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Dec. 10--NEW HAVEN -- After three months of emotional testimony and graphic evidence concerning the Cheshire triple homicide, 12 jurors Friday declared that Joshua Komisarjevsky deserves to join Steven Hayes on death row.
The dramatic conclusion of the drawn-out proceedings was signaled at 3:05 p.m. when jury forewoman Laura Kozma knocked sharply on the jury room door.
Jurors had been deliberating since Monday afternoon, for a total of about 20 hours.
Dr. William Petit Jr., who had been assaulted by Komiarjevsky with a baseball bat at the outset of the home invasion on July 23, 2007, quickly came into the courtroom, joined by about 25 relatives and supporters who had been keeping vigil all week.
Petit had said it was important for him to be in that courtroom every day to bear witness on behalf of his slain wife, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, and their children, Michaela, 11, and Hayley, 17.
The jury Oct. 13 had convicted Komisarjevsky, 31, on all 17 charges in the crime. Those 17 counts included six capital felonies, potentially punishable by death.
This set the stage for the penalty phase, featuring weeks of testimony by defense witnesses concerning Komisarjevsky's purported mood disorder, strict religious upbringing and childhood sexual abuse by a "foster brother."
But when jurors weighed these proposed mitigating factors, they ultimately concluded the prosecution's aggravating factors required a death sentence.
Six times, one for each count, the jurors affirmed the state had proved that Komisarjevsky committed the murders "in an especially heinous, cruel or depraved manner."
In their closing arguments, State's Attorney Michael Dearington and Senior Assistant State's Attorney Gary Nicholson repeatedly reminded jurors of the horrors experienced by the helpless victims during the seven-hour siege.
Petit, severely wounded, was tied up downstairs and then in the basement. The rest of his family was tied to their beds. Petit would eventually manage to untie himself and crawl out of the house for help, but it was too late.
Although Hawke-Petit obeyed the invaders' instructions by withdrawing $15,000 from her bank account that morning, Hayes raped and strangled her shortly after she and he returned to the home.
Komisarjevsky admitted that while Michaela's mother was out of the house, he had sexually assaulted the girl.
After Hawke-Petit was killed, the two men spread gasoline throughout the house. They doused the girls' bodies as they lay, alive, in their beds.
Then one of the men -- Komisarjevsky said it was Hayes -- lit a match and they fled in the Petit SUV. They hit a police barricade and have been in custody ever since.
Hayes, 48, was convicted on 16 counts last year and received the death sentence.
Komisarjevsky's turn came Friday afternoon. Dressed in a black suit, he stood to face the jury as court clerk Edjah Jean-Louis read the jurors' findings, step by step.
When Jean-Louis reached page five of the count concerning the murder of two or more persons, she revealed that in the weighing process, jurors had concluded "death is the appropriate punishment."
Komisarjevsky sighed softly and appeared to shrug. Petit, gripping the railing in front of him, had no overt reaction but occasionally closed his eyes during the rest of the verdict announcement over the following hour.
As he prepared to adjourn the court, Superior Court Judge Jon C. Blue thanked the jurors. "You accepted a profound, emotionally-searing assignment without complaint. You've been exposed to disturbing evidence."
Blue added, "You've given a fair trial in a matter of life and death to a fellow human being."
Blue set the sentencing date for Jan. 27. He is required to impose the death sentence because that's what the jury decided upon.
Dearington, after being hugged by Petit and others in the family, said, "I'm very happy with the excellent jury and very happy with the judge's excellence in overseeing the proceedings."
Defense attorney Jeremiah Donovan said outside the courthouse, "Joshua accepted the verdict with dignity. But I will spend the rest of my life wondering what I should have done or said to persuade the jurors that it's wrong to kill this man."
Walter Bansley III, co-counsel for the defense, noted they had sought to have the trial moved to another district. "We thought at the outset we couldn't get a fair trial, given the vehemence of the community."
Bansley said Komisarjevsky believed the verdict was "pre-ordained."
But one of the jurors, Timothy Anderson of New Haven, said on the courthouse steps that the deliberating process "was very back-and-forth" as jurors discussed Komisarjevsky's "harsh" upbringing and his role in the crimes.
"It was very emotional," Anderson said of the past week. "Some people had to go home and think about it."
He added, "You have to question everything. You can't put somebody to death without questioning it."
Christopher Komisarjevsky, the defendant's uncle, who sat on the Petit side of the courtroom, also spoke outside. He called the crime "monstrous and beyond comprehension. There are no excuses. You're responsible for your actions."
"We express our apology and our sorrow to the Petit and Hawke families," he added.
But it was Petit who drew the most attention when he emerged from the courthouse, surrounded by his relatives.
After thanking the prosecutors and then the jurors for making "this very difficult decision," Petit said, "We believe justice has been done."
"We are grateful the defendant has been judged to be the rapist and murderer that he is," Petit added. "Society will be a little bit safer now that he's locked up with his co-defendant."
Petit's sister, Johanna Petit Chapman, said, "From the very beginning, we felt Mr. Komisarjevsky was the leader. He spotted Michaela and Jennifer shopping. This was a crime of sexual predation."
Asked by reporters how he will try to move on, Petit said, "There's never complete closure when you lose your wife and your family."
But he said, "I guess there's a little peace, because that part of the grind is over. We'll try to get back to some semblance of normal life. We'll try to enjoy the holidays as best we can with our families."
Petit noted it wasn't easy watching defense attorneys flash photos of the young Komisarjevsky to jurors. "I was thinking, 'Charles Manson was a baby once. I'm not sure this is relevant.'"
Petit criticized the state's lengthy appeals process, saying state lawmakers "made a joke out of" the death penalty.
As always, he reminded everyone of the victims: "a nurse, a 17-year-old getting ready to go to college and an 11-year-old about to go to middle school. The vitality of their lives, the potential."
Call Randall Beach at 203-789-5766. Follow him on Twitter @rbeachnhr. To receive breaking news first, text the word NHNEWS to 22700. *Msg+data rates may apply. Text HELP for help. Text STOP to cancel.
