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 .
