Steven Hayes will never murder again. The death penalty actually
works.
Posted on 12/04/2010 3:51:58 PM PST by Graybeard58
"I have seriously considered suicide many times. I have no wife, no children, no home and no interest in life in general." "I used to have trust and faith in humanity and you have taken that from me."
"You destroyed our family."
"He does not deserve life."
Those are just a few of the statements made by members of the Petit and Hawke families when Steven Hayes, who was convicted of murdering Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters Hayley and Michaela during a savage July 2007 home invasion in Cheshire, was formally sentenced to death Thursday by New Haven Superior Court Judge Jon Blue.
Hayes has a criminal record dating to 1980, when he was in his teens. Among his crimes were forgery, disorderly conduct, burglary and larceny.
During Hayes' trial, prosecutors presented a three-year old letter the defendant's younger brother, Matthew Hayes, wrote to the state police. He painted a picture of Steven Hayes as someone who exhibited sociopathic tendencies at a young age.
Matthew Hayes described having had his hand placed on a hot stove burner by his brother while they were in their teens. He also described having a gun placed to his head by his brother, and how Steven Hayes stole from and struck their mother.
During the penalty phase of the trial, a retired prison official, Frederick Levesque, testified that while in prison, Hayes threatened to kill corrections officers on two separate occasions: once in 1986, when Hayes was upset about needing permission to make a phone call; and the other last March. According to a published report, Hayes has received 23 disciplinary citations in the 30 years he has spent in the Connecticut correctional system. The most serious of these citations followed a June 1992 incident in which a homemade blowgun and dart were found in his cell.
Then there is the invasion of the Petit family home. Hayes was found guilty of six capital felonies stemming from the massacre. They included killing two or more people, the killing of a person under 16, murder in the course of a sexual assault, and three counts of intentionally causing death during a kidnapping.
During sentencing Thursday, Hayes apologized for and accepted responsibility for his actions. This apology, while extensive, will do nothing to erase the pain his actions have caused these families.
Even the most cursory analysis of Hayes' background reveals a man with a long history of anti-social behavior who has perpetrated or threatened to perpetrate unspeakable acts of violence. Connecticut courts correctly reserve death row for the worst of the worst, and Hayes has more than earned his place in line for execution.
The poster of this article is against the death penalty.
I won't engage anyone on the point, I've debated myself about it all my adult life to arrive at my conclusion.
Feel free to hurl personal insults at me, I can assure you, I have endured them already on this forum for my stance.
There are a few people here who stand with me and they are bold enough to say so when they see articles like this but we are a distinct minority here and I realize that but do not apologize for it.
Ping to a Republican-American Editorial.
If you want on or off this ping list, let me know.
I used to have trust and faith in humanity”
Good night! If all the faith I had was in humanity, I would want to commit suicide too!! humanity is fallen.... I can look at myself and figure that out!!
Fry the maggot.
This POS deserves a quick execution and not decades of appeals. Sadly his conviction will be subject to endless appeals at our expense.
I’m somewhat ambivalent about its application and entrusting such to the idiots who are attracted to government, but I believe wholeheartedly that God allows it and that there are many who deserve it.
Nevertheless, IMHO, cases such as this not only merit, but demand the ultimate penalty. Anything less devalues the life of the victims in the eyes of the law.
I won't hurl insults at you but I will say that collectively, American society has deemed the death penalty an appropriate punishment for certain crimes. This being said, if the perpetrators of the Petit home invasion/murders don't receive this penalty, there is really no reason to have it on the books. This is truly one of the most heinous crimes in modern American history and I'd be hard-pressed to think of two individuals whose crimes have warranted execution more than Hayes and Komisarjevsky.
I disagree with you strongly - my philosophy regarding the death penalty can best be summed up by the phrase “early and often” - but I see no reason for anyone to insult you for your position.
Prayers up for Mr. Petit.
This poor man. God help him.
No need to apologize for your opinion. You’re honest about it and that is ok. One thing about the death penalty though, the sob will never threaten anyone again in any way shape or form.I sleep better knowing that
There has to be respect for people who have a conscientious objection to the death penalty. One can feel that these men deserve to die but that it’s not our place to kill them.
I would shoot this dog in a second.
That said, I would be glad to bargain away the right to kill those who desperately deserve to be killed, for the lives of the innocent unborn killed every day.
Providing, of course, that we retain the right to turn the rest of this animal’s life into a hell on earth.
I don't know how he does it.
Me? I would make it my life's ambition to break Hayes and Komisarjevsky out of prison so that I could kill them myself.
Personally, I prefer that the perp receive long-term torture - something that keeps him alive but in excruciating physical and mental pain for decades. Sadly, that would probably be deemed unconstitutional.
In certain extreme situations, the law is inadequate. In order to shame its inadequacy, it is necessary to act outside the law. To pursue... natural justice. This is not vengeance. Revenge is not a valid motive, it’s an emotional response. No, not vengeance. Punishment.
The death penalty aside, cases like this one make a perfect argument for a national three-strikes-and-you’re-out law.
By that I mean if a person commits three felonies (ANY three felonies), that person should be deemed unfit to be a member of society and put away forever.
Give him no chance to commit that fourth felony, not alone a tenth one, like we see so often today.
The prisoner’s new “home” does not necessarily have to be a cramped cell.
Perhaps give him a small cottage on a farm. There he can work a small plot of land as he sees fit, for the rest of his life.
Of course, the farm must be surrounded by razor wire and the adjoining land mined.
I volunteer to carry out this sentence for no recompense at all. My only requirement is that I be permitted to use a flamethrower to carry it out.
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