Steven Hayes: Will Hayes Get Death Penalty -- Connecticut Home Invasion Trial Guilty Verdict

Steven Hayes was one of two men allegedly involved in the rape and murder of Dr. Petit's wife and daughters in Connecticut in July of 2007. A jury has just found him guilty as charged of capital felony murder, and a total of 16 of the 17 counts against him, according to CNN.

It took the Connecticut jury less than two hours to render their verdict of guilt for the man found to have raped and murdered Dr. Petit's wife during the nighttime home invasion, as well as assist in the death of the doctor's daughters, due to a fire being started in the home as they fled the crime scene.

Steven Hayes kidnapping charge affirmed

Steven Hayes had also kidnapped Hawke-Petit from the home before her rape, after he and Komisarjevsky had bound Mr. Petit and the two daughters.

Hayes had taken Mrs. Hawke-Petit to a local bank to extract cash for he and his partner in crime, Joshua Komisarjevsky, after they found evidence of thousands of dollars in the couple's account during the home invasion. When he returned, Komisarjevsky allegedly wanted to rape the youngest daughter, Michaela, and insisted Hayes do the same to her mother.

Steven Hayes' co-defendant

Joshua Komisarjevsky, the younger of the two assailants and Steven Hayes' co-defendant, has a long arrest history for breaking and entering homes. Komisarjevsky would go so far as to use night vision goggles in his extracurricular criminal activities.

Steven Hayes tried to confess to his crimes while incarcerated, attempted suicide on January 30th of 2010, and alleged in testimony that he had no intent of raping the doctor's wife or harming anyone prior to his actions that night. But Joshua Komisarjevsky has yet to express any such regrets or made any attempt to take his own life during this time.

In addition, evidence presented at trial suggests that Hayes believed Komisarievsky might have been in cahoots with Dr. Petit in the planning of the crime, but didn't recognize it until after the fact, when they were arrested.

Prison officer overhears Hayes express suspicion about Dr. Petit

A Connecticut prison officer named Jeremiah Krob was said to overhear Steven Hayes tell another inmate his suspicion about Dr. Petit and Joshua based upon the unlikelihood that Petit could have gotten free and escaped the home otherwise.

Dr. Petit did not address a response to that evidential testimony in court or afterward, saying he wouldn't dignify the though with a response, and law enforcement have not shown any formal interest in the husband and father in the case to date.

It would be a horrible turn of events to learn that Dr. Petit has instigated such a brutal crime against his own family, and there is no evidence to substantiate that fact. Hayes' suspicions are just that, and they are founded on nothing more than a gut feeling the doctor couldn't have wiggled free from the ties that bound him, according to the officer's testimony.

Motives of money

Unfortunately, it isn't uncommon for some family members, including husbands and wives, to plan and organize a crime like that which occurred in Connecticut.

Law enforcement usually sees a motive and evidence to support such a hypothesis, however, more than just the fact the husband was snoozing downstairs when everyone else is already upstairs in bed--or even a husband who only manages to get free from restraints "after" his family is all raped and murdered.

Law enforcement obviously found no such motives or evidence implicating Dr. Petit in his own Connecticut home invasion involving Hayes and Komisarievsky.

The doctor has made it his mission in life, instead, to see that stricter laws are enacted to prevent such potential victimization in the future due to repeat offenders like Komisarievsky and Hayes.

Steven Hayes and death penalty

Steven Hayes' fate regarding the death penalty now lies in the same court's hands that found him guilty of all but the arson charge against him.

Komisarievsky will be tried next year for his part in the brutal home invasion that rocked the small city of Cheshire, Connecticut on July 23, 2007.

And the arson charge, which was the inevitable cause of death for Dr. Petit's daughters--one of which (11-year-old Michaela) was alleged raped by Joshua Komisarievsky--will be one of the many charges Joshua Komisarievsky will face during his trial next year, since Steven Hayes was found to be innocent of lighting the match that snuffed out the lives of both Petit girls that fateful day.

Related articles:
Detail of the Brutal Home Invasion in Connecticut in 2007
Alleged Conn. Rapist and Murderer Steven Hayes Prohibited from Confessing
2007 Alleged Cheshire Rapist, Murderer Heading to Trial

Reference: CNN.com