all i want to do is die. it is the only way to end the pain i go through everyday 24/7 and more important the pain that trial will bring to others. time to go to the last undiscovered country, although i am not the monster that josh is, i am one nevertheless. a coward, because i could not do what was right. looking back on my life, i was nothing but a self-centered asshole who cared only of himself. but the ironic facet to this is that i have always had the ability to change, but cowards don't change. they become me. >> the judge actually toured his cell yesterday. it is called a safe cell which will protect him from harming himself. he learned a lot. he wears something called ferguson clothing which is an inmate wears if they are in jeopardy of killing themselves, because they can't tear up the clothes and use it as a noose.

>> it is surreal. the entire prosecution is geared to killing steven hayes. and so here he is trying to kill himself, and we won't let him do that, because we want to extract our pound of flesh. it is really a sick kind of process in my opinion. >> tragedy at trial, front page. >> right now, both sides are inside of this courtroom and all eyes are on what is going to happen in the opening arguments. heavy, heavy security around steven hayes brought in by authorities on the convoy of

vehicles. >> there is no cameras allowed in the courtroom so you won't see what is going on in there, but tweeting is allowed. >> a juror has been excused, because she said she could not be fair, because she heard news reports of steven hayes' suicide attempt. >> this jury will end up making two decisions. one is the guilt or innocence of the defendant, and if they find him guilty, then they would have to decide if he should get the death penalty for the crime. >> going into the courtroom, steven hayes was off to my left. i look at him and i think, i still can't believe that you did this. i said as soon as i found out that my sister died, just come into me, and be a part of me. so i kept staring at him, and sometimes i think that is that a

part of her saying stare at him and don't take your eyes off of him, like he cannot be trusted. >> i'd like to say a few things to these guys. i'd like them to answer me the question do they know what it is to be terrorized? >> after waiting more than three years the petit and hawke families are ready for this trial to begin and hopeful that justice will prevail. we think of jennifer, haley and michaela of every second of everyday. >> it is a system, you know. and you know people say that it's the best system in the world, but it's a maddening system at best.

people spend at lot of time parsing words instead of really trying to get to what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil. but it is the system we have, and so we are hoping, hoping that the system we have will give us justice. >> today's date is july 23rd, 2007. statement taking place at the cheshire police department headquarters. thomas komisarjevsky, do you know why you are here? >> for home invasion that went terribly wrong. >> okay. you went to stop&shop in cheshire. >> i was waiting for a contractor to make payment. e while waiting i saw a mother and daughter, and for whatever reason i chose to follow the mom

and the daughter to their house and saw that they went to a very nice house. i thought it would be nice to be there some day. ♪ you're not made of money, so don't overpay for boat insurance. geico, see how much you could save.

>> josh and steven were texting each other. steven texting josh about when are we going to get going, and

it was kind of like an excitement about going to burglarize this house. he drives down to cheshire, and he and josh go to a bar. and then they start looking for this house that josh knows about from when they were shopping at stop&shop earlier. it has always been my opinion that he was attracted by the young girl michaela rather than the money or the mercedes. >> josh was born into a family with a history of mental problems and adopted by a family who had no ability to cope with mental problems, and so he was doomed by biology and then by fate.

when josh was 3 years old, the family took into the home two foster children, a girl and a boy. and josh underwent really horrible and extensive sexual abuse at the hand of scott. i think that it started out playing a little sex games and having him pose naked and then proceeded to full-scale anal intercourse and to josh being burned with cigarettes. against the background of all of this, josh is in a church in which it is taught that there is evil in the world, and probably the greatest abomination of all is homosexuality, and so you have a 5-year-old, a 6-year-old, a 7-year-old listening to this, and thinking to himself that i am fundamentally evil. i have engaged in that kind of activity and not really able to tell anybody about it. >> there's a theme that i saw in

steven's life of betrayal. steven had been sexually abused as a child. which led him to become more emotionally disconnected from people. the turning towards drugs and the desperate state of mind that he found himself in -- all of this helped to explain how steven could have done what he had done. >> we made our way to the house and put on face masks and donned rubber gloves, and we noticed that the daughter was sleeping downstairs. i could see through the window motioning to strike him and get it over with.

>> did she tell you kk was her name or did you make that up? >> i met josh when i was 13. josh's parents started attending the church that we went to. the evangelical bible church. and we dated. we were in a relationship for about two years. we started dating when i was 14 or 15, and then our relationship was ended by the church. throughout the whole course of our relationship, we were trying not to have sex. that was the goal. it felt deeply, deeply sinful.

our church community was our home school community and josh's family and mine as well had a very specific idea of good and evil. the devil was understood to be an entity that you could know. so if josh had anxiety, it was the devil. if he did something wrong, it was because he was being used as an agent of the devil. josh spoke some to me about the sexual abuse that had happened to him, but there wasn't even a way for him to tell me without weeping. josh had terrible anxiety attacks. his home was not ever safe for him. the safe place was being away

and hiding in the woods. he was trespassing and sneaking around spying on people long before it was a criminal offense. i think that he envied people, and he would daydream about being them. >> they find beer in the refrigerator and drink throughout the night. steven finds jars of quarters and coins and they found the bank of america book. they are waiting for the morning. however, steven worries that he is going to leave dna ed in the house, and he starts obsessing. josh tells him fire destroys everything.

>> we will get the people out and burn the house down and get them somewhere and then get the hell out of here. that is what steven was thinking about. >> steven goes into the garage and he finds containers and he starts driving to find a gas station. >> when steven gets back with the gasoline, josh had changed the clothes of michaela because of the activity that he was involved with in terms of sexually abusing her, and part of that occurred while steven was out on the gas run. because we know that, because of josh's photographs that he took on the cell phone, before the bank. the first set of photographs

showed mikayla and leg shots and genital area shot, but they were clothed. the last shots at the bank were much more graphic, and really awful, awful, awful photographs and the kinds of things that you never forget. because they become emblazoned in your mind. it shows the level of depravity of joshua komisarjevsky. >> joshua was committed against the wishes of his parents, committed and spent two weeks at elmcrest. he was clearly in terrible shape. suicidal. >> the records are very clear that joshua wanted to try the medication, and joshua wanted the therapy, but the parents rejected it.

not only did the parents reject it, but they immediately took him up to the christian store. >> people would say that he was seeing demons and he believed that, and prayed that they would go away, and people would gather around and lay hands on him, and pray on him, and speak in tongues over him, and exorcism was part of our lives when it came to dealing with anxiety. he ended up breaking into my room at the discipleship house to come and see me. he was essentially excommunicated for doing that. his whole life, everything, it was just gone overnight. there was no addressing that perhaps this was a desperate kid who actually didn't, wasn't wrestling with the devil, but he had experienced trauma and was losing his grip.

hey guys, thanks for coming. are we in trouble? no, you're not in trouble. i just want to set some ground rules. like what? well, remember last week, when you hit vinnie in the head with a shovel? [chuckling] i do not recall that. of course not. well, it was pretty graphic. too graphic for the kids. so i'm going to have to block you. you know, i gotta make this up to you. this is vinnie's watch, and i want you to have it. you deserve it. no, thank you. t@at's really not necessary. no, no, come here...

morning rolls around. they untie mrs. petit, and steven takes her to the bank. mrs. petit is at the bank, and it is taking longer than he thought.

>> her hands were tied but her feet weren't. >> did you take pictures of her? >> no one disputes that he committed the crime, and eventually he tells the police

officer that while hayes is gone, he goes upstairs to sexually assault kk and at that point the judge stops the tape and he says that the juror is having trouble with the evidence, and they will stop it for the day and continue tomorrow. a very difficult day in court here, la toya. >> komisarjevsky was calling my young niece kk like who are you to be calling her that name and that term of endearment. and okay, you show me again that baseball bat that you hit billy with, and i will show you how it feels. you want them to lose a daughter, and you want their house to burn down, and you want them to see how it feels, and other times, you think, who am i? like this is wicked. how could i wish this on

anybody. >> steven is becoming anxious. he calls joshua. joshua tells him that everything is going to be fine and the plan is going to work. after a period of time, mrs. petit comes out of the bank with money. when they arrive back at the house, steven is under the belief that the crime is over. now they can leave. but joshua tells steven that they have a problem. he had left dna with one of the children, and he had to kill them and they're dead and that petit had died from the injuries and now he had to get his hands dirty and killed mrs. petit.

>> i believe steven, but from the first time that josh talked to the police, he tried to save himself by blaming steven for all of the horrific stuff that occurred. i did not sleep well because i have some back i did not sleep well issues. the bed was too soft.

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steven tells me that he felt betrayed by josh. he felt dragged into this horror of a crime, and he also felt in

a crazy way betrayed by mrs. petit, because he looks out the window, and he sees police cars. and he realizes that mrs. petit must have informed bank officials. he is triggered into this state of rage. he strangles jennifer hawke-petit and pulls down her pants and rapes her after he strangles her.

>> steven hears josh telling him that they have to leave and spread the gasoline and get out of here. >> why did you close the doors? >> empty bottles of gasoline?

so he went back up with another bottle of gas. >> all of these family members who have had to relive the horror of what happened inside of that home the night they were all tied up has been heartbreaking to watch inside of the courtroom. the images have been devastating

of the crime scene. >> when it is all put out in front of you, it is very gruesome. it's insane to just hear. it has affected the whole town. and it is like the whole town is just reliving it again, and it is not easy for all of us. >> these are pictures of like the accelerant pattern that they showed how they went from like where haley's body was upstairs into her bedroom and on to her bed and then down the hall and into mikayla's bedroom and on to bed. when i finally put the fire detective on the stand, i saw mikayla was tied, and she had gasoline dumped on her while she was alive and alert. and that at least haley i know was probably burning while she was breathing. and that was just a really hard thing to learn, because i never

really knew if the girls were alive when they were burning or not. and it kind of was made true to us that, that was the case with haley that she had walked while she was on fire, because she fell down in the front of her which was more burned than the back of her. i was crying and i just felt like i wanted to get out of that courtroom and scream and just say, you know, i can't believe what is going on in there. i just -- it is making me so angry, and i can't understand why somebody couldn't have ventilated that house for the girls while they were still alive. i want it to be so different. >> finally, seeing the defense giving tough questioning to the cheshire police officers who initially responded to the call of that home invasion, the officers said they followed protocol, and dr. william petit

has always supported the actions of the cheshire police department. one captain testifying that the incident did not make sense at first, and he said, it still does not make sense today. >> steven admitted to killing the mom. he admitted to raping the mom. he admitted to spreading gasoline, and so it is not like he was trying to get himself out from under it in any way. and i think that it haunts him, really haunts him as to why he didn't walk away. steven is in an isolation cell

24 hours a day. he has nightmares. he has nightmares about his own kid burning. this is the way his ip cars ration will last forever. so, you know, i don't know why we have to kill someone who is in a position like that. it is like being buried alive. >> we, the defense team always believed that joshua never had the intention to kill anybody. after he bashed dr. petit's head several times, later on he got a towel and wiped the blood away from dr. petit's head and then he got two pillows and put them behind his back and got two cushions and the explanation which is in his confession is that he did so, because he thought that dr. petit was not comfortable enough, and he was concerned about his comfort. what occurred with mikayla is absolutely unexplainable.

such a horrendous crime committed on such a young girl. people go the jail for a long time for crimes like that, but you don't get the death penalty. when joshua was apprehended, pulled from the car, he was straight with the police. and when steven hayes was pulled from the car and he gave a phony car and when asked if anybody else was in the house, he said he didn't know. and steven hayes said there is a woman inside and i believe she is dead, and there are two girls upstairs and he expressed to the police that there was urgency to the situation which was obvious because at this time the house is burning. with me, this is inconsistent with somebody intending to kill somebody.

i actually got to see steve twice the past two sundays. when i first saw him, i wanted

to cry, because i have not seen him so long, but i just didn't want to cry in those circumstance, because you had all of the guards standing on top of you, and you can't talk about the trial, because like you know that the phones are pretty tapped. and i know that family wants him to be dead, and it all to be over with, but like my side of the family, we just want him to like take responsibility for what he did without the consequence of the death penalty. that won't bring anyone back. what happened happened and his death is not going to bring about much justice. >> steven hayes walked into room 6a for the first time and he saw a familiar face, his brother matthew and the first time that we believe a hayes family member has been in court.

>> prosecutor michael darren said that these two beautiful girls and loving mother were killed because steven hayes wanted money. the defense attorney marcus ullmann argued that the death penalty is the harshest penalty that can be given. >> it is finally in the hands of the jury. >> attorney gary nicholson did not mince words as he spoke to the jury in the closing argument s this morning saying that joshua komisarjevsky is no shrinking violet, and he played a starring role in the crime.

mickelson hammered the point that komisarjevsky was the first in the house, and the first to use violence and had plenty of time to leave the home. he gave hayes directions back to the house when he went to buy gasoline. >> it is not fair, is it? >> no. >> you know, all i think of is the impact of our girls could have made upon the world. of course, none of that will ever come forth from joshua komisarjevsky. >> what's the jury weighing? aggravating factors against mitigating factors. no verdict today, but we do expect a verdict by the end of the week.

>> we are good. you guys come in. >> oh, lord, we gather around the table as family and friends. we stand at a place in the trial where we wonder what will take place. but we pray, oh, god, that we will be able to be strong enough to accept whatever the outcome may be. that it would be your will that would be done. for we ask it in the name of christ, amen. >> amen. >> this is all about death and life without parole. >> really, it does seem like the most kind humane thing that you could do for a person is to allow them to just die. i thought of how, how much that challenges the jurors. >> a lot of pressure has been

placed upon their shoulders. i'm glad i'm not in that room. >> yep. >> never get those pictures out of their heads for the rest of their lives. >> you know, it has been very traumatic for everyone. >> this is a case that has just rattled people. a lot of people say that if there is a case that warrants the death penalty, this is it. wait a minute i want to read you something that we are getting -- we are getting word on and you might be able to explain it to us. the jurors are standing and the clerk is reading the verdict

form. count four, no statutory mitt gators and both aggravators are proven, and the defendant is sentenced to death, sunny. >> death penalty verdict. >> death for the monster who slaughtered the connecticut doctor's family. >> and tonight, a connecticut jury has done something rare. >> they have recommended death for steven hayes. he is convicted of raping and murdering a mom, jennifer hawke-petit and her two daughters haley and mikayla. >> the verdict was devastating. steven wanted the death verdict, and we did everything in our power to prevent that in spite of his own efforts to kill himself.

>> this case gets attention in australia. it got attention in europe. you know this is any town, america, and any family america, and when you saw how it was shattered in a few hours, i think that it is kind of -- >> i am glad he is guilty of the second count, count five is death. did he intentionally cause the death of a person under the age of 16 years old. count ten is death. that is that he intentionally caused the death of jennifer hawke-petit, the mother. okay. count 11 is death. >> a couple of marshalls came up behind joshua in cuffs and really no reaction at all. given the public outrage to the horrendous crimes, we could not get a fair jury here, and that

is why we filed a motion to change the venue and it should have been granted, and that is one of the main appellant issues. i believe that the death penalty is barbaric and in line for countries like yemen and iraq and iran. i don't know what purpose it serves other than revenge. >> thank you very much. >> denise, yes, we will have continuing coverage of the death penalty that has been given to joshua komisarjevsky. >> we are satisfied that the defendant has been judged to be the murder, and the rapist and criminal that he is. he is, and now he is been condemned to the ultimate penalty. we have been criticized over the years that this is vengeance and blood lust, but this is about justice.

we want to go forward with the petit family foundation and try to create good out of evil and hope the defense did what they thought they should do. i thought a lot of it was particularly distasteful. i saw picture after picture after picture and every time the pictures went up i thought charles manson was a baby once, i'm not sure if this is particularly relevant. >> i would like to thank our justice system as well as the jury members, listening to things they would have much rather not heard and seen. i believe without our defense attorneys we could not have the outcome that we've. so, we have to even be appreciative that there are defense attorneys that will take cases like this and i believe god's will has been done.

>> i don't want to answer any questions. i feel so sad. i don't know if any of the other defense attorneys -- >> there will be automatic appeals. there will be appeals upon appeals, this will go on for years and years and years. >> we offered to plead guilty to every charge so long as his death was not the rut. so joshua would have been sentenced to life without the possibility of release, would have happened three weeks after the crime had taken place. josh would have disappeared into the great abyss of the penal system and would never have been heard from again. that was not serious enough punishment for the state. and then, of course the state was being goaded on by dr. petit and so we had to go through

three years of haze and joshua. and just forcing the people of connecticut to relive that crime day after day after day, it coarsened the social fabric of connecticut, it would have been better to put the guys in jail and throw away the key. and didn't know where to start. a contractor before at angie's list, you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare written by people just like you. no company can pay to be on angie's list, so you can trust what you're reading. angie's list is like having thousands of close neighbors, where i can go ask for personal recommendations. that's the idea. before you have any work done, check angie's list. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. i love you, angie. sorry, honey.

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>> the most difficult thing that i had to do in my life was to bury my own child and two grandchildren.

i don't think there will ever be closure for our family. jennifer was too much of a giving, loving person. and i don't think that we will ever, ever, if we live another 100 years will ever want to forget her, if closure brings forgetting, i don't want that closure. ♪

after a decade of conflict, the american people are tired of war. >> that is the sentiment of many americans as the world awaits a possible u.s. strike on syria, but will president obama bend to the pressure? and will the u.s. military have to go it alone? >> no event are we considering any military action that would involve boots on t