows To Fund Delayed Justice Reform Plans

I was quite heartened to read of this today and I can only hope that our new Governor is genuine regarding his commitment to seeing the long-delayed Judicial reforms that were passed by the Connecticut Legislature two years ago, finally become a reality. Those reforms, we were assured by Governor Rell , " were "just the beginning. " This, all in the wake of the Petit family murders and several other tragic sexual assaults and murders in the state, all committed by recently paroled career felons. Seven people were killed in three separate violent crime incidents, all occurring within months of each other in late 2007. The reforms hastily and in some cases, grudgingly passed by a somewhat reluctant and petulant house of representatives, and less so the State Senate.

I have asserted for quite some time that there is no more essresponsibilityesponsibility of our state government than to protect its
citizens from crime.And while this starts with our Police force, the bulk of our state's issues with crime do not exist within law enforcement; These men and women are on the lines doing their jobs and usually doing them well They are often frustrated by the same things that frustrate victims of crime, victims advocates, probation and parole officers and Activists for Domestic Violence and sexual assault.

The state has major issues with such important issues as bail, I recently posted an article about unscrupulous bail bondsmen, and completely inconsistent bail amounts for similar crimes, often leading to men being bonded out too easily and going right back out to commit immediate further violence upon whomever they were placed under arrest for attacking or stalking in the first place. Then there is the issue of our Parole system; inexperienced parole board members with insufficient training, no enough forensic psychologists to assess likelihood of re offending. We have one now on our entire Connecticut Parole board-we had none prior to 2008.

Communication between departments within the judicial arm of the government has been abysmal at best. The Petit murders brought to light an age old issue that unbenowst to the people of the state had been going on for years whiteout resolution, putting hundreds of innocent lives at risk and finally culminating in the perfect storm of one Steven Hayes, and one Joshua komisarjevsky, two recklessly paroled inmates who despite reams of criminal records showing both as high risks to the public were paroled anyway due to a common problem of a lack of complete criminal records that had been going on for years and paroles were still being granted left and right..

A lack of time limits for a violent crime case resolution always always benefits the defendant, and in turn always detracts from the victim's case and the victim them self..The inordinately high plea bargain percentage in Connecticut at 96-97% of all criminal cases

Man Charged With Killing Jasper Howard Scheduled For Trial In January

I am happy to see that the trial for this young man's accused murderer is moving
along so swiftly. What so many Connecticut resident's don't realize is that murder
trials generally don't begin for an average of  3-4 years from the time of the actual murder(s):

We are a state notorious for time- consumptive individual voire dire processes, (the jury selection process whereby the attorneys involved in a violent crime case question each potential juror separately, and ad nauseum, leading to a colossal waste of time, adding more motivation to the court to simply plea bargain a case in order to avoid a trial )Aswell as an over- liberalized system that has become hijacked by defense attorneys, thanks to a Judiciary committee  (comprised largely of attorneys themselves) and a state legislature,whose many members seem to suffer from a reflexive class-guilt that seems to compel them to empathize more easily with chronic offenders than with the victims and future victims of these offenders.

It has gotten to the point where even many Judges expect, and indeed, defend the "norm:" which appears to be a minimum of a three year wait from the date of a crime's commission to the advent of a jury selection. Case in point, Judge Damiani,  currently retired but presided over the early court machinations of the Petit murder case. More aptly, he presided over the barrage of continuances that served as "pre-trial hearings"  for the Petit case. This wait is not exclusive to that case, it is pretty much the norm for all violent crime cases in this state, including rape, murder and capital murder.

This ever widening time berth between a crime's occurrence and its actual Judicial  resolution is one of the few things that is indeed color and class blind. The highly publicized Petit family capital murder case fell victim to it, in effect, a second victimization for William Petit and his family members, this time at the hands of the State's Judicial process,.

Two years after the murders of Jennifer, Hayley and Michaela Petit, the presiding Judge appeared to take it as a personal affront when William Petit dared complain about the length of time that had passed between the crimes that left him with severe head injury and no wife, children nor home, and the slightest signs of a trial being scheduled. He was given what amounted to a tongue-lashing, in open court. This, when the State Victim's Advocate brought Petit's concerns to the Judge. As I recall, when admonishing Petit, the Judge cited that a three year wait for a trial was well within the" normal parameters for a capital murder case"
And, he added," he considered it an insult to both he and his court" that Petit had implied that this wait was ludicrous..

I'm not sure why the Jasper Howard case has moved so swiftly through our court's usually hapless pace.
It could be the young man's celebrity that has helped move our normally sluggish judicial system along faster than it's norm, or perhaps there is an unusually dedicated prosecutor and/or presiding judge involved in the case. Whatever the reason, I am glad to see that it is happening for any victim of violent crime for the sake of their family and thier legacy in this world. They need a voice, their voice has been silenced.
I recently wrote an article about the Connolly murders that took place in Fairfield Connecticut; my home town. The Connolly's were the much loved long-time.married owners of a local Jewelry store, they were shot to death by a repeat felon with his girlfriens acting as lookout. The murders occurred in 2005, the suspects were in custody within weeks, yet for some reason, November 2010 finally marked the completion of jury selection for the defendant in these murders.. Six years after a  brutal double murder, and the trial is just now being scheduled. for 2011.

Something is terribly wrong here.

The Connecticut Legislative body needs to roll up their collective sleeves, pass a crime bill that enforces clear time limits between a crime's occurrence and when it is tried, or resolved by plea bargain. The right to a speedy trial should not be an exclusive right of the defendant. I daresay that a victim of violent  crime and the family of victims murdered or surviving, have as much at stake as the defendant.

 It is time that a legitimate article of victims rights is created and those rights become as rigid and unwavering as the rights of defendants. 

Brett Bednarz "Person of Interest" in Triple Murders Thanksgiving Day East Hartford

I'm sorry to say that my supposition regarding the brutal murders of a 74 year old woman   Bernice Therrian and a couple who cared for her on Thanksgiving day, were correct: It does appear to be a Domestic Violence crime at this time.

The adult son, and possibly the adult daughter of one of the victims, the elderly woman homeowner who was bludgeoned to death, are both being investigated by Police as possible suspects in the slayings. 46 Year old Brett Bednarz had been arrested in October for assaulting his mother and thanks to Connecticuts automatic plea bargaining system he wound up with a a Breach of Peace charge instead of assault and thus did not have a criminal record that reflected the danger that he posed-to both his mother and any other person who he might predate upon.

A home in Manchester, where both Bednarz and his sister reportedly reside together, was served a bench warrant for criminal search and seizure in the days following these murders.Bednarz was subsequently atrrested for marijuana possession and was taken into custody where police said he was cooperating with the investigation.  Police have now informed the public that the Bednarz continues to be a person of interest in the murder of his mother and the two caretakers that were killed along with her in her home on thanksgiving day. All three were killed by severe blunt force trauma of the head with Mrs Therrien being the most severe assault, usually indicating a personal attack with associated rage.

Mr Bednarz has been arrested multiple times in the past, including charges of assault. Apparently the Police had been called to the East Hartford residence where these murders took place at least five times in the months before the murders occurred. I will update as more information becomes available. My guess is that an arrest is imminent.

Jury selection set for Joshua Komisarjevsky - Petit Family Murders

We finally have a date set for jury selection for the Komisarjevsky's trial. Truth be told, although both of these men are despicable and obviously guilty of these crimes, I am more emotionally invested in seeing Komisarjevsky prosecuted. Hayes was tried and recently convicted and sentenced to death after a long and emotionally draining trial..

 Both men were complicit in the assaults and murders of  Jennifer, Hayley and Michaela Petit, However, Joshua Komisarjevsky was the instigator of these crimes, it is he who made certain that the assaults and murders occurred. Because he is significantly younger than Hayes,  many people mistakenly assumed that Komisarjevsky was the proverbial second-hand guy- when in fact the opposite is true; He targeted this family for his own personal reasons, a pedophiles attraction to Michaela Petit. As well, this was Komisarjevsky turf,  He lived in Cheshire his entire life, when he wasn't in prison ie for setting fires (age 14) and breaking into houses where the homeowners were often sleeping in their beds. This was something that Hayes had never done prior to meeting Komisarjevsky. Komisarjevsky was out of prison and living in his parents home, less than 2 miles from the Petit's house at the time of the crimes.

The two men had met at a halfway house on their last leg of a shortened prison sentence, care of early release parole thanks to the Connecticut Parole board. The two men struck a "friendship" for what that is worth between two psychopaths, likely discovering their shared fantasies of sexual violence and their wanton disregard for the rights of others. It's clear that Komisrajevsky basically used Hayes,( as far as one can engage someone who is criminally-minded to begin with) for a night of sexual assault with robbery thrown in as a bonus of sorts.Robbery was not the main intention of these crimes.

In order to make the crime more appealing to Hayes, Komisarjevsky dangled the idea of raping  attractive Jennifer Hawke Petit, who at 48 was close to Hayes age, and reportedly described to Hayes as  " tall blond young- looking attractive Mom". That would be Mom to Michaela Petit, the eleven year old daughter of the Petit's,tragically the true prize that Joshua Komisarjevsky had set his sights on,  after spotting her with her mom at an area supermarket that very same day.

It was not a "chance intersection of three peoples lives" that sparked the beginning of one of the worst set of crimes that the state of Connecticut has ever seen" - as we have all heard over and over in the media..
It was rather one Joshua Komisarjevsky -  sociopath, pedophile, stalker, thief, who "sparked" these
crimes.

It  also drives me crazy when I see that the media and press still refer to the Petit crimes as  "robbery gone awry." One only need read the text messages sent between the men in the hours before the break-in, to see what was foremost on their minds.

Hayes:.'Hey, are we still on for tonight...?!
Komisarjevsky: " Yes definitely."
Hayes " I'm chomping at the bit to get started,  I need a Martguerita !."
Komisarjevsky:  " hold your horses, I'm putting the kid to Bed "
* Yes, this thug had a five year old daughter, who he had just won primary custody of no less. Again thanks to the state of Connecticut family court this time, this after  just getting out of prison for a string of 23 home break ins!

Hayes "Dude, the horses are dying to get loose lol...!

The sexual innuendo is obvious, this is not a reference to a robbery. The two men had been committing home- break ins together, for the prior two nights beginning the very first evening that the komisarjevsky had his Connecticut dept of corrections tracking anklet officially removed.  The decision regarding how long the anklet stayed on Komisarjevsky was determined by the Connecticut Parole board who as we now know were haphazardly paroling dangerous offenders for years. The pair had broken into a total of three houses, all while the homeowners were in bed asleep. But there were signs that the two had been discussing and thinking about going further with those crimes, in the direction of sexual assault and/or violence:

The last house to be robbed the night before the Petit home invasion, had had a butcher knife left stuck into the counter top in the kitchen, as well as several framed photographs of the family members stolen. Those photographs all included attractive women.  It was clear from the small amount of facts leaking out to various news sources before the gag order was placed on the case, that these crimes were motivated by sexual violence, which at its core is about dominance and control. The money that the men managed to procure from Mrs Petit, likely originated as a desperate offer by Mrs Petit, hoping and trying to buy the men's goodwill and get them out of the house, without her daughters being sexually assaulted or harmed.

 She had a lovely 17 tear old  daughter and a  pretty 11 year old girl in the middle of puberty. She may or may not have been aware of Joshua Komisarjevsky attraction to Michael as all three were tied up in separate rooms for the majority of the evening/morning hours. She may have been more worried about their intentions with her daughter Hayley, not knowing that Komisarjevsky was in fact a pedophile. Hayely, a strong athletic intelligent girl was way too much of a threat to Komisrajevsky's lightweight ego. He needed someone he could control emotionally.as well as physcially.

It should be mentioned that all of Joshau komisarjevsky's girlfriends, as well the mother of his then 5 year old daughter, were a maximum of 15 years old when he became sexually involved with them, this meant a 11 year difference with the girlfriend he had at the time of the Petit crimes. This speaks volumes about the guy.Unfortunately, Michaela Petit was tall for her age and appeared  a bit older than her 11 years, perhaps 14 or so,

I do not believe that the men were overt in their sexual molestations or assaults of  the Petit girls prior to Hayes leaving for the bank with Mrs Petit in tow As we know from the Hayes trial evidence, Joshua Komisarjevsky took a series of  nude photos of Michaela at approximately 7 am that morning around the time when Hayes was believed to be at a gas station, filling multiple containers with gasoline, thus a plan was already hatched to burn the entire house down with all of the family members tied up in the house -including the injured Dr Petit, who lay bleeding from his severe head wounds tied to a pole in his basement.

The Photos were taken on komisarjevsky's cell phone and showed Michaela in various outfits, including a school girl outfit consisting of a plaid skirt and a white sleeveless top. She had been taken out of her pajama's that she had been wearing in order to pose her tied in various outfits and stages of undress. The plaid skirt is classic pedophile behavior and it makes me livid that this guy targeted the youngest, most vulnerable person in the house. But this is exactly why she was targeted.

I have speculated that the money that Mrs Petit got from the bank may very well have been a bribe of sorts, and the men pretended to be as harmless as they could up until the point where they received the money. As well we discovered via the Hayes trial, the moment that Mrs Petit left for the bank with Hayes was when Joshua Komisarjevsky chose to fully sexually assault Michaela Petit.

 He had likely been trying to gain the trust and compliance of Jennifer Hawke Petit up until he point where the money was in hand. And  unfortunately that is exactly when both men turned on her, the moment she returned from the bank into her home. As a woman and a survivor of violent crime,it is this moment that I cannot help but imagine and re-live as Jennifer Petit must have.  The thoughts running through her mind, the terror for her family, the fear the shock.  Both men tied her up,including a noose around her neck. She was raped and strangled by Steven Hayes, while Komisarjevsky walked in and out of the room.
This was testimony of Hayes's, which in this particular case, sounds believable. Hayes admits to killing Mrs Petit, although at various times, he gave different reasons for doing so, one of which was at the provocation of Komsarjevsky who said to "get rid of her" I believe that once they broke in and were facing serious charges they soon planned to kill all of the members of the Petit household. Only after sexually assaulting the Mrs Petit adnd the girls. They assumed by burning down the home with the Petit's tied up inside that this  would be rid of all DNA evidence as well as witnesses.

Mrs Petit might have began screaming when she realized the men were going to kill her and her family and Hayes either reacted by choking her to death, or Komisarjevsky  ordered him " to "get rid of her" as Hayes had originally claimed. We will probably never know the entire truth unless Steven Hayes chooses to finally come completely clean now that he has been found guilty and sentenced. This he could do for the sake of the Petit Hawke families and for the successful prosecution of Joshua komisarjevsky
Until now, his attorneys would not allow him to tell the truth just as they wouldnt allow him to plead guilty months before the trial.

Joshau Komisarjevsky, in classic sociopath form, will assuredly never tell the truth regarding these crimes. He is a textbook sociopath,  deceitful manipulative and lacking in any real human conscience. He will do anything to avoid being exposed for what he truly is,.and he will avail himself of whatever and whomever is handy in doing so. In his criminal case, public defender Jeremiah Donovan, has already taken unusually big risks as an attorney for this guy, ie breaking a Court imposed Gag order trying to deflect guilt derived from fiorensic evidence showq during the hayes trial He would have us believe is this is some baby faced kid who simply got caught up in Steven Hayes murderous acts.. The forensic evidence has already shown that this is clearly not the case and that of the two men, komisarjevsky was a further evolved sexual predator.

It is my fervent desire and belief that in 2011, a Jury of twelve of Mr. Komsitrajevsky's peers will find him guilty of Kidnapping, Arson, Murder, Assault, and Sexual assault of a minor child, and sentence him to death. Until then, we will continue carrying on the spirit of the Petit women, by helping others in need through the Foundation that William Petit Jr founded in the wake of this tragedy.
The Petit Family Foundation .

Cheshire Killer Steven Hayes Talks at Sentencing

Motion to "reconsider motion for a New Trial" filed by Hayes Defense Team

Another motion was filed in New Haven Superior Court on Thursday by Steven Hayes Defense Team; The motion requested a recosideration" of  a former motion filed by said defense, last week

requesting a new trial for Mr Hayes. That motion cited multiple factors that the defense claimed caused the Hayes Jury to become biased,

distracted and unduly influenced  by the unusually large media presence among other things.

It should be noted that the defense never objected, formally or otherwise,to the media presence during the entire trial proceedings,themself, nor did they object verbally,or in writing, to the judge or prosecutor, regarding the seating arrangements for the Petit/ Hawke families,an issue that is believe it or not, shamelessly being cited as a reason for the need for a new trial, both within the first and 2nd motion filed by hayes's attorneys. 

The original motion for a new trial was officially denied by Judge Blue six days after it was received by the court. Blue clearly gave the motion due diligence, he offered  extremely succinct counter-arguments for each and every defende claim re how Hayes right to a fair trial was infringed upon ie  by;the media presence, the presence of the Petit's extended family in the Jury's presence, and a host of other objections, many of which bordered on just plain ludicrous..

In the original motion, the defense used the heavy media presence and the "distraction" that it\ had on the Jury, claiming it ultimately affected the verdict,as well as the sentencing during the sentencing phase.
This argument was once again at the nucleus of the motion to "reconsider" The defense team essentially said that Judge Blue's decision regarding the original motion was based upon unsound legal reasoning, and they basically tried to dismantle each point that the Judge carefully laid out in his brief.

This succession of motions is perfect example of why our courts need to begin setting limits on what is clearly abuse of the system by defense attorneys -  public defenders or otherwise.It almost becomes a form of
blackmail, holding the process hostage as it were, which is how our courts got into this mess to begin with.

It is clear that Mr.Ullmann, being an avid anti death penalty propagandist, simply will not let any defeat" stand in any Death Penalty case where he is the defense attorney.

It certainly cheapens Ulmann's vociferous stance when he dons the same  arrogant indigence  over every single case, no matter the brutality of the crimes that his client commits, how many victims lay in his wake and whether they include children, etc..

 In Ullmanns world,  the moral "wrngness of the death penalty" transcends all of these small

insignificant  facts like actual guilt -  the law- how many people suffered as a result of the violence and death..

The contention surrounding the death penalty  gives Attorneys like Thomas Ullmann permission to throw all  considerations out the window;The state is trying to kill his client-that's all he needs,or cares to know; he is thus transformed from a public defender who will defend anyone for anyhting into a self appointed hero for the "underdog."

Never mind that the Dog is rabid.

According to statement made in court during last weeks sentencing, Steven Hayes said that he was glad to receive the death Penalty by the Jury. Indeed he claimed that he" is  tortured by the crimes that he has committed, and that death will be a welcome relief when it comes. He added that he hopes his death will bring some comfort and peace to Dr Petit and the other family members of those he hurt.

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Family speaks at Steven Hayes official sentencing

The formal sentencing of  Steven J Hayes took place in New Haven Superior Court this morning. The courtroom was packed with the usual considerable media presence, as well as members of the general public fortunate enough to make it into the courtroom, which quickly became standing room only.

All were gathered to witness the official meting out of justice to the man convicted of murdering Jennifer, Michaela and Hayley Petit, and severely injuring sole survivor, Wilium Petit Jr..


Various members of the victim's family spoke prior to the sentencing, some directly addressing the man convicted of murdering their family members. Each statement was filled with emotion packed descriptions of  loss, grief, and anger,  pulling back the curtain in effect on the true devastation caused by this set of violent crimes.

A lengthy video-taped statement made by Jennifer Petit's sister, Cindy Renn, was also played in the courtroom. As Renn pointedly addressed her sister's killer; she described, in vivid detail the life destruction that began in the wake of the murders and continues to this day.

It was within the biggest and the smallest details that Renn shares that the enormity of the consequences of the crimes became wholly appreciated.. Generally speaking , very few family member's of victims of violent crime get the chance to make public the depth and breadth of  the trauma and hardship caused by violent crime such as these; except perhaps within the rooms of crime survivor support groups, that a fortunate few might find refuge in. To me, the words of Cindy Renn and the rest of Petit Hawke family members are the most important ones spoken since the advent of this trial.

.The following is a link to the transcript of  Cindy Renn's videotaped statement.

 renn's statement