Doctor's Family Killed In Apparent Home Invasion, Fire

WFSB ^

[Andonius_99]

CHESHIRE, Conn. -- A fire in Cheshire that killed three people resulted from an apparent home invasion robbery early Monday morning.

Channel 3 Eyewitness News reporter Leon Collins reported firefighters remained at the scene as of noon at a house in the 300 block of Sorgum Mill Drive.

Eyewitness News learned that three people died in the fire, two of whom were identified only as females.

Neighbors said that Dr. William Petit Jr. lived in the home with his wife, Jennifer, a nurse at Cheshire Academy; daughter, Halley, who was about 17 years old and had recently graduated from Cheshire Academy; and daughter Michaela, who was about to enter the eighth grade at Cheshire Academy, the Meriden Record-Journal reported. Collins said an intense fire caused extensive damage inside the house and the charred remains of the fire could be seen in the upstairs window.

Investigators said they believe a home invasion robbery took place at about 3 a.m. at a home and the assailants set the house on fire before leaving the scene.

Cheshire police said they learned of a robbery from one of the victims, who said they were held hostage.

State and Cheshire police said that a "suspicious incident" occurred at a bank and said a bank employee alerted authorities, but did not elaborate.

Police said officers arrested two people before they were able to escape the neighborhood.

"(They were) apprehended down the street. When they left, they apparently set the house ablaze," Cheshire police Lt. Jay Markella said.

Two suspects were fleeing the home when police arrived. Police said the suspects rammed one cruiser, went down the street and smashed into two others. The two suspects were arrested.

Three people inside the home died and St. Mary's Hospital in Waterbury told Eyewitness News Monday afternoon that Petit was being treated at the hospital and is listed in stable condition.

Police have not released the names of the people in custody.

Petit is the medical director of the Joslin Diabetes Center Affiliate at The Hospital of Central Connecticut.

"All of us at the Hospital of Central Connecticut are shocked and saddened by these tragic events," said the President of the hospital in a written statement Monday. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Dr. Petit as he attempts to recover from this unfathomable occurrence. We cannot express the depth of our sorrow."

The medical examiner's office told Eyewitness News that autopsies are planned for Tuesday.

The state police major crimes unit has responded to the scene to assist in the investigation.

[TNCMAXQ]

Check the Hartford Courant website for details. The scumbags have been identified but I did not see their pictures. One name, the 26 year old, clearly sounds Polish or Russian perhaps. The other one is Hayes, from Winsted CT. They have been charged with sexual assault. No surprise there. That poor child and her teen sister must have gone through hell in the last hour of their lives. Real justice will never be done.

The Courant also reports they both had long criminal histories. Gee, my prediction was true.

Now I feel like barfing.

[CT-Freeper]

CT PING -- UPDATE!!!!

From Hartford Courant (excerpted):

CHESHIRE - Police have identified a 26-year-old Cheshire man and a 44-year-old Winsted man, both with long criminal histories, as suspects in a horrific home invasion in which a mother and her two daughters died Monday.

Joshua Komisarjevsky, 26, of 840 North Brooksdale Road, Cheshire, and Steven Hayes, 44, of 5-H Horn Ave., Winsted, each face a multitude of charges, including first-degree aggravated sexual assault and first-degree kidnapping. State police said the investigation is continuing and that more charges will be filed.

[mewzilla]

...both with long criminal histories...

And they were running around loose.....why?!

[CT-Freeper]

There is a pic of one of the perps (Hayes) on Courant website now.

[Guenevere]

bttt

[TNCMAXQ]

I just saw the picture. He is barely 5’6. I would volunteer to smash his head in but Heaven forbid we advocate any kind of vigilante justice....

I am eager to hear why they chose that house. Cheshire is a pretty big place. I can’t imagine they were just wandering around and picked that one out at random, but who knows. I hope they will be able to determine the cause of death on the girls though apparently their bodies were badly burned.

If only the police had gotten there a few minutes earlier as apparently very little time elapsed from the time the mother left the bank to the time she got home, and was killed then presumably, and the house caught fire.

Sadly, unless these pieces of excrement get raped and tortured in prison, real justice will never be done here. Makes my blood boil.

[Guenevere]

Ken, all due respect, but this is a disservice to the victims.

The guys wife and kids are dead and he's critically injured.
...Cease, OK.....and yes, you have been watching too much CSI.

[from occupied ga]

I find it hard to believe this is these perps FIRST TIME

As the story unfolds it seems that these scum had long criminal histories. But of course connecticut wouldn't want to keep criminals in jail - shades of Dukakis and Willie Horton.

[from occupied ga]

It appears that they weren’t illegal immigrants at least, but criminals with long histories of criminal acts. This makes me sick. The Vlad Tepsch method of execution seems appropriate for both of them.

[Numbers Guy]

I happen to know Dr. Petit. He was my mom’s doc for many years. He is a kind a caring man. Please pray for him and for his beautiful family.

Thank you for making that point in response to some of the unfortunate speculation here and we all are praying for him.

[tioga]

Prayers going up.

[McGruff]

As I said on the other thread. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1870702/posts

When I saw this on the local news this morning I was shocked. A very well to do area too. The suspects also crashed into a local police car near the scene severely damaging it. Strange case so far.

[camle]

hubby was hardly “slightly wounded”. he was reported critical all night.

[tioga]

Not “slightly wounded”, but critically injured. I’ll wait for more evidence, since they caught the perps leaving the house.

[tioga]

fancy meeting you here, we both made the same point within seconds........LOL

[George from New England]

“Bank Employee”

Couldn’t there be a code to enter when you use an ATM to indicate that you’re being robbed? Silent alarm, without the robber knowing.

Maybe the media is actually trying to keep future perps in the dark on a security measure.

[camle]

Russian name, don’t blame it on Poland.

[juliej]

Let’s not jump to conclusions yet!

[camle]

hiya T! nice to see you again today.

I was watching channel 8 when this story broke. the Cheshire police chief sounded just like the mayor in “Jaws”.

[Biggirl]

Thanks for the excerpted article. As a CT resident, I and the rest of the state is reeling over this horrible crime.