Grocery shopping is such a mundane activity that all families take part in at some point, so it wasn’t a big deal when 11 year old Michaela and her mom went grocery shopping, picking up dinner for their Sunday night dinner. Little did they know, they had caught the eye of a convicted felon, out on parole. That night, Michaela, her sister Hayley, and their mom Jennifer were all murdered in one of the most horrendous cases Connecticut had ever seen, known as the Cheshire Murders.
Michaela Petit was the youngest daughter of Dr. William “Bill” Petit, Jr., 50, and Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 48. Her older sister Hayley was 17, and had just graduated from Miss Porter’s School, a prestigious private school with many notable alumni such as Gloria Vanderbilt, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. She was set to attend Dartmouth University in the fall, where she planned on following in her father’s footsteps by studying medicine. She was an active fundraiser for multiple sclerosis research, and captained a Walk MS Team called “Hayley’s Hope.”
Dr. William Petit was an endocrinologist and the medical director of the Joslin Diabetes Center at Connecticut’s Central Hospital. His wife Jennifer was a nurse and co-director of the health center at Cheshire Academy. Jennifer had recently been diagnosed with MS. Michaela attended Chase Collegiate School, and planned on taking over her sister’s charity and renaming it “Michaela’s Miracle.” She loved food, and aspired to one day become a chef.
On the morning of July 22, 2007, the family attended church. It was a relaxing day, and Michaela wanted to cook Sunday dinner. She and her mom went to the local grocery store, to pick up what she needed for the meal. They traveled aisle to aisle, never once suspecting someone was watching them.
That night, after dinner, Mr. Petit lay down on the sofa in the sunroom where he fell asleep while the girls all watched TV after which they went to bed.
Joshua Komisarjevsky had seen Michaela and her mother in the grocery store that night, and had followed them home. That night, Komisarjevsky and his friend Steven Hayes, whom he had met while staying at a halfway house, made a plan to burglarize the Petit family. According to Komisarjevsky, the family had “a very nice house and very nice car and thought it would be nice to be there someday.”
At approximately 3am on July 23 Komisarjevsky and Hayes broke into the Petit family home through an unlocked door in the basement. Leaning against the stairs was a baseball bat, which Komisarjevsky picked up as he ascended the steps. They found Mr. Petit asleep in the sunroom.
Komisarjevsky struck Mr. Petit in the head with the bat four or five times before dragging him down to the basement and bound his wrists and ankles with rope and zip ties. They moved upstairs where they found Mrs. Petit and the two girls each in their respective rooms. They were each bound by their wrists and ankles to their bedposts, and pulled pillowcases down over their heads. The men searched the house, ransacking as they went, looking for cash. They were disappointed with what little they found, until they came upon a check register, indicating they had $40,000 in the bank.
Steven Hayes found two gas cans, and took them to a nearby gas station where he was spotted on surveillance video filling them with $10 worth of gas. He returned to the house and forced Jennifer to accompany him to the bank. She was told she needed to withdraw $15,000 for the men. Jennifer was smart though, and managed to inform the bank teller that men were holding her family hostage, threatening to kill them all. The bank manager called 911 while Jennifer was still busy with the teller, and was still on the line with them after she left the bank. She informed them that Jennifer had indicated that the men were “being nice” and that she believed they only wanted money.
The police responded, setting up a vehicle perimeter around the Petit home, without revealing their presence. Little did they know the horrors that were going on inside.
Joshua entered little Michaela’s bedroom where she had been tied to the bed posts. He proceeded to sexually assault her, taking photos of his acts with his cell phone. At some point her clothing was removed and washed, as they were later examined and had bleach on them. The assault was confirmed when medical examiners found Joshua’s sperm in her body. During his interrogation, he claimed that he believed the girl was 14 or 16.
Steven went on to strangle Jennifer. Unfortunately, her death did not stop him from raping her, claiming Joshua provoked him into doing so. The sound of the thumping and moaning was so great that Mr. Petit could hear it in the basement. He yelled, and received the response, “don’t worry, It’s all gonna be over in a couple of minutes.”
Mr. Petit managed to free himself of his restraints. He escaped, hopping up the basement stairs and to the outside of the house. “I thought, it’s now or never because in my mind at that moment, I thought they were going to shoot all of us.” He crawled to a neighbor’s yard for help. His injuries were so bad, the neighbor didn’t even recognize him at first.
Joshua discovered Mr. Petit had escaped and rushed to tell Steven. He finished up with Jennifer, then together they took the gas cans, dousing her body and the rest of the house with gasoline. They left Michaela and Hayley tied to their beds, and covered them in gasoline as well. They set the place on fire, and fled the scene in the Petit family car. The police that had been nearby watching the house immediately pursued, and the men crashed the car into a police car.
By the time firefighters arrived on scene, the entire house had gone up in flames. They were not able to save the girls; Jennifer died from strangulation, Michaela and Hayley died from smoke inhalation. Hayley had managed to escape her restraints, but was found collapsed near the top of the stairs. Her feet had sustained third and fourth-degree burns. Michaela was found still tied to her bed, with her lower body hanging off. The entire invasion lasted seven hours.
The men confessed, and were both sentenced to death, however since then the state of Connecticut has abolished the death penalty, and both men’s sentences were turned into life sentences. The details of the case were so unsettling, that jurors were offered counseling to deal with any psychological or emotional trauma they may have experienced.
There is much controversy over the police action/inaction during the invasion. They had orders to set up the perimeter and monitor the situation, but not to engage. They didn’t know the extent of the horrors going on inside.
