william petit escaped. >> just tried to do the best i could for my family. >> reporter: this week he took the stand, describing in gripping detail his family's final moments. they tied my hands at the wrists and my feet at the ankles, he told the jury. he heard one of the suspects say if he moves, put two bullets in him. petit testified he could hear his wife and children being tortured in another section of the house. i heard them moaning and thumps. >> how emotional was it for you to be on the stand today? >> very emotional. >> reporter: in court an unusual strategy by steven hayes' defense attorney. in an effort to avoid the death penalty, he admits his client committed the crime but also points the finger at police, saying officers could have done more to save the family. cheshire police did respond to the petit home but never went inside. on the stand, the police captain testified they followed protocol, telling the jury if we had any indication of violence, i would have been the first one through the door. prosecutors are pushing for the death penalty in a crime that was as bru

william petit and his wife jennifer hwke-petit. there is the family picture.ter on jennifer and the two kids were killed and william petit was the only survivor. tied them up all night, wait until morning and they drive jennifer hawke-petit to the bank of america, there's the surveillance video. she's going in there and withdrawals $15,000 to pay the ransom to these two men. these two men were telling her, we'll untie your family and get out of here. she takes out the money and gets back home and pays them off. within an hour of this surveillance video at the bank, she was dead, along with her two kids. they set the house on fire. >> i covered a lot of court cases, this is one of the most horrendous things i've ever heard in my life what these two suspects reportedly did to these two young girls. >> sexual assault and they were giving details of it. >> photographic evidence that they talked about in court. >> jurors have win weeping in this case. how many trials have you covered and i covered that the jury sits there and the judge has been warning the jury, ok

william petit spoke about his final moments with his family on the stand. the man accused of killing his family right in front of him. dr. petit spoke on how he heard his family, his wife and two daughters. one is 11 in this family picture you can see, michaela and the other 17 years old, hayley, all being tortured in a section of the house. he was tied up with rope downstairs in the basement. he was tied to a pole and virtually helpless to help his family and he miraculously was able to break free and get out of the house and went to a neighbor's house for help and he said it was too late, because the suspects, according to prosecutors, burned the house down. killing his two daughters after they already strangled his wife to death. and, so, you saw some of those photos. there is a picture of the fireball that was their home. prosecutors said they doused the entire place with gasoline. that is some of the money on your screen that jennifer hawke-petit took out to try to pay off the men that held them hostage. they said they would let them go, but, clearly, t

. >> hayes told police that joshua sarcojeffski broke through the door and beat william petit with a baseball bat. quote, the man began screaming and there was blood all over the place. >> there was a tough day for the family. i think everyone saw that who listened to the testimony. >> reporter: it was the explanation of the rapes that was most chilling. hayes said he escoarlted jennifer hawk-petit to the bank where she withdrew $15,000. and when they returned, the other suspect had already sexually assaulted 11-year-old michaela. and he told hayes to, quote, have sex with the mother to settle things up. >> hayes is trying to point to his codefendant ask say, he was the bad guy. he was the worst one. >> reporter: jurors saw video of hayes purchasing gas that prosecutors say used to set the house on fire. >> he found soot in michaela's voice box, airways and lungs, showing it took several minutes for her to pass away. >>> when the medical examiner took the stand, william petit and other family members left the courtroom. the details of the family's death was too much for them to hear.

told police that his accomplice entered the presidentit home through an unlocked door and beat william petitat. quote, the man began screaming and there was blood all over the place. petit spoke in court. >> another painful day for the family. and i think everybody saw that from the testimony. >> reporter: it was the explanation of the rapes that was most chilling. hayes says he escorted jennifer hawk-petit to the bank, where she withdrew $15,000. and when they returned, the other suspect had already raped 15-year-old sargella. he said he told her to have sex with the mother to even things up. she was later strangled to death. >> jurors saw surveillance video of hayes purchasing gas that jurors -- prosecutor says was used to set the house on fire in order to cover their tracks. they detailed how smoke inhalation took the lives of daughters haley and mckale a. -- michaela. there was smoke in her lungs showing it took several minutes for her to pass away. >> reporter: when it came time for him to testify, william petit and others left the courtroom. >>> pop star appearing. the children's show

william petit did himself. just a couple moments ago he did walk out of court and thanked everybody for the support. and his sister said a lot of people wonder why we don't cry every day, and they said, please remember, this happened tli three years ago. we have cried the tears. as a parent myself, it's hard to imagine how he puts one foot in front of the other. >> i've heard from so many people who know him. he's beloved in the community. he's a wonderful guy from everything i've heard. >> i've met him. he is a a great guy. >> his wife did everything right. everything they tell you to do. it wasn't enough. >> she went to bank. remember, she has a guy saying my accomplice is with your family. if you get the police involved, i will kill them. she's calm. she did everything right. >> jeff, thank you so much. >> now to washington. it's taken months, but two republicans just joined senate democrats to pass the $30 billion bill to help small businesses. in theory it gives them easier access to credit, the idea being

william petit's home in july of 2007. investigators say the two men took the dr.it's family hostage, raped and strangled his wife, sexually assaulted petit's 11-year-old daughter, tied up their 17-year-old daughter. and then torched the house. with everyone still inside. yesterday, jurors saw surveillance video that investigators say shows hayes buying gasoline that the suspects used to set that house on fire. dr. petit was the only member of his family to survive the attack. imagine his horror today as he was right there in court as all of us learned very disturbing new details about an already sickening crime. the fox report's chief correspondent jonathan hunt is here. these text messages are awful. >> it's hard t find the words for them, shep. and these were text messages that were exchanged just hours before these horrific crimes took place. steven hayes, one of the accused first texted him saying i'm chomping at the bit to get started. i need a margarita soon. he replied, putting kid to bed. hold your horses. hayes wrote back to him. dude, the horses want to

when the sun came up, these two men, according to prosecutors, told jennifer hawk-petit, william petit'sto bank of america, the neighborhood bank. i want you to take out thousands of dollars for us. you do what we want, we won't hurt you. she asked for that money and showed a picture of her kids to the bank manture and it didn't help in the end. they ended up burning the house down with the family inside and the only survivor was dr. petit who is now on the stands facing this man down in court who is accused of killing his entire family, his wife and his two young daughters. so, this all continues to develop. prosecutors, we should say, told, the defense said we will plead guilty. both defendants offered to plead guilty to the crime in exchange for a life sentence, but no death penalty. prosecutors are so confident in their evidence they said no to that deal. they are going for the death penalty and this could take several weeks and perhaps even months to play out. >> jeff rossen live in new haven, connecticut, thank you, jeff. >>> new census figures could show the number of americans st

the petit home as they slept. >> just tried to do the best i could for my family. >> reporter: william petitivor and took the stand tuesday. gripping testimony about his family's last hours together. they tied my hands at the wrists and my feet at the ankles, he said. petit heard one of the suspects say, if he moves, put two bullets in him. because of the blood loss y was not functioning very well. he could hear his wife and children being tortured in another section of the house. i heard them moaning and thumps. i may have yelled out, hey, a voice yelled back, don't worry, it will all be over in a couple of minutes. and it was. prosecutors say they raped petit's wife and killed her before burning the house down. >> making progress. >> how emotional was it for you to be on the stand today? >> very emotional. >> reporter: the jury saw evidence photos of petit's hand wound at the hands of his attackers. he told the jury about his own miraculous escape from the basementhere he was bound at his feet with this rope. i was working to get my hands free, he said. i really felt a major jolt of adrena

the sexual assaults and one of the little girls, the 11-year-old girl and just about how william petitfor him to hear, william petit he had to walk out of the courtroom because it was too disturbing to look at his family burned. >> do we know how they were targeted? >> random, a random home invasion which is one reason this case has gotten the national and international attention because you think to yourself, especially in cheshire, connecticut, a nice neighborhood. we don't even lock the doors around here. this was one of those towns. it was random. it could happen to anybody at any time, it appears. >> thanks, as always. >> thanks, thomas. >>> protecting young athletes from concussions. a new push to put safe in place. we are going to talk about that and let you know what you can do to protect your kids. this is msnbc. after using rogaine for a while, i went to my stylist and she said hair was growing back... i was like, yes, this works... [ male announcer ] only rogaine is proven to regrow hair in 85% of guys. puhh puhh puhh putt and that's it. [ male announcer ] stop losing. start

william petit will take the stand against one of those accused of killing his family. >>> first, therk jets are under allegations that players and coaches sexually harassed a female reporter in the team's locker room. the team has apologized. but the controversy is not over yet. the nfl is investigating. and ant ya canning was at last night's game. >> reporter: they were talking about her exposed belie ed clea. this has ignited a debate. everyone seemed to have an opinion about ines sainz. spoke to one player that was in the locker room, he said it absolutely happened. now, people are debating whether her style may have landed her this unwanted attention. >> touchdown, baltimore. >> reporter: the baltimore ravens beat the new york jets in a nail-biter on "monday night football." but it was ines sainz, the woman who calls herself the hottest sports reporter in mexico, grabbing the spotlight. >> if a pair of jeans, a white blouse, with bottoms, is provocative, all the womans are provocative. it's common to dress like this. >> reporter: reportedly, several jets players cat-called and ta

william petit has waited three years for today.side this courtroom and face one of the two men accused of killing his wife and children. the chilling murders rocked the suburban connecticut town to its core. >> we're the type of communities people go to bed and don't look their doors. >> reporter: july 23rd, 2007, dr. william petit, his wife, >> reporter: police were tipped off when the intruders took jennifer to a bank and forced her to withdraw thousands from her account. a bank teller called police but by the time they arrived, the two children and mother were dead. house burned to the ground. they tried to escape but crashed into a barricade. william petit, who barely made it alive, suffered severe injuries. at a memorial service days later, he spoke about the tragedy. >> i guess if there's anything to be gained from the senseless deaths of my beautiful family, it's for us to all go forward. >> reporter: over the last three years he has launched a craw sad to have both men convicted and executed for their crimes. fighting propo

. >> reporter: william petit could hear his family being tortured upstairs.moaning and the thumbs heleeding from his head, he managed to escape, his feet still bound, he hopped out of a house and made it to a neighbor's house for help. 9:55 a.m., that neighbor called 911. >> i have bill petit here, who's hurt, my neighbor. >> he's at your house? >> yes. he's right here. >> reporter: minutes later, a fireball, the suspect raped and strangle jennifer petit and burned the house down. the mother and her two daughters were all killed. >> this is probably one of the worst situations of its kind that i've ever seen. >> reporter: in court wednesday, it got ugly. steven hayes defense lawyer, who by the way, admits his client committed the crime, pointed his finger at police, not excusing what happened. the fact was, you were too late, correct? the captain replied, if we had any indication of violence, i would have been the first one through the door. >> ion it's a particular effective line of cross-examination, if you had done your job, could you have saved my victim from your client. >> repo

william petit, the lone survivor, to weep as they watched. a canning has details. >> reporter: these are the last images of jennifer petit, less than one hour before her tragic death, as she desperately withdraws $15,000, the only hope of saving her family's life. back at home, her daughters and husband, william, were being held hostage. around 9:00 a.m., one of her captors, steven hayes, drove jennifer to the bank, where she told the teller her story. at 9:21, the bank manager called 911. >> we have a lady who is in our bank right now, who says that her husband and children are being held at their house. the people are in a car outside the bank. she is getting $15,000 to bring out to them. that if the police are told, they will kill the children and the husband. they have their faces covered. she is petrified. i told her they wouldn't hurt anybody if she got back there with the money. she believes them. my teller walked in here with me and said, and i agree. it's amazing how calm she was. but then again, she could have been petrified. i don't

william petit testified on the brutal attack on his family, he broke down sobbing in court, as jurorsere shown photos of his two daughters. they die aid long with their mother, when their connecticut home was invaded two years ago. petit was beaten and tide to a pole in his basement. with his legs still bound, he popped and rolled to a neighbor's house for help. surveillance video shows petit's wife, jennifer, at a bank that morning, trying to withdraw $15,000 in cash. >> what's your emergency? >> we have a lady who is in our bank right now who says her husband and children are being held at their house. >> okay. her husband and family. >> yes. they're tied up, she says. they told her they wouldn't hurt anybody, if she got back there with the money. she believes them. >> reporter: the suspect, steven hayes, and his accomplice, took jennifer hawke-petit back home and sexually assaulted her before killing her. they set hire to the house, killing 17-year-old hayley and mikhail la. steven hayes and joshua cam jef ski who is awaiting trial, could get the death penalty. >> the two suspects

william petit takes the stand in the home invasion case that stunned the nation.tunned the nation. [ female announcer ] stay once... stay twice... earn a free night! two separate stays at comfort inn or any of these choice hotels can earn you a free night -- only when you book at choicehotels.com. equals chili's $20 dinner for two. share an app, like our texas cheese fries. then choose two entrees from 14 chili's favorites, like our new sweet & smoky chicken crispers. the $20 dinner for two, only at chili's. i'm ahmed mady and i'm a homebuilder. my father brought me up to give back to society... felicia jackson promised her late sister that she would take care of her children. but she needed help. i used my american express open card to get half a million points to buy building materials to help build the jackson family a new home. well, i know if my dad was still around, he would have told me, with no doubt... he would have told me it's a no brainer and i knew that from the start. it was an honor. booming is moving forward by giving back. day after day, allergy s

william petit described the worst day of his life to jurors.abc's marcus solis. >> reporter: dr. william petit arrived looking as calm and stoic as he did on the witness stand. for nearly three hours, he delivered unemotional but compelling testimony, a chilling story told in calm detail. the horror began in the middle of the night in july 2007 when two gunmen broke into his home. he awoke in pain and bloody from being hit with a baseball bat. if he moves, put two bullets in him, petit testified hearing one suspect tell the other. on trial is steven hayes, one of two men facing charges in the death of his wife and two daughters. if you give us what we want, we won't hurt you, peti said he was told, but he lost so much blood, he would need a transfusion. he was left for dead in the basement while jennifer hawks petit was taken to a bank and forced to withdraw $15,000. later that morning, petit told the jury he heard loud thumps upstairs and in a more sinister tone, don't worry. it's going to be over in a couple of minutes. jennifer petit was rap

william petit finally came face to face this week with stephen hayes, one of the two men ape accused of killing his wife and two daughters in a brutal 2007 home invasion. >> mostly focused on the questions that i was being asked. just try to do the best i could for my family. >> reporter: in court, petit endured the 911 call made by a teller in this bank where his wife jennifer, seen here on the video, was taken by her attackers. >> we have a lady who is in our bank right now who says that her husband and children are being held at their house. the people are in a car outside the bank. she is getting $15,000 to bring out to them. if the police are told they will kill the children and the husband. they have their faces covered she is petrified. they told her they wouldn't hurt anybody if she got back there with the money. she believes them. i think she's walking out now. >> reporter: she walked into the ultimate nightmare. hayes and his accomplice took her home where she was sexually assaulted. her two children were tied to their beds. her husband was tied to a pole in the basement. d

william petit was the sole survivor of the brutal home invasion.lier this week, he testified the men, steven hayes and joshua komisarjevsky were strangers who threw him in the basement almost immediately. the suspects wanted to plead guilty in exchange for life sentences but dr. petit would not agree. since his family was killed, he has advocated to keep the death penalty in connecticut. >> what the defense is going to try to do is try to paint a picture, they're going to try to show him as somebody who has... >> reporter: now, here in connecticut, the legislature voted to get rid of the death penalty last year, but the governor vetoed the bill so the death penalty remains in place. now this case is being viewed as a referendum on the issue and this trial for the first defendant, steven hayes, is expected to last about a month. katie? >> couric: elaine quijano. elaine, thank you. in other news, long-time nbc news correspondent edwin newman has died. in more than 30 years at the network as a reporter, anchor, and moderator of "meet the press," newma

william petit finally came face to face this week with steven hayes, one of the two men accused of killing his wife and two daughters in a brutal 2007 home invasion. >> i mostly focused on the questions i was being asked. just tried to do the best i could for my family. >> reporter: in court petit endured the 911 call made by a teller in this bank, where his wife, jennifer, seen here on this surveillance video, was taken by her attackers. >> we have a lady who is in our bank right now who says that her husband and children are being held at their house. the people are in a car outside the bank. she is getting $15,000 to bring out to them. if the police are told they will kill the children and the husband. they have their faces covered. she is petrified. they told her they wouldn't hurt anybody if she got back there with the money. she believes them. i think she's walking out now. >> reporter: she walked into the ultimate nightmare. hayes and his accomplice, joshua komisarjevsky, took her home, where she was sexually assaulted. her two children were tied to their beds. her husband was tied

william petit testified about the brutal attack on his family he broke down sobbing in court as jurorsthe bodies of his two daughters. they died along with their mother when their connecticut nvrs ago. petit was beaten and tied to a pole in his basement but managed to untie his wrists. lle a ie his wrists. neighbor's house for help. surveillance video shows petit's wife, jennifer, at a bank that july 2007 morning, trying to withdraw $15,000 in cash. >> what's your emergency? >> we have a lady who is in our bank right now who says that her husband and children are being held at their house. >> okay. her husband and family -- >> yes. they're tied up, she said. they told her they wouldn't hurt anybody if she got back there with the money. she believes them. >> reporter: the suspects, stephen hayes and his accomplice, took jennifer hawke-petit back home and sexually assaulted her before killing her. they set fire to the house, killing 17-year-old hayley and 11-year-old michaela. the two suspects crashed into a police cruiser, trying to flee in petit's minivan, and were taken into custody.

william petit taking the stand against one of the two men accused of killing his entire family in a brutalome invasion in connecticut. jurors also saw the last footage of jennifer hawk petit alive when she went to a bank during what was essentially a six-hour ordeal, forced by her captures to take out $15,000 to try to save her family. they told her if she did things would be okay. while at the bank she tried as well to signal for help, and here is the resulting 911 call from the bank worker. >> we have a lady who is in our bank right now who says that her husband and children are being held at their house, the people are in a car outside the bank. she is getting $15,000 to bring out to them. that if the police are told they will kill her children and the husband. they have their faces covered. she is petrified. she is getting in a car, it's like a gray suv. they pulled up, now they are pulling out. >> just her or -- >> no, somebody else is driving. >> okay. >> she says they drove her here. megyn: within an hour the house was set on fire and jennifer and the two petit daughters were dead f

william petit was the only one in his family to survive a horrific in cold blood-like ordeal.is wife and two daughters were attacked and murdered in their own home and then it was burned down. as this case is getting ready now to head to the jury, dr. petit breaks his long silence. you will hear from him moments from now. >> jennifer, hailey and makayla were the most important people in my life and i really can't dignify that insinuation with a response, and i think the evidence put on by the prosecution speaks for itself. host: could switching to geico really save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance? was abe lincoln honest? mary: does this dress make my backside look big? abe: perhaps... save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance?really host: is having a snowball fight with pitching great randy johnson a bad idea? man: yeah, i'm thinking maybe this was a bad idea. sadly, no. oh. but i did pick up your dry cleaning and had your shoes shined. well, i made you a reservation at the sushi plce around the corner. well, in that case, i better get bk to these invoices

in the time it took, lives were lo. >> reporter: william petit could hear his famil being tortured upstairs to escape, his feet still bound, petit hopped out of the house and made it to a neighbor's home for help. minutes late a fireball, prosecutors say the suspects raped and strangled jennifer petit and burned the house down. the mother and her two daughters were all killed. in court wednesday, it got ugly, steven hayes defense lawyer, who by the way admits his client committed thecrime, poied the finger at police, snapping at a police captain on the stand, not excusing what happened, the fact was you were too late,correct? the captain replied, if we had any indication of violence, i would have been the first one through the do. it got so emotional in court wednesday, ann, the photo evidence was so gruesome the petit famy broke down in tears and the judge had to send everyone home early because the jury was sobbing. >> jeff rossen, thank you. >>> also a state of emeency in california, where a raging wildfire has burned more than 6,000 acres. meanwhile, governor arnold schwarzenegger toure

. >> when the medical examiner took the stand, william petit and other family members left the courtroomdetails of his family said it was too much for them. >>> less than three hours of the execution of a woman in virginia in more than a century. this death penalty case is creating international controversy. >> reporter: 41-year-old teresa louis is set to die by leth an injection at 9:00 tonight. all of her legal appeals have been exhausted. and the u.s. supreme court in virginia and the governor refuses to intervene. she is accused of i've hiring a hitman to kill her husband and stepson in 2002. tests show she is border line mentally disabled. the fight to save her life has stretched overseas. denise, back to you. >> thank you, mary. the execution will be first of a woman since 1912. texas held the most recent execution of a woman in 2005. >>> president obama uses a second address to the united nations to ask the world to back the mideast peace process. manuel gallegus reports. iran's president also gave a speech. >> reporter: president obama is calling on world leaders to step up and l

almost 30 minutes later, at 9:54, a badly injured william petit manages to escape to a neighbor's house and a second 911 call is made. >> i got bill petit here, who's hurt, my neighbor. >> he's at your house? >> yes, he's right here. >> reporter: then suspects steven hayes and joshua komisarjevsky allegedly set the house o on fire and attempt to flee in their car. police tried to block the driveway causing the cars to collide. the officers approached with pistols drawn but the suspects race away only to crash moments later. police have been criticized for taking too long to act. >> i can't say giving any blame whatsoever to the policemen. it belongs exclusively to the two men. >> jurors were were also shown graphic pictures from inside the charred home including gruesome photos of the bodies. for the first time william petit broke down in tears and the jury was so upset, they were sent home early. >> i think the one that really upset the jurors most was michaela, though, because she's bound to her bed. she's got herself twisted up and she's trying to escape. a beautiful little girl, who

william petit. he waited so long for the trial to start.see the two men who haunted his family in that home invasion, brought to justice. after three, long years, dr. william petit, finally came face-to-face with steven hayes, the man accused of killing his entire family. >> mostly focused on the questions i was being asked. tried to do the best i could for my family. >> reporter: on the stand, petit relived the terror of that july night in 2007, when hayes and his accomplice, broke into his house. >> i remember i awoke in a daze. thinking and feeling, ow. petit says the men bound his wrists and ankles. and tied him to a pole in the basement. hours passed. then, he heard his wife, jennifer. i heard her say that she would need to get dressed. and need to get her purse and checkbook to get to the bank. hayes drove jennifer to the bank. petrified, she told the teller, she needed to withdraw $15,000. police say hayes and petit returned home where she was sexually assaulted. the girls were tied to their beds. petit said he may have heard the men

william petit and took the family hostage and raped and murdered his wave, raped and newerred their 11ear-old daughter and set a fire which killed the two girls. the doctor was the only one to make it out. just barely. with us now is judge napolitano our senior judicial analyst and host of "freedom watch." i can't even ... you can't speak of how graphic and horrific this is. >> i have read the testimony and read the police reports and ... the state is authorized by the supreme court to execute people who commit murder plus some aggravating factor and aggravating factor is an aspect of the crime that makes it different from simple murder, somebody paid them to do it, they killed the victims to silence the victim from testifying. or, the crime was heinous, depraibed and cruel. without getting into details, they only have to prove one of those factors. this was as cruel as you can get. so heinous, you might be able to argue that no mentally sound person could possibly have done this to another human being. >>shepard: we are talking about a woman who ordered the killing, these three who we

doctor william petit managed to escape from the basement, hopping to a neighbor's house for help, butt was too late. >> just tried to do the best i could for my family. >> reporter: this week he took the stand, describing in gripping detail his family's final moments. they tied my hands at the wrists and my feet at the ankles, he told the jury. petit heard one of the suspects say, if he moves, put two bullets in him. petit testified he could hear his wife and childre being tortured in another section of the house. i heard them moaning, d thumps. >> how emotional was it for you to be on the stand today? >> very emotional. >> reporter: in court. an unusual strategy by steven hayes' defense attorney. in an effort to avoid the death penalty. he admits his client committed the crime, but also points the finger at lice, saying officers could have done more to save the family. while cheshire police did respond to the pet home, they never went inside. on t stand, the police captain testified they followed protocol, telling the jury, if we had any indication of violencei would have been the fi

william petit, who would turn out to be the only survivor to this horrific crime.nkles still tied. by now 40 minutes had past since the bank manager warned police about the nightmare scenario unfolding at the home. 40 minutes. police would learn jennifer hawke-petit had been strangled, she and one of her daughters sexually assaulted. in chilling testimony dr. petit described how he had been beaten with a baseball bat and tied to a pole in the basement. he said the suspects yelled at him, quote, don't worry, it's all going to be over in a couple of minutes, and it was. dr. petit managed to free himself through a basement door, but mince later the house was on fire. his wife and two daughters dead. hayes has pleaded not guilty to sexually assault and murder. around 10:00 a.m. the suspects raced out of the drive in the family's suv, as smoke bill owes from the back of the home, the suspects slam into police cruisers. only then do officers realize the situation was much more urgent than they had thought. randi kaye, cnn, new york. >> let's talk more about this horrifyi

william petit was injured but survived the attack.s been testimony from police about cell phone text messages that the suspects allegedly sent to each other hours before the home invasion. 7:45 p.m., hayes texted, i'm champing at the bit to get started. need a margarita soon. 8:45, hayes says, we still on? one minute later, komisarjevsky says yes. soon? 8:51 komisarjevsky says i'm putting the kid to bed, hold your horses. 9:20 hayes says, dude, the horses want to get lose. lol, laughing out loud. everyone wants to feel safe in their home. to think these people would be in somebody's home like this, what is it like sitting in the courtroom every single day and just hearing this stuff? we're not giving the most gruesome details because it's frankly sickening. >> it really has been difficult. i've tried child sex crimes and i've sat in on many, many, many, dozens of cases and it has even been difficult for me. the feeling in the courtroom, the tension, it's palpable. and i was seated today directly across from the petit family, directly

william petit who would turn out to be the only survivor of this horrific crime was in the yard callingor help. he was bleeding badly from his head, his ankles still tied. by now, nearly 40 minutes had passed since the bank manager had warned chesh irpliz about the nightmare unfolding in the family home. they would soon learn jennifer hawke-petit had been strangled, she and one of her daughters, sexually assaulted. in chilling testimony dr. petit described how he had been beaten with a baseball bat, then tied to a pole in the basement. he said the suspects yelled to him, quote, don't worry, it's all going to be over in a couple of minutes. and it was. dr. petit managed to free himself through a basement door but minutes later the house was on fire. his wife and two daughters dead. hayes has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and murder. around 10:00 a.m. the suspects race out of the driveway in the family's suv. as smoke bill lows from the back of the home, the suspects slam into police cruisers. only then do officers realize the situation has much more urgent than they had thought. r