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Dr. William Petit Jr. and the Rev. Richard Hawke leave court after the defense rested Tuesday. (Michael Townsend / Fox CT)
NEW HAVEN — Minutes after a defense attorney portrayed Steven Hayes as a petty thief and follower of a killer who masterminded the destruction of a Cheshire family, the prosecution struck back with a haunting image.
Two girls, tied to their beds, lying face down as gasoline is poured on or around them.
"Hayley and Michaela Petit knew that the end was near. They knew they were about to die — the ultimate horror," Senior Assistant State's Attorney Gary W. Nicholson said.
"Did Mr. Hayes have a motive to have the girls killed?" Nicholson asked. "Yes."
Nicholson's words capped a day of closing arguments in the emotionally charged trial of Steven Hayes, a 47-year-old career criminal facing the death penalty if convicted of the July 23, 2007, home invasion killings of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Hayley Petit, 17, and Michaela Petit, 11.
Jurors could begin deliberations Monday afternoon.
New Haven Public Defender Thomas J. Ullmann argued for 30 minutes that although his client is "no angel" and guilty of many things — he was not guilty of the deaths of Hayley and Michaela.
"He is responsible for the destruction, damage and heartache that occurred and continues in this case," Ullmann said. "But he is not the one who controlled the escalation of violence to a homicidal outbreak. That was Joshua Komisarjevsky."
Komisarjevsky, also charged in the killings, will be tried at a later date.
New Haven State's Attorney Michael Dearington began and ended his closing arguments Friday in front of a movie screen showing a photo of the Petits' white colonial home.
It was there where the Petits gathered on "a warm, sunny, classic summer day" in July. After church, a day at the beach and a round of golf, the family of four had come together for dinner, conversation and some TV.
At about the time the Petits were washing dishes, Hayes and Komisarjevsky were exchanging text messages, hatching a plan to break into a house in the middle of the night, rob it, and tie up the occupants, Dearington said.
Short on cash and living a life that "sucked," Hayes said "he would do anything for money," Dearington said.
Using a statement Hayes gave to police, Dearington looked directly at jurors as he recounted Hayes' version of the crime: the vicious baseball bat beating of the father, Dr. William Petit Jr., by Komisarjevsky; the tying of the girls to their beds, the ransacking of the home, Hawke-Petit's forced withdrawal of $15,000 from the bank, Hayes' purchase of gasoline; and the sexual assaults of Hawke-Petit and Michaela.
Dearington said Hayes' DNA was found on Hawke-Petit.
Throughout the crime, Dearington, using cellphone records, showed jurors a series of communications, including text messages, between the two men.
"Everything they're doing, they're communicating with each other," he said. "This was not a single venture. This was a joint venture."
Dearington's closing arguments were mostly done in the dark as he projected photos of the crime scene and documents on a large movie screen in front of the jury.
He showed the girls' charred bedrooms, the remnants of a fire that led to the smoke-inhalation deaths of the two girls. He referenced a 2008 conversation a prison guard heard between Hayes and another inmate, in which Hayes reportedly said he poured gasoline on the stairs but did not light the blaze.
Two girls, tied to their beds, lying face down as gasoline is poured on or around them.
"Did Mr. Hayes have a motive to have the girls killed?" Nicholson asked. "Yes."
Nicholson's words capped a day of closing arguments in the emotionally charged trial of Steven Hayes, a 47-year-old career criminal facing the death penalty if convicted of the July 23, 2007, home invasion killings of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters, Hayley Petit, 17, and Michaela Petit, 11.
Jurors could begin deliberations Monday afternoon.
New Haven Public Defender Thomas J. Ullmann argued for 30 minutes that although his client is "no angel" and guilty of many things — he was not guilty of the deaths of Hayley and Michaela.
"He is responsible for the destruction, damage and heartache that occurred and continues in this case," Ullmann said. "But he is not the one who controlled the escalation of violence to a homicidal outbreak. That was Joshua Komisarjevsky."
Komisarjevsky, also charged in the killings, will be tried at a later date.
New Haven State's Attorney Michael Dearington began and ended his closing arguments Friday in front of a movie screen showing a photo of the Petits' white colonial home.
It was there where the Petits gathered on "a warm, sunny, classic summer day" in July. After church, a day at the beach and a round of golf, the family of four had come together for dinner, conversation and some TV.
At about the time the Petits were washing dishes, Hayes and Komisarjevsky were exchanging text messages, hatching a plan to break into a house in the middle of the night, rob it, and tie up the occupants, Dearington said.
Short on cash and living a life that "sucked," Hayes said "he would do anything for money," Dearington said.
Using a statement Hayes gave to police, Dearington looked directly at jurors as he recounted Hayes' version of the crime: the vicious baseball bat beating of the father, Dr. William Petit Jr., by Komisarjevsky; the tying of the girls to their beds, the ransacking of the home, Hawke-Petit's forced withdrawal of $15,000 from the bank, Hayes' purchase of gasoline; and the sexual assaults of Hawke-Petit and Michaela.
Dearington said Hayes' DNA was found on Hawke-Petit.
Throughout the crime, Dearington, using cellphone records, showed jurors a series of communications, including text messages, between the two men.
"Everything they're doing, they're communicating with each other," he said. "This was not a single venture. This was a joint venture."
Dearington's closing arguments were mostly done in the dark as he projected photos of the crime scene and documents on a large movie screen in front of the jury.
He showed the girls' charred bedrooms, the remnants of a fire that led to the smoke-inhalation deaths of the two girls. He referenced a 2008 conversation a prison guard heard between Hayes and another inmate, in which Hayes reportedly said he poured gasoline on the stairs but did not light the blaze.
