Free Republic

The man who killed three women in a 2007 Cheshire home invasion was sentenced to death on Friday and addressed the court before that sentence was handed down. Joshua Komisarjevsky will be joining Steven Hayes on death row for killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, Hayley, 17, and Michaela, 11, in their Cheshire home in 2007. He is scheduled to be executed in July, pending appeals. "I will never find peace within. My life will be a continuation of the hurt I caused," Komisarjevsky said in court. "The clock is now ticking and I owe a debt I cannot repay."...

One of the men convicted of killing a woman and her two daughters during a home invasion in Cheshire in 2007 has filed a motion in court requesting a new trial. Joshua Komisarjevsky was convicted last year of killing Jennifer Hawke-Petit, and her two daughters, Hayley and Michaela. Dr. William Petit was the only survivor. Todd Bussert, one of the three attorneys for Komisarjevsky, says his client admits what he did in the home invasion murders but that trial was not fair. The main reason is because Komisarjevsky was denied a probable cause hearing on the amended criminal charges. Komisarjevsky...

Yet another teen has used deadly force to protect his home from intruders. Police in North Carolina revealed a 14-year-old boy shot dead an intruder attempting to break into his home while he and his sister were alone. The teen opened fire with a shotgun while his 17-year-old sister hid in a closet as a gang of men attempted to smash their way into their home. The incident took place two days before 18-year-old Sarah McKinley shot and killed an intruder breaking into her home in Oklahoma While on the phone with 911, the young mother shot and killed one...

Blanchard police responded to a home invasion Saturday. Chief Walt Thompson said Justin Shane Martin, 24, of Blanchard, was shot and killed after breaking into a home.

FORT WORTH - A woman shot and killed an home intruder in her exclusive Fort Worth neighborhood early Thursday morning, according to police. Officers first received reports of a prowler in the 6700 block of Fortune Road near the Ridglea Country Club about 3:30 a.m. According to Fort Worth Police Public Information Officer Sharron Neal, the woman, who was home alone, told police that someone rang her doorbell, then broke into her home. Before she dialed 911, the woman reportedly called her husband, who was away traveling. He advised her to retrieve a gun kept in the home for protection....

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – Police in North Carolina were investigating Sunday after two students were robbed by several gunmen in a dorm room at Fayetteville State University. WRAL-TV reported four to six men with guns knocked on a dorm room door at around 2:00am local time, university spokesman Jeff Womble said. When the two students answered, a physical altercation ensued. Shots were fired, damaging some furniture in the room, but no one was struck. The two students were injured during the altercation, Womble said. One of the students was taken to a local hospital in unknown condition, and the other was...

This is a political video about home invasion. I think it is pretty well done. It makes some good points.

New Orleans police are asking for the public's help to locate a "person of interest" in a shooting this morning on Dodt Street.Josh Tapp, 24, is not a suspect in the incident, according to New Orleans police, but detectives would like to speak with him about his involvement. A 21-year-old man was shot to death after he and a 22-year-old man kicked in the door of a home in the 4500 block of Dodt Street about 1:30 a.m., according to police. A 24-year-old man and a woman were inside the home when they heard the front door being kicked in....

(Sherwood, AR) -- A burglar is dead after being shot while breaking into a home in Sherwood. Sherwood Police say the man was confronted by an armed Arkansas State trooper who lived there and had been woken up by the sounds of the break-in. It happened around 11:15 in a neighborhood east of Highway 107 and north of Kiehl Avenue. It's not yet known if the trooper, who works the overnight shift, fired any other shots, or if the suspect had a weapon. Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley was on the scene shortly after the shooting. It is protocol...

A North Branford family was tied up for five hours in the wine cellar of their Northford home during a home invasion that police are calling random but "very brazen." Five men, all armed, entered an Autumn Court home around 10 p.m. Sunday night, according to police spokesman Detective Sgt. Kenneth McNamara. Police said the five suspects, wearing hooded sweatshirts and bandanas to cover their faces, pulled a woman out of the shower at knifepoint. Then, an elderly woman who was watching television was also held at gunpoint, police said. During the melee, a 3-year-old boy who was sleeping over...

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Dody Boswell, the wife of Rep. Leonard Boswell, walked through their home Monday and described what happened when a masked man armed with a gun entered their home on Saturday Dody Boswell said their front door was unlocked when the masked man came in their home Saturday night. Dody, Leonard, their daughter Cindy and grandson were home at the time. "He went in and grabbed Cindy by the neck, with the gun in her neck," said Dody Boswell. "She's a fighter, she's spunky. She fought him back and he grabbed her by the throat to choke...

A home invasion suspect is now in jail after deputies say he was shot by a 77-year-old man after breaking into a Pitt County home. Deputies say around 1:20 a.m. Wednesday Reginald Watson, Jr. and another man broke down the front door of a home on River Road Estates Road. The victims say one of the men was armed with a revolver. At some point, Albert Atkinston was able to get a handgun from another room. Deputies say once Watson saw Atkinston was armed he pointed his weapon at him. Several shots were then fired and deputies say the two...

"Kenneth Wright does not have a criminal record and he had no reason to believe a S.W.A.T team would be breaking down his door at 6 a.m. on Tuesday."

Via JWF and Reason, we now present this instructional video from the Department of Education. Now that the government has for all practical pruposes nationalized the student-loan industry, the DoE would like to educate recipients on new loan-collection processes. The banks used to send bill collectors and file claims in court, but the Obama administration doesn’t like those kind of harsh private-sector measures to retrieve lost capital. Instead, they’ll send a SWAT team to kick in your door and frighten your children — even if you don’t live with them anymore: CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO Kenneth Wright does...

A Gwinnett County woman shot and killed an intruder Wednesday morning.According to police, the 53-year-old woman was in the shower when the man broke into her home on E. Mount Tabor Circle.The intruder went into the bathroom with a kitchen knife and attempted to assault the woman, according to police. The woman fell in the shower and hit her attacker with the shower rod.Police said the intruder forced the woman into the bedroom where where its believed he was going to sexually assault her.The victim was able to retrieve her .22 cal. pistol and shoot the attacker multiple times.The man...

Border Security on the Mexican border does not receive the attention it should. It must be considered a national security issue. American Thinker interviewed border ranchers and law enforcement to understand their views regarding threats and solutions to America's security problem. Many of the ranchers interviewed feel betrayed and abandoned. They cite instances of illegals using their homes and territory. Kelly Glenn-Kimbro, an Arizona rancher, told the story of a Mexican woman who had a baby in their ranch pasture and walked up to the house asking for help. Dr. Gary Thrasher relayed the story that one day after coming...

One suspect is dead, one is in custody and a third remains at large after an aggravated robbery in La Feria, Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio said. The victim of the crime, Louis Earl Dixon, shot Francisco Antonio Moreno Thursday evening after a struggle ensued when Moreno and two other men attempted to force Dixon to let them into his home, Lucio said Friday. Dixon lives in the 27000 block of Rabb Road, Moreno, 31, was from San Benito. The sheriff said it appeared that Dixon was defending himself. "I think he acted the way, probably, many would have acted...

A gruesome attack that killed a New Hampshire woman and wounded her daughter in a home invasion has led New Hampshire’s House to vote to expand the state’s death penalty law. The young men charged in the 2009 machete attack in Mont Vernon couldn’t have faced the death penalty because the crime doesn’t fall into one of six types of murders punishable by death under New Hampshire’s statute, one of the narrowest in the nation.

Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office deputies are investigating a home invasion just outside Mission where one suspect was shot in the chest. It all began with a report of a home invasion at 3405 Farmosa around 9:00 p.m. Monday. The homeowner claimed a group of armed men burst into his home yelling "police" in Spanish. The homeowner told deputies he used his AK-47 to shoot at the suspects. He reported hitting one in the chest. The suspects reportedly ran, and a witness followed. Deputies were led to a mobile home near 6 Mile Line and Moore Field Drive. There they found...

The Cook County Sheriff's office says a homeowner hiding in a closet armed with her phone was able to stop the burglary of her west suburban home and nab the culprit. The suspected burglar was captured in the northwest suburbs. Bradley Ott, 26, is also suspected in a series of burglaries in Franklin Park, Norridge and Elmwood Park. The break-in took place Tuesday at a home in unincorporated Leyden Township near Franklin Park. On Friday, authorities released a portion of the dramatic 911 call made from a closet in the home. Cook County sheriff's police say the alleged burglary was...

Teen tries break in but homeowner goes to jailA Key Largo man was arrested Monday after police said he shot a teen who was trying to break in to his house. The incident happened around 1 a.m. when 62-year-old Dimitrios Theodosiou heard 18-year-old Marlon Perez Monzon trying to open his front door, according to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. Theodosiou yelled at the would-be intruder, watched him run around the corner of the home, and went to get his gun, a .38 revolver. When Theodosiou told Monzon he was going to shoot him, Monzon ran toward a fence and started...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A Connecticut man has been sentenced to death for the killings of a woman and her two daughters in a gruesome home invasion. Steven Hayes apologized for the crimes just before New Haven Superior Court Judge Jon Blue pronounced the sentence Thursday morning. A jury that convicted Hayes in the killings condemned him to death last month. Hayes sexually assaulted and strangled Hawke-Petit. Authorities say he and Joshua Komisarjevsky tied the girls to their beds, poured gasoline on or around them and set fire to their home in Cheshire. Komisarjevsky goes on trial next year.

Steven Hayes was sentenced to death by a Connecticut jury today for his role in the deadly 2007 home invasion that killed Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters. The verdict came halfway through day four of deliberation for the jury that spend the whole weekend holed up in a New Haven courtroom discussing the fate of Hayes, 47. Hayes is convicted of raping and choking Hawke-Petit to death, while accused accomplice Joshua Komisarjevsky is accused of sexually assaulting 11-year-old Michaela Petit. Michaela and her older sister Hayley, 17, died after they were tied to their beds and the house was...

MOBILE, Ala. -- Mobile police say a man who was burglarizing a home off Dauphin Island Parkway was shot and killed Thursday night. A resident of the home on the 1300 block of Driftwood Drive North shot and killed 19-year-old Marcus Steele as he was trying to enter the home, said Mobile Police Officer Chris Levy. Police arrived to the scene around 9:48 p.m. and found Steele lying in a driveway. Steel was taken to the University of South Alabama Medical Center, and he died later from his injuries. Burglary is a crime that occurs when someone either breaks into...

A crack addict was found guilty today of carrying out a nightmare home invasion that lead to the brutal deaths of a mother and her two young daughters. Steven Hayes was convicted of six capital crimes, all of which are punishable by death. The 47-year-old career criminal was found guilty of 16 of 17 charges, including the murder of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters Hayley, seventeen, and Michaela, eleven.

NEW HAVEN — A jury has found career criminal Steven Hayes guilty of murder and other crimes, including some punishable by death, in the 2007 Cheshire home invasion that led to the deaths of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Hayley and Michaela.

Authorities say a home invasion robber threw a Villa Park homeowner into a backyard swimming pool before fleeing, leaving the non-swimmer struggling to get out. The victim was attacked in his home in the 10600 block of Dorothy Circle about 8:30 a.m., Orange County sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said. The man, who recently had surgery, was also punched in the abdomen. Two suspect ransacking the home woke the victim, who is not fluent in English. One ransacked a bedroom, while the second demanded to know where the valuables were kept, Amormino said. The victim, who is not fluent in English,...

COOPER CITY, Fla. -- Three men posing as FBI agents took off when the owner of a Cooper City home they were trying to rob shot at them, the Broward Sheriff's Office said. Three men wearing baseball hats and T-shirts with the letters FBI on the back pulled a sport utility vehicle into the driveway of the home shortly after 4 a.m. Monday, Miami TV station WPLG reported. Two of the men got out of the SUV, while the third acted as a lookout, police said. The two men tried to open the home's front door with a crowbar, but...

SAN JUAN - A man wanted in connection with a murder in San Juan was finally arrested. San Juan police caught Pablo Marcos Guerrero after a tip he would be staying at his girlfriend's house in Rio Grande City. Police, U.S. Marshals, and the Starr County Sheriff's Department set up surveillance. They were able to take him into custody Thursday afternoon. Guerrero is the fourth person arrested in connection to the murder of 21-year-old Roberto Hinojosa. Police say he may have planned the murder. Hinojosa was shot to death during a home invasion in the 2100 block of Sunset Drive...

ANTIOCH — A 15-year-old suspect is dead, one is in custody and another is at large after shots fired during a botched home-invasion robbery critically wounded an Antioch husband and wife early this morning, police said. The three juvenile suspects were likely targeting a marijuana-growing operation inside two of the home's bedrooms,... Police were called at about 4:37 a.m.... by the husband, who said three men were breaking into his house,... When officers arrived, the husband, who had been shot, had one suspect at gunpoint. Police detained the juvenile suspect, and he is being interviewed by investigators. Police searched the...

Eileen Mijlof said she had lost count of number of times she was burgled in her South African home. So when she and her husband, Jelle, decided to move, it was to a custom-designed Y-shaped fortress that the pair claim is impossible to break in to. Unusually for middle-class South African homes, the property at the foot of Table Mountain does not have burglar bars, alarms, electric fencing or trellis security doors, because the first floor is nearly 50ft above the ground. The house looks as if it is precariously balanced on top of a secure garage, but the foundation...

Betten's beat is crime prevention. Antonia showed him pictures of the Clay County home invasion scene. "I can tell you right away what failed. You can see the dead-bolt assembly is still intact, and what failed was the door frame," Betten said. Betten pushed for an ordinance requiring good locks and reinforced door frames, hinges and doors on Overland Park homes. "It's a good general rule of thumb that if we can keep them out for at least 30 seconds, frustrate them long enough that generally by that time, they'll abandon the attack," Betten said. If an intruder gets in,...

NORTH BERGEN -- Two men posing as sheriff's officers robbed a home in the township early this morning, police said. When the two suspects knocked on the door of an apartment at a multi-dwelling house on the 6200 block of Meadowview Avenue at around 1 a.m., they identified themselves as sheriff's officers, flashed gold-colored badges, and were let into the apartment by a 56-year-old male resident, reports said. The robbers put the man into plastic handcuffs and moved him, his wife, and another relative into a bedroom while they searched the house, reports said. The robbers, who never showed a...

A female decoy for a pair of heavily armed home-invasion robbers was shot dead early Saturday morning outside the West Hamblen County home of a family featured on a television reality show, authorities say. Hamblen County Sheriff Esco Jarnagin described the dead woman as a 29-year-old white female who lived in Knoxville. She has been identified as Holly Ann Repasky. Saturday afternoon, Jarnagin declined to release the woman’s identity, but added he considers the fatal shooting in the Timbercrest subdivision to be a clear-cut case of justifiable homicide...

13 Things Your Burglar Won't Tell You: 1. Of course I look familiar. I was here just last week cleaning your carpets, painting your shutters, or delivering your new refrigerator. 2. Hey, thanks for letting me use the bathroom when I was working in your yard last week. While I was in there, I unlatched the back window to make my return a little easier. 3. Love those flowers. That tells me you have taste... and taste means there are nice things inside. Those yard toys your kids leave out always make me wonder what type of gaming system they...

A police officer shot and injured a fleeing robbery suspect Tuesday, and a second suspect was bitten by a police dog. Police described both men as career criminals. The events began at 3:45 a.m., police said, when two armed men broke into the home of Geoffrey Hill, 31, and Ilyn Knapik, 30, in the 100 block of S Willow Ave. One of the residents — it's not clear which — was sleeping on the living room couch of the two-story house when he heard a noise, said police spokesman Laura McElroy. At first, he thought it was his roommate but...

Ohio -- A german shepherd named Sirus is credited with saving his family after a terrifying home invasion....."

Raul Gaucin-Valenzuela intended to help a friend beat up the new boyfriend of the friend's ex-wife at her home in Greeley Colorado. Raul put a bandana over his face to disguise himself, but what he didn’t know was that the friend’s ex-wife was babysitting Raul’s own children. His kids recognized him, even though he was wearing the disguise. Raul was hindered when his his bandana slipped off a few times during the break in. He was arrested and charged with criminal mischief, two counts of menacing, second degree burglary, and child abuse because he broke into a home where children...

Since they had nothing else to do, 18 year old Jeremy Bell and his cousin decided that an armed robbery would be a good idea. Mr. Bell hid behind his cousin, and was armed with an “assault" rifle at the door at the scene of the planned robbery. His cousin, Jerome Hughes' job was to knock on the door of the residence and keep Bell out of sight. The door was opened, and a struggle between the home's occupant and Bell began when Bell hitting the man repeatedly with his firearm. As frequently happens, the thug lost his gun to...

A homeowner shot two masked men who pushed their way into a far north suburban Wauconda house early Saturday night, sending both suspects to the hospital, police said. A trail of what appeared to be frozen blood ran from the front door of a home in Wauconda on Sunday, but the people in the home declined to talk to the media. A piece of metal appeared to have been broken off of the door. Wauconda Police Sgt. Tim Burke said the names of alleged victims and suspects would not be released until or unless charges were filed. He added that...

Clay County prosecutors say the Moorhead man who shot and killed a 17-year-old who entered his apartment on June 20 was acting in self defense and will not be charged with a crime.

It was shortly after midnight, and the Fairfax County couple were fast asleep in their quiet Oak Hill neighborhood. That's when three shadowy figures suddenly began pummeling them -- and one was wielding a machete. The beating became bloody. Then the silent home invaders left. That's when the homeowner screaming for help out the window of his second-floor master bedroom sparked calls to 911, and then an intense police investigation that resulted in the arrests of two men and the ongoing search for a third, Fairfax police said Friday. Police think that the couple's 23-year-old daughter complained to some friends...

MONT VERNON, N.H. -- The four teenagers accused of breaking into a home here and using a machete and a knife to butcher a mother and her 11-year-old daughter allegedly chose their victims by chance. "They picked the house at random because it was in an isolated area," prosecutor N. William Delker said today during the teens' arraignments in Milford District Court. "Before they entered the home, all four defendants were aware that the intent was to kill the occupants." The violent whim allegedly took the teens to the home of Kim Cates, who lived in one of four houses...

PHOENIX (CN) - A homeowner says a Phoenix police officer shot him six times in the back during a 911 home-invasion call, and the 911 tape recorded the officer's partner saying, "That's all right. Don't worry about it. I got your back. ... We clear?" The family says the officers were not aware that the 911 call was still recording as they spoke about covering up the shooting. In their complaint in Maricopa County Court, Anthony and Lesley Arambula say an armed intruder "crashed through the front window" of their home on Sept. 17, 2008 and ran into one of...

Police say a 17 year old and 22 year old were shot and killed during an attempted home invasion. It happened in Indianola last night. Officers say two men, armed with a shotgun, entered the home. They were dropped off by a third person. Police say the two men attacked the homeowner who is a retired police officer. He suffered cuts. Police say the homeowner's wife showed the men were the safe was. That's when police say the retired officer grabbed a gun and shot and killed the 17 and 22 year old. Both were killed. A third person was...

Police say as many as five masked men wearing FBI baseball caps invaded a home in the Annandale section of Fairfax County on Thursday. Fairfax County Police say the masked men were all wearing police style tactical gear when they entered the home around 12:15 p.m. They tied up a woman and her son who was home with a toddler, and then searched the house. The men then took off in a gold or beige Cadillac Escalade. It's unclear what the men wanted and police wouldn't say what they took. The man and woman who were tied up inside the...

San Marcos: Two Teens Dead, One Hurt in Shooting Newsroom 9/4/2009 Two Luling teenagers are dead and a third seriously wounded after they were shot by a resident in an attempted home invasion early Friday in San Marcos. The shootings happened shortly before 2 a.m. on Chestnut Street on the west side of San Marcos. One 16-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene and a second 16-year old died at Central Texas Medical Center. A third teen, also 16, was transported to Brackenridge Hospital in Austin with serious wounds. Police are withholding the identities of the teenagers as the investigation...

Crook Vs tire iron. This from Today's THV, "Jonesboro police say a man was killed after being beaten by a homeowner during an apparent home invasion. Police say a man armed with a shotgun broke into the home about 11 p.m. Friday. Witnesses told police the homeowner scuffled with the intruder before striking him in the head with a tire iron. The suspected intruder was taken to a local hospital, where he died.

The 17-year-old was arrested for allegedly shooting a Chattahoochee Hills woman in the face Monday evening. The woman’s toddler was severely beaten, police said. Wimes and Donovan McCoy, 21, both attacked 22-year-old Shenegua “Nikki� Neely, looking for money, police said. Wimes’ sister is Neely’s best friend, police said. The whole thing was drug- and gang-related, Chattahoochee Hills police Chief Damon Jones said. “I own this world, like Scarface,� Wimes shouted to reporters when he was taken in to the Chattahoochee Hills police station earlier Tuesday evening. He emerged to find his mother and another woman waiting outside, as police loaded...

A Florida man shot a burglar who he believes tried to break in for a second time. Fort Pierce, Florida police say that a man was at home when a burglar knocked on his door. After the resident refused to open the door, the burglar is said to have gone around the house and then broken in through a window. Realizing that his home was being invaded, the resident reportedly grabbed his gun and shot the suspect, who then fled. Police found a suspect, Carlos Contreras, at a local hospital where he was allegedly seeking treatment for the gunshot wound....